Winchester Magnum
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Winchester Magnum refers to a "family" of belted magnum cartridges developed by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company, one of the oldest firearms manufacturers in the United States, in the late 1950s and early 1960s, all based on the same basic cartridge case derived from the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum. The basic case was a "short" magnum, meaning it would work through a standard (i.e.; .30-06 Springfield) length rifle action rather than requiring the longer, magnum (i.e. .375 Holland & Holland) actions. Nowadays, these are considered standard length, as the short length cartridges are classified as those who have similar dimensions to the .308 Winchester.
Dimensions
[edit]The dimensions of the basic case are:
| Outside diameter (at base) | .532 in. (13.51 mm) |
| Inside diameter (of case) | .490 in. (12.47 mm) |
| Maximum case length | 2.62 in. (66.55 mm) |
Originally known as a "short" magnum as compared to the .375 H&H Magnum, this is now considered the "long" magnum since the development of the family of Winchester Short Magnums. So today you would consider the .300 Winchester Magnum to be a "long action" cartridge.
History
[edit]Before the introduction of Winchester Magnum family of cartridges, most cartrdiges offering a "Magnum" performance were restricted to Holland & Holland cartridges and Weatherby proprietary catridges, either requiring a full length magnum action or being chambered exclusively in high end rifles.
With the introduction of Winchester Magnum cartridges, during the 50s, hunters around the world could afford taking advantage of these cartridges available in large scale production rifles such manufactured around a standard length action.
The first to come was the .458 Winchester Magnum, a large bore centerfire cartridge released along with the resurge of the interest for the African Safari by the north american sports hunter inspired by Hemingway and Ruark's writings as well as by the post war booming. The .458 Win Mag was first released along with the Winchester Model 70 Safari Express rifle.
A couple of years later the .338 Winchester Magnum is released along with the Winchester Model 70 Alaskan model, just by when Alaska, the last hunting fronteer, was founded as a State. The .338 Win Mag was marketed as the ideal cartridge for big game hunting in Alaska, especially a bear cartridge that was also suitable for a large variety of native game such as moose, caribou, dall ram and blacktail deer.
A year later and ahead of its time, the .264 Winchester Magnum was introduced along with the 26-inch barrel Winchester Model 70 "Westerner" rifle, which offered a very flat trajectory ideal for long range shots. The .264 Win Mag offered different bullet alternatives suitable for hunting mid sized big game as well as varmints. However, the .264 Win Mag popularity was short lived due to Remington's introduction of the 7mm Remington Magnum, a belted magnum with a similar case necked up to accept .284" bullets.
Due to the gaining popularity of the 7mm Rem Mag, in 1963 Winchester launches the last member of the Winchester Magnum family of cartridges; the .300 Winchester Magnum; a standard length action belted magnum driving a 180 grain bullet at 3000 fps and a 150 grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 3300 fps. The cartridge took off slowly but managed to gain popularity along the years to become the most popular "magnum" cartridge and one of the most popular big game cartriges in the world up to date, mainly due to its versatility, flat trajectory and long range capability, pulling interest not only among hunters but, bench rest shootes, law enforcement and military units around the globe.
Cartridge list
[edit]The cartridges in this family are, in the order of development:
- .458 Winchester Magnum (1956): .458 in (11.6 mm) bullet
- .338 Winchester Magnum (1958): .338 in (8.6 mm) bullet
- .264 Winchester Magnum (1959): .264 in (6.7 mm) bullet
- .300 Winchester Magnum (1963): .308 in (7.8 mm) bullet
With the exception of the .264 Win Mag, all of these cartridges are still widely used and among the most popular big game cartridges around the world. The .458 Win Mag has become the #1 cartridge for dangerous game in Africa, as well as a very popular round with Alaskan/Canadian bear guides. The .338 is widely used for game ranging from elk and African plains game to dangerous game such as grizzly/brown bears and African lions. The .300 Win Mag is one of the most popular cartridges in the world, used for everything from deer to brown bears and seeing military use as a sniper caliber.[citation needed] It is the most popular round for hunting large Alaskan game, and is considered to be a true round for all North American game, including the kodiak bears.
See also
[edit]- Winchester Short Magnum
- Winchester Super Short Magnum
- 6.8 Western, a Winchester-developed cartridge based on the .270 Winchester Short Magnum
- List of rifle cartridges