In this episode we take a look at the 300 Norma Magnum and it ballistic characteristics, before taking to the field and setting a personal best record of 2km. / practicalriflesolutions
One of the major improvements in my shooting was learning follow through with my trigger pull. Meaning, retaining your trigger finger to hear even after your bullet left the barrel. This minimizes one more variable. I hope you don’t find this comment rude, that is just an observation.
G’day ShootFit, I appreciate your observation and I don’t take it as rude, thank you for raising this point. You’re quiet correct that I am not following through on my shots. It’s only something I’ve noticed through looking back at footage. It’s something that I’m working to get back through dry firing and other practice. Constructive comments are probably the most valuable source of feedback we can use to improve our shooting. Thanks for your feedback mate, I genuinely appreciate it. I really hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel as well 👍🏼
@@TheLongGunProject Was gonna say the same thing about follow through. Is that a TT trigger in this video? One thing I've found with them is there is zero over-travel. After the break, the trigger hits a hard wall. That can cause you to move the rifle before the bullet has left the barrel, depending on your rifle's dwell time. For super long range shooting like 2,000+ yards/meters, a trigger with over-travel adjustment can help as long as you focus on follow through.
@@FourT6and22 can say more for a bipod having some movement before the round left the end of the barrel, a little down pressure helps ive seen groups get a LOT tighter from a bipod being on a slick painted table. I shoot a LOT of archery as well and long range rifle shooting is similar in certain ways. I have buddies that don't play with their long range guns, $17,000-$20,000 375 Cheytac beasts I have a Christensen MPR in .300 and I got a damn good rifle out of the lot to so I am now shooting 200 grain Terminal Ascents out to 1,000 I'm an ethical hunter and for that reason on my hunts depending on the situation leve them after 800. I had a cougar a month ago sun bathing in the middle of the road at 925 yards, I was able to find another road come on the back side and get to 560 and he was still there. I was aiming on his ear for the drop, and the wind was going towards the cat the last second not much just 5 MPH and it hit it right in the ear!!! Dead kitty, 207 pound Tom its at the Taxidermist dang stuff is getting expensive lol
Awesome. Great to see 300 norma is becoming a little more popular. I have one being built in new zealand. On a stiller tac338 action 29" 1-8 twist bartlin barrel and mcmillan a5 stock. Can't wait. It has been a very long build process, with everything going on in this country
300 Norma mag is the best cartridge for 800 to 1800 yards. Extremely wind resistant, incredible kinetic energy retention. Expensive bullets, about $6 per round after tax and shipping in the U.S.
@@w.harrison7277 hahaha $6 dollars are round. In New Zealand it's $6 dollars for an empty case. Tho have been stockpiling. So have 450 cases. So that should see me through a few barrels
Ben this video was structured very well in more ways than one. I really enjoyed the way you talked us all through how you made your decisions on rifle and cartridge selection and I too would have been moving that Cheytac on pretty quick. After the frustrations of your original setup I can only imagination the relief and enjoyment of shooting the new rig. Thanks for putting this together and sharing your experience.
Hey mike, Have you ever been to the Butterfield range in Las Cruces? Fantastic free open public range that I enjoyed ringing still at 1000 yards this past December while camping in the Organ mountains. We have nothing like that here in central Texas so I was pretty blown away.
MrRabbitPants thanks for the support mate. I’m trying to get content out more regularly after a busy start to the year. Please share the channel with your mates and thank you for watching 👍🏼
I've only used the 215 grain Berger Hybrid and I couldn't be happier with it. This is possibly the best bullet ever made, certainly one of the top four. BTW I had to relisten a couple times when you said Three Threat Lapua before I realized you were saying 338 Lapua. Ha, ha.
Beautiful rifle!! .338 Lepua and Norma Magnum are great hard hitting beasts! I have a Christensen MPR. 300 win mag and its great for what I bought ir for smacking black bear, deer long range. I will always and forever archery for elk! But I guess I can put in for the multi season anyway. I think I would go the .338 Norma Mag over anything because of the military going that route and hopefully will be a round they make a lot of ammo for. Man I can only imagine what a FMJ .338 Norma mag can do, they say it will pierce 1 inch of steel at 1500 yards which os freaking NUTS to also defeat body armor at that range is just AMAZING! I may have to get a .338 Norma Mag here after my 6.8 Western with silencer build for deer.
Awesome shooting Ben . Mate you made a good choice in going with the 300 Norma Magnum . That’s one beautifully set up rifle you have there . Keep up the great content. Cheers 🍻
I was very intrigued by the .300 Norma, but went with the .300 PRC because there are many more factory rifles available for it here in the US. Despite the US military adopting the two Norma chamberings I do not see them becoming very widespread here in the US, certainly not as common as the .300 PRC because of Hornady's very effective marketing campaigns. The requirements for a rifle to support Norma action are going to keep it from becoming as popular as the .300 PRC as well. If I had a .338 Lapua then I would be more interested since I could swap the barrels. I still might look at getting a Savage Precision in .338 L and just swap the barrels. Good luck with the project though. The only rifle I see here in the US that supports the Norma out of the box and interests me is the MRAD and it is out of my price range. Cheers.
Great work Ben. Huge decision to change given the investment of time and the money with the 375 to then change but thats what it takes sometimes, a bitter pill. But it seems it had a sweet centre. Keep up the great work and I can see the step up in the video production. Lets catch up over a coffee later in the year, Black Rifle Coffee Company coffee obviously.
Good work Ben. I'm running a 300 Norma as well. Not entirely the the same set up but similar. An Ivey mount will easily facilitate your objectives and make the total package much more flexible.
Not knowing what the barrel length on your rifle is, I can tell you that with the 230gr Atip in mine with a 30” tube I’m just over 3140fps with Retumbo and Lapua brass with federal magnum match primers. I believe the equivalent powder for you is 2225. This actually nearly matches my 375 cheytac loads in terms of drop and drift. The It’s definitely more efficient than the 245 Berger’s and can be run at considerably higher speeds due to the decrease in weight and bearing surface.
Jay, I did start getting slightly increased bolt lift and completely cured it by switching to CCI BR2 primers and increasing my jump from .020” to .040. It still hammers and I’m still completely happy with it, it had actually sped up but not wanting to change the entire recipe I opted to go for the colder primer and increasing the jump tends to lower pressure because the bullet gets more time to move before engaging the rifling and it’s uses its inertia to begin the engraving process and relying less on the case pressure to make it happen.
My plan is to release more content more often but so far this year has been a bit crazy. That being said I think I’m back on track to get more content out more regularly 👍🏼 thanks for watching!!
Another 338 and 375 cartridge is the 33xc and 37xc. Based on 338 lapua case just different shoulder angles allowing more case compasidy. 37xc is 100fps slower than the 375 cheytac with 30 grains less powder. While still being able to use a 338 action. Might be next years project possibly
I went with the 300 RUM but loaded for performance it’s 4.1” so single shot only if mag feed is important to you. But I have 33” barrel and the 245 bergers 3140FPS and it’s a hammer out to 2500yards
As a builder of a 408 CT you have to remember that the Cheytac was built for military use. so case design does not lend it self to be efficient for its size. if it was blow out on the body and a sharper shoulder angle it could be loaded with slower powders that would work better in the case. Not to mention turned solids are a little funny to tune. I had it in my head that I was going to build a 7mm/300 NM and thinking about barrel life. I think I don't want to do that. and after seeing what you have done with the 300. I think i'm going to stick with a straight 300NM
You are right about that, 7mm mags burn out barrels a lot faster than the 300 cals, mags. one good exception is the .284 win. It is not a magnum however it still holds a fair bit of powder and is very popular in Australian long range shooting. I have used it up to 1100m and it would clearly do further, however I have not found a longer rifle range to try it. I have competed with 7mm rem mags which are accurate however they are a lot harder on barrels than the .284 win. Also I have had heat problems with the rem mag, which would be the same for all 7mm mags as the rem mag has less powder than the other 7mm mags. To sum up, I would only use the .284 win for competitions of over twelve shots not a 7mm mag for over twelve shots, unless it is a very cold day. In the long run the 30 cals handle the heat better than the 7mms. the price you pay for using a 30 cal mag is only recoil. The 7mms are all good for hunting, and you get away with less recoil.
I would like to know your build on that Rifle and load work up I’ve been following your channel for a little while now and love the content there’s a bunch of gun people on RU-vid but none of them are doing it to what I feel as good at the whole package as you and your channel wish you the best of luck and hope you continue to grow
Austin thanks for the feedback and encouragement. I really appreciate it. I do my best to put together high quality and interesting content so I’m glad I’m hitting the mark. I hope to keep growing and if you have any mates to share my videos with that will definitely help! Thanks for watching mate and I hope you continue to enjoy the videos on the channel 👍🏼👍🏼
Can you do a video on your load? I'm working mine up right now, using a 198gr VLD round and 90gr. of Ramshot Magnum. Im getting 3200 FPS! but I'm worried I'm pushing it a bit too hot.
That was 4 impacts out of 5. First round was off target, made an adjustment to my point of aim and the rest is on video. I hope you enjoy the rest of the videos on the channel 👍
Hi Ben, great video. That’s a great looking rifle and it looks like every detail from the cheek rest to the custom action worked well. The last four shots at 2 k were impressive. Was the barrel hot at the end of that string?
G’day Grant. That last string was actually over about 2.5-3 mins in real time, but I sped both pieces of footage up in between shots so that you wouldn’t have to watch such long periods of concentration and silence! But the barrel wasn’t too hot. Thanks for watching 👍🏼
Is that a 1.3 shank barrel? Also, what twist are you running? I have the same action and 1.3 shank bartlien MTU. Your gun looks great in that MDT; I may go that route if you confirm that your barrel is 1.3 at the action. Finally, is the action skim bedded into the chassis?
I went thru the same deal.However the 33XC Dominated all of these.Yes it's not a 30 cal but in the light class of King of One Mile its King. I do like my 30 Shernan Magnum.I like my 375Cheytac when shooting past 2900 yards. UPDATED---I just built a 33XC...Im gonna equal the playing field now for myself.I was behind the 8 Ball.
The 33XC was still pretty new at that time but I does look very interesting. Eventually I’d like to go back to the 375CT but for now the 300NM will do for 2000ish meters. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel
I hate you!!! JUST A JOKE! lmao After watching this it makes me even question building a 300 prc. My objective is long range as well and 300 norma mag just seems to have better numbers. So thanks for this! I mean I can have both just a simple barrel swap but better to have 300 norma mag for numbers but also because I'm prior service US Army and they're adopting this round as well.
HA! Sorry for making you question your previous choice mate! The 300 Norma is a great cartridge and it doesn’t work hard to push heavy projectiles. I have a video which goes over the specs of the rifle and also the details of the handload which might be handy if you decide to rechamber your rifle. I hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel. It’s always nice to hear from another veteran 🇦🇺 👍
I've watched this video so many times now since I've started my 300 Norma build. I plan to run 250 A-tips and my barrel is a 24" Benchmark MTU 3 groove 1:8 twist. I'm new to this big of a cartridge, I mostly play with short action cartridges. I'm curious on what kinds of powder the 300 Norma runs good with. Currently the slowest powder I have is H4831 and from my research, its not slow enough for the Norma.
G’day SledSaint, I’m running 82grs ADI AR2225, which is sold in the US as Retumbo. I find that works best for me. You could also use H1000 as a slightly faster alternative. I’m glad you have found this video helpful. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy the other videos in this channel 👍🏼
Hi Ben great stuff with the Norma been looking at one for a while, keep doing the long range . What range would you be looking at for game with that ? Paul Jones cheers
G’day Paul, this is a heavy rifle so not really suited to stalking but if I was to use it on game I’d be confident making a shot out to 700m or so depending on conditions. Thanks for watching mate 👍🏼
I never been a fan of 30 Calls. I own a 300 WM but only because I short it in the army. I own a 7 Rem Mag. There is just nothing a 300 WM can do that a 7 Mag can not. That being said. I’ve been looking into a 300 Norma Mag, but also the 7-300 Norma Mag. I like the shorter fatter cases because you can set the bullet out longer and keep a smaller more standard length action.
The action Is a Defiance Machine. I have another video with all the details of every part of the rifle in Episode 16. Check it out! Thanks fr watching and I hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel
With 80 cm barrel-length, 88,6 grs VVN570 + 230 grs ELDMs i reach a v/0 up to 950 m/s with medium preassure : no 300 WinMag could ever manage that ! ( and not to forget: HBN-Coating ;-) )
G’day Jason, the only advice I’d give is to select a quality barrel and place it in the hands of a precision gunsmith. I’d select a twist rate that will suit the projectiles you intend to run. A 1:9 is a pretty good choice to run most bullets. I’d also consider making the barrel as long as is practical to get the most out of the cartridge and keep muzzle blast to a minimum. My barrel is a 30” 1:8.5R twist and I’m able to get 2895fps with a 245gr Berger with just 82gr of AR2225 (Retumbo). I’ve gone through the tech specs of the rifle and my load in Episode 16 on the channel. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy the other videos on this channel 👍🏼
This video settles it. My next rifle caliber will be .300 Norma magnum, not .338 Lapua magnum. And the company to buy from will most likely be Accuracy International.
AI do make an excellent product and a mate of mine has his AI in 300 Normal and its exceptionally accurate. The load data for the load I used in in the video that follows this one on my channel. I hope it’s helpful. Thanks for watching 🇦🇺👍
Nice set up & good shooting...but I think you failed in your objective here. You selected .300 NM on the basis of a calculated hit rate of 29.7% on a torso target at 2k- compared to a 21.4% hit rate using .338 LM. Did you achieve it, matching theoretical to practical outcomes?
Thanks Peter. You raise a good point regarding whether I was able to match the theoretical hit percentage with practical outcomes. On reflection I’d have to say I didn’t. I think I would need to revisit the challenge and fire a lot more rounds to be able to draw better data from it to extrapolate out to see if it reflects the predicted hit percentage. A larger sample size is needed. I do believe you’ve given me the subject of another video! Thank you! I hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel as well 👍
@@TheLongGunProject mate it’s a monster .. I’m running 230gr Atips at 3000fps out on steel at 1000m and 1600m it’s a dream. 1.3 inch group at 1000m last weekend
You are using favorable loads and bullet combinations to proof your point. The reality is different, the bigger caliber projectile has potentially the higher BC in addition to that a .338LM has more powder capacity.
G’day Valkyrie 1960s, thank you for the comment and for watching the episode. In my video I did compare handloads against factory ammunition. This was not done to try to prove all 300 Norma is superior to all 338 Lap Mag. I used the factory ammo as a baseline comparison because it was the only 338LM ammo I had real world data for. My rifle is a custom gun with a 30” barrel and the data on the 338LM was based on a factory Sake TRG M10 with 27” barrel which I had used in a previous episode. I acknowledge that this isn’t an apple for apples comparison, it’s just an easily understood benchmark that allows the audience to understand the performance of the rifle and load better. You are correct that the 338 has an edge in terms of powder capacity of about 10grs and there are a few 338 projectiles that have a higher BC and lower G7 form factor which will make them superior to the 30cal 245gr if driven at the same or similar velocity. Hopefully I’ll be able to get the 338 TRG M10 back for a longer period and do an episode on handloads for it to compare the performance of the 2 cartridges when loaded to their peak potential. If I do I’d welcome your input on which projectiles and loads to use to squeeze the best out of the 338LM. Thanks again for watching the episode and I hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel 👍🏼
@@TheLongGunProject Thank you for your response, I do prefer the .300 Norma Magnum because it generates less recoil, which is the main reason why people tend to shoot more precise with it. Also the more powder is burned and the higher projectile weights are, the more the weapon system oscillates and it needs to be heavier and stiffer do potentially develop the same kind of accuracy. This is one main reason why the big once in common rifle weights never develop the same consistency as smaller calibers. The optimum for extreme long range shooting out to even a little beyond 2500 yards appear to be the 30s. Or one would build a 50 bmg improved rifle weighing 100 kilos, which then is superior but somehow ridiculous. The .338 projectiles are being reworked now and maybe soon we will have some close to a G1 BC of 1 weighing around 330gr. If those are out you might want to have the .338 LM chamber recut to .338 LM improved or if the barrel and twist are sufficient a .33XC. This would be then a significant ballistic advantage over the .300NM but the rifle needs to be very heavy.
You give a bended version of the numbers by running the 338 Lapua with a 300gr SMK vs a 300 Norma with 245gr Bergers. Put the 338 Lapua with a 300 Berger OTM or A-tip at 2840fps vs your rifle as that is where the Lapua will run with a custom 31" barrel.
G’day Andre, the numbers for the 338 Lap are based on actual data on a Sako M10 with 27” barrel running Sako TRG factory ammo which I’ve tested. I used that data because I can honestly say the numbers are real. It’s there as a basis for comparison. I’m not suggesting the 338 Lap doesn’t perform with better projectiles at higher velocities. I just haven’t have that data to fall back on; but I will run the data on the 338 using the data you’ve provided and see what comes out of the program. Thanks for the information and thanks for watching. I hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel as well 👍🏼
Did you compare factory load Sako, and handload 308 Norma mag, for accuracy. Thats not an even race. I handload my 338 Lap mag, with Lapua bullet. No factory ammo is even close, perhaps Lapua’s own factory load is OK. 338 Lap ammo,is so expensive,you have to reload. 👍😀
Peter thanks for watching the channel 👍🏼unfortunately no factory 300 Norma Mag factory ammo is available in Australia from any supplier; and needs to be imported if you want it. I used the factory 338 Lap ammo as a basis for comparison, not to suggest that 338 Lap isn’t a capable round. Handloads almost always perform better than factory ammo as you rightly point out. Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy the other videos I’m on the channel 👍🏼👍🏼
