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Winchester Magnum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winchester Magnum refers to a "family" of cartridges developed by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company [1], one of the oldest firearms manufacturers in the United States, in the late 1950's and early 1960's, all based on the same basic cartridge case. The basic case was a "short" magnum, meaning it would work through a standard (i.e.; 30-06) length rifle action rather than requiring the longer, magnum (i.e. .375 Holland and Holland) actions.
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) |
The cartridges in this family are, in the order of development:
- .458 Winchester Magnum (1956): .458 in. (11.658 mm) bullet
- .338 Winchester Magnum (1958): .338 in. ( 8.610 mm) bullet
- .264 Winchester Magnum (1959): .264 in. ( 6.500 mm) bullet
- .300 Winchester Magnum (1963): .308 in. ( 7.620 mm) bullet
With the exception of the .264, all of these cartridges are still widely used. The .458 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 truly dangerous game such as grizzly/brown bears and African lions. The .300 is one of the most popular cartridges in the world, used for everything from deer to brown bears.