Winchester Magnum

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.

See also: Winchester Short Magnum