Medium Bore Cartridges Aren't Dead!

The medium bores are not dead. That’s a good thing because, if they were, the graveyard of deceased cartridges would be huge. There have been dozens of them over the years. Many are obsolete while others barely hang on, yet we keep creating more.

Popular American bullet diameters stop at .308 inch because few of us need anything larger—not to hunt deer or elk, not to punch paper or ring steel. Short of the big bears and African game animals that have a 9.3mm minimum caliber restriction, there’s little need for a rifle with a bore larger than .30.

Despite that, there are tons of choices between .30 and 9.3. Many of these .32/8mm, .33 and .35 cartridges are gone, and many are on life support. Few have enjoyed lasting popularity. The mild but hard-hitting .35 Rem. dates to 1906 and has probably been the most significant. Big-woods whitetail hunters loved it because it put deer down quickly, but today no production rifles are so chambered.

In my time, the .338 Win. Mag. has been the most important. I hesitate to call it popular, but it is widely chambered, with a healthy selection of factory loads. Introduced in 1958 in the Winchester Model 70 Alaskan, the .338 started slowly as word got out that it had a lot of recoil. No kidding. When you add velocity to bullet weight, recoil goes up sharply, and for most of us that level of power and recoil is not necessary.

Recoil can be mitigated somewhat by reducing bullet weight. For instance, a .338 Win. Mag. kicks less with a 180-grain bullet than with a 250-grain bullet. However, at some point you’re defeating the purpose in a hunting scenario because the lighter bullet will have less sectional density: It will make as big a hole but will not penetrate as deeply. For target work, the lighter bullet cannot have as high a ballistic coefficient.

Despite their high energy yields, the fastest medium magnums are not street-legal for certain African game, and this doesn’t do them any favors. If at some point you need something specifically for Africa, you’d pass up the mediums and move straight up to the .375s.

Now that I’ve given all the reasons you shouldn’t want or need a medium bore, I’ll tell you why I do like them. Let’s go through them diameter by diameter.

8mm/.32

A century ago, the obsolete .32 Rem. and almost-gone .32 Win. Spl. had followings, both specified for .321-inch bullets. Since then, no .32 caliber or 8mm rifle cartridge has done well in the U.S., although 8mms do remain popular in Europe. Germany switched to a spitzer bullet in 1895 and increased its 8x57 bullet diameter to .323-inch. Although .323-inch equals 8.2mm, it’s now accepted that an “8mm” uses a .323-inch bullet.

Many 8x57 Mausers crossed the pond as war souvenirs and through the surplus market. A lot were rechambered to the wildcat 8mm-06 because of brass availability. Both are fine cartridges, similar to the .30-06 with the advantage of greater bullet diameter, but neither has a significant U.S. following today.

The 8mm Rem. Mag. (1978) was America’s first 8mm rifle cartridge. I shot the powerful and flat-shooting round when it was new and then again extensively in the 1990s. I loved the Big Eight, and I used it for several elk, bears, African antelopes and even a few sheep. I’ve used various fast .30s for decades, and I am convinced that my 8mm Rem. Mag. hit harder and took down large game quicker than any .30, even if bullet weight and velocity are similar.

However, despite heroic marketing efforts, it sold poorly. Based on the 2.8-inch .375 H&H case, it needs a full-length action. It also acquired a reputation as a hard kicker, which it is. I gave up on my 8mm Rem. Mag. not because of either issue but because of the round’s limited bullet selection and because my long-barreled, wood-stock rifle was too heavy for mountain hunting. The 8mm Rem. Mag. is no longer offered in factory loads, and there are no production rifles.

Winchester’s .325 WSM (2005) was the last of the company’s short magnums. It’s fast and powerful, and I used it to take a big Arctic grizzly and also took it to Africa. Since I’m a medium-bore fan, I liked the .325 WSM, but even though it’s relatively new, it barely hangs on.

I doubt we’ll see any new 8mm cartridges, but if you want to hit game harder, the 8mms are still out there.

.33

The .33s are the most common mediums today, partly because of the .338 Win. Mag.’s longevity and the bullet selection it created. In 1902, Winchester introduced the .33 Win. in its big 1886 lever action, using the first .338-inch bullet. In 1906, Westley Richards in England introduced the .318 WR, and two years later, WJ Jeffery, also English, introduced the .333 Jeffery. Neither the .318 WR nor the .333 Jeffery used the .338-inch bullet, but they were popular, and with heavy solids they were used on game all the way up to pachyderms.

In the 1930s, gun writer Elmer Keith teamed up with Charlie O’Neil and Don Hopkins to create the wildcat .333 OKH, which was based on the .30-06 case necked up. Keith and his buddies wanted greater bullet diameter than .30—as well as long, heavy-for-caliber bullets—primarily for larger, tougher game such as elk.

The .333 OKH used the Jeffery’s .333-inch bullet, but when Winchester developed the .338 Win. Mag. it returned to the .338-inch bullet it had used in the .33 Win. Since then, .338-inch bullets have been standard for all .33s—including Keith’s later developments. These included the .334 OKH, which was based on the full-length .300 H&H case, and the .338-.378 KT (Keith-Thomson) on the .378 Wby. Mag. case.

With the distinctive Weatherby double-radius shoulder, the .334 OKH would become the .340 Wby. Mag. Weatherby would similarly modify the .338-.378 KT to introduce the .338-.378 Wby. Mag.

The SAAMI-standardized .338-06, which is similar to .333 OKH, has a following, but no major manufacturer has picked it up. The .338 Federal came out in 2005. Based on the .308 Win., it’s a great, highly efficient cartridge, and it’s hard to figure out why it hasn’t done better.

I rate the Hornady-developed .338 Marlin Express as the most versatile cartridge ever chambered for a tubular-magazine lever action. Regrettably, its 2009 introduction coincided with Marlin’s sale. Few .338 Marlin Express rifles were released, and I still regret not buying the test rifle I used. Hornady also developed the compact but not popular .338 Ruger Compact Mag.

There are several faster .33s. Weatherby has three: .338 Wby. RPM, .340 Wby. Mag. and .338-.378 Wby. Mag. Remington’s developed the big .338 Rem. Ultra Mag, and Nosler introduced its .33 Nosler. And then there are proprietaries, including the .330 Dakota and Lazzeroni 8.59mm (.338) Titan.

I’ve hunted with most of the faster .33s. I had a long affair with the .340 Wby. Mag. It is faster, flatter-shooting and harder-hitting than the .338 Win. Mag., and while I loved its performance, I didn’t love its recoil.

I hunted with the .340 for a decade and then tried the even faster .338 Rem. Ultra Mag, which I used to take the Newfoundland moose in the lead photograph of this article. Grudgingly I accepted the reality that the recoil was more than I needed, and I returned to the .338 Win. Mag.

The Win. Mag. is no pussycat, but it’s manageable and fast enough for my needs. The .338 is not a constant-use cartridge. I don’t need it for deer-size game, but I’ve used it for elk, moose, bears and a full run of African plains game. It’s wonderfully versatile and hard-hitting while not unbearable to shoot.

Recently, I got the itch to try for one more big bear, and I decided on an exceptionally accurate .338 Win. Mag. barrel on my Blaser R8. My chance came on a tough shot, with darkness coming on fast. I was standing in head-high alders, and there was nothing to rest on. The bear was past 200 yards, and the first shot immobilized him, but getting him down took more shots than I care to say. I’ll be honest: For the biggest bears a .375 is probably a better choice, but the faster .33s will get the job done.

.35

There’s no shortage of .35 caliber cartridges. The 9x57 Mauser and 9x56 Mannlicher Schoenauer, both introduced in 1904, were popular in Europe at one time but are now obsolete. The .358 Norma Mag. never caught on, and the .358 Shooting Times Alaskan never made it into factory form.

Winchester introduced the long-cased .35 Win. in 1903 in its 1895 lever-action rifle. That cartridge employed a .358-inch bullet. Remington used the same bullet diameter for its .35 Rem., and so did John Rigby in his .350 Rigby Rimless Mag. (1908).

Since then, most .35 caliber rifle cartridges have been loaded with .358-inch bullets, but there are exceptions. Winchester’s .35 Win. Self Loading and more powerful .351 WSL used .351- and .352-inch bullets, respectively. The .348 Win. (1936) for the Model 71 was loaded with an oddball .348-inch bullet. I love the fast and powerful .348, but it was chambered only in the Model 71—which was legendary but never common. The .35 Win. and the Win. Self Loading cartridges are long gone. The .35 Rem and .348 Win. hang on, thanks to older rifles still in use.

In 1955, Winchester introduced the .358 Win. in the Model 88 lever-action rifle. Based on the .308 case necked up, the .358 is my favorite non-magnum medium. Propelling a 200-grain bullet to 2,500 fps or a 250-grain bullet to maybe 2,250, it lacks extreme range, but within a couple hundred yards it hits like a freight train. It’s awesome for black bears and hogs, and it’s excellent for elk and moose in timber. It never became popular, and today it’s chambered only to Browning’s BLR lever gun.

In 1965, Remington introduced the short-cased .350 Rem. Mag. It was the original short magnum and was about 300 fps faster than the .358 Win. It was a great little cartridge, but it was introduced in the light Model 600 carbine, and recoil was severe. It didn’t sell well.

Remington kept trying, though. The .35 Whelen dates back to a wildcatted round Col. Townsend Whelen and James Howe of Griffin & Howe worked up in the 1920s. A necked-up .30-06, it hung on as a common wildcat for decades and was legitimized by Remington in 1988. The .35 Whelen did well initially, but it seems to be languishing. An effective, accurate cartridge with surprisingly mild recoil, the .35 Whelen is probably the fastest .35 that has a following.

I’ve used the .35 Whelen quite a bit, and I like it, but I prefer the .358 Win. simply because the Whelen is just another bolt-action cartridge, while the .358 was chambered to the lever actions I admire. I just got my hands on a Savage Model 99 in .358, and with a load of W748 powder behind a 225-grain Swift A-Frame it yields good accuracy and just over 2,400 fps. I’m looking forward to hunting with it.

In 1982, Winchester tried again with the .356 Win., a semi-rimmed version of the .358 designed for a beefed-up Model 94. It fell on its face. Undaunted, in 2019 Winchester introduced the .350 Legend—an AR-compatible cartridge meeting criteria established by formerly shotgun-only states that decided to permit straight-wall cartridges. With its small case, the Legend is less powerful than the .358 or .356, but with its .357-inch bullet diameter, it can use .357 pistol or carbine bullets—even .355-inch 9mm pistol bullets as practice ammo.

In 2022, Remington countered with the .360 Buckhammer, a rimmed case that also meets all straight-wall criteria. Intended for tubular magazine lever actions, it was first chambered by Henry. The Buckhammer is slightly faster and more powerful than the .35 Rem. and uses .358-inch bullets. Like the .350 Legend, the Buckhammer sold well initially, but it’s too soon to tell what its lasting impact might be.

I would be remiss to fail to mention long guns in .357 Magnum. In handguns, I find the .357 marginal for deer and hogs, but the cartridge is effective at short range with the added velocity from rifle barrels.

I don’t think the mediums are dead, certainly not among us geezers who grew up reading Elmer Keith. Many of us cling to—and scrounge ammo or reload for—the older mediums. Among younger rifle shooters, the more specialized new cartridges should help keep the mediums alive.

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