Winchester Magnum refers to a "family" of 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. 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.
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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.
The cartridges in this family are, in the order of development:
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 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 and seeing military use as a sniper calibre.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.