243 WSSM

[crazywader]

First post to the forum but I've been lurking trying to learn from the other posts. There's a level of expertise here you just can't find anywhere else! I hope I posted in the correct place. If you are kind enough to respond to my comments/questions please keep the following in mind: I shot competitively in the 3-position small bore world and spent lots of time on the range w/ a .308 shooting my own handloads. All that was over 15 years ago. I know nothing about gunsmith'ing.

I do not intend to compete. I'll use it for 3-position at 600 yards or less - it's what I miss and enjoy...and we'll see if the bug bites and where it takes me then...

I haven't seen too much on the site regarding the 243 WSSM and am wondering why the lack of interest compared to other 6mm rounds. The ballistics appear to be better than 243 Win but I can't find any tables to compare it to the other 6mm rounds to determine if it doesn't measure up to what's out there already.

Regarding 6mm in general, I believe having a gunsmith build one is the only option. Am I just not looking in the right place? Having never worked with a gunsmith to build a complete rifle (or buy a used gun and replace the barrel), I'm not sure where to start if that's the road I decide to take.

 

[steve123]

: crazywader

Plain and simple...The brass sucks and the cartridge burns out the throat quick!!!

Get a 6-284 if you want accuracy and all out speed.

Steve

 

[cmillard]

+1

 

[Laurie]

+ another 1

Steer well clear of the WSSMs as precision cartridges - poor quality (and very heavy) brass. They only give higher MVs than .243Win by using higher pressures - a full 65,000 psi - and you pay for that in hard extraction and short barrel life. The case capacity is the same as .243WCF, so if you use the same charges you get the same velocities. However, if you dfon't load them right up the thick cases (eg 20 thou + neck thickness) don't obturate properly, so you end up with filthy brass and rifle.

Another thing to watch is that the factory rifles use a super-short action too. If (when) you want to rebarrel it to something better, you find you have a magnum bolt-face (for a 0.550" dia case-head) plus a bolt / action length that doesn't accomodate anything other than a WSSM. I gave my clapped out 70 Stealth to a gunsmithing friend and he rebuilt it as a rather good 6BR but with a fair bit of bodging on the bolt-face to suit the BR's smaller 0.473" case-head diameter.

Laurie,
York, England

 

[kapac]

I have one and simply love it!! True brass sucks and you have to do some things to it to make it right but the round is sweet!!

Good Luck
Kapac

 

[crazywader]

Looks like only one of you guys actually owns one of these and he (Kapac) loves it.

Kapac, is good quality brass for this round that difficult to find?

 

[6BRonwheels]

Hi Crazy,
I have a Stealth II in this caliber. The brass is very tought to work with, but when the gun was new I could do .25" groups consistantly. My Stealth II has a serial number of "0000" so it is a good action and chamber.
I am planning on having it rechambered in a 7mm WSM and shoot it single shot. The throat shot out in about 1200 rounds.
Jack

 

[TooTallRosenwald]

I also have a Stealth II in .243 WSSM, and it is a tack driver, with the right load. I will rebarrel it to the same when I shoot it out. I have head shot coyotes at over 600 yards with this rifle.

 

[Laurie]

I am planning on having it rechambered in a 7mm WSM and shoot it single shot. The throat shot out in about 1200 rounds.
Jack

You won't manage that Jack - the WSSM Stealth action is super-short just like the cartridge. As I noted in my post above, I gave my shot-out Stealth II to a gunsmithing friend, and his first thought was to rebuild it in 6.5X47 Lapua - no go, unless he chambered the barrel for a short version of the cartridge. The SAAMI maximum COAL of the WSSM is 2.36" and the action won't handle anything only slightly longer than that. I did measure it at one stage but can't remember the result - somewhere around 2.5-2.55"

You can use the WSM on the basis of its case being 2.1" long, but the action won't let you unload a live round without removing the bolt with cartridge still attached. Apart from being a messy and less than desirable way of unloading a rifle, this process isn't as easy as it sounds either as I found when trying a 6.5X47L inert cartridge at various seating depths / COALs when I was looking to see what you could do with this action. The Winchester hybrid push-controlled feed system using a blade ejector system caused major problems. If the action used a plunger system in the bolt-face you'd be more or less OK - it just forces the live round against the right action wall until total withdrawal when the cartridge would be forced off the bolt-face, but a blade needs the cartridge to be ejected otherwise it acts as a barrier to the case-head being moved any further back. I got away with my 6.5X47L trial by opening the bolt to the stop or maybe a bit short of that then pushing the case body down to disengage the groove / rim from the extractor claw, then withdraw the bolt, before sliding the cartridge out of the rear of the action body. I'm not 100% sure even this dog's dinner of a way of working would be feasible with the fatter WSM case, and certainly any Range Control Officer watching this process would likely be deeply unimpressed and might decide that the shooter and rifle were an unsafe combination!

I considered the process so fraught I wouldn't consider it for a rifle used solely under firing-range conditions, never mind field use. I'd strongly recommend you to make up an inert WSM round or two and look for the pitfalls before you pay any money for a barrel etc.

The conclusion my friend and I came to was that the longest alternative to the WSSM that the action will handle is the BR, and that requires work on the bolt face to reduce its size to 0.473" of course.

Laurie

 

[Laurie]

The other two were Browning factory rifles with chrome lined barrels (that alone should have been a hint) that were shot out at way less than 1,000 rounds. And I mean "really shot out" as in no rifling for the first six inches or so. Once the chrome starts to come loose it slices the bullet jacket and they come apart in flight even with factory ammo.

That's exactly what happened to my Stealth II which also had a chrome lined barrel. 900 rounds and you could see bullets in flight they were creating so much turbulence, plus a few broke up in flight too. Putting a solvent soaked patch into the barrel after 25 rounds would see it come out with a thick coating of granulated copper the throat was taking so much jacket material off. My gunsmithing friend put a Hawkeye borescope down it at the end and commented he'd never seen a barrel in such bad condition.

Like you said when it was still in good condition it would shoot well - mine particularly liked 87 Hornady HPBT varmint bullets that would do very well out to 600 yards on targets.

Laurie

 

[crazywader]

Wow - that's some interesting information!

My take away from this thus far is: 1) Forget the 243 WSSM 2) Plan to have a gun smith build the rifle, and 3) Reloading is not an option.

I suspect for every poster there's a different opinion on what the best 6mm round is, but I continue to see "243 AI or 6MM AI." I haven't seen either of these available sold stock. I'm interested in comparing those with a straight .243. In the mean time, would someone be kind enough to share with me - either here or via private message - the name and contact info of their gunsmith? I'm getting the itch to put something together and would like to talk to someone for their ideas.

Thanks!

 

[crazywader]

Gunamonth, et. al.,

Thank you for the info.

The forum and parent site have been very helpful - the folks contributing to the forum, the articles, and links - all superb! Thanks for the help. I'll be sure to post here again when I end up making a decision.