What about the .223 WSSM ? ( 5/6 Follow-up)

[necchi]

A buddy at work has one and we talked about loading for it. He's using it primarily for yotes and woodchuck type varments, looking for 400yrd accuracy until he gets more trigger time,,1-12 twist.
What should I know before I tackle this project?

Does the brass stretch bad ?
Does high velocity blow/explode bullets ?
Any peculure traits with that big, short, flat shouldered chamber and brass ?

Any tips to help me on the way would be appreciated,

 

[Klong]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?


The brass is very thick on this case and work hardens easily. You will need to anneal it about every 3rd firing. I think stretch is not a big problem in this case! With the 1 in 12 twist, I would say shoot 60 gr bullets and down.

 

[RonAKA]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

Barrel life with this cartridge is very short. You don't get much time to work with the gun to find the best loads.

 

[necchi]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

Yes, I've been reading all I can about it, and that short barrel life keeps comming up. 1500-1800 rounds at high velocities and they say their done. :-\
I've been talking with him and he want's me to load for it, say's if we shoot out the barrel he'll buy another. It's currently got about 150 down the tube. The thing does have some pretty amazing flat ballistics out to 400.
Hopefully I can find a node between 3400-3600, considering max book velocities are listed 3900-4100. That should tame the fire a bit and give him a few more years with the gun. I'm sure once we find something he'll only pump 50-100 rounds a year as a yote hunter, maybe some pesty whistle pup or two out in the hay field.

I think I'll start with ole reliable 55 Nosler Ballistic tips. We live in MN so I'm stickin with Hogdons extreme powders. Start with Varget and maybe H4895.
(the MN winter and it's wind is keeping me in that 50-55grn bullet range)
What say the collective knowledge with that plump little case an powder ??? Noslers book is listing Varget, RL15, H380 as most accurate powders in their selections.

I don't know, :'( For me that thing is just crying for Barnes 50grn Varmint Grenades. But I've no experiance with'em and don't know if they'll stay together at those speeds or be affective with yote size critters. Bergers maybe? It is a Browning rifle,,

 

[zcrackshot]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

I owned a 243 WSSM and got rid of it just weeks ago. I had best luck with IMR 4064 and RL-19 in it but that won't be the case with the 223. I would shy away from the VG's in a 12 twist. I got them to shoot in a 9 but couldn't in a 12. I would be pleasantly surprised if you get near the round count you're speaking of out of that gun. My 243 started heading south fairly quickly at 600. I was pushing velocity but never let it get hot. Bergers are killers when it comes to coyotes. Shoot em in the guts and they'll be dead before they can yelp. That sounds bad but it really works. I guess I had a question in the mix too...... Why would you load a WSSM down to those pitter-pat speeds? You can get that out of a 223 AI and it'll last forever with better accuracy couldn't you? If he'll re-barrel when it goes south then put some 50's or 40's in it and enjoy the show! They'll evaporate smallish critters at 4000+ fps! Wouldn't that be like buying a ferrari to putt around in at 5 under the speed limit?

 

[Beau]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

Are those barrel life numbers with the newer factory chrome-lined barrels?

 

[Kenny474]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

I'm with Zcrackshot on this one, you don't buy a Ferrari to drive at 20mph, you buy a Ferrari to drive 180mph and take corners at the same time.

It's not yours, he said he will rebarrel, and you will really be missing the entire point of owning a hot-rod round if you shoot it at Grandma Rose speeds. You are not driving Miss Daisy here. Your shooting a high performance round capable of Mach 4, push it to Mach 4 or buy a .22BR and at least enjoy better barrel life and awesome brass.

Just my thoughts.

Kenny

PS: I have a 22-6mmAI in the works to push the limits of .223 caliber speed, so I don't want to hear any "whining" about "barrel life", OK? Now lets see 4100fps!!! ;D

 

[carrollshooter]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

I had one for a short while. You will notice that Sierra does not list it in their manual. I call technical service to ask why. They said that because of the thick necks that the difference between a starting load and a maximun load may only be 2 grains and the variables inherent in reloadiing made it unsafe to come up with realistic data. My experience in reloading this cartridge verified their findings. The difference in a load that would make a gas seal between the neck and chamber and a load that made extraction difficult was sometimes less than two grains.

 

[tunered]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

Browning was the only one to chrome line barrels, Winchester had none. ed

 

[Larryh128]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

I load a 223 WSSM with 55gr BT & Varget. Velocity will be around 3800 fps. The WSSM's do have a heavy case to hold aprox 65,000 PSI. USUALLY you will need to back off of the top listed charges to keep from having difficult extraction. I have to check my load tonight as I would be working off of memory (at work) & at my age memory isn't my strong suit. I will give you a post with the correct charge. It has been a very accuarate load. One 3 shot group at 300 yds that went under .250 in a factory barrel. Kudos to Winchester.

 

[placek59]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

I have a winchester 70 coyote, and I have been using the 50g combined technology (nosler) bullets with a modest load of varget, and getting good results. The factory loads with the same bullets and nickel cases shot the best, at about 3/8" at 100yds. I have not been able to duplicate these results but have gotten about 5/8" to 3/4". I am pretty sure that winchester did chrome line their barrels (at least mine is) too. This article states that they did chrome line them.

http://wssmzone.com/main/default.aspx?c=wssm243&n=cartridges

 

[bozo699]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

Zcrackshot, is spot on IMO.
Wayne.

 

[necchi]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

Ya, his and a few others make a darn good argument.
Might as load it for what it's ment for and enjoy the show

 

[Larryh128]

Re: What about the .223 WSSM ?

My load for the 223 WSM is 39 grs Varget x 55gr BT x CCI200 primer. Velocity is going to be 3800 fps or better. That velocity is in a very short barrel. Accurate load.
Let it rock!!!

 

[necchi]

Wow! Took me long enough to load for it,
(not really, we've only had a few weeks decent shooting so far this season here in MN)

Got the A-Bolt 223 WSSM dialed in purty good fer local varmints, coyote an groundhog, fox, an other feral critters around the home farm place.

55grn Nosler Ballistic Tips with Varget turned into,
, avg. 3862fp
SD 17
ES 42
Was really looking for 3900 or better, but the primers started show signs and I decided to back off just a bit.
Nothing really too write home about for the statistitions, but well under MOA showing .355 @100 and .957 @ 200. Could have probably done a little better with the spread with another powder, but we're wanting to save the barrel field use and stay with temp swing freindly powders for our northern climate.
So "Gudnuff" he said. (with the salutory tobacco snus and grin)

I appreciate the tips I got here. It is indeed an expansive little cartridge needing a full body sizing too rechamber fired cases in this gun. And as someone mentioned the necks get really worked in the chamber and die, (Redding dies) and are prone to splitting if not annealed even after 2x!
The nice thing is that little neck on top of that huge shoulder has to be some of the easiest cases to anneal I've ever laid tourch too.

And we found out just as we were packing up that the little Nosler BT does it's job.
When we drove in Mark was talking about a groundhog in that bean field he'd seen, well that thing made a bad mistake today and started across that field at 107 yrds. Brawd side at that velocity, it must have been a 3" exit!! It's not going to be a hide friendly round at all, 8)

 

[bozo699]

necchi,
That's good news I always thought that would be a neat round I have the .243wssm and its a blast. I don't no how much room you have to play with but if you could play with the seating depth a little you could probably greatly reduce the ES & SD. You and your friend enjoy the little hotrod
Wayne.