wssm pro's &con's

[jraney]

simply put what is you alls oppinion on these short fat cartridges are they worth their salt or can the same performance be had by an allready proven round like .243,.270,.7mm & others. any and all oppinions will be appreciated. thanks


J
mainly looking for rounds that can be purchased for factory guns
nothin special please.

 

[wapiti25]

I like the "old long cartridges" they are easier to make feed out of the magazine. I don't see any advantage unless you just have to have a short action.

 

[Laurie]

J,

this is a fairly frequently asked question re the WSSMs, so if you do a search on wssm you'll find several threads.

My sole experience with the design was the .243WSSM in a Winchester 70 Stealth and was not a happy one. I reckon the .243WSSM is a solution to a non-existing problem. It only gives improved performance over the common or garden .243WCF is loaded up to the gills at which point you get very hard bolt opening. (This applies to Winchester's factory loads.)

Brass is Winchester only, not well made compared to a lot of .243 Win stuff. It is massively thick and so needs very high pressures to obturate in the chamber fully - and I for one hate sooted up cases and a fouled chamber, bolt and action. Barrel life is short. Accuracy is so-so. Factory ammo is expensive.

So far as the .223WSSM is concerned, do a search on .220 Swift. There are a number of guys raving about out of the box accuracy from .220 Swift in Remington VSSFs in other threads at the moment. The WSSM does very little that the Swift doesn't and the same downsides re brass quality and hard bolt lift apply.

The only WSSM I can see that fills a real gap is the .25 cal version as there is no short-action equivalent cartridge except for .250 Savage and that is hardly a commonly found number in modern rifles. .257 Roberts or .257 Roberts AI seems to be making a minor comeback if you must have a rifle in this calibre. If I wanted a .25 rifle (which I never will) I'd get myself a .25-06 - it works very well, and what's an extra half-inch of bolt throw at the end of the day? Over here in the UK, secondhand .25-06s are cheap as they're a minority taste, but most owners love them!

If (rather, when) you burn the WSSM's barrel out, the factory super-short action can only be easily rebarrelled to another WSSM thanks to the combination of a bolt length / throw designed around a 2.3" COAL cartridge and a 0.550" dia magnum cartridge bolt-face that is over-large for the 6BR or similar.

The WSMs are a completely different kettle of fish and make very effective magnum hunting rifles and long-range target jobs. 7mmWSM is the cartridge to beat in long-range F-Class. The shortish fat case seems to work very well and brass quality is much better than the WSSM's as well as having Norma brass available. In some calibres, the WSMs don't do anything that older belted magnums don't - eg 7mmWSM is equivalent to the old 7mm Rem Magnum and .300WSM is a little down on the half-century old .300 Winchester Magnum performance-wise, but not enough so you'd really notice. However, the rimless case is a much better proposition than the older designs' belted forms, fits chambers better, and lasts for more firings.

An easy way of judging these things is to look at the marketplace. Lots of firms including European ones have adopted the WSMs, both factory rifles and ammo, while only Browning makes WSSM rifles now and only Winchester the ammo. These cartridges have not been a success with a few exceptions such as long-barrel hunting handguns in .358/25WSSM or similar wildcats where the ultra-short inch and a half case offers some advantage for one reason or another.

(See: http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2010/03/redding-adds-35825-wssm-dies-for-indiana-hunters/)

Laurie,
York, England

 

[Klong]

I have 4 WSSM's with 1 more on the way. If you are looking for a factory gun, the Brownings are easy to find an accurate load for. The Winchesters I have require much more load work and then mine do not shoot as well as the Brownings. If you do not reload, don't bother with the wssm's. The wssm's are also available in AR15 rifles., but the magazine length is a limiting factor for all but the 223 wssm.

 

[jraney]

hey thanks for the oppinions i have heard different things about the wssms but it is always mixed i suppose it always will be but it is good to hear the info from people who know first hand. the reason i was asking more or less is i have been thinkin about a long range hunting rifle for my future and i have had a regular .270win i really liked the gun but it got burned up in a house fire some years back and i never replaced it but i was thinkin about a wssm or wsm around that same caliber. i understand that you can get a .270wsm but not a wssm plus what i have read they don't offer a very good bullet selection so how about the 7mmwsm. do you folks think this could fill the bill with a wide variety of bullets for light varmint to big game. i have also heard these calibers do well with a short barrel is this somewhat true?


thanks J

 

[jraney]

would it be worth the time ,effort,and money to have a 6br for a varmint/deer gun, or would i be better off to go with the mainstream?

J

 

[Klong]

jraney, I thought the 6BR was mainstream!

I have two 7WSM's that I like a lot. I have several 6mm that I like as well. For long range, different meaning for different people, (for me 500 to +1000 yards) I prefer the 7mm and up.

I purchased a tool steel gong. After shooting past 500 yards with some buddies of mine at the deer lease, the lack of a good ring when hit by the 6mm and the solid ring by the larger calibers, convinced me that deer sized game deserved the larger bullets. Don't get me wrong, I shoot 6mm at paper targets out to 1000 yards with good success, but believe deer size game, at long range,is better shot with something bigger.

 

[jraney]

i agree all the way, but there is no way that I would take a shot anywhere near that far 2 reasons 1st i am not even that good at 300yds 2nd the farthest i can shoot on my land is only about 150-200 maybe. what i meant by mainstream was a caliber in which i can buy ammo at walmart, but that is just me. thanks for the insight.

J

 

[LittlefieldK]

I can choose to hunt with most any of the popular calibers from 22/250 to 338 mag, however when I go deer hunting, typically it is with either a 30/06 or a 243 WSSM (both Win 70s). If I go in the woods, the 243 WSSM is my choice, it is a joy to carry in the field.

I handload my ammunition, and I have not had the problems referred to above, although I agree the brass is very heavy, and the necks are too thick.

I plan to build a 243 (or 6.5) WSSM prone rifle in the near future, when I do, I will probably specify a tight neck and turn the necks to a more reasonable thickness.

I also have 270, 7mm, and 300 WSM's and I like them all. A 32" heavy Palma Krieger in 8.5 twist is on order for a 7mm WSM prone rifle build, we plan to use it for the occasional 1000 yard match that has really high wind. Primarily we are building it for Rattlesnake range, but it is possible that it will see use at Perry as well.

 

[muffo]

I have a 223 WSSM A-Bolt. I have never experienced an out of the box factory rifle like it. the synthetic stock is the deffintion of crap but appart from that it is fantastic. If I sit it on a benchrest and let its free recoil it will shoot 5 shot 1/8 inch groups at 100. pitty when you hold it it goes out to over an inch, but I have high hopes for it when I build a new stock.

 

[Snowwolfe]

I was looking to build a resonably lightweight rifle and had access to two Win 70 Classic barreled actions. One being a 300 WSM and the other a 30-06. Both had the same contour and length barrels as far as I could tell. The 300 WSM weighed in at 5 ounces less so that became my rifle choice. Added a McMillan Edge stock to it and am guessing the rifle with scope weighs under 7 pounds, kicks pretty good also. RL 17 was specifically designed around these short magnums and I read one posting by a knowledgeable reloader that stated he is getting 3,193 out of a 24 inch tube with 180 grain bullets and 67.5 grains of RL 17. Impressive for sure if it is safe pressures.

After this I picked up a Win 70 in 270 WSM tweaked by Hill Country rifle and added a Leupold 2.5x8 scope to it and Talley lightweight mounts. Still in load developement with this rifle but so far it has shot it's share of .5 groups at 100 yards (3 shots) if I do my part.

To summarize, either the 270 or 300 WSM's will meet and most likely exceed the .270 Win and .300 Win Mag on a lighter rifle. The accuracy is there and I been very pleased with the results. If you see no need for a lighter rifle then I see no need to buy one.