I'm kinda surprised that more firearm makers aren't chambering the WSM's (I guess the Jamison suit doesn't help matters). What are ya'lls thoughts?

I have nothing against the WSM or the RSAUM cartridges, they perform just as well s their longer cousins.

But....

They are an answer to a question that was not asked.

if they were good, then there would be "big bore" wssm's...

I like 'em. Getting them figured out took a little time. I especially LOVE my .25 WSSM.
I have a Winchester M-70 Featherweight that I had to fool with for a time. But does it shoot!!! .75 moa is a bad day. I LOVE it so MUCH!!! It is the rifle I always dreampt about.
It is so well balanced and perfect for me. I just wish I had this rifle back when I was hunting Mtn. goat and sheep. I am spoiled with the super short action. What a rifle!!!

Have a .270 WSM too. It is a Tikka T-3 stainless Lite. It shoots so good. It is almost boring. Half inch moa most of the time.
I am so happy with the "shorts"
All the negatives written about the "shorts" NEVER became a problem for me.
They shoot, and shoot well. And, yes. I like the "dinky" half or three quarter of an inch less action.

they have their place and their accurate,
but they ain''t gonna replace the calibers i all ready had.
as for rj.... no respect for him at ALL.!!!
after he sueed winchester and won, he starts selling his own brass imagine that,
heck he should be a Politician!!!!!
regards

quote:

Originally posted by ldkier:
I especially LOVE my .25 WSSM.

I'm not a big fan of the shorts, but if I was, this would be the one. A little super short action in a featherweight stock, hubba, hubba, hubba . I almost bought one of these on impulse the 1st time I saw it. My wife (dream killer ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ) was with me and made sure that didn't happen.

Terry

quote:

Originally posted by Arkapigdiesel:
I'm kinda surprised that more firearm makers aren't chambering the WSM's ?

The WSMs are chambered by many manufactures. Browning, Savage, Sako, Tikka, Kimber and Remington. Yes Remington offers rifles chambered in WSM. Ruger is about to come out with it's own line of short/fat rifles so as to avoid the royalties.
According to the local shop here the 300 and 270 WSMs have been there best sellers for a few years now.

I don't know about everyone else, but I am a fan of the shorts. I have three, .243 WSSM, 25 WSSM and .270 WSM. I mounted a 4.5 X 14 Ziess Conquest on each and they all perform fantastically and are straight factory. The .270 WSM is a Model 70 Winchester Super Shadow, the .243 WSSM a Browning A-Bolt with black composite stock, the 25 WSSM is a Browning A-Bolt with a beautiful Monte Carlo stock with very good wood. The .243 WSSM's one hole grouper is a Nosler Ballistic Tip 95 grain with IMR-7828 SSC, the 25 WSSM uses a 115 grain Nosler Parition with Win-760 powder, and the .270 likes RL-25 and a Nosler Combined Tech Failsafe uncoated bullet. My grandson's are crazy about the .243 and .25 for Deer, and I will have to confess, they have not touched the .270 WSM yet, it seems I am always shooting it at something. Conclusion for me is they shoot great and are super accurate, if you put on good glass and reload and shoot enough to do the job right. Good shooting.

Everyone (manufactures) are waiting to see if sells (you people) will be enough for them to justify tooling up to make rifles for them (WSSM, WSM, or any of the other short rounds).

I’ve gotten in trouble over the short rounds in other threads.

If you want one, go for it, and good luck with it. Other than being short, which means shorter actions, and lighter rifles, which means more recoil, what else do they offer? But if you want one, more power to you.

Just don’t tell me that the shooting world has reached a new level of nirvana because of them.

It will be interesting to see what the wildcatters do with the new case designs though.

Richard Venola, editor of Guns & Ammo had this to say in his December '07 issue editorial:

"We saw the short fats arrive and just as quickly languish." "It might seem odd to devote a (magazine) cover to a new cartridge, especially with the buying public feeling used hard and put away wet by the introduction, glorification and near demise of the very efficient Winchester Short Magnums."

But roughly 40% of G&A's readers are military or law enforcement. If it doesn't have something to do with a black rifle they don't write much about it after the initial marketing hype.

Let me preface this post and state that I don't have any short magnums, so I don't have any experience with them.

I do however pull Range Safety Officer duty for my local gun club. I am seeing more and more .300 WSMs show up at the range each time I'm there. I have only seen one .270 WSM and one .223 WSSM. Seems like the .300 WSMs are gaining in popularity here, however it is highly unlikely that I'm going to trade my 7mm Rem Mag or 30-06 in for one.

I have a 300WSM that I like very much. It is the most accurate out-of-the-box rifle I own, and the rifle itself is a short, light dream.

I wouldn't rush out and sell my 300WM or my 300Wby to buy one, but if you are looking for a 300, it definitely is a candidate.

I have four Winchester Model 70s in 325 WSM, 300 WSM, 7 mm WSM, and 270 WSM. I like them. I just acquired the 270, so I have not had opportunity to work with it yet. However, each of the others provide three-shot groups that range between 0.25 and 0.60 inches with various premium bullets. I have tested and worked up loads for a variety of 270 WSMs and 300 WSMs. My experience is that finding sub MOA loads is not difficult.

Performance in the field with each of the rifles that I have shot is as expected. Pull the trigger and cut the game. With the 7 mm WSM, I have harvested Whitetail and Mule Deer at ranges from 150 to 250 yd. All were one-shot kills. I harvested a fine bull moose with the 325 WSM last fall. The shot was at 80 yd and the bull expired as expected. With the 300, I have shot moose, black bear and mule deer at ranges to 325 yds. All were one-shot kills.

If you already have a 300 WM, a 7 mm RM, a 338 WM or a 270 Wby, there is not much reason to invest in one of these calibers. However, they are definitely worth checking out if you are in the market for a new rifle.

I haven't really needed one until now. I am contemplating a sheep hunt in the Brooks Range next year and the idea of carring a Kimber Montana in 300WSM or 325WSM seems better than my heavier 7mm Rem. Mag. I have resisted them a long time but kind of figure what the heck. Not to hijack the thread but, I have been thinking hard about getting the 325. I wish Nosler made a 180 grain Partition in 8mm. You guys that have the 325;how does it perform, velocity, accuracy etc.?????????

well, yeah, but....the WSM rounds weigh more than standard. Just do five more pushups and walk an extra 1/4 mile three days a week...and just fantasize that your rifle weighs 3-4oz less. Besides, if a rifle that weighs a pound more is too heavy, who's going to carry that big, heavy sheep skull? Be the man that your father was in WWII or Korea packing that Garand.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

The dealers I know in Alaska tell me the 300 WSM sells well. I own a 300WSM.
If I ever went sheep hunting again I would most likely put together a 270 WSM.

quote:

Besides, if a rifle that weighs a pound more is too heavy, who's going to carry that big, heavy sheep skull?

Wait a second...Isn't the guide supposed to do that?

I have one Model 70 in 270WSM, one CZ model 3 in 300WSM, and on browning a-bolt in 223WSSM. The 270WSM is my go to hunting rifle. Super accurate and I can't screw up that synthetic stock. My 300WSM is fun to shoot and accurate as well, but as accident prone as I am. I can't seem to take that pretty piece of wood out in the field because I know I would ruin it. My 223WSSM is certain death for Prairie dogs and hopefully will lower the coyote population around my Grandfather's ranch this winter. I personally love the Short Mag's and believe about half of them are here for a while and half of those will be here for good.

I own (2) of them; a 270 WSM & a 300 WSM. Both are NULA's, very light and accurate. The 270 is my "go to" rifle; love it!

I really like the 300 WSM, in fact I now have 2, one is a Kimber and the other is a Dakota 76. Next week I will be taking the 300 WSM to Africa (along with a 416 Rigby) as my light rifle.

When Winchester introduced them, the offered the hunting public a solution to a problem that did not exist. I viewed the WSM and WSSM as purely a marketing ploy (deception) to get me to buy one. Same goes for the RUM's. I refuse and will not buy one.

I have no experience with the WSSM's, but I did have a Model 7 in 300 RSAUM. I took a whitetail with it and then sold it, I already had 2 300 WMs and one 300 H&H. The guy who bought it used it to take an impala, a red lecehewe, a zebra and a kudu. With 180 gr rounds it is deadly.

I didn't have a 30 caliber magnum, and was
considering one for a future elk hunt. Then
one lucky evening, at a DU banquet, I won a
Howa 1500, in 300 WSM. OK, so I read up on the
WSM, and get to work on some 165/168 gr. Barnes
X loads, for that future elk hunt. I have done
load work for a few 300 WMs, and 7mm RMs, and to
say the least, I was impressed with this WSM.
It was easy to find sub MOA loads for, and the
recoil was reasonable in this rifle. I would
echo some opinions expressed here. If you have
belted magnums now, I wouldn't rush out to trade
them on WSMs, but if one is in the market for a
270, 7mm, or 300 something caliber rifle, I
would sure recommend looking hard at the WSM
line.

As for their longevity, I expect we will all
die with plenty of rifles, ammo, and brass
available for the WSM line.

Squeeze

Seems like Im loading more 300WSMs than anything else. Think theyre doing quite well.

I have the 300 and 270 WSMs and I've noticed that they have been the two rifles that come out of the safe when it is time to hunt.

I'm sure that when bolt-action rifles were first chambered for the 308 and were advertised as being a shorter and lighter action, and was equivalent to the 30/06, many shooters probably thought that was hype from the gun manufacturers to sell more rifles.

When they first came out I wasn't interested. a friend of mine came home with a new model 7 in 7mm Saum and asked me to help him work up some loads.That little rifle shoots 3 shot cloverleafs all day long. OK so now I'm a little interested. I ended up in a deal I couldn't refuse for a sav Model 11 in 270 WSM. I'm not exactly in love with that rifle but it will group 3 130 gr Hornady Interbonds into cloverleafs as well. Shot a couple deer with it and was quite happy. Its not a 270 Wby but its not far from it. So now I'm a little more interested. The next thing I know a Wby Vanguard in 300 WSM follows me home. The guy who had it shot one box of shells and sold it because it kicked too much. It shoots the 150 Hornady Interbonds into nice groups and I like the feel of this rifle. No its not a 300 mag but it is a good strong 06 and there isn't much wrong with that. As for popularity the local gun shop sells more 300 WSM ammo than all the other WSMs and SAUMs together.

quote:

Originally posted by jimatcat:
if they were good, then there would be "big bore" wssm's...

Isn't that a 375 Ruger?

There ARE big bore WSSM's, wildcats, that is, and no, they aren't the 375 Rugger.

The WSSM"s are the best!!

A couple of my friends have them...300WSM and 243wssm, I like them!

I think in the next few days one of my other huntin buddies is gonna get a 270wsm and all he is waiting on is a decision between a Sako vs the rest

quote:

I'm sure that when bolt-action rifles were first chambered for the 308 and were advertised as being a shorter and lighter action, and was equivalent to the 30/06, many shooters probably thought that was hype from the gun manufacturers to sell more rifles.

Correct! And Winchester introduced the 308 in the M70 Featherweight which had a 30/06 length bolt with the magazine blocked!

I have a rem700 in 300WSM. Love shooting it. First whitetail hunt with it tomorrow. Looking forward to jack rabbit shoots this winter with 110 grain varminters which group around .75" at 100yd.
Ike