Has anyone played with necking up the WSSM case to beyond 25 Caliber????

I have not gotten bit by the Short Mag Craze....

But I am a enthusiastic varmint and target shooter...

Today an old gentleman was at the range shooting a New Browning A Bolt in 25 WSSM that he had won at a Rocky Mountain Elk foundation dinner......

While I still don't see a place in my life for that round in a hunting weight rifle.... I did become intrigued with the possibilities of this case in a Varmint rifle....

While I don't see the 223 or 243 versions giving me any more than a 22.250 or a 6mm Rem can give me... necked up further has caught my attention...

Since he doesn't reload the older gentleman gave me a couple of empty pieces of brass.... I brought them home and was looking at them with a 107, 120 and a 142 grain Sierra Match bullet on them....

Then I looked at another one of the cases with a 140 grain Ballistic tip in 270 on one....

Then a 120 and 140 grain Ballistic tip in 7mm on them....

I can really see getting fired up over that case in 6.5, 7mm or 270 WSSMs for target shooting on a Savage 12 BVSS platform......

so if anyone has played with a 6.5 WSSM, a 270 WSSM or a 7mm WSSM I'd really be interested in your feed back and experiences....

Looks like I am trending new ground here.. but that is what makes reloading fun....

cheers

seafire

Check with the long range guys at Benchrest.com. Several of the 1,000 yard guys have been shooting one.

I built a 223 WSSM fast twist on a Savage, and it shoots well, although I use it as a single shot, so I can't tell you about feeding.

The thick neck will make you kick and scream unless you go with the flow, and figure out what makes it tick. Or, spec your reamer to a standard .010 thickness or so, and turn necks. HTH, Dutch.

Great idea. Hunting or target, a 5lb .277 or 7mm wssm. I see mountain valleys, sheep, canyon slopes, mule deer, ahhhhhhhhhhhh......

I have a 243 WSSM and 4 25 WSSMs. The 3 that I have fired shoot very, very, very well. I shot a Winchester 70 Coyote in 25 WSSM that would put 3 rounds of 85 grain SBT factory loads in less than 1/2 inch at 100 yards on a regular basis. Any factory production rifle that will shoot groups like that, with factory ammo, ain't 1/2 bad! Think of how much $$ you've put into rifles that won't shoot that good with tailored loads and high grade barrels.

Jeff

quote:

I shot a Winchester 70 Coyote in 25 WSSM that would put 3 rounds of 85 grain SBT factory loads in less than 1/2 inch at 100 yards on a regular basis.

Just like my old school Savage 22-250!

Thanks for the feedback gentlemen....

I am looking at a switch barrel or two for a Savage 12 BVSS....

So no 5 lb hunting rifle....

Major Cal: I also have several 22.250s... won't trade them off and won't quit using them....

Just need some new stuff to play around with....

My varmint battery is still multiple rifles in 223, 22.250, 243 and 6mm Rem, and 260 Rem...

I've been intrigued by the possibilities as well. I have necked them up to .30 .338 and .35. The limitation of the project is the action length of the WSSM sized actions. You will find that the longer bullets intrude heavily on the case capacity. You could use the longer bullets with a longer throat of course but then you would need to single load them.

I think the big bore WSSM's that make the most sense would be the .30 and .35 versions. In the .35, a 225 Sierra would fit in the mag with the base of the bullet just below the joint between the neck and shoulder. In the .30 cal, bullets up to 180grs. of conventional design would work. A Hornady 180 RN could be seated to the cannalure grove and still not be below the juncture of the shoulder and the body, while 150 Partitions wouldn't even protrude into the shoulder area at all.

It's a good concept that I plan on working with after the hunting is done for the year.

Gabe

I believe Mike Sirois at OTT has an entire line of them up to 338 maybe larger. He chambers them in xp's and strikers, I think.

On Target Tech.

Here's an article on how he makes chambers-Awesome shooting guns.6mmBR.com

Ras:

Thanks for the link.. will check it out...

Papaschmud...

these will be going on a Savage short action, which will not be a problem like you mentioned above...

This is also pretty much a target and varmint rifle project.....

cheers
seafire

I'm a Savage shooter myself and I've looked into the same cartridge and for the same purposes. The benchrest guys have found that the 6.5WSSM and 6.5WSSM IMP will shoot the 140s at the ideal velocities, 2950-3000 fps. They have to turn the necks though, the WSSM brass is very thick and doesn't seal well. I think they load the long bullets out to 2.5"-2.6" COL.

I'm still watching it's devolopment but I've recently found out that the 6.5/284 loaded to an COL of 2.9" will do this and even more because I can also seat varmint bullets out to the lands. Plus great brass is avalible, reamers are common, and the loading data is easy to find. This might be of interest, might not. http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=166511

No matter which way I go the key is reliable feeding. The WSSM is tough to feed and I'd bet that it would still be even with the WSM Savage CRF bolt head, and the 2.9" 6.5/284 is still too long for the standard Savage blind mag. I believe the answer is to mod one of the new detachable, centerfeed mags. They accept an OAL of 2.965" and being centerfeed they function with oddball cartridges like the WSSM and BR brass. Here is a thread that I discussed this in with great pics of the new magazine. http://www.savageshooters.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=302