skb2706,

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In Hornadys latest reloading manual they used one for load development and data. They stated that they saw significant throat wear after 350 rounds

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I read that too and the funniest part is that users of the .223 WSSM are not showing results anywhere near what Hornady quoted. I have over 1,000 rounds through my M70 Coyote and no signs of throat erosion that can be seen with a bore camera. Makes one wonder what kind of barrel Hornady was using? Or the validity of their tests? Lawdog

Well, if the one I owned is any indication a guy would need lots of cheap ammo to ever hit anything with a 223 WSSM.

I have no idea why Walmart would be selling this ammo so cheap, but the rifle I owned in that caliber was pretty sorry.

It never shot well at all and after around 300 rounds it would not shoot minute of pickup let alone MOA. It was a brand new Winchester Model 70 Super Shadow Super Short.
I put a brand new Leupold VX-II 4X12 on it and never did get any groups worth a hoot. The velocity was amazing, but the groups were poor. Not only that, but the accuracy was very erratic.

Factory ammo might shoot 1.5 inch groups one time at the range and 5 inch groups the next.

I changed scopes, I put in a Jewell trigger, I tried reloads with 40, 50, 55, and 60 grain bullets, I tried all kinds of things and finally gave up.

The guy I sold it to told me "I can make it shoot". Well he wound up sending it back to Winchester. They sent him a new rifle that he kept maybe two weeks. He sent it back and they sent him a third gun. It will not shoot for beans, either. He is going to rebarrel it and make it into a 243 WSSM to see if that is any better.

Too bad, I had high hopes of that being a great predator hunting rifle. High velocity, light weight, black finish and stock, etc. But not everything turns out.

R F

WSSM......"We'll Suck Some More" folks into buying something that they don't need!!!223's and 243's were probably enough but then they went and did the 25WSSM!!!! And people bought them!!!! Now if they'd done a "25WSM or 6.5WSM" then that may be a different precinct heard from!!! But No!!! let's do the WSSM route!!!! Just my .02 on the supershorts!!!! GHD

According to a fried of mine that works at Wal-Mart, this is last years ammo and they are selling it to make room for new ammo. I guess the shelf life is only about a year.....

Shelf life ? Wonder what happens to it once it passes the 'shelf life' ?

As far as Hornady is concerned, they DID use reformed WSM brass, but I doubt that had much to do with anything. I do imagine that they DID not wait for the barrel to cool after firing. When you are shooting from a machine rest generating statistically significant amounts of data, that barrel MIGHT warm up a little......

I have a 223WSSM with about 500 round through it. None of them too "hot". I have not been able to detect movement of the lands, yet (it's a three groove barrel). HTH, Dutch.

I talked to a Hornady guy. The information they provided, about the bores being burned out, was released before the Winchester and Browning guns hit the market. Being so early they missed the chrome bores. Chrome greatly extends barrel life, that is why the military insist on having their machine gun barrels chromed. The WSSM chromed barrels do not have barrel burning issues.

Aaron

I only have experience with one Winchester rifle in .223 WSSM, and it was brought to me for scope mounting and sighting in. The chamber was badly out of alignment with the bore and was rough to boot. THe crown (if it can be called that) was certainly not concentric, either. The best it would do was just over 4" at 100 yards. I recommended he send the rifle back to Winchester; he was in the process of doing so the last time I talked with him. I'll post an update as soon as I find out anything.

Once the shelf life is gone, it goes for $5 dollars a box.....