Does anyone have one? If you do, what's your thoughts on this cartridge? I've been contemplating about getting one and know where this is one that I can buy. I'm a reloader so the cost and the lack of factory ammo really isn't an issue.

Any feeding issues? Can a Model 70 magazine hold three rounds, or just two?

I've talked to a few guys who do nothing but hunt wolves in the winter and they praise this cartridge.

I have a Win 70 Stealth II chambered for the 243 WSSM. The magizine will hold three cartridges. I purchased mine for varminit eradication. I have shot the Win 55 gr ballistic siliver tip factory ammo. Great grouping, and chronographed avg. velocity of 4222 fps. 20 shots over an oehler 35p.
I can't coment on hunting results yet, but I can't immagine this round being pelt friendly.
I haven't done any load development as of yet as I had to send the scope I put on the rifle back to the factory for repair. But that is a different story.

muck

I load for a friend that has one, a M70 Win featherweight. The rifle is a nice handling gun and will usually put the first 3 shots under an inch.
Believe it or not the case holds about 1 1/2grs. less then a standard 243 Win. I was told I was all wrong on this so went back and checked it several times and it still holds about 1 1/2grs less of ball powder to the top of the mouth.
Over a chronograph top velocity was just over 3400fps. with a 75gr. bullet and IMR 4350, this from a 22in. barrel. The 55gr. factory load (can't remember Win. or Fedresl) got 3800fps., and the 95gr. Slivertip came in at 3220fps.

All this seemed like more of the standard 243class cartridge.

My thoughts:
I like to shoot allot, and overbore cartridges foul and get hot.

I like a .223 with Blue Dot loads.

For the rare occasion when overbore cartrdiges are needed, I have plenty sighted in and sitting in the safe already; 22-250, 243, 257RAI, and 7mm mag. They may never get shot again, and certainly don't need a 243WSSM sitting in the safe with them.

I'm quite happy with my new one, a M70 Featherweight. I will admit to misgivings when I bought it (the usual stories of bad feeding, poor accuracy, etc) but have been pleasently suprised with it.
As previously mentioned, the first 2 or 3 3shot groups will hold about 1 MOA, then it settles down to about 1.5 MOA, which is fine for deer.
I'd want tighter groups for rabbits and foxes, but I bought this one for small (Hog and Fallow) deer.
Since I have only had it for about a month, and fired only about 30-40 shots through it, it may be too early to tell, but the 5 deer taken with it so far seemed just as dead as the ones I have taken with my 7 x 57R or 270 Win.

JMHO, but it seems to be a good little cartridge/rifle combination.

Sorry, I should add that all groups and critters where shot with the factory 100 Power Point load.
I'll have to wait for dies to start playing around with loads.
Best of luck with your choice.

I own Winchester/USRA 70s for all 3 WSSMs and they all work pretty well. I kinda like the 25, but think that a 243 should do the job if you do your part. Federal makes nice brass that sells for about 1/2 the price of Winchester/Olin. The 95 grain Nosler BT or Partition look like good choices to me.

Jeff

I do accuracy workups as a paying hobby (note I did not say money making ) and each of the .243 WSSM's I've worked up would shoot under 1" at 100 yds for 3-shot groups (all were Browning A-bolts).

Accuracy isn't the issue with them--but the hard bolt lift and short brass life is. Found out that the RCBS shell holder (#43) is the same size per my calipers as a 7mm Rem Mag one and it is too tall to be able to bump the shoulder on fired brass-thus it is hard to even get some reloaded rounds to chamber without effort. I ground about .015" off the shell holder on the belt sander, and now I can adjust the sizing die to set the shoulder back whatever is necessary for normal chambering effort. But, once the round is fired, bolt lift is tough-even with a thumb on the scope eyepiece (I know, not good), and often we would need to put the butt in our lap and use far too much effort IMO to extract and eject the fired case. Gunsmiths--two, have inspected the rifle, the fired cases, reload data, etc, etc, and they say it is the nature of the beast.

Oh yes, it happens with factory ammo as well.

So, my two cents' worth is that you'd have to chase me a long ways to make me take one off your hands.

quote:

Originally posted by just-a-hunter:
J-U-N-K!

Just my humble opinion.

Good ol' faithfull, plain jane, reliable, forgiving, find bullets any where, .243 winchester for me.

Todd

Yes, I would have too, except that Winchester Australia, were not bringing in any standard 243's, regardless of type. Only WSSM's (probably trying to push the new round, I guess). As for junk, I'm not so sure. Hyped to the max, yes. Junk? well any rifle that will shoot a 1.1" group from a cold BBL, with factory ammo, straight from the box, will do me.
I guess I'll just stock up on brass, and get some dies.
Here's another quirk. Win brass is $40 per 50. Loaded ammo (100gr Power Points) are $170 per case. Go figure.

Do you have to get a Winchester ?
I like um too ! But I think the cartridge (.243WSSM) will be die a vary fast death.
Does browning still buils a rifle to shoot it ?
On the other hand ,if you buy a couple hundred brass and a set of dies you should be ready for a life time.
But a plane .243 should do the trick and be easyer to live with...tj3006

I did want a Winchester, mostly because of USRAC closing (never know if we will see any new M 70s?), and a 243 for the smaller deer species here in OZ.
I am fully prepared to concede that the marketing hype surrounding these rounds was amazing. Some fantastic claims for velocity, etc were made, at the expense of flattened primers, and sticky bolt lift. Some rifles have lots of feeding problems (luckily, not mine!).

Todd, hardly suprising you didn't know about the 223 ond 243 situation in OZ. I only found out from a guy who works for Winchester Australia the other day, now that they are importing other 243's. Browning A-bolts are once again available in 243 Win, and of course there are no more M 70s to be had.

Just for a laugh, a friend and I took our respective 243s down to the range yesterday. His push feed (old model) Featherweight in 243 Win, my Featherweight in 243 WSSM.
Over the Chrony F1, the WSSM was (are you sitting down?) a whole 50 -60 FPS faster with the factory 100gr Power Point over his 243 Win, also with factory 100gr Power Points.

It would have been nice to get a 243 Win, but this one will do, until someone starts making Model 70's again.

Oh yes--forgot to mention that there were feeding problems if the bullets were loaded long. Fortunately, both the A-bolts preferred the bullets seated about .040" off the lands and that allowed them to function fairly well through the magazine. Polishing the feed ramp would probably help too.

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:
...Just for a laugh, a friend and I took our respective 243s down to the range yesterday. His push feed (old model) Featherweight in 243 Win, my Featherweight in 243 WSSM.
Over the Chrony F1, the WSSM was (are you sitting down?) a whole 50 -60 FPS faster with the factory 100gr Power Point over his 243 Win, also with factory 100gr Power Points....

Hey Sambar, I'm not normally a chronograph fan, but that is absolutely AMAZING!

I'm rather fond of the 223WSSM I have, as it has a place as the largest capacity factory 224 round. It's a superb long range varminter. I'd like to play with a 25WSSM, as it seems such a dandy package; short, light little deer rifle with Roberts +P performance. Super Short Super "Bob", if you will.

The 243WSSM never got me going, at all. With the 240WBY, the 243Win and the 6mmRem, all in the same category, what's there to be gained? If I want a fast .243, I'd pass the WSSM and go straight for the 240 Wby. JMO, Dutch.

quote:

Originally posted by Hot Core:

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:
...Just for a laugh, a friend and I took our respective 243s down to the range yesterday. His push feed (old model) Featherweight in 243 Win, my Featherweight in 243 WSSM.
Over the Chrony F1, the WSSM was (are you sitting down?) a whole 50 -60 FPS faster with the factory 100gr Power Point over his 243 Win, also with factory 100gr Power Points....

Hey Sambar, I'm not normally a chronograph fan, but that is absolutely AMAZING!

Me neither, but I just had to know. The Winchester marketing said 200 fps faster.
Ah well, I guess I'll get by. The deer don't seem to be able to tell the difference.

I neally bought one but went with a rem 700 in .243 winchester....................if you ever want to rebarrel to something else you can, and fact is it's not much better than the plain old boring .243 winnie and in some loads in my manual the .243 wssm can't out run the .243 winnie, so whats the point of it.

quote:

The deer don't seem to be able to tell the difference.

Sambar 9.3--you put that one right in the X-ring for sure. Lots of marketing hype in the WSM, RUM, SAUM, WSSM, etc. and little practical utility over our tried and true rounds we have grown up and grown old with.

quote:

Originally posted by PC:
I neally bought one but went with a rem 700 in .243 winchester....................if you ever want to rebarrel to something else you can, and fact is it's not much better than the plain old boring .243 winnie and in some loads in my manual the .243 wssm can't out run the .243 winnie, so whats the point of it.

Which is the question USRAC/Winchester should probably have asked themselves before sinking a single cent into the project.
But then you can get into a lot of trouble with designers and marketing types by asking "what's it for?", or "why is it better than....?".

I think the WSSM rounds are the Edsels of the cartridge world.

Yep, they do the job, but aren't very pretty to look at.

My thoughts on it, are that I will stick with the 243 and the 6mm Rem... for my 6mm needs...

all it offers is a different case that causes a batch of feeding problems and reduces your magazine capacity if hunting in the field...

I can see limited use as a target cartridge... but then again, a 6mm Rem on a long action gives me everything a WSSM will...

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:
Yep, they do the job, but aren't very pretty to look at.

Some like skinny, some like a little more curves.... JMO, Dutch.

I really like the 25 WSSM. I have 3 rifles in 25 WSSM that I've shot a little and think that both the Winchester/USRA 70 rifles and the Winchester/Olin factory ammo have worked very well.

I have shot several whitetail deer with the 110 grain, 115 grain, and 120 grain factory ammo from the 25 WSSM, plus 1 whitetail doe with the 64 grain PowerPoint 223 WSSM factory ammo, and 2 whitetail does with the 75 grain Barnes X from the 25 WSSM. All were 1 shot kills, all the bullets hit where I aimed and provided through/through penetration. I have a number of other .243" and .257" bore rifles, but find myself picking up the Winchester/USRA 70 stainless Ultimate Shadow when I go out to shoot deer or the 70 Super Shadow with a heavy stainless barrel when I want to shoot varmints. I even left a 70 Super Shadow with a friend in New Hampshire, so that I'd have a rifle to use if I ever get motivated to go hunt deer in NH or VT. He has used that rifle to shoot a couple of deer and a black bear, using the 120 grain PEP factory ammo that was selected because it was the least expensive option and my friend tends to be frugal.

FWIW, the Federal 223 WSSM and 243 WSSM brass is really easy to work with and seems to be of very high quality.

Jeff

quote:

Originally posted by Dutch:

quote:

Originally posted by Sambar 9.3:
Yep, they do the job, but aren't very pretty to look at.

Some like skinny, some like a little more curves.... JMO, Dutch.

The rifle (M70 Featherweight) is pretty to the eye, and handles well.
The 243 WSSM round? Well......it works, and I'll leave it at that.

Just a thought, a friend of mine has just picked up a M70 Featherweight in 243 WSSM, after shooting mine.
He wants his primarily for shooting foxes, but the occasional use for deer.
The 100gr Power Points gave about the same groups as mine (around 1 - 1.2 MOA), but the 55gr Supreme load is amazing, with an average of just 0.4 MOA. Tried them in mine, best I could do was 2 MOA. Ah well, that's life.

Sambar--I won't ever quibble with someone over their choice of caliber. It's a really personal thing.

Yes indeed. Me too. It's sort of like politics and religion, guarenteed to spoil conversations around the dinner table.
Though, as one of the instructors for the deerstalking club, I usually advise new members shopping for their first deer rifle to get a 'popular' (read: common) caliber. That way, a few years down the track, when it's time for them to trade up, it won't be hard to sell, if they want to.
JMHO.

I like the entire line of Winchester WSM and WSSM cartridges. I compliment companies that are bold enough to bring different products to the market because I think it's good for the shooting industry.

In particular I like the WSSM line. I like the looks of the cartridge and to me shooting the .243 WSSM is a new experience whether the ballistics are much different than the classic 6mm's or not.

In conjuction with the .243 WSSM I like the feel and balance of the M70 Coyote. Again, different in that the Coyote is heavier than a sporter but lighter than a varmint. The Coyote shoots well off bags and carry's well.

Buliwyf

Rumour has it the Federal brass is much better than the Winchester brass. Anyone have any experience with it in WSSM?

Does Federal offer WSSM ?

Not here in OZ, but I could get brass from Grafs, if it was worth the hassle of importing it.