Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Is the 325wsm compairable to the 338winmag? , what are the differences / similarities In the field?

I'm interested in the 325wsm and have had experience with the 338win mag , there doesn't seem to be a lot in the difference between them are they compairable with 200/225 grain pills or does the win mag leave it for dead?? , I own a 270wsm and love the round , just need a bigger hitter for sambar deer what are people's thoughts?? Thanks big river

I have a 325 wsm really like cartridge and rifle (model 70 extreme weather) but the 325 wsm is headed towards obscurity. It really offers nothing over the 338 win mag minus the recoil the 325 is a lot easier on the shoulder for a lot people. If you reload I would get a 300 WSM and find a good load using a 200gr bullet. When you move up to 220gr bullets in the 325 wsm it falls on its ass and the 338 win mag starts to outshine it with the heavier bullets. So if you are looking to just 200gr bullet I would get a 300 wsm try to find one in a model 70 they have longer mag boxes than the brownings and remingtons.

Big River call me a whimp but I just offloaded my 338 WM because it wasn't pleasant to shoot and for sambar, I figured my 30-06 with 180g bullets was more than adequate.

So a vote for the 30-06 or as suggested above, the 300WSM.

I'm a WSM fanboy, but never bothered to buy a 325WSM because it was dead out of the gate. In your case. I'd either go with the 338 or try a 130gr TSX at over 3200 FPS in your .270 WSM. The WSM load couldn't be good for the Sambars health.

I think the main difference is that in a few years you will still be able to buy 338 ammo. The 325, in my opinion, is one of several recent "fad" calibers. Since rifles will last 75 or 100 years, the companies look for any excuse to get us top thinkthey have somnething new and materially different.

The 325 WSM is a small step down from the 300 WSM and I've yet to figure out why it exists. It is easy to see why it is dying. With the best loads 300 WSM shoots the same bullet weights to exactly the same speeds. You get exactly the same muzzle energy with only .017" greater bullet diameter.

But the same bullet weights in .308 offer much better BC's than in .325 diameter. At as little as 50-100 yards a 200 gr 300 WSM is much better than a 200 gr .325 bullet

I might have to rethink my next buy , the 270 does a great job for me at the moment but wouldn't mind a decent step up in hitting power to keep them at bay might wait awhile and see what happens cheers for the replies

BR,

A .270 Win and a .338 Win Mag make a great pair.

The .270 is great for deer and antelope, and you grab the .338 when you need a real gun.

Just an alternate suggestion...

But if your field experience is actually showing that the 270 is somehow lacking, I would first consider changing to a more effective bullet, rather than assuming that the caliber is the problem.

270 very often gives more dramatic results in my experience, and with half the recoil of the bigger bores.

A 130 GMX moving that fast will handle most tasks quite effectively.

It's harder to find a comparable 8mm bullet selection.

Big River
there were a couple of studies floating around a while back done on thousands of moose in Europe (They call them elk over there, I think) shot with various cartridges from 6.5X55 up to the 375 H&H magnum. There was NO significant difference in how far the animals traveled in any of the cartridges when shot placement was the same. Bases on that, you might be going the wrong way in cartridge size if you want quicker kills. You might want to emulate some of the Alaska crowd that kills big black bears with 223s, and use a smaller round that you can use to surgically remove parts of the central nervous system.
In the back of my mind, I am wondering what a 257 Weatherby Magnum would do to those critters-

Royce

Based on your wording, your study presumes the animal is harvested.

In wild conditions, during rifle season, after the Elk have been bugled poked and smoked for 3 months you can expect your shot opportunities can be few and far between, and the few you do get may be less then idea.

Sure, if you are hunting elk on a gated preserve, a .223 with a 60gr NPT might be all you need. But if you are hunting in the real world, a .338 is a better option.

I'm fine using the 270wsm had great success using 150grain woodleighs and 160 partitions, quick kills , the idea of going bigger is to leave bigger blood trails and just want to use something with abit more whack to mix it up abit sometimes you just want another rifle just cause , I don't see the sense in buying another similar.

I might even get a true medium bore yet and get a 375

Bigriver
AHA! The truth comes out! Laughing here, can perfectly understand that- Have you considered the 9.3X62? Never shot one myself, but lots of reputable people on the Campfire speak well of it, both in terms of reasonable recoil and game performance.

AntelopeSniper
I am not sure where the evidence is that says a 338 will kill an elk quicker than a 270 WSM. I have seen some elk shot with 338 and didn't see any blood trail from the 210 Partitions.

The 9.3 crossed my mind but I'm after a bigger bore diameter than a .30 cal but still want a rifle that's flat enough to easily shoot out to 300m, the 9.3x 62 is alittle slow for my liking

Winchester engineers, at least, thought the 8mm bore had the advantage over the 338 in the shorter round...the sales team not as much.

I've always found the 8mm to be effective enough...my enthusiasm for the 325 is moderated somewhat by not seeing any real advantage in the field over the 30 cal, and is easily trumped by the enormous number of bullet choices for the latter.

So as long as you can get your hands on the better quality bullets you want to use, the 325 WSM will do exactly what you are asking.

I have a 300 WSM...it hits just as hard up close and is much better at long range with softer recoil...and more great bullet choices than I would want to test.

But then a few of my friends who have built custom long range rifles around the 270 WSM say the same thing about the advantages their 270s have over my 300.

With the expensive semi-custom bullets they are using they do have a point, and their longer barrels can send that little 130 GMX out at 3500fps if they want to emphasize it.

There's plenty of horsepower on tap with any of the WSMs... I think the performance you end up with is more about the bullet you choose and where you put it.

Hitting something hard out to 300 yards, or meters as you put it, can be done with a cast bullet from a 45-70 with irons, at least until they take your lever actions away.

Bigriver; not a gun writer but a fan of the .325 WSM. Having several 8x57s in the house I have always had a good selection of 8mm projectiles on hand. Years ago I was looking to buy an old parker hale in .300 win mag to rebarrel to 8mm round based on the .338 win mag case when the .325 WSM hit the scene. So of course I purchased the a .325 instead. As you have already been told there is not a great selection of 8mm projectiles but there is an adequate selection. I have used the .325 from whitetail doe up to bull eland and it works just dandy. Ranges on game have been 8 yards to 375 yards no worries at all. Hitting silhouettes at the range out to 500 metres / 550 yards no problem. On a trip to South Africa this April / May I took my .325, my tracker told me "that is a strong rifle"

Are there "better" choices than the .325, sure there always is a "better" choice to every calibre. If you do buy one, get a lot of brass (you can always neck up .300 WSM brass), bullets will always be available because our hunting brethren in europe like the 8mm projectiles.

Bigger bullets make bigger holes, bigger holes tend to bleed more, the .325 wsm is flat enough shooting for your stated needs, our friends at Nosler, Barnes, Swift and Woodleigh all make excellent 8mm bullets. If the .325 WSM calls to you buy one load her up and rock on you will not be disappointed.

All the best.
GRF

Is there a reason you just don't go with the 338 Win Mag and say the 210-TSX or TTSX if contemplating that level of power? I myself would choose the 300 WSM over the 325 but you might even go best premium bullet in your 270 WSM and get the job done tidily.

I did have the 338 Win Mag or at least i did until my son took it home with him and have never owned a 325 WSM, but i will take my 338-06 Ack over both, if given the choice .

That's because you are using the wrong bullet.

Load it with some 200gr NBT's around 3k, and go try it yourself. If you have a blood trail, expect it to be very wide and very short.