Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .243 WSSM

Been quite some time since I have posted here. I recently picked up a M70 chambered in .243 WSSM. I have enough brass to last a lifetime of hunting.The bad news is it splits necks and shoulders with factory loads or reloads. I have it at the smith to see if head space or a bad chamber is the problem. I bought the rifle in hopes of it being a nice rifle for my grandson when he is ready to hunt. It is short and light and a bit more velocity than a .243. If it turns out it needs rebarreled my smith likes Shilen barrels. I would like to stay with a light profile as it will be for a youth and only used for deer hunting. My question is what twist? I am thinking 85 or 95 grain Partitions and whatever powder it likes.

1&9 would be my choice

8 will shoot pretty much anything...

I was thinking 8 twist. Shilen don't list a 9 twist. They recommend a 10 twist up to 85 grains and 8 for the 100+ VLD.

Winchester/Olin brass is thick and brittle, so it is quite likely that your problem isn't the barrel. Before you rebarrel, you might want to try annealing a few case and see if those cases split too.

I have loaded for the 25 WSSM quite a bit and have used resized Federal 223 WSSM and 243 WSSM brass in lieu of the Winchester/Olin stuff.

If it is a push-feed 70 Super Shadow, I have a couple of new take-off barrels.

EDIT: All of the Winchester/USRA and Browning rifles chambered for the three WSSM cartridges shared the same 1-10" ROT. If you're going with and after-market barrel, I'd go 1-8", so that you'd be able to shoot any .243" bullet currently being made.

260Remguy,
I have annealed the brass because I suspected hard brittle brass. The gun also shoots for crap so I suspect a problem. What would you want for one of those take off's? It is a push feed Super Shadow.

When www.wssmzone.com still existed, there was talk of poorly lined barrel toward the end of the USRA's run in New Haven, CT. The 223 and 243 WSSMs were all cataloged with chrome lined barrels. I have only shot a couple of my 223 WSSMs and from one of my 243 WSSMs and they worked fine.

If you're not in a hurry, I'll look for the barrels and shoot you a price. I'm going to be on vacation for most of the next six weeks, so I won't be spending much time at home until mid-August.

I am also in no hurry. Let me know when you have time. Thank you.

PM me your contact information and we can do this off-line.

260. You don't happen to have a take off 25WSSM bbl lying around that would fit a M70 FWT, do you? (I'm in no hurry either)

I have the correct barrel in stainless, a new take-off from a 70 Ultimate Shadow. The Fwt, Super Shadow, and Ultimate Shadow all have the same barrel contour, the different being that the Super Shadow is a push-feed and the other aren't.

Has the stainless barrel had any rounds down the tube? Are you interested in selling it?

260remguy your message box is full.