Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles question on 300 wsm fading out...

Buncha short action haters!

I love short actions, much prefer them over long. When you can functionally dupe the performance of a magnum long action cartridge then it's just win/win. Or maybe win/win/win. Lots of "win".

The difference in the hand of my short action 7 WSM "Sendero" build is night and day to a LA Sendero, which I have also owned. The velocity difference is inconsequential.

All personal preference of course, but that's mine. There has to be a pretty good reason for me to build on a long action. I have two builds going now. A 6.5 SAUM on a short action and a .338 EDGE on a long action. The EDGE will be a big braked beast of a rifle. There's not really a short action cartridge that'll do all the EDGE offers so I'll just have to suffer a long action.

Yes, pretty much from their introduction.

It's a real bummer that Winchester botched the 7 WSM rollout. That one is a standout.

I finally pick up my Kimber MA 300 WSM tomorrow that I had on order since July. Kimber rep said they were selling a bunch of them, thus the long wait to get mine.

It was never intended to match 300 WM. It does come within 50 fps and can be had in a rifle that is 1/2 lb lighter and still have the same or less recoil to a 300 WM in a heavier rifle. It was intended as an option for guys who wanted near 300 WM performance, but in a lighter mountain weight rifle that still had manageable recoil. It works just as designed.

The worst thing that ever happened to the round was Winchester putting the magnum tag on it. It was originally called the 300 Jamison after the man who designed the cartridge. Winchester stole the idea and lost a lawsuit where any rifle or cartridge sold must pay a royalty to Jamison.

That price difference has held the cartridge down, and forced Remington and Ruger to develop their own line of short action magnums rather than pay the royalty. There are only a few years left on that settlement. I look for the WSM line to pick up more interest when rifle and ammo manufacturers can sell at the same price as other rounds.

W/in 50 fps ? ? I don't believe you can get that close with my handloads. No way to find out w/o comparing at the same time, same components, same chrono.

IF the rifles are *identical*-- the WM should weigh LESS simply because there is more metal removed in the chamber.

Identical is the operative word because of the stocks. In wood that would be more difficult due to density issue. Maybe in composite they could be VERY close.

Granted the 300 WSM beats the 30-06
but trails the 300 W M--maybe not enuff to make a practical difference but chamber, neck, & bore differences could make them MORE---or LESS alike.

I repeat- I don't have any axe to grind. If I wanted a WSM I'd get one. If you like 30-30 get one. No Mas

Jerry

Honestly - no I'm not a S A hater, they just don't trip my switch.

That's why there's Red--Blue--Green
Ford--Chevy--Dodge; et.al. et.al.

Jerry

I'll take a short action in anything but blue, please!

They probably had to wait for a certain amount of orders to be placed. Just think, they waited for 5 months before they got an order for 10 rifles... ..... Keep us posted on how well you like the Kimber. We don't want to hear about any wonky problems like Samo is having with his either...

IIRC it was introduced as equivalent to the WM with factory ammo, which it is...at least with Winchester published velocities: 2960 for the 180PP in tne WM and 2970 inthe WSM. No doubt this is as a result of loading to a higher pressure.

No short action hater here - I have several and love them.

Browning B92, .44 Mag
Marlin 336, .30-30
Marlin 375, .375 Win
Marlin 1895, .45-70
Ruger M77, .257 Roberts (my favorite rifle)
Ruger MK II, .223 Rem
Ruger Hawkeye Gunsite Scout, .308 Win
Savage 11 FXP3, .243 Win

The difference between the WSM and the WM only matters if you're a chrono bug who just has to wring the last few fps's out of a round. In the field it makes no difference at all.

It's no trick to get 3,050 with a 180 and RL17, or 2,980 with H4350... That's 300 WM country. Personally, I prefer the WSM. It's not "fading" as much as its sales have predictably plateaued. It's a terrific round IMO. I've taken everything from pronghorn to elk with it.

Inquiring at several stores in Fairbanks this past September I asked if their respective top sellers were 338 Win Mags and they all said, surprising to me, the 300 WSM, and in particular the Kimber Mountain Ascent was their best mover. Nephew took a really nice sheep with his in September.

I agree! And to me, the short action handles better in the field.

Based on the responses, now it makes me wonder what the deal is with Scheels.

Being a fan of the 308 and 30-06, I was very much a skeptic about the 300 WSM when it first came out, and it took me a long time to finally get one. Now it's my go-to big game round. As others have mentioned, it's very efficient (I get 3000 fps using only 65 grains of powder with a 180 AB) and easy to load for. Cases rarely need trimming due to the shoulder angle. Recoil is reasonable and easily tolerated. And the round seems to be inherently accurate; my rifle typically shoots under 1 MOA all day long with a factory barrel.

I don't really give a damn what the sales numbers are doing - the 300 WSM does everything that I need from a big game round, and I have enough brass stocked away to last me until I grow too old to hunt.

That said, none of that will keep me from building a 7mm MSM.

Sorry Bob, I just had to ! !

Couldn't have said it better.

Jerry

Every Scheels employee I've seen would have a hard time mounting a scope without reading the instructions. And then they would still proceed to fuqk it up royally.

In otherwords, your expectations are too high.

I've heard that guys that run with short, fat women tend to go for the short magnums.
Not sure if it's true, though.