Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 243 wssm

I'm getting a whim here to purchase a 243 wssm. I'm thinking the browning after what I've been reading. Anyone with any info or one to sell would be greatly appreciated.

I like them. They are lots of fun and the 3 that I have known (owned one) were all very accurate.

Thx exbiologist,
Have you been around the Winchester or the Browning. As I understand they are the only 2 manufactures to make them.

Only the winchesters. Buddies and I used to cull a heck of a lot of deer in texas. The .243 WSSM wasn't my "go-to" but I used it enough. One friend used a .243 WSSM on something exceeding 200 deer. Another used a .223 WSSM, but his body count wasn't real high. None of us ever had problems with feeding and accuracy was fantastic. They were all walmart crpf cheap M70s.

I loved mine. I want another one.

I have a couple. One is a M70 stainless FWT and the other is a Dtech AR. I really like the way the fwt handles. The AR is kinda heavy but has more than enough cool factor to make up.

Do you handload? That would be a plus with this caliber as factory ammo availability could be questionable. If you handload, a couple hundred rounds of brass should keep you in shooting for a long time.

Thanks for the info Ricky yeah I do handload. I've been watching gunbroker for all the components.

You might want to check Midway for Federal 243 WSSM brass. I bought 500 off there a year or two ago and it was pretty economical that way. Certainly cheaper than Winchester and reports are it reloads easier. If you don't need or want 500, you could sell what you don't want in the classifieds.

I'd get a whim for a 6mm Rem instead, seriously.

Yeah I looked at that but unfortunately in Wy you cant hunt with a 6mm.

uh, i'm pretty sure the regs state 243 dia for a rifle.

BTW, a 6mm is .243 dia.

I used a 6mmWSSM in Wyoming on a speedgoat.

Yep, its legal; so is the 243 Remington, a better cartridge, IMO.

Why is the 243 Remington a better cartridge than the 243 WSSM?

What factors make it a better cartridge?

Jeff

Cap is pretty much the same, brass is easier to work with and if one is going to deal with a flash in the pan, it helps if its 40 years old. You can load the 6mm to 65,000psi too or Ackley to get the same.

I guess I don't buy into any "advantage" of any "Super Short", certainly not in a factory configuration.

The 22 PPC and 6mm PPC have done pretty well as super shorts. I think that the Browning/Winchester trio would have done better if they had been debugged prior to being introduced. I've yet to hear a complaint by a Browning WSSM owner, yet there seem to be quite a few bad 223 WSSM barrels screwed onto Winchester/USRA 70s.

Federal brass is thinner than the Winchester/Olin stuff and cheaper besides.

The 244/6mm has never been a great success, but is a nice cartridge if you're a reloader. Darned hard to find 6mm ammo in Omaha, a city of nearly 500K people, but few gun shops worth their NaCl. I can't remember the lsst time that I saw a box of 244 ammo on a gun shop shelf.

I really like the 25 WSSM. My Winchester/USRA 70s shoot good groups with both factory and handloaded ammo. My Shilen 1 in 14" twist barrel won't shoot anything over 90 grains very well, but, OTOH, it won't shoot anything under 90 grain poorly.

Jeff

The main advantage I stated is the action. I love how small they are. This is the whole point of the WSMs and WSSMs, getting performance usually associated with a longer action length.

I figure that I'm getting performance in the 257AI to 25-284 neighborhood from a slightly shorter package. Not worth the effort to everyone, but the 25 WSSM is a fun cartridge. Kind of a "try it, you'll like it" cartridge.

Jeff

I agree with you, Jeff. My 25WSSM FWT is a sweet little rifle.

'Just goes to prove the old saw that great minds think alike!

Jeff