Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 338 WSM?

Why did Winchester come out with a 325 WSM over a 338 WSM? On Chuck Hawks website describing brief histories and applications for the various short action magnums, Hawks writes that the 338 WSM was the original plan:

"In the same class as the .300 short magnums is the .325 WSM. This cartridge came about as the result of a failed attempt to create a .338 WSM. The .325 WSM is intentionally misnamed to make it sound bigger than it is. It actually has a .315" bore diameter and should have been named the .315 WSM. It is an 8mm cartridge and its performance is nearly identical to that of the .300 WSM. The most important difference between this cartridge and the .300 WSM is the relative scarcity of 8mm bullets for reloading..."

So, why has the 325 WSM become more popular than the 7mm WSM? Has Winchester marketed it better/harder? What does it truly offer over the 300 WSM? And most importantly, what caused the 338 to be a no go altogether?

I thought it was .323? Either way it's an 8mm. 8mm never caught on but the one and only deer I ever saw shot with it I could see day light out of the quarter size hole it put through the deer?

It shoots a bigger bullet with moderate recoil, so it's a good balance of power and size without having to use a 26" barrel for the ballistics? I think it was over hyped by Winchester so that shied away people who discovered it wasn't as powerful or equaled a 338 win mag but it holds it's own?

If the 8mm had a better selection of bullets I think it would do better, Definitely limited on bullet selection with it.



I still may end up buying one of these days?

I think you will find that a lot of the .338 bullets have a cannelure location which if paired with the WSM case made for an OAL too long for the WSM actions. If you seated the bullets out to ensure the bullet shank is contained in the WSM neck, you would need a standard length action and at than point, you are stepping into .338 Winchester territory.

The .338 WSM is a failed concept. There is however, and Aussie version called the .35 Sambar which is the WSM case necked up to use .358 bullets.

In short, bullet weight: Winchester figured it (338 WSM) would fall flat on its face with popular bullet weights such as the 250gr+. By the way, it's (325 WSM) not ".315", it's a .323" 8mm bore...

I agree with the "way overhyped" theory, but it's not a bad compromise either. I know many of us laughed at the bs Winchester tried to sell us on. "As fast as the 300 win mag, hits harder than a 338 win mag," all in a nice short action package, blah blah blah...

I was told Olin couldn't get the speeds they wanted with the 338 WSM so went to plan B, the 325.

338 WSM RCBS dies sat on the shelves here at Gibsons and Bob Wards for several years in the early 2000's...

So according to Chuck Hawks the 338 was misnamed? Or anything starting with 243, 257, 264, or 308 is as well.

The .280 Remington has always been mis-named. It's has a .276" bore diameter, .284" groove diameter, and .284" bullet diameter.

I think in some cases the manufacturers pick the name more for marketing than for precision.

7mm-06

I think I can answer 1/2 of your question. The 270, 7mm and 300 WSM were supposed to be introduced at the same time. Winchester discovered some problems with the 7mm version and at the last minute decided to tweak the design some before introducing it about 1 year later. By then the 270 and 300 were already established and the 7mm never caught on. Which is really a shame as it might be the best of the 3.

As to the 325 WSM. That is a huge mystery to me. It still isn't very popular and I expect it to eventually die too, but for now it is hanging on. It shoots the same bullet weights to virtually the same speed as the 300 WSM. At best it might better 300 WSM's by 25-50 fps, but the much better SD and BC's of the 308 bullets easily match or outperform the 325's at any range. You can't convince me that .015" greater bullet diameter is of any significance. After bullets hit and expand no one could tell the difference in expanded bullet diameter between .308 and .323 bullets.