Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles WSM's dying????

I know I know..... we all thought it was coming. For the last 2 years I really stepped away from the rifle scene. At that time finding 7mm WSM was like finding unicorn teeth. The 270 bullet selection was just getting a boost to catch up to 30cal and 7mm offerings. Suam's were a pipe dream and wsm's looked to be following. I won a 7mm wsm and have hoped i would be able to find brass for a while.... Sadly im thinking that the ones i have i should hold on to.

Fast forward to this week. I have been contemplating buying a new rifle. Started looking at cartridge offerings from major manufacturers. Im a bit of a 7mm fan..... or snob if you prefer. Just what I grew up around. No one in my family ever shot anything other then .270win or 7mm RM. So following suit im looking into a 280 rem. to go along side my many 7mm offerings. How i dont have one is beyond me.

Anyways back to the title. I noticed that many companies weren't offering WSM's. And if they did it was only the .270 and the .300 wsm. The 7mm wsm was the hardest to find and the 325 i couldn't find. was scarce and the .325 was non existent.

Im sure many make customs or even semi customs in the two but are we seeing hte decline of the WSM"s. I dont think the 300wsm will ever die. But i remember that at one point a guy couldn't find 7mm brass to save a dying uncle. I did a quick search on Midway and looks like hornady picked up the manufacture of it. Thats new to me in the last 2 or 3 years. But Winchester brass isn't even listed anymore and the hornady is out of stock with no option to back order.

Which leads me to my question. If i go the route of a 270wsm , would it simply be un known in 10 years with no new components being made?

The .300 WSM will survive. The 7mm WSM's already dead.

If you choose to go with the .270 WSM make sure you have a lifetimes worth of brass.

I'm personally not breathless over the 300 WSM either. The two I had weren't all that wonderful. Finicky. Of the lot,the 270 is,in my mind,the best. I've never seen one that wasn't capable of easy accuracy. A couple just plain drill little bitty holes for groups. A few years ago I was talking to Red Hawk Rifles. I was convinced I needed one of the short 7mm mags. To say I'm glad it didn't take shape is an understatement. Americans just never have warmed up to the .284 as a whole. The .277 and .308 have been our darlings for so long it's hard to introduce a new 7mm, and have it flourish. My personal favorite North American do-all cartridge would be the 7 mm Remington magnum. The recent resurgence of the 280 AI has been refreshing. I love mine to death. I guess we like our cartridges like our women. Long and thin,with a nice neck and good shoulders.

Are the WSMs dying. Yes. They couldn't stand the turn of events that transpired after Columbine. The hoarding. The component shortages. The industry chose not to expand to meet the need. Instead they chose seasonal manufacturing policies. Feeding the craze,and raising prices exponentially. WSMs won't be back. Inexpensive components are a thing of the past. Hell,if the little love there is for the 257 Roberts dies out,.25 caliber bullets are next on the endangered species list.

The glory days of being a gun nut handloader are over. Catch one of the trends and ride the wave. Ugly ultra light rigs and plastic tipped bullets currently. When you get tired of that just hang on. There will be another along shortly.
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I really don’t worry about brass availability if I like a round. I shoot 307 &356 Win., 303 Savage, 25 35 , etc. and never had a problem finding brass if I was patient and diligent. I do agree with buy it when you find it, but for a hunting rifle a couple hundred new hulls will last a long time.

I love my 7 SAUM and will never be without one. I've never had a problem finding components for it, either.

300 WSM will be around a long time...

I like my 270 WSM, I have 300 cases, should take me out!!!

I have Browning White Golds in 300 and 325 WSM. The 300 is nice and shoots just under an inch but I absolutely love the 325. Found ammo pretty easy at my LGS. Tried 3 factory boxes. All under 60 bucks a box. It shoots a nice little clover using factory Winchester 200 gr Accu bonds. Went and got another box of it. Should be plenty for my lifetime. Even the cheapest factory 220 gr Winchesters at 51 bucks a box shot just under an inch. I was pleasantly surprised! Recoil is the same for both, about the same as a 300 Win Mag.

I've had a couple 300WSM's, they were accurate as hell. I ended up getting rid of them and keeping the ol 06's. I still have a 7WSM, and actually prefer it over the older 7mm Rem magnum. As for finding brass, I have found 7WSM loaded ammo (federal) here and there. A few months ago, I believe Federal made a run of the stuff, as there were 5 boxes of ammo at Sportsman's and I ended up buying all 5. I've seen more of that same ammo on the shelves there over the last few months, so ammo is out there. I figure I'll keep the ol Winchester model 70 stainless classic in 7wsm. Hell, it may be a pretty collectible item in another 40 years...

That thing may be collectable right now. Wood or synthetic?

Synthetic. Ive been thinking about puting it in a nice wood stock though..

Funny how this works....some cartridges catch on and some die....I always thought the 300 WSM would servive mainly due to the love ov 30 cal carved out by great stuff like the 30-30 30/06 300 win and why...even tho the 7 WSM probbly makes more sense..their popularity may be diving off some due to the crappy tupware stocks making a light rifle that kicks the snot out of ya....not good for new shooters to experience....I think they are migrating towards things like the 6.5 creed...
Somthing else that doesn't make any sence is the 280 should have and kinda does replace the 270 and 30-06 yet it has struggled for years...even had a name change along the way...
And think about this why hasn't the 7x57 and 257 Roberts died off...when the 708 and 25-06 available..
Or why do we still love the 22 hornet and the 221 Fb and 17 Fb are fading fast...
Here is the way I see it...there is only a need for verry few cartridges ..the ones that have servived the test of time are the ones that fit the bill the best...may actually have nothing to do with ballistics but rather the platform...perfict example its the 30-30. I have killed many deer with cf rifles...everything from small and fas to med to big and big fast heavy you name it...but actually most of those could have been killed just as dead with the good ol 30-30...

I love my 270 WSM. Mild recoil, sends 130 NBT/NAB out at 3250 FPS, keeps them well under MOA, and kills like lightning. I have stocked up on brass - just in case...

The 7 WSM is one of my all-time favourite chamberings. I can’t see myself ever being without 1 or 2 in the foreseeable future...

Being as I have 950 pieces of 7 WSM....that should be good for a few barrels worth. Especially now that Bertram is going to be consistently making it in batches.....supposedly.

I’ve had 8 300 WSM’s... all produced sub moa accuracy with the stuff they liked. Like the 308 Win, it’s the most eager to please round I’ve ever worked with. However, my current 300 WSM is probably the most consistently accurate factory rifle I’ve ever owned. I have no real need for it, but it’s so darn accurate I can’t bare to part with it. A 180 at 3,030 is one heck of a lot of power.

I like my 7wsm and don't see me getting ride of it. I have a couple hundred pieces of 7wsm head stamp brass and since I have a set of dies I can make it from 300wsm and 325 wsm brass easily.

My Melvin Forbes ULA 270 WSM is my all time favorite rifle; extremely accurate & very manageable recoil for this old geezer! Have plenty of brass, even if I was fifty years younger!!!

The 300 WSM and 270 WSM are very popular around these parts. I have a 300 WSM and 2 270 WSM's. My Sako A7 Tecomate is my go to rifle for the 60 acre field at our farm.

I really like my 270 WSM and have enough brass to burn out the barrel. But even though on paper it is more than a 270 Win. with my shooting abilities it is not much more in the field. It is accurate and easy to load for. The brass is hell for stout and Norma and some others were making it at least for the 300.

Only if the short action were a major part of the choice would I go WSM over say 280AI but the 7 @ 6.5 SAUM do have a lot going for them ballistically and in a short action. The 7x300 WSM would assure you brass is available at the expense of no factory loads. I would get what ever you fancy and stock up on brass. The older I get the less differences I see in cartridges as diverse as the 6.5 Creedmoor up to the 7RM. Sure the RM is better for larger game but for deer only the same same could be said for most cartridges from 6mm to thirty.