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When the 325 came out I thought it would be an ideal elk gun, short action larger bullet diameter but not bad on recoil. At the time my 7mm RM was what I used for deer& elk. Since then I acquired a 300 Weatherby & it is my go to elk gun. The 325 would be a step back in my opinion. I get asked about elk rifles regularly & the 325 never occurs to me. Not because it isn’t a good choice but that it isn’t as readily available as the 300WSM that I think is great way to go for dedicated elk or all purpose hunting rifle.

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It’s obsolete. Couple that with a general unpopularity of anything 8mm, as well as the fading of the WSM fad, and you have the recipe for a turkey of a rifle.

The WSM business was the solution to a problem that didn’t exist, IMO. No doubt the 325 WSM would be a terrific elk rifle - so long as you don’t part company with your ammo on the way to your hunting grounds.

The 8mm caliber never found a niche among American hunters, despite the fact there have been some terrific cartridges for it. The 8mm/06 is dead, as is the 8mm RM, and one seldom hears much in glowing terms of the 8x57 (compared to the 7x57, 6.5x55, or even the 9.3x62).

It was the last of the WSM series, designed to closely resemble the .338 WM in trajectory and power (I suppose why it was not a 338 WSM is that it couldn’t quite catch the 338 WM).

All that said, you could probably get a very nice rifle for a steal these days, as I see quite a lot of them on the used market. But you’d better be something of a bullet hoarder and crank in general to make up for it’s shortcomings. Go ahead, and get a rousing applause from the Rifle Looney Farm.

Last edited by GF1; 05/20/20.
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It’s not obsolete to me nor others that still use them.
Both my 325wsm rifles rock ! Reloading is easy for it
too. Any cartridge that drops a moose handily at 600 yards in a lightweight rifle isn’t all that bad. The developers weren’t trying to solve a problem that didn’t exist. They merely came out with a family of short magnum, non belted cartridges. I’m not sure, but has that even been done before? Four cartridges in five years based on the same case. Pretty cool. And a simple barrel swap to 300 wsm from a 325 is an easy option.300wsm has set 1000 yard records and is a fairly popular competition round. It is used by a respectable amount of hunters and still has very good sales. I bought the Kimber Super America and A Bolt just for fun. I enjoy adding rifles to my collection. This was the first time I bought an uncommon round and magnums. I was not disappointed to say the least. Funny how there are always people expressing negativity; and often they don’t even own the cartridge. LMAO

Last edited by Vinootz; 05/27/20. Reason: Typo
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It's certainly not obsolete what with both guns and ammo in production.

It's a good cartridge for heavy bullets and I use the 220gr A-Frame for elk in situations where I expect there may be bear interest in my kill. The BC on the A-Frame is not great, but there's enough powder in the WSM case that it's reasonable. The load is Retumbo loaded to 2820 in a Kimber Classic.

One other thing I like is that 66.4gr of RL-25 with a 220gr game king second is an 1/2 MOA and dirt cheap softball load at about 2450 ft/s. Just throw out the seconds that are obviously mangled. A great load for stuff that doesn't require much reach when you want to avoid meat damage. Also a fun load to introduce newer shooters to light weight hunting rifles.

Other than the .338 RCM and various wildcats, there's really not much out there like the .325 WSM. If it didn't exist, we'd have to invent it or something very similar.

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Poor quality brass.
Poor selection of factory ammo and that which is made is not widely available.
Great choice!

Last edited by RinB; 05/28/20.


“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away”.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Posted by Brad.
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??? you can run any 300 WSM case through any reasonable sizer and be good to go. That gives you Winchester, Federal, Nosler/Norma and Hornady, as well as oddballs like RCC, Bertram, etc. That gives you options for cheap or expensive, weight sorted or not, and prepped or not. I wouldn't exactly call that a poor brass supply.

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God I hope I'm sitting pretty the next time a Kimber Montana .325 wsm comes along.


Your Every Liberal vote promotes Socialism and is an
attack on the Second Amendment. You will suffer the consequences.

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Picked up an 1885 in 325wsm last year. Knew nothing about the caliber but the price was a give away.

So...some friends ( Randy and Miles) last year at the Armijo Springs helped me sight it in and I am thrilled with the results.

Will spend a bit of the summer developing my "go to load" for it. Have all the bits and pieces for several years of use.

Did I mention my kids that adopted me are purchasing some land very near a bunch of federal land that this J M Browning rifle will see some use on?

It shoots very well with factory loads and will be affordable with the "home grown" stuff.

What's not to like?

[Linked Image from live.staticflickr.com]

Last edited by bcolorado; 05/29/20.
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Originally Posted by RinB

Poor quality brass.
Poor selection of factory ammo and that which is made is not widely available.
Great choice!


I agree


Originally Posted by raybass
I try to stick with the basics, they do so well. Nothing fancy mind you, just plain jane will get it done with style.
Originally Posted by Pharmseller
You want to see an animal drop right now? Shoot him in the ear hole.

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I've heard this argument about there not being enough bullet choice or poor bullet choice for years with the .270 Win. Yeah, not too many at the big long range matches or in the bench rest circuit, but there's plenty for what the cartridge is mostly designed for, hunting deer and other medium game. I've been hunting and shooting one for 54 years and never had occasion to use anything other than 130 or 150 grain spitzer bullets. How many bullets you need? And fhe .325 WSM is an 8mm. I have an 8mm Mauser and they make some fine bullets for it. Not a whole lot but plenty for what I use the rifle for. So for my part that's a Bull Sheit excuse to bad mouth a fine old cartridge. Same with the 8mm Rem. Mag. Too many people own those and say great things about them for them to be a BS entity. And like was said on this thread, most of the bad mouthing is done by people that have never owned or used one. I love the concept of the WSM. It has the performance of the big magnums in a short action rifle. If your hunting takes you to high elevation and where onces can make or break you, a lighter rifle is what is needed. But at those elevations you still could run into a big bear. It would be nice to know you're not under gunned. Also, if you're hunting elk a bigger rifle capable of taking big game at a distance is definitely a plus. As far as I can see the .325 WSM sounds like a God Send to an elk hunter.


What goes up must come down, what goes around comes around, there's no free lunch. Trump's comin' back, get over it!
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You make good points Filaman. I couldn’t have said it better. I don’t quite get the “lack of bullet selection “ bit either. For hunters there are enough. I reloaded 62,63 and 64 grains of IMR 4831 with 220 grain Woodleighs and all were under an inch. Even 66 grains did that. But I’m going with the lower charges. I got some 220 Sierra Game Kings I’ll play with. I’d like to try AFrames ,Barnes and Accubond after that. Maybe a 4350 powder. As for brass everyone knows Winchester ain’t great but they are getting the job done. My Nosler and Bertram brass are better quality. I haven’t loaded any of those yet. Glad to see some folks standing up for the cartridge. Lots of naysayers out there. Maybe they don’t appreciate marketing hype. I certainly don’t. On the other hand without it, many things would have lackluster sales and likely not survive.
Anyhow, everyone stay safe with this COVID crap.

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I know what you mean. I haven’t bought a gun I actually needed in 30 years! LOL. Yet somehow I have a fairly good amount in my collection. Let’s face it, if you got a 12gauge, 30-06(or something close) a 22LR and a handgun, what else does anyone really need? But shush please, don’t let the wife ever hear words like that. Or none of us would have a good collection beyond that. 😂 LOL.

Last edited by Vinootz; 05/30/20. Reason: X
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While I do not own a 325 I do own and love an old 700 bdl in 8 rem mag. I think the 325 would be an absolutely top of the line elk slayer. Ballistics between the two or close enough no game animal would ever be able to tell the difference between them. Your 325 would be a shorter/lighter rifle than mine and I’ve hauled mine up several mountains and lived to tell about it. Although I never managed to shoot at an elk with my 8 mag, it has killed game from bobcats to eland and nothing has required a second shot. I’ve always used 180 or 200TSX and they have been pretty much perfect. I’m not sure if Sierra still makes their 220btsp but if you felt you needed a “long range” bullet but I’m sure that one would fill the bill. As mentioned, there aren’t 734 bullets to choose from but there are enough good ones to do anything you’d need to do with a 325. Good luck and I hope you get it!

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Somebody should have warned him. 325 WSM? You'll shoot yer eye out, kid.


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