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

Try a different bullet powder combination. Initially I was shooting 140 grain Hornady Interlocks using R-22 and getting 3088 with my 270 WSM.
I changed the powder to R-25 and the bullet to a 140 grain SST and got about 3175. My goal was 3200 fps. Both loads show exceptional accuracy.

I could probably try Magpro and hit 3200 fps but I don't think the deer is going to know the difference at this point.

Dan

WSM's dying????

They were never really alive, from a relative sales perspective...................not that they weren't/arent good.

Just a case of too many choices & the market too diluted.

If someone is starting from scratch, they are all great choices.

MM

That is because Winchester never marketed them right. And no one but Kimber builds a WSM designed around the cartridges strengths. If you're going to build a rifle the same size and weight as a standard belted magnum cartridge there is very little reason to choose any of the WSM's over traditional magnum cartridges. The short action vs long action alone isn't enough difference to matter.

My personal experience is with 300 WSM, but the principle applies to all of them. I could load 300 WSM to within 50 fps of 300 WM, but with 10-15 gr less powder. The combination of less powder and slightly less speed results in recoil that exactly splits the difference between 30-06 and 300 WM in the same weight rifle. OR, I could put together a 300 WSM that weighed 7.5 lbs that recoiled exactly the same as an 8.5 lb 300 WM.

The purpose of the WSM's was to be able to have a lighter weight mountain rifle with performance that was about 98% of 300WM, but with manageable recoil. A 7.5 lb scoped 300 WM will get your attention. A 7.5 lb 300 WSM is much more pleasant to shoot.

I don't think the 300 or 270 WSM will be going under. The 7mm WSM might well be the best of the bunch, but it's introduction was delayed for about a year after the other 2. They had enough of a head start that it never caught up. I can see it going under. The 300 WSM shoots the same bullet weigths as 325 WSM to exactly the same speed. But the 30's have MUCH better BC"s and beat the 325 easily. I never did figure out why they ever offered that one.

The point of the WSM cartridges is to get near magnum performance in a shorter, lighter rifle. In other words, not offering new ballistics is the whole goal of the cartridge design. The point being, manufacturers can then build a rifle that is light and handy, and still get 300WM ballistics (or 7mm Rem Mag, etc). Put another way, chambering an action built for a 300WM in 300WSM is indeed dumb. But, that is what most manufacturers do/did.

Pretty much only one manufacturer, Kimber, built a rifle around the WSM cartridge dimensions. And, a Kimber Montana in 300WSM is a joy to carry and gives up nothing to the 300WM in the field. Maybe eastern hunters in thick forest and in tree stands don't appreciate the weight savings, but us guys running around the Rocky Mountains sure do.

The Winchester M70 WSM action is not a magnum length. Nor is it a short action. Built specifically for the WSM it is.

Are you referencing total weight?