Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .325 WSM resurgence?

I have a .325 WSM that I bought around 2005. I bought it not so much for the chambering, but because I really liked the rifle - an 1885 High-Wall reproduction. I have never hunted with that rifle, but it shoots extremely well, and the ballistics of the .325 WSM seem really good. But, despite being a fine cartridge, the .325 WSM seemed to fade away over the years, probably because 8mm is not very popular in North America and it doesn’t have the wide range of bullet selections that .30 and .338 have. Not a surprise.

What is a surprise, though, is that I am seeing a lot of new rifles coming onto the market chambered in .325 WSM in the last year. Anyone know why this sudden resurgence of the forgotten and niche .325 WSM?

Other than Winchester, who is chambering new guns in 325?

Nope. The round is as dead as the proverbial dodo bird. What you're seeing is mfg's clearing out rifles they couldn't sell.

The 325 was a dumb move... Olin should have legitimized/standardized the 338 WSM. The 325 does nothing the 300 WSM didn't already do, and do better.

Define a lot, and give examples…..

Secure some brass and/or ammo when you can, and enjoy your rifle. Don’t fret over the status of the cartridge. When it came out, I read that Winchester couldn’t reach their desired velocity with the .338 version, so .325 it was.

I also heard that Winchester could not achieve the desired velocity and or accuracy with a .338 WSM cartridge. It’s been a while since I read that. I had considered a .325 WSM but just stuck with my .35 Whelen for a upper end medium bore.

Dead. The most popular was the 300WSM and even it is in decline. Add the very dead Ruger 300RCM and 338RCM to the list. I love the 338RCM but it's like an salmon that swam upstream and spawned, it's stinking dead.

Last I looked Browning was making new rifles in .325 WSM. I like my Kimber in .325 WSM just fine .

Wish they would have made a 358wsm

I’d say stock up on brass and get a set of dies. One of my favorite rifles is an old 700 8mm mag. Love that thing. If you like the rifle use it and know you’ll probably always be the only guy in camp shooting an 8!

Also, 180 and 200 TSX flat knock the heck out of anything you point them at. Good luck with a cool rifle.

I have an A bolt and an X bolt. I should pick up some more brass for them. I enjoy shooting them. Have not hunted with them yet.

Absolutely love my Browning A Bolt white gold Med in 325. Shoots incredible. Glad I picked up 5 boxes of ammo for like 57 bucks a box 4 years ago. It loves the Winchester 200 grain accu bonds

Since one is unlikely to use an 8mm short mag to shoot squeaks or yotes, I see no reason to despair, once a supply of hunting ammo is secured. That 1885 would be easier than many to switch cartridges on later if that interests you.

Pics would be appreciated by the single-shot crowd, if you have any handy.

My first rifle was a 8mm Mauser when Kimber came out with the 325 WSM picked one up at a super good price on a traded it sat for years not getting used....then picked up a 50 B&M Super Short....got rid of the 325 WSM had plenty of brass to make 50 B&M SS that gets used a lot.....6 months ago need some brass to make some more 50 B&M SS it was easy to find and cheap to use 325 WSM....

I looked at it pretty hard when it came out, and passed. Do not see me changing my mind.

I think the 338 would have been the way to go. To heck with whatever velocity some corporate schmuck was pining for.

I just rebareled an FN for a client in 325 WSM. I have both the 300 and 325 reamers.

This.

The 300 WSM shoots the same bullet weights to the same speeds at the muzzle. But the 300 shoots flatter, retains speed better at distance, and penetrates better with the same bullet weights. The .015" greater bullet diameter is about the same as a sheet of notebook paper, I just don't see that being enough to matter. I'm sure the 325 kills stuff just fine, but I can't think of a single reason I'd choose one over a 300 WSM.

I doubt the OP is seeing any new production 325 rifles. Maybe some that have been sitting in store rooms for years are making their way onto dealer shelves. I've seen brand new, never sold rifles that were 15-20 years old before. Big outfits buy guns by the truckload to get discount pricing. Slow sellers are often left collecting dust in a store room for years. Someone finds them and they put them on the shelf.

The entire WSM family has fallen to the high BC heavy for caliber bullet technology. SA magnums in .30 and .33 caliber utilizing + or - 1.7” projectiles are not feasible on 2.1” brass and 2.86” SAMMI or WSM Wildcat cartridges. Even with a 3” magazine you would be hard pressed to stay in a 3.2” COAL with these .725+ BC projectiles. That doesn’t mean that the WSM family of cartridges aren’t great hunting cartridges, they are. They’re just not suited for fast twist heavy for caliber use as is currently the trend, especially in heavy, long .284”, .308” and .338” magnum caliber use. A 325 WSM is a potent big game cartridge, but it has no bullet technology in the high BC arena and is even limited in standard bullet design. Because of this it is absolutely on the dead end slide. In the end the 300 WSM will be about the only survivor. There’s a reason the 284 Win and 6.5x284 Norma in long range comp need 3.2” room to perform at their highest velocity levels, no difference than what a WSM needs. In doing so you somewhat defeat the whole purpose of a SA design, which was the WSM goal all along.

I agree with that. Had a few 300 WSMs but when CDNN was blowing out M70 Sporter 325’s for 600’ish I decent to try one out. It’s kinda different but doesn’t do anything a 300 would do.

The "general shooting public" seems to be veering hard toward lighter recoiling rounds. Creedmoor, Grendel, Blackout, etc. That makes it tough for the 300wsm and the 325wsm before you get into current ammo prices and monos (that have people doing with 270s and 708s what they were doing with magnums beforehand). 300wm is never going anywhere, but all of the wsms seem to be in the same decline, some just slower than others?

I damn near bought a like new (used) winchester model 70 extreme weather last year. It was chambered in 325WSM and sat on the used gun rack for nearly a month. I went and visited it a couple times during that month it sat there and thought about buying it every time, but then always thought it isn't going to do anything my 300wsm can't do and I'd have to buy a die set and 8mm bullets. I didn't take it home, even though the price ($600.00) was damn tempting. I'm sure it would have been a great rifle. Probably a phenomenal shooter too. I'm hoping someone that was into 8mm's took that rifle home and gave it the love it deserves..