Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters wssm barrel life?

my friends dad has 2 .223 wssm winchesters new in the box he told me he would sell me one at a good deal, my question is how is the barrel life. i was reading my hornady seventh edition manual and it suggests the barrel life is very limited , if i were to buy it the primary use would be prarie dog hunting and paper shooting. does anyone have one that has burned out a barrel? if so how many shots is the life expectancy? i was thinking about buying the gun and having it reworked into a .25wssm cuz the .25 caliber hole in my current arsenal is empty but now ive kinda fell in love with the .257wby so in addition i would also like to hear the pros and cons between those two .25 calibers . thanks in advance

i guess my real question should be would i be better off not buying the wssm and investing in a good .257wby?

I have heard stories of short barrel life. I can't attest to their veracity. My daughter shot her 25 wssm about 350 times and the barrel was still OK prior to sale (she adopted my Sako .308).

You might want to save this somewhere, they seem to move it around alot. Barrel Life Comparison

In short, it looks like about 1,700 rounds on average.

The short answer is that, unless you get one of the few Winchesters that made it out of the factory w/o the hard chrome lining (no s/n range, just seemingly-random QC problem), the WSSMs' barrels will last noticeably longer than any other cartridge's barrels in a similar speed range. The graph BarryC linked to displays this graphically.

Yes....the .25wssm didn't impress me

What model of Winchester/USRA 70 and at what price?

All of the Browning and Winchester/USRA built 223 and 243 WSSMs are supposed to have chrome lined barrels, while the 25 WSSMs don't have the chrome lining. From my limited experience, the biggest problem with the 223 WSSM is the factory standard 1 in 10" ROT barrels. With all that case capacity, most folks want to shoot heavier bullets that won't usually stabilize in the 1 in 10" ROT barrels. I have a Winchester/USRA 70 stainless Ultimate Shadow in 223 WSSM that shoots good groups with the 55 and 64 grain factory loads. I shot 1 whitetail with the 64 grain PP factory load, got through/through penetration, and the deer went maybe 20' before falling over DRT. I don't think that the 223 WSSM is a good choice for punching paper and I don't think that it would rate high in my hierarchy of commercial 0.224" bore cartridges.

The majority of people who install good quality after-market barrels report excellent results with their WSSMs and I can testify that my Shilen barreled 25 WSSM is a consistent MOA shooter. I don't know if the 25 WSSM and 257 Roy match up very well. The 25 WSSM falls into the 257AI or 25-284 performance range, while the 257 Roy is a much larger, much faster cartridge.

I'm a big 25 WSSM fan and think that it makes a great dual-purpose varmint and medium game cartridge for the man who reloads and who likes the AR, Browning, or Winchester/USRA rifles that it fits into best. I currently have 4 rifles chambered in 25 WSSM that I shoot quite a bit:

1. Winchester/USRA 70 stainless Ultimate Shadow in a McM Compact, mounted with a Leupold VX2 2-7x33 for hunting antelope and deer.
2. Winchester/USRA 70 CM Super Shadow in a W/U walnut Fwt stock and Ultimate Shadow bottom metal, mounted with a Redfield 3-9x40 for hunting antelope and deer.
3. Winchester/USRA 70 CM Super Shadow with a 23" Shilen stainless varmint contour barrel, mounted with a Leupold VX1 4-12x40 for shooting varmints.
4. Winchester/USRA 70 CM Super Shadow with a 24" W/U 70 stainless Coyote barrel, mounted with a Lyman 8x for shooting varmints.

"camowildcat" over at www.wssmzone.com is a big 223 WSSM fan, so you might go over there and get better feedback with which to make a decision.

Jeff

it is a model 70 super shadow package comes with scope and sling from new. they come from wal mart he said he would sell for 500

oh by the way i was gone for a few days was in the hospital with my wife for 3 days. she gave birth to twins they were 10 weeks early and only one survived so tomorrow we will have a funeral so after this week our lives will settle down again

Those things sold for $400 from Wal Mart.
I didn't mean to sound calous, but I hadn't seen your loss, I'm so sorry.

I'm sincerely sorry for your loss. I hope that your wife and surviving child are doing well.

Jeff

so far they are doing well. thank you

Sorry for your loss

Sorry to hear about the loss



Doesn't sound like your getting any kind of deal, unless it's something you really want I'd look for something else.

Sorry for your loss...

I have a .223 WSSM that I bought at the beginning of winter and haven't shot yet - I usually don't mention it because I'm worried that just talking about it might affect barrel life!!

As others have mentioned - it doesn't sound like a deal...Gunbroker maybe???

The lowest price that I've seen on a Winchester/USRA 70 Super Shadow is on AA. NIB for less than $400. Go to AA and search on "super shadow 223 WSSM". The seller is "wholesalehunter", somewhere in MO.

Jeff

thanks alot guys appreciate all the thoughts and advice

Depends on how much you shoot it and how hot the barrel heats up. Shoot it once a year and it will last forever; shoot it 100 shots in a hour hour and you'll become good friends with barrel makers.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Very sorry! Prayers said.