Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Are the WSMs dead?

Was at one of the best gun shops in my area a week or two ago. They sell lots of guns. And some guy asked them about how much he should give for a rifle in a WSM that his budddy was wanting to sell. The shop owner replied that the value was way down as that they weren't selling. He said that his shop had not sold a WSM of any variety THIS YEAR.

In thinking about it and it figures that this economy might more or less kill them off. Kind of like the Great Depression killed off lots of manufacturers and calibers. It is hard to justify paying $40 for a box of shells as opposed to $20 for a 30-06 for the mostly imaginary advantages offered by the WSMs.

I wouldn't shed a single tear if they were.

Hated both of mine.

I dont think so, maybe some areas they are popular and sell real easy other areas you cant give em away.

You must be in the latter camp area.

WSMs still selling good here...all but the 7 WSM...

The WSSMs, on the other hand, are stone cold...

Ingwe

FWIW:

Market conditions SUCK right now--ARs are coming IN and not going OUT locally. The gunshop owner will no longer buy ARs, just consigning them.

My guess is that standard chamberings in CHEAP rifles own the market for the next 2 years.

BMT

Ring up the shop owner and tell him your considering buying one of his rifles in WSM...Now see what sort of story he comes out with and what sort of deal you can strike...

Given the salesmans first statement you'd think you'd get offered a smoking deal, but i bet you don't....

Seems to be the case here....


Ingwe

in my area, all the wsm's are on life support except the 300.

Anything chambered in WSM gets priced significantly less than the standards in stores around here.
A LH M70 Classic in .300WSM sold (to a member here actually) for $550 while another in identical condition in .270WCF is priced at $700.

Is that what gunshops do in the UK?

Travis

ingwe,do you know why the 7mm wsm doesnt do well , just wondering cuz out of em all thats the only one i want

The viability of the WSM lies within the question of what can they do that the 7mm Rem Mag (or .30 Win Mag etc.) doesn't do?

What are the short comings that really plague the standard belted magnums. Are these short comings significant?

I think the answer is no, the WSMs are no significant improvement.

.........I wouldn`t rely upon just one opinion coming out of one shop in any given area. That alone, in no way, determines how un-popular or popular certain WSMs are or any other round for that matter. The economic trends in that shop`s area could be way down more than in other areas. Generally, there is more demand for the more popular WSMs in the west.

Instead, you go by what the rifle makers are currently have chambered and are currently chambering, the availability of reloading components, factory ammo etc from the local dealers and distribution centers. They know far more as to sales and marketing trends vs one opinion, from one guy, coming out of one gun shop.

The 300 WSM, #1 in popularity, followed by the 270 WSM at #2 aren`t going anywhere. It appears that the 7 WSM and 325 WSM, though nowhere near as popular, are holding their own.

Reloading components for a few cartridges, now considered obsolete by current marketing trend standards (makers aren`t chambering them), are still available to reloaders. That, is the real bottom line.

As long as the round can be shot or used effectively year after year, it really doesn`t matter how generally across the board any opinions are regarding so-called "popularity!"

Savvy shooters understand that the WSMs and RSAUMs don't offer much over the standard 270/280/30-06 in most hunting situations, yet the ammo is 1.5X to 2.5X the price. I agree with you that in these tough economic times folks are sticking to the standard offerings with ammo that sells for Wally world pricing.

My son, who has a 30-06, gets a chuckle every time he sees my 6mm Rem, my 7x57, my 25-06, my 280, and my 300 RSAUM... his comment goes something like this: "OK Dad, I can buy a box of 30-06 ammo at Walmart for $16... lets see... 6mm? nope. 7x57? nope. 25-06? yep, for $25. 280? nope. 300 RSAUM? you must be kidding..."

He does have a point, which is why I keep looking at Model 70s in 270 Winchester. But then we wold have an endless 270 vs 30-06 debate...

The advantage that I see is that I was able to get a short action BLR in a potent 325 WSM. Other than that............

But then again, those of us who reload, don`t need to worry about the cost per box of WSM factory ammo! That`s why we reload in the first place.

For the non-reloaders however, the prices of factory ammo do matter. So maybe (cost wise), the WSMs may not be for those who are on a budget.

Well, that is one thing I know isn't true. Except for the constant bad news on television and everyone's stock portfolio taking a beating, the economy in our area remains more or less unaffected by the current mess. Unemployment is only up a percentage or two and our housing market was not as inflated as everyone else's was.

............And similar to you, I too have a very powerful shorter action longer ranged carbine, which was not and is still not, available in a std non-magnum cartridge. The 300 WSM excels in a shorter barreled carbine, leaving the std cartridges in the dust if using the same sized carbines and barrel lengths.

One needs to also look at the right rifle too for one`s hunting needs when picking a cartridge. That sometimes can be overlooked.

No, they're just resting.


That's true, but if you reload the prices are much closer. The WSMs are nice in some ways, offer the same performance (perhaps a bit worse in velocity, a bit better in accuracy) as the "traditional" magnums, and the ammo/brass cost about the same as well.

My advice is take up reloading, then how "dead" a cartridge is matters just about zero. For instance, you could even use the .260 Remington, which is about 1% as "popular" as the .300 WSM. ;-)

It is absolutely true, though, that a .30-06 is the cheapest possible route to hunting success, and will kill anything in North America. So, how do you like your Handi-rifle?

BTW, just to throw some reality into the discussion, here are some prices for Fusion ammo from MidwayUSA. I've used Fusion, it's quite accurate and worked for me in the field:

.30-06 165gr: $25.99
7mm WSM 150gr: $32.99
.300 Win Mag 180gr: $33.99
.300 WSM 180gr: $34.99

MidwayUSA has .270 Win and a few other calibers of Fusion ammo on sale for about $5 off, just an FYI.

Disclaimer: I've been a happy 7mm WSM shooter for a few years now.

.............Forget the bad news and stock portfolios. Out here in So Calif my friend, the WSMs, in the 270 and 300, are moving off the racks quite well in two of the largest gun shops in my area. I know the owner of both. So that means that....A) People out here have more disposable income than in your area,,,and B) Out west here, the 270 and 300 WSMs are more popular, because they happen to be ideal, longer ranged, open country rounds.

So despite your bad news on TV and portfolio assessment, the fact remains that in certain areas, including mine, people are buying the WSMs.

So, I will respectfully disagree with your opinion.