Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska 325 WSM Brown Bear medicine

I have a tripped book for Brown Bear next September with Alaska Private Guide Service in UNIT 17. I was originally planning on taking my Nosler M48 in 325 WSM. The guide stated that anything over 300 WM would be good, so I thought my 325 would be more than enough. Problem is, I just recently chronographed my loads and everything is about 200 fps slower than what I had originally thought. I chronographed it about 3 years ago and was getting 2900 FPS with my 220 gr. Sierras. I tried it this year and am getting mid 2600's to a little over 2700.

Thought it was my chronograph and sent it in for recalibration (thing always showed different speeds depending on how close to sensor you are). Borrowed a buddies in the mean time and found that his was around the same speed. Now with the powder shortage there is not exactly a whole lot of different powders to try. I tried getting Woodleigh 250's going and all I could muster was about 2550 FPS with N160 and RL 19 seemed slower yet.
So I debating on weather or not to order a few different types of powder and try to get another 100 or so FPS, just tinker with what I got to find the best accuracy (usually sub MOA with tinkering), or spring for a bigger gun. I just got a Leica 2.5-10 with #1 retice and love it, but really don't feel like blowing another 1000 dollars when I have already spent so much on everything.

I also hate relying on a gun that is considered "minimum". I am going in after Moose season so will be hunting rivers, up on the tundra if the Bears have moved off of the river, and there is a good chance of shooting one off of a kill site if they had some successful Moose hunters that did not get a chance to shoot a bear off their own kill site.

I have killed several Brown and Grizzlys with my 325wsm. As far as that goes I have killed quite a few with a plain ole 30-06. My go to load for my 325wsm is Reloader 17 and a 200 grain Accubond.

Get close and keep shooting until he stops moving, then shoot once more.



I have several loads for 325, so let me know what you have in mind.

Swift A-Frame load.



Game King

Thanks, 1sg StephenI will have to try and find the IMR powders locally. I tried RL17 some time back and thought that I had sticking bolt lift over 65 grains. Did not have anything else to go on then and did not try it any further. Accuracy sucked below 65 gains so i moved on to RS Big Game for 200 Accubonds at a moderate speed.
7828 SSC is also slow enough that it may push the 250 Woodleighs faster than the N160 that I have been trying. I just hope I dont get the typical laughter at the gun store when I ask for something other than whats on the shelf.

One of the problems you're evidently running up against is the .325 is NOT a .338 Winchester Magnum, and never was, despite the publicity pronouncements. It ain't gonna get 3000+ out of a 200-grain bullet, or 2700 out of a 250.

That doesn't matter. It still kills stuff with the right bullet.

AWWWW...cummon, John


Would Winchester purposely imply it was the short/fat alternative for sales reasons?

Actually, you hit the nail on the head why I sold my one-hole-wonder 338 and got a 325 WSM to replace it. It doesn't hammer me as much as that 338 ( nicknamed it "the Guillotine"), allowing me to use a much lighter rifle these days.

It won't come up to a 338 by any stretch, but it does hit with authority. Were I young again miraculously, I'd still be lugging a 338 Win mag, not the short fat usurper.

Bruce,

You're right on, as usual.

My own .338 is a custom-built lightweight that goes 7-1/2 to 7-3/4 pounds, depending on the scope. I hunted a lot with it for 15 years or so, using handloads that ranges from 200's at 3000 to 250's at 2700. I was younger and convinced that made a magic difference. Have hunted with a lot of other medium-bores since and found out magic isn't nearly as effective as good shooting.

The 338 has simply been the biggest nightmare for me too many times to suggest anyone ever use one... If someone has to ask advice about the round it is more than they should likely be shooting.

I have seen more game lost by those insisting they would and could shoot it. Those that could were never any issue... it isn't the fault of the cartridge... but too many cannot handle it and it makes for messy clean-ups and other bad situations repeatedly.

More than several guides I worked with had found exactly the same thing.

With today's bullets I would think the round can be completely dispensed with for AK and a 30-06 would fill the hole without issue.

I have never seen a 375 shooter have an issue... the shape of everything from the pressure curve to the stock to the weight make it far easier to handle IME&O.

Plus, apparently most .375 shooters don't feel compelled to look for another 100 fps!

He says to the goofball with a 375AI!

I like it to reduce case stretch... really!

And the 20" barrel is proof I am not hooked on speed...

Question... Is it normal for a guide to require "at least a 300 WM"? The two guides I know would prefer the hunter have a 30-06 that he is comfortable with, rather than a magnum that the hunter can't shoot well. Both prefer at least a 30-06.

I think most ask for a 30-06 or bigger... though I guided a client shooting a 7mag once... Few seem to want to go small.

In my opinion, more than a few guides are trying to build the excitement of the hunt by suggesting that "bigger" cartridges are recommended. I'm confident some suspect it's harder to sell a hunt for dangerous game if you can use the same equipment that you do for whitetails on the back 40........

Thanks guys, if the stars align, I'll get a shot on a Brown this year. Wanted to make sure my -06 and 35 Whelen were enough, or I needed to go buy a .375 to be manly in the face of a mean ole Brownie. (sarcasm).

This ole Grizz was taken with a 30-06 using Reloader 17 pushing a 180 grain Accubond. Bullet went through and stopped after breaking the away leg.

No question the 338WM is a great caliber, But every one of them I ever shot beat me like I owed it money.

I've shot a 270 (150g Partitions at 3000 fps) for most of my life (40 plus years hunting). Over the past 8 years or so I've moved into the big bores. I have to say my Rem XCR II (7 1/2 lbs with Leupold 1.5-5x scope) in 375 Weatherby with 375 H&H factory loads kicks less than my CZ 550 in 375 H&H did at 10 lbs with the same scope. It has to be the stock. My CZ 550 (a great gun by the way) has grown up to be a 500 Jeffery. Maybe that's why I think the little 375 kicks so little ...

Phil says a 30-06 is enough gun, I believe him. But those bears are damn big when you're within 10 yards of them.

Last year on of Phil's clients killed a big bear neatly with a .270 Winchester and 150-grain Nosler Partitions.

I haven't had the opportunity to hunt with guides, my slush funds go to purchasing rifles I can't live without. But from what I have read, its the guides job to put the client into position to put that first shot where it counts, and the clients job to actually put a bullet where it is supposed to go. I would take the 325, even if it is "slow", as long as it puts the bullet where its supposed to. Placement trumps velocity every time.

I'd bet money that any bear you shoot with that 325 wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the cartridge going 2900fps or 2700fps. I'd worry more about bullet placement than speed.

Awesome Pics 1sg!! A more than satisfied look on your face, I love it.