Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles No more production of 325 and 7WSM?

was at my local range shooting a 7wsm of mine and a guy asked me what I was shooting , when i told him he scoffed and said he was at the shot show and was told that no one was going to manufacturing rifles in 325 wsm or 7mm wsm any longer. So I went home and called a friend who owns a gun shop to see if this was true and he claimed it was. If this is true I hope brass production will continue , for a while anyway , anyone else heard this? Kinda funny cause I think these are two of the better WSM chamberings.

I am still seeing new 300saum brass being produced and that seems harder to get than the wsm varieties.

The 325 was dead in the water before it even hit the shelves. Who wants an 8mm? A 338WSM made more sense. Actually, the 7WSM is the only round of the bunch that has any appeal to me.

The 7mm may well be the best of the bunch, but it was late to the game. The 270 WSM got about a year headstart and the 7mm never has caught up. They are so close there isn't much difference between the 2 and I think it will eventually suffer a slow death.

Never did see the point in the 325 and I'm surprised it has stayed as long as it has. The 300 WSM is the one that will not only stay, but in another generation will surpass the 300 WM as the top selling 300 magnum.

I think brass will still be around, although it may be harder to find and more expensive. There is some pretty rare brass out there if you look.

I've been shooting rifles that haven't been built since pre--WWII, so I wouldn't worry too much about one built/stopped in the 21st century...

Now if you don't have one and are looking, it might be slightly more difficult, but not much.

Dennis

Let�s see,

I�ve owned and loaded for 5 different .308 cartridges and 3 different .338 cartridges. The 325 WSM is the only .323 or 8mm round which I�ve loaded and hunted with.

As of this writing, I�ve owned three 300 WSM�s (Winchester super grade, Kimber Classic, Montana Rifle Co. ASR). One 7mm WSM (Sako 75 Hunter), two 270 WSM�s (Kimber Classic and Nosler Custom Sporter) and two different rifles chambered in 325 WSM.

I guess I�m a contrarian, I like the 325 the best of the lot with the 300 and 270 in a toss up for second.

My first 325 WSM was a Kimber Montana. I have a love hate relationship with Kimber. I love the ones that shoot and feed well, I hate the ones that don�t.

This particular Kimber was basically a 1� gun. Now I�ll admit I didn�t spend hours at the bench trying all sorts of different loads and wringing it out to find the absolute best combination. Rather as I was to be shooting 180 gr. Nosler ballistic tips at hogs and deer, I chose a load right out of the Nolser Manual #6.

In my old age, and being primarily a meat hunter, I have found that muzzle velocity of 2600 to 2800 fps works well at ranges of 200 yds. and under (the range I take most game).
This velocity does not do the damage to meat that a bullet traveling over 3000 fps does, from my experience. Consequently I chose a middle of the road load density, being 67 gr. IMR- 4831 to use in the Kimber.



Here are the results in the field. Both animals were shot at distance between 120 and 140 yds. IIRC. The first is an axis stag that weighed around 160 lbs. I normally do not take axis stags when in velvet, but this would be the only opportunity to take this stag, and I wanted the meat. Upon impact, he humped up, walked about 10 yds and dropped.
The second is a smallish whitetail buck (my mistake, but that�s another story) he probably weighed around 110 lbs. He dropped at the shot.





Although I was fond of this Kimber, a fellow offered me a couple hundred bucks more than what I paid for it, so it followed him home.

In 2011, I had the opportunity to reward myself for good behavior. Santa brought me a Nosler Custom Sporter in 325 WSM. I had sent my letter to the north pole, telling him I had bullets, dies, brass, even loaded rounds, but no rifle chambered in 325 WSM. Well surprise surprise. Dear old Santa came through.



Once again I picked out a mild load from the Nosler Manual.



One inch high at 100 yds, that will do.

It has become my favorite dark-thirty hog slayer. Couple it with a XLR-250 Kill light and you can light �em up at 150 yds at night.



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A couple more thoughts. I�m shooting the 180 gr ballistic tips and have found them to work well. I�m not maxing my loads. If I wanted 300 RUM or 338 RUM velocities, I would be using those cartridges. The 180�s do have a pop in a light rifle. But nothing like an unbraked 300 RUM or 338 RUM.
When shooting off the bench I notice a pop. When taking game I do not remember noticing the recoil.

I would not be in the least bit hesitant to load 200 gr. Accubonds if I were after larger game such as elk. I�ve no experience with African plains game, but I would venture that it would work just fine.

Is it better than the 30�s or 338�s, I doubt it. If you are a rifle looney like me though,
being just one rifle away from being satisfied, it gives you another opportunity to feed your addiction.


Best

GWB

In fact I like the Model 48 Custom Sporter so well that when I spied one chambered in the 270 WSM, cheap, I couldn�t resist. Santa came through once more.

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If this is true, it's quite a disappointment. I think the the 325 and 7 were actually the best pairing of the WSM cartridges. I wanted a M70 EW in 300WSM or 325WSM, but was unable to locate either. Ended up with a M70 Shadow SS in 300WSM. I still have to mount glass, but I hope they're all they're cracked up to be.

I like the 8mm but love the .338

That said

Some rounds are just snakebit inthe US...

the 8mm seems to be one

Snake

geedubya,

I know of a 325 Montana NIB on the cheap. I think I might buy it just because...

If it won't shoot to my liking, it should make a great donor. I've noticed plenty of 8mm components available as well. Good excuse for another rifle...

I was quite surprised how popular the 325 WSM is here in AK. It's probably the most popular of all WSM's. Also, I have owned a 7WSM and 270WSM, and the 270WSM is the only I have kept. I would love to have a 300WSM, but they are hard to find here in a rifle I want.

I certainly like the 8mm Mauser! Classic appeal.

I jumped on the first 7mm WSM when the M70 came out with it. That's gone but now I have one in a Kimber.

The belted magnums are not the best for handloading so I welcomed a non belted magnum.

While I have some 7mm WSM brass and have sized 300 WSM's to the correct headspace it's not good that it happened but I suspected that it would happen.

The draw back for me on the 325wsm is I already have a 300wsm and there really isn't anything the 325wsm can do better especially with the lack of 8mm bullets on the market. I already have a 338 win mag so I couldn't find a place for the 325 in my herd.

I was thinking there were still several rifle mfg's chambering the 7mm wsm?

I can't believe Winchester didn't create a 338WSM, a logical jump from 300 and the same as the 300WM to 338WM. I bet many would have preferred Winchester approach it like Remington, introduce it for 2-3 years and yank it off the shelf...at least there would be a few on the market.

Yeah, I also don't think the general public could warm up to some rifle called a 32-anything.

So Winchester/Browning, Kimber and Savage (and ?) all decided in unison to drop these chamberings? When is this supposed to happen? Winchester has recently added the 7wsm back into it's lineup in several models. Kimber shows several options for the 325 on it's site.

I'm still waiting on the 257WSM

:>(

After Jamisons lawsuit against Winchester, Im thinking is what kind of killed much of their support with the WSM's

What was the lawsuit over?

Same here in Australia, the 325 has a cult following. I've had 1 & are about to inbark on another 8mm journey . I have also had two 270wsm's & two 300wsm's. The 300 was superb with factory 180's chronying 3050fps odd.
In Europe the 8mm is cemented, especially the 8x68. Essentially, the 325 is just a newage short version & I'm a fan

ps- I've had 4 or 5 338WM's now, the 325 does indeed recoil less & considering I never go over 225gns for my quarry the 325Wizzum just makes more sense. Short & handy which comes into its own in the mountains.