how dose the 325 wsm in a browning blr with is 6 lbs 12 once compared to a 338 win mag in a 8 lbs 7 once

I have a couple very nice 338 Win Mags and a Kimber Montana 325 WSM. My 338's are even heavier than the one that you've mentioned, these days they get left at home and I hunt the Montana instead.

The 325 is a little less gun than a 250gr 338 but there's nothing in the America's I wouldn't hunt with a 200gr TSX at 2950fps......................................DJ

I'd say the real issue is what rifle you want. The WSM shines in light weight / shorter barrel rifles, like the BLR you mentioned. Obviously, a .325 WSM in a 6 lb rifle will kick more than most; figure a hunting rifle rather than a range rifle.

..................Agreed!.......Both cartridges will take care of any NA big game. What`s more important is to get the right rifle for you in the action you want, whether in a lever or bolt, by matching the rifle as best as possible to your hunting style.

If you`re going to be doing alot of carrying, up and down from tree stand to tree stand and certainly hunting in steeper terrains, it`s better imo to pack a lighter rifle.

When it comes to picking out rifles, a couple of people I know came to later regret their purchase because they didn`t consider "ALL" of the possibilities. Sometimes emotion can over-rule common sense.

I wouldn't trade my 325WSM for a 338,that's for sure.It likes 200gr. Accubonds

I really like the .325, but I can't stand the BLR trigger. You didn't mention what the .338 was that you were considering, but I'd lean that way due to my dislike of the BLR. But you didn't mention what you were really comparing. Ballistics? Other characteristics like handling, weight, recoil, weather resistance?
And it doesn't really matter what you are hunting as long as it's in North America, either will be plenty of gun. But how you are hunting might dictate the gun of choice.

the 338 wuld be in a browning stalker is the blr a good smooth action. i wana compare them in recoil

Depends on the load, but they'll be similar
http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp
BLR actions are smooth typically, but it's a pretty long throw and I don't like the triggers.

I have always said that the 325 is a winner. I wish one of the better gun scribes would do an article comparing the 325 to the 30/06 to see how it stacks up.The 325 with 180's should shoot as flat as an 06 with the same weight and hit as hard, and come in some fairly compact/light rifles. Use to be that if you wanted more gun than an 06 you had no choice but to go to a larger,heavier gun or go custom. Now you can go smaller,lighter thanks to the 325 and IMHO still be a step up in performance.
I now recommend the 30/06 or 325 to guys wanting to start out.The 30/06 still has more bullet choices for reloaders and more ammo choices for the non-handloader but if you are a one ammo/one load type hunter than there is no difference really.

I love the .338, but you are right about the factory riles chambered for it. Way too heavy.

Expat

It would be very hard for me to say no to another 338 WM if I could find them in lighter rifles.
As it is, I find myself using my 325 Montana for such work as a 338 would otherwise suit.

If you stay within normal pressures the 325 is substantially more powerful than the 30-06, about 300fps faster with a 200gr bullet than the loads listed listed in the Lyman 48th manual. They may be closer in others but there's still a signifigant difference.....................DJ

It'd be kind of interesting to load em both to the same pressure (325 and the 200 and a 06 with a 200) and then do some penetration tests and see how they faired.

Obviously using the same kind of 200 in each. Thinking I'd still be for betting that the 06 would stay with and or beat it when it comes to penetration. But, I could be wrong...been so many times b4.

Be a fun test at any rate.

Dober

That SD on the .308" 200gr is pretty hard to beat.
I would sure think that would give it a penetration advantage over the 8mm??

A 200gr TSX from either is probably going to in and out most any big game animal in the America's anyway I don't know that penetration depth is that big of a consideration.

Also remember that often the lower velocity round penetrates more because it doesn't have as much initial frontal expansion. The 30-06 at 300fps slower might penetrate further but not hit as hard due to a smaller frontal expansion...................................dj

Good points,dj.
I shoot the 200gr NP out of mine( 325 Montana) at 2900fps.
I am sur it will work well for anything on the North American continent.

We all know the difference between on game performance of the 300 WSM and 325 WSM is purely gun loony madness!

Thats why I have a 338WM lol (actually same applies here!)

The 8mm rem mag is the real winner,flatter shooting than both and just a plain cool round.

I agree, but the Kimber Montana 325 is so sweet to carry that mine leaves the safe for the mountainside much more often than anything else I own in that power class.

Kimber Montana's kinda piss me off. My 325 is such a good rifle there's been too many times when I've thought about carrying some other very nice rifles I have and end up not hunting them because the Kimber is just a better hunting tool. It's sorta obsoleted too many rifles. When I hunt with other rifles I keep thinking how nice it would be to have a Montana in that caliber. It's kinda pissing me off they they are so good and for me just one rifle is boring.................................DJ

I like my Tikka T-3 Lite SS in 338. It is under 7.5 lbs with scope and sling. Shoots great and carries better and I still have all the power of the 338 mag.

Unnless you can make an 06' go about 3100 fps with 180's its nowhere near a 325.

Both are great rounds though.

Bill

Mine makes me mad as hell too! I have a new Remington 700 SS 257Wby with a McMillan Edge stock was thinking about hunting this year "BUT" when it was time for the hunt the 325 Montana went and the 257Roy stayed in the safe! The 325wsm gave me another one shot kill man this rife is making me mad....

When I read this, I thought I'd posted it! Plus one.

Exbiologist: agreed on the BLR trigger. It sucks. However, Neil Jones can cure it! Mine now breaks acceptably clean at 3 lbs...

To the original poster. I have a .325 BLR, as well as a bolt .338. My .338 is a M700 XCR with a 3.5-10 Conquest in Talley LW's on it; I don't know the weight but that should get you close if you want to look up the specs. I also have a .325 Montana.

As far as recoil, perhaps the simplest way to put it would be that if you can "handle" a .338, then you can handle a lighter .325. I hate putting in those terms because it makes it sound like a macho thing, and it ain't, it's more just how a person is wired but whatever.... Anyway the .325's recoil is a bit faster and sharper, but there's a bit more of it with a .338...

I like my BLR (once the trigger was fixed) but by the time you factor in a trigger job plus shipping, you are getting into Kimber Montana money, and frankly I'd advise getting a Montana over a BLR unless you really have use for the fast-repeater aspect of the BLR- like as a timber elk rifle, or for hogs...

As to killing power, the .338 has a great record of that. My pard in elk camp is using an A-bolt in .338 and has flattened a few elk with it PRONTO (course the next one might run a half mile <grin>). I killed two elk with a .325 and 200-gn Accubonds and was very impressed with how it performed. .325 is, in my non-expert opinion, a great elk cartridge.

If I can answer any specific questions about a .325 BLR vs. a .338, let me know, seeing how I have both!

In the meantime, another way to put it, is that in terms of recoil, I'd take a shot from any position with one, that I'd take with the other, and just treat either with the respect we show any reasonably hard kicker. Get your body right, pay attention to detail. But .325 from a BLR ain't brutal, not even close.

Let's compare the .325 and the .338 WM with 250, 275, and 300 grain (cast or jacketed) bullets.....and their respective sectional densities...oh, guess we can't as no one has mentioned the .325 and those heavies

Maybe the bullet companies have quit making them for the .338....NOT!!.

The .325 was meant for all those who don't understand the merits of the .338, and are happy with the 200 grain bullet. Yet, the .338 was meant for the 250-300 grain bullets.

I don't think that's relevant. Hardly anyone uses anything heavier than 250-gn in .338 Win. Modern bullets have kind of obsoleted super-heavy cup-n-cores. Most use 200's-225's. I mean, if the 210 Partition is an excellent elk bullet in a .338, and by all accounts it is, then.......

At any rate there is a 220 A-frame for the .325... gotta think that'll penetrate with any 250-gn .33 bullet.

But at any rate, Buckeye, if what you are horned up about is how Winchester originally pimped the .325 as being more powerful than .338, then I'm not arguing with you. That was a BS claim. .338 is more powerful.

.325 is pretty damn potent, though. And you can get it in light, compact rifles that don't kill ya...

Agreed, the .325 is a lot of horsepower...hadn't heard that there was a 220 gr. A-frame for it now.

I do resent the hype/lies put out by the factory ammunition marketers [same as the auto companies] especially as it results in detouring many new shooters from reviewing apples-to-apples ballistics comaparison data.

I see the new Lyman reloading manual has totally omitted its previous excellent Exterior Ballistics chapter, including the Optimum Game Weight formula. New shooters will now learn even less!!

Not quite the test you're looking for but this past hunting season a pard and I went on a moose hunt. He was packing a 300WM and 200gr A-Frames, I was packing my 325WSM and 200gr Accubonds. Both of us killed and had similar shot angles and distances.

Granted it was one small test, but I was impressed. My pard shot his moose at about 75 yards, 3 shots, first was a little high above the spine and dropped the bull he got to his feet after a minute or so and he shot it it again behind the shoulder, it stood so he shot it again through the shoulder and it dropped. Upon inspection and dismantling we found 2 of the bullets lodged under the hide on the oposite side. Nice mushrooms and from the looks of it very high weight retention.

My bull was about 100 yards, broadside, I put one right behind the shoulder. The bull spun and started trotting for the trees at the shot. I wasn't 100% sure I'd hit him due to lack of reaction, but knew that the liklyhood of missing at that range was very slim so I gave him a THS. he dropped on the spot.

Upon disection, the first shot blew cleanly through, the second was never recovered, nor did we gut him to see how much penitration it acchieved. I know it made it up through to the stomach however, and likely farther but thats the extent of my autopsy.

One instance is hardly enough to draw a conclusion from, but my experiences with Accubonds on 15+ other large animals in various other calibers has led me to have great confidance in thier performance. There is nothing up here that I wouldn't hunt with a 325.

Accubonds are what I used in my .325 on a couple elk. Excellent penetration on both. I also shot through a deer lengthwise, starting with a bullseye on the hip joint; 70% weight retention on that bullet.

Guess there's an 8mm E-tip now, 180-gn. That's interesting. When I looked last week they hadn't come up with a BC for it yet though.

What floats my boat on the WSM's are the rifles you can get. Like my BLR or Montana. Lotta ouch per ounce!