223 wssm

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JasonYuke

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Just wondering if anyone has played around with this cartridge. I found myself with one today , guessing varget is the go to with 52-55 grainers ?

How did u find yours ?

And shared secrets for loading this free bore mini magnum. ?
 
I think if you are going to use it as a target rifle there are going to be problems. Barrel throat erosion will be fairly quick 300-400 rounds. Barrel life with decent accuracy will be going away at 700=1000. Plus it will cost more to reload than 223. Also the cartridge design is not the best for feeding from magazine.
I don't see any positives but the 200 fps over the standard 223.
 
I dont shoot one but ... Isnt a 223 a short action, Seems a little redundant dosnt it ? Not to mention the 25wssm i played with was a horrible feeding case
 
Yes 100% a short action. This girl does not seem to have feeding issues at all. Ran 1/2 dozen plate full through it felt pretty smooth.

I think it's either u hate it or like it family of cartridges. I likes the few wsm cases I have had and it's quiet similar to a 6br style case so figured why not fiddle with?
 
I had a .243 WSSM that I actually regret selling.
It fed flawlessly, and shot well for it intended use (3/4 moa varminter).
Mine didn't have many rounds through it, but it loved anything in the 70gr weight pushed by Varget.
Buddy also had a .243 WSSM with 1200 rounds through it that hadn't seen any accuracy loss. If you look after them they are no more a barrel burner than anything else comparable.
Brass is pretty thick tough stuff though.. Can be a bit tough to work with.
 
I agree 100%. I can ruin a barrel quick in any fast cartridge if I don't look after it.

Mine feeds very well too.
And am expecting good things accuracy wise. Hear all kinds of positives and negatives. But I have faith.

Range will tell the tail.
 
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JasonYuke said:
Yes 100% a short action. This girl does not seem to have feeding issues at all. Ran 1/2 dozen plate full through it felt pretty smooth.

I think it's either u hate it or like it family of cartridges. I likes the few wsm cases I have had and it's quiet similar to a 6br style case so figured why not fiddle with?
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My all time , all around favorite cartridge is a 300wsm , but it makes sense to me. Wssm is a shorter short action ? I dont get it
 
Wait till you have to reload for it. Learn the term "anneal." Case neck brass is way too hard.
Case obturation to the chamber to seal gases against smoking the brass to the bolt face doesn't happen very well even when the temperatures are above "zero". Wait till you try it at minus temperatures.

RC
 
According to Browning, with the 55 gr bullet, the .223 wssm gains 660 ft over the standard .223 and 400ft over the 22-250.
I am very interested now just have to look for one.
delta1 said:
I think if you are going to use it as a target rifle there are going to be problems. Barrel throat erosion will be fairly quick 300-400 rounds. Barrel life with decent accuracy will be going away at 700=1000. Plus it will cost more to reload than 223. Also the cartridge design is not the best for feeding from magazine.
I don't see any positives but the 200 fps over the standard 223.
Click to expand...
 
100% agree. I think the equal powder burn will be better at all temps as well and because of the case design std dev should be quite low. I plan on loading with this exclusively and not sure if I will run into any issues or not.
I think there is more positive than negative. Feeding is very very smooth in my newly aquired coyote. And the controlled feed does its business quite well.

The velocity from what I read posted below are very achievable from reports.

I don't think it's been a popular cartridge so I am not sold on all the reports I have read about it.

Time will tell. !

I will report the details.

mightyhunter said:
According to Browning, with the 55 gr bullet, the .223 wssm gains 660 ft over the standard .223 and 400ft over the 22-250.
I am very interested now just have to look for one.
Click to expand...
 
It is too bad that they (Winchester) didn't make them all standard WSM actions.
The intention to make it stiffer by making it shorter may have been a bit overkill, but it crushed the versatility of the action.

pilot2001 said:
My all time , all around favorite cartridge is a 300wsm , but it makes sense to me. Wssm is a shorter short action ? I dont get it
Click to expand...
 
Again agree 100% some of the best and strongest actions in the world are built on std short actions.
I can't agree that the extra or super short would have any effect on the stiffening.
However you could run into feeding issues with longer actions however that classic 70 action is really good in this rifle.
I can honestly say no cycling issues very good In fact and u can't tell ur not cycling a 308 it's that smooth.



Colquhoun said:
It is too bad that they (Winchester) didn't make them all standard WSM actions.
The intention to make it stiffer by making it shorter may have been a bit overkill, but it crushed the versatility of the action.
Click to expand...
 
223 rem/55g = 3200fps.
22-250 rem/55g = 3700fps.
223 wssm/55g = 3800fps
220 swift/55g = 3800fps.
So if the swift can do it without burning barrels why cant the wssm. Plus you get a short action.
Why do people give more credit to the 223 rem for velocity and the same people take away from the 22-250 rem as if they are all under-loaded, making the difference seem nil?
My 22-250 and my (admittedly questionable) Shooting Crony say 4080 fps with factory 45g Winchester value packs.
 
The Hodgdon data I have shows max. .220 Swift velocities of just over 3,800 and max. .223 WSSM velocities at 4,000fps (for 52gr. bullets). But, published velocities aren't much use if your rifle doesn't shoot well at max. If you have a Swift that shoots bugs at max. loads and a WSSM that needs to be backed off, then that "potential" shown in the data doesn't mean much.

I owned a "cheap" Win 70 Super Shadow in .223 WSSM for about a year and it shot extremely well. But, it would not feed reliably from the magazine with any more than 1 round in there so that was a huge mark against it. I finally got around to loading for it and after limiting testing with a few powders and one bullet (Sierra 52gr. HPBT match) found it preferred Varget. I settled on a relatively "mild" load and even at that shot a couple coyotes that had a pin hole entrance, no exit and were bruised from ear to gut - amazing performance. But, that's a function of that bullet impacting at or near 3,800 fps - the cartridge that launched it is of no consequence.

Experimenting is 1/2 the fun of rifles and reloading and the WSSM is one you just have to try first hand to form an opinion. I enjoyed my WSSM, but it and all the components are gone whereas I still have dies and 300 fully prepped Normas brass on hand, waiting for my next .220 Swift. And of course there's a .22-250 in the rack. ;)
 
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