.243 Wssm
- Thread starter tripalm
- Start date
Yes I reload but I have the same nagging thoughts you both have expressed, the ballistics are very close and the .243 has been around forever. What are your thoughts on the gun, the only Browning I've ever owned is an over and under Citori trap.
I actually have the exact rifle and have used it now for a full year. Never mind getting caught up in the volocity figures....straight up this is the MOST ACCURATE rifle out of the box I have ever shot. Med. heavy 24" chrome linned barrel and glass bedded stock with the duracoat finish really makes this rifle...not to mention the slight palm swell which is much more comfortable and natural than the new Remington VS SF stocks from HS Precision. I wouldn't hesitate to buy one of these and you'll love it! A simple spring swap in the trigger and your down into the 1 1/2 pound range easily. Don't sell this rifle short by putting a cheap low magnification scope on it....I started with a 4200 4-16X50 but found it restricting as far as the reticle thickness at 400 yards plus shots....I invested more $$$ in it and now it wears a VX-L 6.5-20x56 Extreme Varminter....can't wait to start smacking the smile off dirt pigs faces at 500 yards this summer.
i have a win. 70 featherweight in .243wssm. once i got my load sorted out, it is a real tack driver. shot an 8 point white tail this year, and now have complete confidence in this rig. buy some brass, and who cares if the discontinue this caliber. can't wait to see the long range results on the local coyote population.
I to have the same Browning as your looking at in 243wssm...and I love it. Actually Chilly Willy was one of the guys on here that had good words about it and made me make the move. It was actually hard for me to find at the time and the only place I could find one in all of ontario was Labarons in Newmarket.
I loaded mine with 75gr V-max's and it is deffinatly a tack driver. I currently only have my 4x12 bushnell Trophy on it but will be going with something similar as mentioned above come spring.
Fit and finish of the stock is great and like mentioned above the palm swell is really comfortable and the stock is great. I am used to my synthetic shotgun stock which in the cold gets really cold being the harder plastic type stock. The browning is more of a rubbery feel and for some reason feels like it forms right to you!
Good luck with what ever you go with...RyanB
I loaded mine with 75gr V-max's and it is deffinatly a tack driver. I currently only have my 4x12 bushnell Trophy on it but will be going with something similar as mentioned above come spring.
Fit and finish of the stock is great and like mentioned above the palm swell is really comfortable and the stock is great. I am used to my synthetic shotgun stock which in the cold gets really cold being the harder plastic type stock. The browning is more of a rubbery feel and for some reason feels like it forms right to you!
Good luck with what ever you go with...RyanB
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
I think the biggest problem with the 243WSSM is the fact that it can be a finicky cartridge to handload for optimum accuracy, and the number of rifles chambered for it are limited.
I use the case for the basis of my 6.5WSSM wildcat, because I have to turn the neck less once I neck it up.
The cases for the WSM's and WSSM's are very thick compared to stnadrd cartridges, but once this is realized there is little problems with it.
They like to run at higher pressures than standard and don't shoot as well loaded down, because of the cse thickness.
This is my experiance anyway, I've had four of them built
and will do some more!
Cat
I use the case for the basis of my 6.5WSSM wildcat, because I have to turn the neck less once I neck it up.
The cases for the WSM's and WSSM's are very thick compared to stnadrd cartridges, but once this is realized there is little problems with it.
They like to run at higher pressures than standard and don't shoot as well loaded down, because of the cse thickness.
This is my experiance anyway, I've had four of them built
and will do some more!
Cat
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
if you already own a .243 WSSM or get a screaming deal on one, then OK...
but going out and actually choosing to buy one right now is not exactly wise.
the cartridge is in its death throes.
even if you are the most meticulous reloader, do not overlook the advantage of having factory ammo widely available.
but going out and actually choosing to buy one right now is not exactly wise.
the cartridge is in its death throes.
even if you are the most meticulous reloader, do not overlook the advantage of having factory ammo widely available.
Ya Okay!!!!!!!!! If you reload ...you'd never want to run factory ammo. You can't overlook the qualities of a cartridge just because the average consummer didn't take to it. Same goes for a rifle platform chambered in that cartridge. Geeze if that was the case that only consummer popular cartridges would ever be used ...the whole A.I. line would be gone...the PPC line would be gone and need I mention the 284?
If the rifle / cartridge floats your boat and you make an educated decission to buy one...go for it! Handloading only makes things better as far as I'm concerned....can't remember the last factory ammo I bought for my 220 Swift, 234 WSSM, 260 Rem, 270 Win, 300 RUM, 35 Whelen, 375 RUM...all have been feed custom loaded pills.
If the rifle / cartridge floats your boat and you make an educated decission to buy one...go for it! Handloading only makes things better as far as I'm concerned....can't remember the last factory ammo I bought for my 220 Swift, 234 WSSM, 260 Rem, 270 Win, 300 RUM, 35 Whelen, 375 RUM...all have been feed custom loaded pills.
"...don't think that the WSSMs are going to be around for long..." Easily fixed by buying empty brass(500 cases, if you can) when you buy the rifle. Even if you don't reload now. The manufacturers' marketing plugs do drop cartridges regularly with no concern whatsoever for the people who did buy. Having brass means you'll still be able to shoot.
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
im just saying that its nice to have the OPTION of either reloading or buying factory ammo. options are good.
case in point: several springs ago we were shooting groundhogs. i was using a .223, my friend a .243, and the third guy who wed just brought along was using some obscure caliber (i dont even remember what it was). we ended up staying for 2 extra days because the weather was amazing (groundhogs really come out on sunny, wind-free days). both of them were out of ammo (i always bring a couple hundred rounds of .223 so i was good)... so a trip to the local CT, .243 guy was out the door with some ammo he found on sale. the other guy was SOOL and had to use an old Sears .22LR for the rest of the hunt. he got one groundhog with it and was cursing nonstop for 2 whole days.
so you can never foresee every situation. the guy came with 4 boxes of ammo that he was sure would be enough, and it wasnt. what if you forget/lose your ammo? what if you end up hunting longer than you had foreseen? yeah its easy to say 'that will never happen to me', but you never know. i personally would not go out and buy a gun in an obsolete caliber if i had a choice.
if someone gave me a .243 WSSM i would probably keep it, but if you are planning a new firearm purchase why not choose one of the dozens of other popular calibers out there that will be around 20 years from now and have widely available factory ammo and brass? and its not like the .243 WSSM has some earth-shattering ballistics that cant be matched by something else.
case in point: several springs ago we were shooting groundhogs. i was using a .223, my friend a .243, and the third guy who wed just brought along was using some obscure caliber (i dont even remember what it was). we ended up staying for 2 extra days because the weather was amazing (groundhogs really come out on sunny, wind-free days). both of them were out of ammo (i always bring a couple hundred rounds of .223 so i was good)... so a trip to the local CT, .243 guy was out the door with some ammo he found on sale. the other guy was SOOL and had to use an old Sears .22LR for the rest of the hunt. he got one groundhog with it and was cursing nonstop for 2 whole days.
so you can never foresee every situation. the guy came with 4 boxes of ammo that he was sure would be enough, and it wasnt. what if you forget/lose your ammo? what if you end up hunting longer than you had foreseen? yeah its easy to say 'that will never happen to me', but you never know. i personally would not go out and buy a gun in an obsolete caliber if i had a choice.
if someone gave me a .243 WSSM i would probably keep it, but if you are planning a new firearm purchase why not choose one of the dozens of other popular calibers out there that will be around 20 years from now and have widely available factory ammo and brass? and its not like the .243 WSSM has some earth-shattering ballistics that cant be matched by something else.
That funny....I just realized that the groundhawg in my avatar is taking a nice dirt nap after being laid out with a .264 100G BT out of my 260 Rem at 325 yards......but manbearpig's avatar is of a VERY pissed off groundhawg....I guess I kill more than piss off! HA HA Poke Poke
The deal with the 243 WSSM in the Browning Varmint Stalker is that it was the ONLY rifle offered with a MEDUIM HEAVY 24" CHROME LINNED barrel in 6mm. This means that shooting a 70g BT at 3700 FPS will translate to a barrel that will likely maintain accuracy longer than a standard 243 Win. It's when you start pushing +4000 FPS on those 55g BT's that barrel errosion would really start to take off. The added stiffness of the super short action and short fat case and step shoulder all lead to inherrint accuracy.
The deal with the 243 WSSM in the Browning Varmint Stalker is that it was the ONLY rifle offered with a MEDUIM HEAVY 24" CHROME LINNED barrel in 6mm. This means that shooting a 70g BT at 3700 FPS will translate to a barrel that will likely maintain accuracy longer than a standard 243 Win. It's when you start pushing +4000 FPS on those 55g BT's that barrel errosion would really start to take off. The added stiffness of the super short action and short fat case and step shoulder all lead to inherrint accuracy.
While I haven't tried a 243 WSSM, I have recently tried a 223 WSSM which I sold to Takdriver on CGN. He has a thread on here posting the results.
It was the the most accurate firearm I have owned out of 35, shooting under 1/2" groupings with factory ammo out of the box. It is the rifle I totally regret selling. So needless to say, I was totally impressed with the 223 WSSM and I should have kept that Winchester Supershadow....
I am considering buying another, unless Takdriver would like to sell that one back
It was the the most accurate firearm I have owned out of 35, shooting under 1/2" groupings with factory ammo out of the box. It is the rifle I totally regret selling. So needless to say, I was totally impressed with the 223 WSSM and I should have kept that Winchester Supershadow....
I am considering buying another, unless Takdriver would like to sell that one back
manbearpig
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Somewhere in the Third World
Chilly - i thought that groundhog was sleeping
you shot that with a .243 WSSM? doesnt seem to be much damage...
you sure its dead?
you shot that with a .243 WSSM? doesnt seem to be much damage...
you sure its dead?
That dirt pig was killed with one shot from my 260 Rem and a 100g BT but hardly showed any sign from the impact other than the solid thud. That bugger had to go 15 pounds. Trust me.....he was having the big sleep! The 243 WSSM usually will toss them about 5 feet in any direction when hit and turn them into jelly. I turned a pup inside out like an accordian this summer with a head on face shot!
Speaking of dirt pigs...Anyone have any experiance with the Barnes Varmint Grenades in .243? I was reading one of my Varmint Hunter mags and there was a bit of talk about them shooting a .223 for hogs...wouldn't mind loading some up in the 243wssm for this spring!
Ryan
Ryan
