is WSM really more accurate?

[Bishopus]

Gee wiz... lots of experts here.
No facts though.... this is just another bash the short mags thread... absolutely meaningless.

Not bashing! As far as I'm concerned they're exactly as good as their standard-length cousins, in some cases a little better. But they're not 'inherently more accurate'--that's just Winchester BS.

Oh, and re: shoulder angle, yeah any claims made about shoulder angle and either velocity or accuracy are pretty much voodoo. Even Roy Weatherby admitted (according to both O'Connor and Ackley) that the venturified shoulder was pure branding/marketing, and yet everyone's heard the conventional wisdom that this special shoulder is some kind of engineering marvel that redirects the expanding gasses blah blah yadda yadda. It's just not true, or at least no one has ever been able to demonstrate that it's true.

 

[stubblejumper]

Now correct me if I'm wrong here, but the Ultramags follow the same fat body, sharp shoulder concept as the short mags, don't they? So somebody really thought that the extra 5 degree shoulder angle on a WSM was going to make an accuracy difference?

I am talking the 300ultramag,not the 300saum.According to the wsm owner,the much shorter cartridge case would provide more accuracy and with so much less recoil,the wsm rifle would have an even larger advantage.Apparently he had been reading far too many winchester adds promoting the wsm.

 

[ben hunchak]

There are far too many things that come into play when doing this kind of comparison, the list would go on and on in regards to handloading, OAL, neck reaming, case weighing, etc. Any one of these small variables could have more effect on accuracy than case width/length comparisons.Certainly barrel quality alone is a variable that could easily have more effect on accuracy than case design.

 

[prosper]

I think there's been a fair amount of wisdom imparted here. Any advantages are purely theoretical in a gun that's not otherwise built to match standards, and even then there's controversy (although it's impossibly to deny the success of the PPC's in the BR arena, and the general dominance of the short action concept in precision circles)

 

[Crashman]

Well Winchester claims they are more accurate so it MUST be true. Don't you believe everything you read???

 

[catnthehatt]

The fact of the matter tht wwe forget , is that people start talking accuracy, and the whole concept gets wrapped up into some form of target compettion centering on how accurate one cartridge is over another, forgetting about variables like rifle design, scopes, stock design TYPE of shooting , etc.
let's not forget , these are hunting rifles guys!!

As far as I am concerned, accuracy frrom a hunting rifle is based mostly on the shooter, because the biggest variable ( the criiter itself) could be big, small, and standing at varied distances.

It is the hunter that must decide if he will take the shot , and it is the hunter who chooses to hunt with a particular rifle and cartridge.
In this light, the 300 Ultra and the 300WSM are equals, but one is better than the other, depending on which one YOU choose!

Cat

 

[rgv]

Gee wiz... lots of experts here.
No facts though.... this is just another bash the short mags thread... absolutely meaningless.

Bigredd, if I recall, you work at a gun retailer with a rifle range out back.

Would you say that, in equivalent hunting rifles and premium ammo, that WSM's are more accurate than the '06 or H&H based equivalents ?

 

[BIGREDD]

Bigredd, if I recall, you work at a gun retailer with a rifle range out back.

Would you say that, in equivalent hunting rifles and premium ammo, that WSM's are more accurate than the '06 or H&H based equivalents ?

Yeah I work in the industry and yup I have my own private 500 yard rifle range.
I don't claim to be an expert and I have no axe to grind with regard to brand name or caliber... my thinking is if it works it works and the proof is on the target.
What I can tell you is I shoot hundreds of guns a year... for customers from both the retail and manufacturing sector. I have shot many dozens of WSM's and they are starting to outnumber the standard calibers in new guns.
This time of year one full day a week is devoted to sighting in guns for hunters who don't have the luxury of time or place to check their rifles and shotguns before they take their yearly hunting trip.
I have sighted in dozens of brand new rifles recently and some that have been very impressive indeed.
I recently put together a package for a friend... a Benelli R1 Comfortech in 300WSM topped with a Leupold VXIII 4.5-14 X 40 B&C Reticle. This rifle actually shot sub MOA groups out to 400 yards with both Power Point and Accubond C/T factory ammo (the guy wanted it dialed out to 400 using the B&C reticle).
Was it the WSM ammo, the Leupold Optics or the Hammer Forged Chryo treated Sako barrel that made this rifle so accurate? I don't know... but I can tell you that I have shot the exact same rifle chambered in both 30-06 and in 300WinMag and although they were extremely accurate they did not match the Accuracy of the 300WSM.
If you are asking me generally what my opinion of the WSM's is, I'll tell you what my experience has shown me.
In rifles of the same make and configuration the WSM's are generally more accurate than the same rifle in a standard or belted magnum cartridge and they will sometimes have less recoil than the belted magnums.