ORIGINAL: Duckbutter48
ORIGINAL: saladin
in my (humble) opinion the smaller wssm's - 223 and 243 - are dead in the water. browning have just had a sale in australiawhere rifles in these calibres are down to half price, coz they can't shift them. do either of these rounds do anything that something else already can't? yes, they can burn barrels and throats quicker than the standard calibres! anything that dumps a large powder charge into a narrow bore has this problem. if the case is short and fat, the problem is made even worse.
the cases are hard to make feed cleanly, too.
and with the 223wssm in particular, it is still just a 22cal projectile, and therefore just avarmint cartridge, so you'd expect to fire a lot of rounds. i'd opt for the 22/250 or 220 swift, myself.
as for the larger wssm, that might be more practical, because you wouldn't be as likely to put hundreds of rounds through it. but i still think other, traditional rounds would be preferable.
Ahhh the misinformed. The A-bolts(not sure on the Wins)have chrome lined barrels for theWssm's so they will last as long as a non-lined barrel for standard calibers. ST magazine had a huge article on this a few years backabout that misinformed rumor of these guns being barrel burners. Mostwere comparing the speeds and pressures in standard barrels not thelined barrels. After the test they noticed had no problems.
As far ashaving another caliber we dont need and not becoming popular, take a look at the 300Wsm. That is one of the most popular calibers out right now, almost every manufacturer has a gun for this caliber now. If 5 years ago you asked if we
needed another casing size to shoot a .308 bullet the answer would have been no. From all the 300Wsm sales that would have been the wrong answer.
just the fact that browning felt they
had to line the bores demonstrates that these cartridges are hard on equipment. and none of that changes the fact that browning simply couldn't sell rifles in these calibres - no one was buying them. and now we hear that USRAC (winchester) have gone down the tube. could it be because they have puttoo manyof their eggs in the wssm basket?two out of three winnies i see in the stores seem to be chambered in the small wssm's.
as for the 300wsm, you are quite right. but i was talking about the super short mags, not the sm's. there will always be a market for the big-calibre magnums - half the world's shootersseem to think you must have a magnum for medium-sized game on up ( which i don't believe, mind you). the super shorts are a different matter altogether - when i head out to bust some rabbits or foxes i'm not thinking "you beauty, i've got a magnum. now i'll fix em". the qualities your average varminter looks for (at least down here) are better represented by a developement like the .204 ruger than the 223wssm. highly accurate, neglible recoil, low muzzle blast, long barrel life etc. at the end of the day, the proof will be in the sales. and i don't see anyone else rushing to chamber for them.