Wolf Killer' s right. There is no difference in the WSMs and their standard length parents ballistically. You' re going to pay more for factory loaded ammo from the WSM line than the standard length mags and if you reload there isn' t as much data available for the WSMs. The only reason the WSM exists is because somebody wanted to fit a magnum cartridge into a short action rifle. In other words they came up with it just because they can. It has also made hte gun and ammo makers a lot of money. It' s really just a toss of the coin to decide unless ammo cost is an issue. Personally I just like long cartridges. There' s just something very sexy about them.