The win. short mag. chamberings are too popular to die. I've been shooting for 40 years and reading almost everthing written about guns most of my life and I've never seen anything excite shooters and hunters as quickly as the various short magnums have. Although I have no first hand experience with any of them I can see the benefits they could provide.I do wonder what good an increased powder capacity would be in a barrel only 16-18 ins. long. Common sense would dictate that you can only burn a given ammount of powder in a short barrel, the rest would be wasted. And that brings me to my next question, have any of you tried the 338 Federal. I don't know exactly what my feelings are with this round. Is it the best thing since sliced bread or is it worthless.What do you think guys!

I have just had a thought, the 338 Federal may be Col. Jeff Coopers dream round for his scout rifle consept!

Good conversation on this one and some good points. I was not sure who the driving force behind the WSM was. USRA or OLIN. I am sure that Browning will carry on as they have been a strong force in this project as well. The 325 shows some real promise even though the 8MM has never been real popular with american shooters.

I can see the 338 Federal being a usful addition although how many calibers in the medium bore can share the market? Only time will answer that question. It will be hard to compete with the versitile 30 caliber crowd. Due to my bad shoulder, the 308 Win will remain my giant killer along with the 45-70. Two calibers that I can't exist without.

Check these out:

[link]http://www.chuckhawks.com/subscribers/rifle_cartridge_page/325wsm.htm[/link]

[link]http://www.chuckhawks.com/subscribers/rifle_cartridge_page/compared_325WSM_8x68S_8mmMag.htm[/link]

[link]http://www.chuckhawks.com/subscribers/rifle_cartridge_page/compared_325WSM_338Mag.htm[/link]

[link]http://www.chuckhawks.com/subscribers/rifle_cartridge_page/compared_325_350.htm[/link]

Hope these are of some help!

Fat-Arrow

How does the 325WSM compare to a 8x57 AI as far as speed and energy. I allready have the later of the two. Zeak

I believe that the 325 would give you 350-450 fps over the 8x57 with 200 grain bullets.