7mm WSM - Your thoughts.....
 

My buddy is buying a Winchester Model 70 synthetic (w/scope) for $450 from a buddy of his. I told him to jump on this deal. the 7mm WSM is ballistically a little better than the 7mm Rem Mag so you can't really go wrong there. The one complaint I've heard about the WSM cartridges is they don't feed smoothly.

What are your thoughts on this round?

If it's the super shadow I feel that's to much. You could have gotten them new from Wal-Mart when they first came out for around $350 with scopes. I know two people that bought them in that same caliber 7mm wsm bought sold them after first deer season. That caliber did not feed good and had problems opening bolt after the round was fired. One of them load it down to about 7mm/08 levels and then it worked ok.

Does anybody make a rifle any of the wsm other then the 300 and anymore. I know they stoped the remington rsum family. My cousin has a 300 rsum and it does not impress me at all.

I don't know. I never saw a Winchester M70 for less than like $600-700. I didn't know they had a bobo version. Is it like a Remington 770?

Yes right before they stoped making model 70s walmart had a black shadow I was wrong that was about $350. It was a plain push feed action with a a cheap stock and scope. I personally don't like model 70s no matter when it was made I like remington 700 and ruger 77. A super shadow was a regular model 70 with synthetic stock.

Good thing I checked here. I did some quick research. Seems people are still pretty happy with them and they are a great deal for the price. But I wouldn't pay $450 for a used one. I'd offer $300 and be happy with it.

How about the round itself? Never shot or hunted with a short mag. Have plenty of experience with 7mm Rem Mag and the 300 Win and Wby mags.

Seen deer shot with the remington version 300 and deer ran like not hit. They where shot in both lungs at about 100 yards and ran about 100 yards. Also on the black shadow the gun Smith I used had about 2-3 of those black shadows and the bolts should not close on a round, he checked head space and all where off. The customers sent them back to Winchester but I don't known what happened. I personally think the wsm and rsum were hyped up to much by outdoor writers.

I believe Browning, Savage and Tikka still sell rifles in the 270WSM as well as 300WSM...Browning also makes rifles in the 325WSM.

I have a Tikka T3 Stainless Lite in 270WSM and a Browning A-Bolt Medallion in 25WSSM...have a brother that hunts with a Winchester Model 70 (not sure which one) in 7mm WSM and another brother with a Browning A-Bolt in 243 WSSM and several friends that hunt with 270 WSM and 300 WSM's and none have ever been disappointed with their performance....deer properly hit with a premium bullet will die, even from a 22LR. I have personally killed or seen a TON (over 100 easily) deer killed with all of the above calibers and have yet to see a deer not die right there with proper shot placement. I also have not had feeding problems with either of mine even-though the 25WSSM is often reported to have such issues. My brother has harvested elk, deer, yotes and everything else with his 7mm WSM....his only complaint has been that it kicks like a mule (more so than the 7mm Rem Mag he use to have)....I think it's because it happens to be a 7 pound rifle fully loaded...LOL!

I happen to be a fan of the SMs and own several; 6.5RM, .270WSM, 7mmSAUM, .300SAUM, .300RCM, .325WSM and .350RM. All the ones I own feed just fine. Most of mine are Remington Model Sevens (or 673s) with one Ruger and one BLR. I'd not call them superior to any of their standard mag cousins, but I like them because they are shorter & lighter. My 20" barreled .300RCM will spit out a 150gr bullet 200 FPS faster than a 24" 30/06 in a much shorter & lighter package, which is what I want & like from it.