BCEncorePA

Hey guys,
I have been in the market for a small caliber rifle for varmint/predator hunting. I have been looking at the typical classics like the .223 and the .22-250. I work in a gun store that carries 2000 guns on display so I see a few to say the least. A new one that has really struck my interest is the new Browning Varminter in 243 wssm. It is under 8 pounds has a medium heavy 24 inch barrel and has a great synthetic stock. I am looking at it primarily for coyotes and whistle pigs in the summer. Now I would mind a multi task caliber such as the 243 win that can also be used for deer. I know the 243 win is a time proven classic. This super short is such a cool looking round and the balistics are really impressive. Consumer interest is really high and the super shorts in general are selling well(Not as well as their big bro's the WSM's). I read an article by Craig Boddington on the 243 wssm and he had nothing but praise and compliments. Now the fact that I dont have a 243 already is what keeps me interested. I dont thing it would be worth buying a WSSM if I have the original. The point is to get feedback. 99% of the people I deal with at work LOVE their WSM's the wssm's are still hot off the press so feedback is hard to find. So if any of you guys have experience with this caliber in any gun let me know. I look at all the pros and cons, will it hang around, ammunition availabilty, barrel life etc. It looks good on paper, but i would like some field experience if possible. It seems like it will fit my bill really well with the 55grn to 100 grn bullet weight range. Thanks.

frizzellr

The WSM series is mostly hype but the WSSM series is even more so. It is the flavor of the month with no real purpose other than to sell rifles. I don't see any advantage over existing cartridges and I doubt the WSSMs will stay very long. Get a 243 Win and be done with it or better yet a 6mm Rem.

bigbulls

Of course that's what people said about the .243 and 6mm when they were first introduced. Just like the belts on the regular magnums. They were suppose to be so much stronger than the regular old cartridges to handle those magnum pressures. But a .270, 30-06, 280 etc... are loaded to the same or higher than their magnum counterparts. Those were full of hype at their beginning.

IMO it would make a fine dual purpose cartridge. It offers better ballistics than the standard .243 in a shorter and stiffer package. If I had the need for one I would buy one in a heartbeat.

Right now who knows how long it will be around. That can also be said for just about every cartridge that has ever been made except for some of the military cartridges.

halcon

To be honest I can't see what advantage it would be to me to buy one . I have a 243 Win and a 6mm Rem now and don't load them even close to max . they both shoot MOA and both weigh less than eight lbs . Just to say I have the latest is not a reason for me . Show me what it will do better and I would consider it .

oldelkhunter

If you already have a 243 I wouldn't mess with it but if not it would be a very interesting round. I have some experience with the WSM's and they are all they are advertised to be and out of all the cartridges I have tried out ..chronographed.. range tested are a dream to handload for and match factory velocities as well as reloaded velocities. The sticking point has been feeding them and I don't like either gun A bolt or Model 70 CRF for this application. I have recently purchased a 7 WSM in CRPF and it is sweet only time will tell how it does accuracy wise but if the previous 300 wsm's I had are any indication there should be no problems. For the naysayers please reference the newest Hornady manual and compare velocities with factory guns long mag vs WSM and then tell me...better yet actually buy one before opening mouth and talking smack.

James B

Since you are talking about Varmit hunting, I would say go with the new WSSM you are going to gain a couple hundred FPS and thats worth while gain for a varmit shooting That equals flatter trajectory and more useable yardage. If it were to be used for deer then I would stay with the regular version. For deer the regular 6mm's have plenty of power for the available bullets. I think the WSSM are here to stay. They burn powder more more completly and why have an action longer than you need. I will grab the first new 25 WSSM that I come accross.

Nomercy

First off, I don't have much taste for Craig Boddington-he's got the largest combined case of "Bigboritus" and "Magnumitus" that I've ever seen, it's a rarity that he'll willingly say anything well about a non-magnum or a small bore-which I suppose the .243WSSM DOES count as a magnum!!! Another thing to remember, he gets paid to say good things about certain consumer products, whether he got paid to run that article or not, it's hard to tell, but always keep money in mind when you hear an endorsement.

That said, I'm not paid for my opinion, and I do enjoy the .243WSSM-a little pricey on brass and loaded ammo compared to my .22-250's, but it's certainly a great round-in my opinion, the .243WSSM is the best round of the entire WSM/WSSM family! You can get better performance from a compact .243WSSM than the .243Win got from a standard weight rifle-both are short actions, so you're not gaining much in that department, but the performance increase is substantial...worthwhile at least! Of course, you're talking about a target/varmint rifle, which will give you substantially improved performance over a variety of similar rounds/rifles, i.e., what's the problem with a .223 or .22-250, they don't have enough bullet weight for fighting the wind way downrange, the .243WSSM gives great performance with much heavier bullets than the the 22CF's, gives a lot more knockdown power to boot, it's a lot flatter shooting than the standard .243win...I bought a Winchester 70 Coyote WSSM CRFP, don't know that I'll ever let it go-it's awesome for coyotes, and more than stout enough for deer, my only complaint for deer hunting is that it's heavy, which isn't handy for hauling it a half mile-guess I'll just have to get a compact in .243WSSM too

James B

Thats strange. I just finshed reading an artical by Boddington where he states that the 270 Winchester is the best pure deer rifle ever made with the 280 in the same class. Another artical I just read he says that no matter what cartridges he has used he keeps comming back to his 30-06. He had a good artical on the short mage in Perersens hunting. It was straight forward with no hype. Just explaining whats out there. He said he bought three of the new mags that he really found use for. One was the 270 WSM, which he really likes the performance of. The 308 War Bird which he bought just because its fun to have the fastest thing around. And the 338 Rem Ultra Mag which he uses in Africa and says its a very easy gun to reload for and his is extremely accurate. While I take nothing that anyone says as gospel, Boddington has forgotten more about rifles than most of us will ever know. I have learned a lot from gun writers and also have sometimes found what they write to be incorrect. I do however like to listen and read with an open mind. Just My take on this.

bigcountry

Usually I like screamers. but the 223WSSM and the 243WSSM, I don't know. I mean why mess with a 243. Its a short action, accurate, plenty fast varmit caliber. I understand the WSM's and even the RUM. Cause I wanted a fast BELTLESS, short action caliber that can shoot heavy bullets. But the WSSM, just doesn't do anything for me.

I never saw boddington as a full of hot air type guy. Usually seems pretty humble. Now John Barshness, I see contradicts himself pretty regularly. One day, he's a purist with a wool sweater and straight 4X scope on his 30-06, next sitting in bed trying to get Nosler to make a 375 bullistic Tip.

popeye

The 243WSSM gives you the same fps as the 6mm Rem. If you like the WSSM concept fine but it's not a cartridge that I would be rushing out to buy.