243 wssm??

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Logan9885

New member
I have a friend that has a browning abolt in 243 wssm that he is tring to sell me and I know little about the cal. What do you all think? I reload....a lot so ammo cost is not an issue. I like the fact that they are not very common.....that usually makes things worth more as they get older. and $350 is a good deal right ;) lol
 
I like the fact that they are not very common.....that usually makes things worth more as they get older.
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In art, cars, in fact most everything, you would be right. Well, not so much in the firearms world, really. Wildcats should be worth their weight in gold, if that were true, but people like being able to buy ammo for guns. They're downright funny about it.

243 WSSM sounds like it should be the cat's meow on paper, but its performance was not enough above a 243 or 6mm that it justified the extra barrel erosion, so it could not get off the ground. But since you reload and it sounds like you are getting a pretty good deal, I would say go for it.
 
The 300 WSM and 270 WSM have enough supporters to say they will be around and popular. The 7mm WSM is on the fence.

All of the WSSM chamberings are headed for the graveyard. They might show good paper ballistics, but I'd pass on anything with WSSM on the headstamp.
 
I'm at the beginning of a rebarrel project on a Savage 11. I really wanted to go 243wssm. Unfortunately, theres just no support for the round. Brass is barely available, reloading dies are limited, guns are no longer made. I suspect even Winchester will stop brass production soon.

As much as I wanted it, after I looked around, I wouldn't buy one.
 
Thers a guy who comes to the farm to shoot ground hogs . He has several custom rifles . ONE is a wssm 243 . He says it's his favorite one . WE talked for awhileand he had me considering one ,till I looked at ammo cost. WOW!!
I don't reload so it"s not for me . BUT IT sounds like a reloader could really make it work .
 
If you're not into the quantity of shooting that is common to prairie-doggers, odds are that you won't do enough shooting that you'd have a problem with availability of brass. IOW, stock up now and you'd likely have a near-lifetime supply.

I say this in part because I only neck-resize, and I know that I can re-anneal the case mouth if necessary. That means quite a few reloads before a neck will split.
 
I like the fact that they are not very common.....that usually makes things worth more as they get older.
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That is only true of things that people want and cannot get any longer. There are millions of used guns out there that are no longer in production that are only worth their weight in scrap metal. That is where I predict all the WSSM are headed.
 
for $350 you can buy it and once the brass or ammo dries up then just get it rebarreled.

only issue you will have on the rebarrel project is the bolt face diameter.... I don't know what the wssm uses for a bolt face, but you might be able to get it rebarreled to something cheaper to shoot....


if i were you i would offer him $300 for it and tell him about ammo cost and shortage...
 
Parent case is the 300 WSM... so as long as that is around, cases could be formed......

base diameter is .555 ..... share with????? Nothing but the WSM's, right?
 
if the bolt face can be opened up it would lend itself to other chanberings, or you could try to get another bolt for a normal short action chambering...

all of this is a lot of hassle though...

maybe you should just avoid this "deal" and get a normal chambered rifle.
 
I'm not sure what it could be rebarreled to. From Browning's website:

When we say “Super-Short,” we mean it. The new WSSM cases are nearly 1/2" shorter (2.36" overall cartridge length) than the already short-action WSM cartridges.
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http://www.browning.com/library/infonews/detail.asp?id=37

So the only thing it could be rebarreled to would be one of the other WSSMs, which have no better brass availability than the 243 version.

I never understood the appeal of this cartridge. When I look at the limitations of the 243 Win, the answer that comes to mind isn't "same bullet, more speed".
 
So the only thing it could be rebarreled to would be one of the other WSSMs,
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Not exactly true, but if it needed a new barrel it would be the cheapest route to go back to a WSSM. That said a gunsmith could close up the bolt face and you could shoot .223 length cartridges or .22-250 with a few other tweaks. They just wouldn't be cheap tweaks to get it done.
 
Well, sure, if you replaced the bolt or somehow "closed it up" and some feeding changes you could convert it to 223, or you might be able to shoehorn in a 22-250 (SAAMI MAX OAL for the 22-250 = 2.350").

But then it would no longer be a rebarrel, which to my mind means a barrel swap with no other changes.
 
Well considering the Max COAL of the .243 WSSM is 2.36" there shouldn't be a whole lot of shoehorning involved. I'm pretty sure the actions used in the Browning are the same length as used with the .223 and .22-250, so the parts would be there for a conversion. Plus I never stated it would be cheap, simple, or easy. I just said the OP isn't limited to just WSSM chambers.

Plus there are some wildcats out there based on the WSSM that might be fun to try that won't burn a barrel up as fast as the smaller bores.
 
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