...it's a itty-bitty...

[wildgene]

...thing...



...pretty damncheap, too. Winchester M70 (PF) .243 WSSM...

 

[FOTIS]

They are fun guns. 95 gr BT 45.5/W760 3220 fps and .75" all day long

 

[DrMike]

A fascinating little cartridge. I did some load work on a couple. They shot surprisingly well.

 

[.280 Remington]

Boy was my mind in the gutter................... :grin:

 

[Guy Miner]

A fascinating little cartridge. I did some load work on a couple. They shot surprisingly well.

From what I've read here and elsewhere, it's likely an itty-bitty cartridge that actually deserves to live and prosper. Haven't heard much bad about it. A good 6mm bullet is a vicious & accurate killer.

Guy

 

[HeathSexton]

I always wondered why the WSSM's didn't catch on. A friend has a 25WSSM that's an awesome shooter.

 

[Guy Miner]

I think that at the time they were introduced, shooters were simply saturated with new cartridges:

Rem Ultra Mags
Winchester Short Mags
Winchester Super Short Mags
Remington Short Action Ultra Mags

All these hit the market within a few years of each other. A lot of us at the time (still?) didn't think ANY of them were necessary or even particularly useful. I've given in to the idea that most or all of them are indeed good cartridges, but still have to ask myself if any of them actually filled a niche that wasn't already taken care of by existing cartridges...

I remember the 7mm WSM fans crowing about it - while it was producing pretty much the exact velocity of a 7mm Rem mag. Same thing with the .300 WSM & .300 Win mag. Etc...

All those new cartridges hit the market about the same time and I think the shooting public largely just shrugged their shoulders with a "Who cares?" attitude. And went back to killing with our .223's, .243's, .30-06's and .338's...

FWIW, Guy

 

[DrMike]

You're absolutely correct, Guy. The more I work with some of the obsolete cartridges, the more I realise that we aren't equipped with cartridges that will do anymore than they did many years ago. Still, I enjoy working with something new, if only for the challenge of finding what works and what doesn't.

 

[FOTIS]

Mine was a featherweight 70....

 

[truck driver]

I never was a big magnum fan and have bought only standard calibers. Yes I own a 300 Wby. magnum but I won it in a gun raffle and to be honest I would never have bought it in a magnum caliber. Probably the reason I never owned a Weatherby till now.

 

[SJB358]

Very cool Gene. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Seems you can pick the 243WSSM's up for a real good price.. Maybe a nice little stock on one would make them pretty nice.. The WSSM runs faster than most 243AI's I have seen.. Seems to still be a good supply of brass around too..

 

[wildgene]

...plenty of brass avail., scope, rings, bases, dies, brass, bullets I got a 1/4 click over $400 into it, might be worth a new stock, maybe a "Purple McSwirly"...

 

[SJB358]

...plenty of brass avail., scope, rings, bases, dies, brass, bullets I got a 1/4 click over $400 into it, might be worth a new stock, maybe a "Purple McSwirly"...

I was with you up to the purple stock..... I'd be in for one of them. Be a cool project.

 

[Guy Miner]

Yeah, maybe a red, white & blue paintjob... With some stars, stripes, and maybe even a classic pinup girl on the buttstock.

Now that's my kind of synthetic stock! :mrgreen: But "purple" ? Good grief!

Hmmm. Might be time to paint over the "Green Machine" camo McMillan...

Guy

 

[BK]

...plenty of brass avail., scope, rings, bases, dies, brass, bullets I got a 1/4 click over $400 into it, might be worth a new stock, maybe a "Purple McSwirly"...

Gene just became my hero!