James B

Thanks. I handload everything so I don't keep track of whats out there for factory ammo. It should domp coyotes well also. I see a lot of them while deer hunting. Its open country so they see you quite a ways off but will sometimes stop and look back when they feel safe. Suprise.

TrophyBux

I plan on buying a .243 WSSM this off season. All I use is .243, and this gives me an excuse to buy that Browning A Bolt I've been wanting!

Dtech

I have been building the WSSMs on the AR-15 frame for about a year now. This fall I hunted northern whitetail with both the .25 and .243 WSSM. I got three deer with three shots, I think the .243 actually provided a quicker kill than the .25 but both did well.

I think I might starve to death building bolt-action rifles on the WSSM line based on whatever advantage they have over their shor-action counterparts. The fact that I can chamber them in an AR-15 is what has been so popular. The fact that I can send a 120 bullet out of a 22" barrel @ 3000 feed per second still amazes me. Both the .243 and the .25 have been quite popular with the predator and varmint crowd.

TXhighrack

I have a couple of questions that I just cant seem to figure out.

What is up with all the new short magnum calibers? I can understand rifle and ammo companies pushing them because there in it for the profit. But what I cant figure out is why do hunters buy the rifle?

They say that the new WSM are faster, so what? I personally dont care if my bullet is traveling at 2,300 fps or 3,300 fps. You know something, I have yet to ever see a deer dodge a bullet, has anybody on this site ever seen a deer dodge a bullet? They dont know how fast its coming at them.

If you hit a deer at the base of the neck, he's going to be dead before you hear the "BOOM". If you hit a deer behind the shoulder in the boiler room, hes going to be "walking dead" before you hear the "BOOM". Does it really matter if your "new" bullet is traveling faster?

I think the only new WSM that is worth the money is the 300 mag and bigger calibers. The smaller calibers are just for novelty and a way for the gun compaines to "re-event" something old and make more money off of it. Its pretty smart on their part when you think about it......

Dtech

I tend to agree with you for the most part. I compare the WSSM to the Snap-on tool salesman. Every mechanic has a 3/8" metric and SAE socket set, combination wrench sets in both metric and SAE, 1/4" drive set in metric and SAE. Well you get the point, just like the gun, they are going to last a lifetime. What did Snap-on do? They came out with the big, fancy tool boxes. Some have fancy racing themes, some have built-in stereos. Snap-on was not going to make it if they were just going to drive around in their truck and sell to the occational new mechanic. I think the big gun companies thought the same thing. Put out the"New, Faster, Lighter!".

I know I would never "dump" my .25-06 for a .25 WSSM but the fact that I can chamber it on the AR-15 platform is what sold me on it.