Who has experience with the .223 wssm good and bad

Outlaw249

New member
So what is all the good and bad on this wild cat round?

I'm going to buy a Browning A-Bolt II Stalker 223WSSM, Synthetic, Boss because I cant find one in standerd .223 and the only one in 22-250 I can find is a 10+ pound gun and i'm not packin that as a calling rifle and so I can tune the gun to what bullet I want to shoot. I think it will be a barrel burner but I probibly wont shoot more than 50 rounds a year after getting it sighted in so it should last for a while.I plan on zeroing it in at 200 yards that should take me to 300 yards with a mil-dot scope.
I forgot here is the ammo I plan on shooting
http://www.buckammo.com/detail.php?Product_Number=1224
Joe
 
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"...I plan on zeroing it in at 200 yards that should take me to 300 yards with a mil-dot scope.

Joe



A Mil-dot scope will not "take" you any further than any other scope.

Plus, mil-dots are a PITA to use, and don't work for moving game. By the time you have calculated the range, the critter will be in the next county.


.
 
Quote:
Quote:
"...I plan on zeroing it in at 200 yards that should take me to 300 yards with a mil-dot scope.

Joe



A Mil-dot scope will not "take" you any further than any other scope.

Plus, mil-dots are a PITA to use, and don't work for moving game. By the time you have calculated the range, the critter will be in the next county.



Should I just zero it at 300 with a reguler scope then and try it a 200 and 100 to see what my hold up or down is.
 
had a 223 wssm in win coyote. fairly accurate but I did have issues with powder fouling, common with over bores. Brass was hard to size. I enjoyed but sold it.

As far as mil dot if you know the range (with a range finder)and just use the mil-dot for hold over I think you should be fine.
 
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
"...I plan on zeroing it in at 200 yards that should take me to 300 yards with a mil-dot scope.

Joe



A Mil-dot scope will not "take" you any further than any other scope.

Plus, mil-dots are a PITA to use, and don't work for moving game. By the time you have calculated the range, the critter will be in the next county.



Should I just zero it at 300 with a reguler scope then and try it a 200 and 100 to see what my hold up or down is.



Maximum Point Blank Range

I just ran this through my PCB program. For a 4" dia kill zone (coyoyte):

Sight 1.5" high at 100 and hold dead on to 300. That puts your "zero" range at about 250 yards.

I do all my varmint rifles like this and it works well enough for groundhogs. FWIW, I only have one Mil-dot scope and on 24x the first dot down is dead on at 400 yards with my regular 223 with a 40 gr vmax at 3700 fps.

Charlie
 
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There is in my opinion to much constriction for the size of the brass. Complete burn does not happen with any I have seen. If you don't reload (even if you do) it is a very expensive round to shoot. Even what you are showing is almost 2.50 dollars per round with shipping. Geez!

You would be better off I think looking for the 223 you wanted in the first place. Good Luck!
 
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There is in my opinion to much constriction for the size of the brass. Complete burn does not happen with any I have seen. If you don't reload (even if you do) it is a very expensive round to shoot. Even what you are showing is almost 2.50 dollars per round with shipping. Geez!

You would be better off I think looking for the 223 you wanted in the first place. Good Luck!



I know its going to be costly to shoot but the only one i can find in .223 is used and he wants $1000.00 for it and it was only made from 96 to 99 here is a link yo it
http://www.gunsamerica.com/940195244/Gun...rmit_W_Boss.htm

I only know or 2or3 websights to buy guns if there is more let me know I will keep looking
 
It's the laminated, boss version and it was only made for a short time. That's why it's $1000. That's a 10# plus gun too.

If you're willing to go 222 instead of 223 or 223 WSSM, PM me and I'll get you some info on last year's SHOT show specials in the Browning Varmint Stalker with black or camo stocks. They don't have the boss, but in my experience, you won't need it. You want a light gun to carry right? The boss is just unnecessary weight IMHO.

Bownut
 
A friend of mine has a Browning .223WSSM. Quite accurate, but with noticeably greater noise and recoil. And the ammo is nasty expensive. I'd have some concerns about the cartridge's longevity.
 
I just started working with a Win Model 70 in 223 Wssm.

Yesterday I loaded H380 with 60g Noslers with a Win primer, bullets .005 off the lands.

41.5g was shooting 1/2" groups.

I set up the neck and full length sizers (Bonanza). I full length sized the brass with no issues, but had a slight amount of "cam over" on the press to get the brass full length sized.

I noticed how thick the necks are on this brass and the bullet has one heck of a grip on the bullet. I am going to try and order a .002+ larger expander ball or go to a bushing sizer.

I suspect that I will have to remove .003 off the top of the shell holder in order to Full Length size the Max loads that I shoot due to brass "spring back", which is not an is a problem.

At this point, I don't see the problem with the project, but dealing with the thick brass is the kind for thing that only an guy that has dealt with a lot of wild cats would know how to handle, but the solution is simple once you know the "fix".

I'll make a post later on as to my futher progress, but at this point, I do not see an issue. At the operating pressures that I see in the accuracy loads that I have shot, velocities are on par with the 220 Swift.

I would expect to see more problems from the plastic stock vs the caliber and brass issues. I hate plastic stocks.
 
My experience:

The bad, was with a Win Super Shadow. Absolutley the worst shooting rifle I have ever encountered. 6-10" groups were normal. Groups were even worse with ammo it did not like. Brass necks are very thick and you should load it hot to get the chamber sealed, or you get soot on the case necks.

The good, my son has it in a Browning Abolt Stalker. Shoots very,very well. He uses a 60gr Vmax @ 3700+fps for his coyote load. This cartridge is just plain fast! Hornaday got 4600fps with the 40gr Vmax when they were developing loads.
 
I had a 223 WSSM Winchester Coyote.

Good: laser flat trajectory. At 300 lasered yards you held on hair when shooting prairie dogs even with cross winds.

Bad: Bores of the rifles were chromed lined, otherwise would have been shot out in 300 rounds. Good if the rifle shot, bad if it didn't. Feeding could be spotty. After 100 rounds the groups went to patterns, like 3 foot patterns at 100 yards. Brass was thick and often would come out sooty. You can't trim the neck without needing custom dies.

The biggest problem with the 223 WSSM was in the expectations and marketing of it. Like shooting a swift, it is not a good high volume gun. Nor is it a good deer rifle (excluding very premium bullets handloaded.) And those were the two markets it was oriented towards.

It will most likely die as a cartridge. 22/250 Ackley or the Swift would have more longevity.

Having said all that, it would make an excellent coyote gun. Mine liked 55 gr BT's with Ramshot Hunter. That load duplicated the factory loading.

My 223 WSSM has been turned into a 223 Rem single shot, but not everyone has friends who work at Winchester who can come up with parts that were never sold to the public. A Browning with the changeable bolt head could be converted to other calibers later on.

Aaron
 
Outlaw, Do not worry about shooting 300 yards if you are hunting in Illinois. I hunt in Illinois and bought a .22-250 for calling because I assumed that I would be shooting a long ways. The .22-250 is a fine round, but plain old .223 would be just as good for me and cheaper to shoot. I only once have taken a 300 yard shot while coyote hunting, and that was a fluke. Most of the time I am trying to stop the coyote at 100 yards, and end up shooting many within 50 yards even in open country. My point is that the .223 WSSM is a fine round, but not necessary. I have my scope zeroed at 100 yrds. Bang flop. Heck a lot of the coyotes I have shot I probably could have used a 12ga and #4 buck. I do use that in timber some.
 
I own three short magnums. 7mm, 270, and 243. The larger calibers are not very picky. The 243 on the other hand has had many, many issues. It, as mentioned above, is a winchester super shadow. I have to run the rounds through the full length sizer three times to get them to feed correctly. I have polished, polished, and polished some more on the chamber, but the brass must be fl sized all three times to ever go in smoothly.

Grouping on the two larger calibers is not a problem. the .270 does really well. MOA or better. the 7mm is doing well if it breaks MOA consistently. I did have a hard time finding the "pet load" for it. It also is a super shadow. the 270 is a Savage, and likes most of what I put in it.

I would not hesitate to buy the larger calibers, but would shy away from anything under the 270 if I were buying again. I know others have great stories about the 25, 243, and so on, but in my experience (limited to the above), the larger calibers are fine, while the smaller ones are really a pain.

I'd go with the standard .222, .223, 22-250, or even a .221 fireball for what you are looking at.

My .02

TN
 
Don't quite understand why you'd want a cartridge that is basically a dead issue. There are lots of .224 cartridges on the market that are still going concerns and will be for many years to come.

There is a reason the gun makers stopped making this round and guns for it. Keep that in mind.
 
Winchester had a recall a while back on the 223 wssm in the winchester models that many dealers or people were not aware of.They had a problem with the chrome lining in the barrels would burn out only after a few shots and cause shocking groups even at 50yrds.The Browning models where ok.Cant remember the serial numbers of the Winchester Coyote recall but.
 
Well I was at my gunsmith today droping off my sons sluggun to get the stock skortened and the barrel ported and I asked him about the boss system and he couldnt say enough good about it and after talking for about 30 min he goes to the back and bring out a Browning A-bolt eclipse in 22-250 and handed it to me and said he bought it new in 1997 and has only shot it a hand ful of times then we go out to his privet range and I shoot it about 10 times then we go back in and talk about it then he throws a price at me of $500.00 I says ok and I go pick it up monday
 
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