What's become of the .325 WSM?

[Rattler]

I have noticed this round is becoming hard to find.  Many bullet makers don't even offer bullets for reloading this round, or not much of a selection.  I'm holding out for a nice rifle chambered for it.  Has it been deemed an "obsolete" round already?  I surely hope not.  It fits nicely between my .30-06 and .375 H&H.  I see it as the perfect Elk hunting round.

 

[Pygmy]

For some reason 8MM  cartridges have never caught on in this country.  The very similar  8MM Rem mag never caught fire either...

 

Perhaps they are just too close to the popular .300 Win mag or the excellent  .338 Win mag....

 

There are some excellent bullets available in the 180-225 grain range...

 

It is an excellent cartridge, but if you buy one I would advise you to buy a lifetime supply of brass.

Edited May 22, 2016 by Pygmy

[ants]

I think that the "short mags" never really caught on that much because the difference between  F.P.S, down range energy and felt recoil, wasn't that great compared to standard long action Mags.. I may be wrong ,Im not a big ballistic/magnum guy. Seems like the only short mags still holding on are the 300, and 7mm short mags. I never hear of the 223, 243, 25 or 325 short mags any more. ( I might be forgetting a few)

Edited May 22, 2016 by ants

[hunterdan44]

358 win . Also very difficult , I have a sweet Browning BLR . But not much ammo maybe two boxes. Impossible to find. Shot some nice deer and one black bear with it, but now I'm careful with shooting it until I get some ammo.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[airedale]

358 win . Also very difficult , I have a sweet Browning BLR . But not much ammo maybe two boxes. Impossible to find. Shot some nice deer and one black bear with it, but now I'm careful with shooting it until I get some ammo.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

At least with the 358 Winchester you can form the brass with the right dies, brass for those short magnums is going to be tough to come by down the road.

 

Al

[hunterdan44]

At least with the 358 Winchester you can form the brass with the right dies, brass for those short magnums is going to be tough to come by down the road.

Al

True Airedale I probably will head that route. Hate to see the old cartridges disappear.

[ants]

The 358 Win. is not a magnum round…is it?? just an old Winchester cartridge…?  A buddy has a 307 Winchester lever gun. He has, dropped deer with it, but now only has a few rounds left for it . He has had it for ever, but He hasn't brought it out in quite a while ( as in 15+ years) because he can't find ammo for it..

[Jmp209]

358 win . Also very difficult , I have a sweet Browning BLR . But not much ammo maybe two boxes. Impossible to find. Shot some nice deer and one black bear with it, but now I'm careful with shooting it until I get some ammo.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Love my 358s. I've got a BLR and a rebarelled savage 110. I've shot a handful of deer with the Browning and they've all been quick kills without a lot of bloodshot meat. Hornady started loading for it a while back and I picked up a box to try out but haven't fired any yet since I've got 4 or so boxes left of the Winchester's and handload for it as well. Still a little easier to find than the 356 that my dad prefers. It's a shame these calibers never caught on, they even discontinued my 350 rem. Mag.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

[Dinsdale]

 

 

There are some excellent bullets available in the 180-225 grain range...

 

 

 

Lots of good .323 bullets being made and available for loading.

 

 

 

300WSM quite popular in other places around the world thanks to affordable (relative) rifles.

[Jmp209]

I have noticed this round is becoming hard to find. Many bullet makers don't even offer bullets for reloading this round, or not much of a selection. I'm holding out for a nice rifle chambered for it. Has it been deemed an "obsolete" round already? I surely hope not. It fits nicely between my .30-06 and .375 H&H. I see it as the perfect Elk hunting round.

Sorry my first post was slightly off topic. I've never owned a 325 but I think it only slightly outperformed similar cartridges with lighter bullets of around 180 grain but when you started loading heavier bullets, 220 and up, you lost case capacity to keep cartridge oal down and velocities began to drop. Off the top of my head I may be wrong but I believe with these heavier weights, the 338 win mag was ballistically superior and also much easier to find on store shelves. But that's just my opinion.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

[Grouse]

Right.  The .325 WSM excels with 180 or 200 grain bullets. It has less recoil than a .338 WM and the short, fat case tends to offer better accuracy potential because it lacks the magnum belt and head spaces on the shoulder.  Fire formed cases reloaded with just neck sizing and fired in the same rifle can be tack drivers.  It is an excellent Elk round that is often offered in shorter action rifles of lighter weight, compared to the .338 WM.  It's popularity is dwindling, but I suspect it will make a comeback some years down the road, like many other so called obsolete cartridges have done.  Ammo can still be found online, but it is much pricier than when it first came out, but just a little more than .338 WM ammo of equal quality.  Stock up on ammo and get the reloading dies for it.  That should solve the ammo issue for you, as I don't think you'll be shooting that many rounds through it each year.  It's not something you need to target shoot with.

[Rattler]

All of the above considered, I still want one.

 

[Jmp209]

All of the above considered, I still want one.

You've got the right attitude. If I were ever to pick up another short mag it would probably be the 325. Any idea which rifle you would get it in? I got a great deal on a 270 wsm a few years back in the model 70 ultimate shadow and I think it might be one of the ugliest rifles I own.

Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk

[Rattler]

I love the look and feel of the Kimber Montana.  A friend has one in .300 WSM and the felt recoil is very mild compared to many 300 Mags I've fired.  It has a great trigger too.

[Larry]

358’s are easy to reload just 308’s necked up to 35cal. Just not a good bullet selection. The best bullet would I think hornady’s   200gr ftx.

[covert]

The 358 Win. is not a magnum round…is it?? just an old Winchester cartridge…?  A buddy has a 307 Winchester lever gun. He has, dropped deer with it, but now only has a few rounds left for it . He has had it for ever, but He hasn't brought it out in quite a while ( as in 15+ years) because he can't find ammo for it..

 

Chit!  I just saw a PILE of .307 Winchester somewhere not too long ago.  I mean a PILE; like 10-12 boxes.  If I can ever remember/figure out where it was I'll let you know.

[Bowguy 1]

I agree w Larry reloading is the way to go, especially w tougher to find loads.

Years ago we went through a new round craze. I didn't buy into any of it for this exact reason.

The manufactures don't care about us. All the shorts, super shorts, ultras are not easy rounds to find. The manufacturers left lots of guys w semi useless guns people can't find ammo for

[Vinootz]

I own Browning mountain titanium and Kimber 8400 super America in 325wsm. Great rifles. I put muzzle brakes because I got stents in my heart- point is now shoots with 30-06 recoil. Brakes are loosening my scope rings but loctite should solve that. If no brakes 35ft. Lbs of recoil energy is manageable.Accurate thumpers. If you shoot good it is ample for Cape buffalo and coastal bear. Excellent for Elk,moose,Eland,kudu,zebra.(a little much for white tail-but still ok)Many hunters use them on such even as an all around cartridge.Read chuchawks/ Iliad and oddyssey from Internet(detailed info).Use 220 solids like woodleigh in case you going into bone from poor placement. Sierra game king good also.Frangible at short ranges(below 200with some bullets) . Hendershots(very expensive- but high quality custom ammo) and Double Tap  will make you ammo(lower price)Get brass and reload (easy to reload).cost is  Good excuse to learn reloading if you don’t already. Full length sizing is fine- even recommended for reloading hunting rounds. Lee breechloader set inexpensive and capable of getting the job done. People talk bad about the cartridge but I know it is a fantastic cartridge. All wsm’s

cases are pretty much the same(from404 Jeffrey. 180-200 have excellent BC. Just wanted to give some opinion on the caliber since I own 2 and hope to see it make a comeback in the future.

[Rattler]

Since this was originally posted, I have acquired a Kimber 8400 Montana in .325 WSM and put a matte finish Leupold VX-II 3-9x40mm on it.  I have been shooting the 200 grain Winchester loads in it and it will easily do 1" groups at 100 all day long.  I find the recoil to be very comfortable, not much more than my .30-06 in my opinion.  I will be reloading with 200 grain bullets also, probably using the Barnes TTSX all copper as they seem to be the best bullet for my hunting applications.

Everything I've studied about the ballistics of this round leads me to believe it is very under rated and under appreciated.   But for my needs as an Elk and Black Bear rifle, it seems perfect.

[Vinootz]

325 wsm a great cartride- I have vx Leupold on one of mine-great combo.

check out 325 wsm Iliad and odyssey by Joe Dellasandro or Alessandro. Shows 8mm bullets and loads he worked up. Don’t listen to all the naysayer opinions or the ones that suggest other calibers when I ask about the 325 wsm. I never understand why respondents do that on these forums. There are plenty of 8mm bullets.

You can still get brass and dies(on internet type in 325wsm 70% off) if you reload or decide to start. 325 is the reason I took it up. 300wsm brass can also be necked up to 325.of course you can get custom does made for the caliber.

custom ammo makers.Doubletap ammo less expensive than Hendershots. 

If you are a good shot you can shoot almost anything effectively. Many guys take coastal brown bear and Cape buffalo with the 325 and love it. Avoid muzzle brakes if u can handle recoil because I put them on both my 325’s and they loosen rings.(can be resolved with loctite and 3m adhesive inside top scope ring). Mine now have the recoil of a 30-06(kinda loud)and are fun to shoot. Enjoy your rifle and ignore the naysayers. In the future you can always change barrel down to 300 or 270wsm or even 7mm (very easily)if you want lighter recoil and more factory ammo availability (300 wsm most available).

read Iliad and odyssey part 1 and part 2 as well as chuck hawks. Internet ha a few non forum type write ups that are good. Gundata.org you can make trajectory and ballistic charts as well as compare cartridges (great site!)

enjoy you have a great rifle

[Buckmaster7600]

I was at a gun show a couple years ago and bought 500 new brass for 325wsm. Don’t own one but I had a 350wsm wildcat build on my mind and had a good idea I wouldn’t come across brass again so I bought what they had at .50$ a piece.

325wsm suffers from the too close syndrome and it’s not a 30cal, 8mm’s have never done well in the us. Americans don’t tend to like anything over 30cal even the 338’s aren’t very popular.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Rattler]

I love the new rifle and have no problem with the cartridge being a little off the beaten path.  In my experience, taking the path less traveled often leads to great things.  I agree the 8mm bullet has never been popular in America, but it is a great bullet.  When I consider some of the things that are popular in America, being unpopular can be a good thing.

I made my decision based on hard facts and ballistics, not popularity.  When considering ballistics and energy in a flat shooting Elk rifle, the two best rounds seem to be .338WM and .325WSM.  I wanted a lighter weight rifle in a shorter action and the Kimber Montana just felt best to me.  It also sports all of the features I really like in a bolt gun as well.  (Ironically, it seems Kimber has dropped the .325 WSM offering in it's new rifles.  Bad move IMHO)

I'm not worried about ammo, as I have already stocked up on 200 rounds, most being 200 grain bullets with some 180's and 220's in there also.  I've also acquired the reloading equipment needed and will be loading my own as well, just as soon as I have 100 empties to work with.

Reading some of the history of the round, I found Winchester wanted it to be a .338WSM but found loading the .338 diameter bullet in the case didn't achieve the results desired, which was to equal or exceed the ballistics of a .338WM.  Going to the .323 diameter bullet (8mm) got it up to speed with energy that is very close to the .338WM, yet produces noticeably less felt recoil with the same bullet weight due to less powder being required to attain the same ballistics.  The drawback is fewer bullets of heavier weight offered in the .325WSM than the .338WM.  However, I don't expect to ever need a bullet heavier than 220 grains for my hunting situations.

Considering this rifle is more than adequate for taking any large game on the North American continent, and knowing I will likely never be hunting on any other continent, I believe the rifle was a great choice for my big game needs.

[Larry]

I have to agree whith Ants the short mags never cought on.

[Rattler]

The .300 WSM is doing quite well actually.  A lot of folks prefer it to the .300 WM for many reasons.  The other WSM offerings are really only popular with folks looking to own or build a light weight hunting rifle.  For them, they fit their needs well.  They really excel in a short action bolt rifle, which is what they were designed to do.

[eagle rider]

I worry the same way about most of the WSM ammo line. I have two 270 WSM's and it seems like commercial options are getting less and less.  I guess its hard to knock the standards off the top for what it is most of us do.  Truth be told I hunt with and enjoy to shoot my 30-06 BAR's more than anything else.  In the Southwestern NY region that is more than enough gun.  I'm amazed that more and more exotic flat shooters still get developed.  Some of the Nosler rounds are amazing but are they really necessary????  I kind of feel like this was the fate of the RUM's as well.  

 

Of the WSM's the 325 always seems to have the least traction in my mind, although I do agree that it occupied a nice niche.  Truth be told on deer and black bear what can that 270 WSM do out to 300 yards that 30-06 can't?