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243 WSSM - AR15
- Thread starter sititunga
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Re: 243 WSSM - AR15
They haven't had much commercial success. I think that cartridge is too big for an AR-15 chassis. It's also gonna be quite the barrel burner.
They haven't had much commercial success. I think that cartridge is too big for an AR-15 chassis. It's also gonna be quite the barrel burner.
Re: 243 WSSM - AR15
I love mine, and it shoots well. Probably my favorite long range gun out to 800 yards. But it has a lot of little quirks that will have to be addressed to make it a serious match gun.
The brass really is poor, very hard and lots of neck splits.
Look up some of my old posts (right click on my user name and hit view posts) to find more info.
I love mine, and it shoots well. Probably my favorite long range gun out to 800 yards. But it has a lot of little quirks that will have to be addressed to make it a serious match gun.
The brass really is poor, very hard and lots of neck splits.
Look up some of my old posts (right click on my user name and hit view posts) to find more info.
Re: 243 WSSM - AR15
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Hellbender</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I love mine, and it shoots well. Probably my favorite long range gun out to 800 yards. But it has a lot of little quirks that will have to be addressed to make it a serious match gun.
The brass really is poor, very hard and lots of neck splits.
Look up some of my old posts (right click on my user name and hit view posts) to find more info.
</div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Hellbender</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've got a 243 WSSM AR for a match gun, the 1-10" twist pretty much limits you to 90 gr. bullets and below, I shoot the 87 A-max at 3050 fps. The brass is really bad, plan on losing 10-15% every loading to split necks. I load it down and keep it under 55K psi for the AR.
But 800 yards and under, it hammers! I like it a lot. Here's my last 300-700 yard target, shot in a match with bipod and rear bag.
</div></div>
Is that an Oly made upper, also what break have you got on it? Also what's the recoil like? Nice shooting!
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Hellbender</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I love mine, and it shoots well. Probably my favorite long range gun out to 800 yards. But it has a lot of little quirks that will have to be addressed to make it a serious match gun.
The brass really is poor, very hard and lots of neck splits.
Look up some of my old posts (right click on my user name and hit view posts) to find more info.
</div></div>
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Hellbender</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I've got a 243 WSSM AR for a match gun, the 1-10" twist pretty much limits you to 90 gr. bullets and below, I shoot the 87 A-max at 3050 fps. The brass is really bad, plan on losing 10-15% every loading to split necks. I load it down and keep it under 55K psi for the AR.
But 800 yards and under, it hammers! I like it a lot. Here's my last 300-700 yard target, shot in a match with bipod and rear bag.
Is that an Oly made upper, also what break have you got on it? Also what's the recoil like? Nice shooting!
Re: 243 WSSM - AR15
That's a nice looking 800 yards group! The main group cluster has got to be sub 1/4 MOA. If you had the gun rebarreled with an 8 twist you could shoot 108s which I am sure would make it a very competent +1k yds rifle - a shame about the brass life though. What other quirks does it have?
That's a nice looking 800 yards group! The main group cluster has got to be sub 1/4 MOA. If you had the gun rebarreled with an 8 twist you could shoot 108s which I am sure would make it a very competent +1k yds rifle - a shame about the brass life though. What other quirks does it have?
Re: 243 WSSM - AR15
I wonder if the split case necks are due to the diameter of the chamber allowing a little too much case expansion in the neck on firing. If that is the case, is it possible that brass manufactured with a bit thicker of a neck would help out?
I would also try annealing the brass. I have heard that Winchester does not anneal brass after manufacture. If it was annealed prior to loading, the necks would be softer and maybe they would survive a bit longer.
My Grendel brass is now at the point where I loose about 1 case out of 50 every time I shoot the cases. But, that isn't too bad because I have lost count of how many times I have fired the cases. I did anneal, and it helped alot, but I still loose some. At nearly $1.00 per case, it stings a bit when they die.
I wonder if the split case necks are due to the diameter of the chamber allowing a little too much case expansion in the neck on firing. If that is the case, is it possible that brass manufactured with a bit thicker of a neck would help out?
I would also try annealing the brass. I have heard that Winchester does not anneal brass after manufacture. If it was annealed prior to loading, the necks would be softer and maybe they would survive a bit longer.
My Grendel brass is now at the point where I loose about 1 case out of 50 every time I shoot the cases. But, that isn't too bad because I have lost count of how many times I have fired the cases. I did anneal, and it helped alot, but I still loose some. At nearly $1.00 per case, it stings a bit when they die.
Re: 243 WSSM - AR15
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Unknown</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I wonder if the split case necks are due to the diameter of the chamber allowing a little too much case expansion in the neck on firing. If that is the case, is it possible that brass manufactured with a bit thicker of a neck would help out?
I would also try annealing the brass. I have heard that Winchester does not anneal brass after manufacture. If it was annealed prior to loading, the necks would be softer and maybe they would survive a bit longer.
My Grendel brass is now at the point where I loose about 1 case out of 50 every time I shoot the cases. But, that isn't too bad because I have lost count of how many times I have fired the cases. I did anneal, and it helped alot, but I still loose some. At nearly $1.00 per case, it stings a bit when they die.</div></div>
I have a feeling the split necks are from poorly manufactured Winchester Brass. I load for my .25 WSSM and I've gotten a bunch of brass that wasn't fully formed right. The initial brass that Winchester came out with was good. A couple years ago, right after the New Haven plant closed down, brass quality (in these calibers at least) went down.
To the OP:
Yes, several on here have had success with the .243 WSSM. As well as the .223 WSSM and .25 WSSM. The benefits are that you get more power in the AR-15 platform. The most power from an AR-15 actually. With the increased power you can pretty easily get most anything out to 800 yds and remain supersonic. The difficulty is getting anything to remain supersonic to 1k. The cases are too long to put high BC bullets in and still have them feed from a mag.
For 1k WSSM load combinations, It pretty much takes a .420 BC bullet to get you to 1k when fired @ 3000fps. That really limits the number of bullets you could use in the WSSM cases because the case is too long to fit the longer bullet into.
Now, for a simpler breakdown I'll say it this way. The WSSM cases have about the same power as their counterpart .308 based case. Meaning a .243 WSSM is about equal to a .243 Win from an AR. You can fit the WSSM cases in the -15 platform you can't fit any .308 cases in the -15 platform
The 6.5 Grendel/6.8 SPC and 6mm AR/6mm AR Turbo are a step up in power from the 5.56
The BR cases are a step up from that. About 5 gr. more powder.
All except the 6.8 of the latter mentioned can put a High enough BC bullet in them to get you to 1k and beyond.
So when you boil it down, you can stick quite a bit of power through the AR-15 platform such as the WSSM's. But, if you want to get to 1k and beyond you have to slow the bullet down (i.e. going with smaller case) to go with the high enough BC bullet to do the job you are looking to do.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Unknown</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I wonder if the split case necks are due to the diameter of the chamber allowing a little too much case expansion in the neck on firing. If that is the case, is it possible that brass manufactured with a bit thicker of a neck would help out?
I would also try annealing the brass. I have heard that Winchester does not anneal brass after manufacture. If it was annealed prior to loading, the necks would be softer and maybe they would survive a bit longer.
My Grendel brass is now at the point where I loose about 1 case out of 50 every time I shoot the cases. But, that isn't too bad because I have lost count of how many times I have fired the cases. I did anneal, and it helped alot, but I still loose some. At nearly $1.00 per case, it stings a bit when they die.</div></div>
I have a feeling the split necks are from poorly manufactured Winchester Brass. I load for my .25 WSSM and I've gotten a bunch of brass that wasn't fully formed right. The initial brass that Winchester came out with was good. A couple years ago, right after the New Haven plant closed down, brass quality (in these calibers at least) went down.
To the OP:
Yes, several on here have had success with the .243 WSSM. As well as the .223 WSSM and .25 WSSM. The benefits are that you get more power in the AR-15 platform. The most power from an AR-15 actually. With the increased power you can pretty easily get most anything out to 800 yds and remain supersonic. The difficulty is getting anything to remain supersonic to 1k. The cases are too long to put high BC bullets in and still have them feed from a mag.
For 1k WSSM load combinations, It pretty much takes a .420 BC bullet to get you to 1k when fired @ 3000fps. That really limits the number of bullets you could use in the WSSM cases because the case is too long to fit the longer bullet into.
Now, for a simpler breakdown I'll say it this way. The WSSM cases have about the same power as their counterpart .308 based case. Meaning a .243 WSSM is about equal to a .243 Win from an AR. You can fit the WSSM cases in the -15 platform you can't fit any .308 cases in the -15 platform
The 6.5 Grendel/6.8 SPC and 6mm AR/6mm AR Turbo are a step up in power from the 5.56
The BR cases are a step up from that. About 5 gr. more powder.
All except the 6.8 of the latter mentioned can put a High enough BC bullet in them to get you to 1k and beyond.
So when you boil it down, you can stick quite a bit of power through the AR-15 platform such as the WSSM's. But, if you want to get to 1k and beyond you have to slow the bullet down (i.e. going with smaller case) to go with the high enough BC bullet to do the job you are looking to do.
Re: 243 WSSM - AR15
My 243 WSSM shoots rather well, but one has to deal with bad brass and some feeding issues at times. It is my goto longer range coyote rifle for sure
My 243 WSSM shoots rather well, but one has to deal with bad brass and some feeding issues at times. It is my goto longer range coyote rifle for sure
Re: 243 WSSM - AR15
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sititunga1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">That's a nice looking 800 yards group! The main group cluster has got to be sub 1/4 MOA. If you had the gun rebarreled with an 8 twist you could shoot 108s which I am sure would make it a very competent +1k yds rifle - a shame about the brass life though. What other quirks does it have? </div></div>
The group was 5 shots each at 300-700 yards, 100 yard increments, I tied for high score, but the other guy beat me on X count, all the other top ten were bolt guns.
This is a consistent 1/2 MOA gun. The upper is an OLY, I pulled it all apart and worked it over, threaded the bbl, etc. The brake is a Hollands (new radial style). It also has an Adj. gas block (recco'd). The recoil level is much less than a .223 carbine, unbelievably light. But it also weighs 14 pounds.
The long 107's won't work at mag length, the ogive will be in the case neck. A 105 Amax would be close, and may work with an 8 twist. When I shoot this bbl out, that's what it will get. I hear you can now order an 8 twist barrel from OLY when you get the upper.
The mags will have to be fixed (look at my old posts for explanation and fix) for a true tactical gun, they are fine for hunting.
Mine works 100% perfect, but has had all the tricks I have recently posted done to it.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sititunga1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">That's a nice looking 800 yards group! The main group cluster has got to be sub 1/4 MOA. If you had the gun rebarreled with an 8 twist you could shoot 108s which I am sure would make it a very competent +1k yds rifle - a shame about the brass life though. What other quirks does it have? </div></div>
The group was 5 shots each at 300-700 yards, 100 yard increments, I tied for high score, but the other guy beat me on X count, all the other top ten were bolt guns.
This is a consistent 1/2 MOA gun. The upper is an OLY, I pulled it all apart and worked it over, threaded the bbl, etc. The brake is a Hollands (new radial style). It also has an Adj. gas block (recco'd). The recoil level is much less than a .223 carbine, unbelievably light. But it also weighs 14 pounds.
The long 107's won't work at mag length, the ogive will be in the case neck. A 105 Amax would be close, and may work with an 8 twist. When I shoot this bbl out, that's what it will get. I hear you can now order an 8 twist barrel from OLY when you get the upper.
The mags will have to be fixed (look at my old posts for explanation and fix) for a true tactical gun, they are fine for hunting.
Mine works 100% perfect, but has had all the tricks I have recently posted done to it.
