been reading about this new cartridge on browning.com and it looks like a great new caretridge with a flat trajectory and lots of knockdown power, anybody have this cartidge yet, what does everybody think of it so far?
I've been shooting one since 1979, well with a little more powder than the short magnum and I gotta tell you it works. The 8mm is a great bullet diameter. Knocks Elk and moose flat, deer don't know what hit them and the two Browns I shot in alaska went about two feet and fell down.
I don't know what kind of velocity the Winchester Short Magnum is getting, but I'm pushing a 220 grain Seirra boattail at between 2970 and 3080 depending upon which powder I use.
I sure love that big 32 and I hope that Winchester has better luck with it than Remington did with theirs.
Good luck on getting the 8mm it should make an excellent game rifle.
Of all the short mags, I think this is the one that interests me the most. I think they advertise the trajectory of a 300 Win Mag with the power of the 338. I'd like to chrony some and find out if thats accurate or not. I don't have any mag rifles and if I were to consider a hunt in Canada or Alaska for brown bear, I think this would be one of the forerunners for me.
yep o browning they say shoots like the 300 mag but hits like the 338, i have a .270 now but if i ever get to go to alaska or hunt bigger game than elk i would consider this seems like a great idea. anyone know what the recoil would be like?
been reading about this new cartridge on browning.com and it looks like a great new caretridge with a flat trajectory and lots of knockdown power, anybody have this cartidge yet, what does everybody think of it so far?
The charts are pretty, but I'll believe it when I see it. I'm sure it's a great round, but they aren't telling you the WHOLE truth with those charts.
For starters, the velocity on the 300 Win Mag with a 180 should be equal or nearly equal to the 325 WSM, as it is definitely capable of accurate loads over 3000 fps. Their point is "The 325 WSM shoots faster than the 300 Win Mag". The problem is that even if it did start out faster (it doesn't) , the .308 bullet at that weight has a higher ballistic coefficient and would actually carry about 200 ft/lbs more energy at 300 yards.
Their other table comparing the 325 WSM to the 338 WM seems reasonable. The 325 is, for all practical purposes, supposed to be equal to the 338. Number-wise, it is just short, but if they are correct and not overly-inflated factory specs, no shooter or game animal would be able to tell the difference. Personally, I'm not in the market for a 338 Win Mag in an ultralight form, so I'm not in the market for a 325 WSM, either.
I'm not in the position where I could compare the 325 Winchester short mag to the 300 short mag, but I just sighted in a 300 Winchester short mag and I can compare it to the 300 Winchester as both were shot over my chronograph. I can also tell you about the Rem 8mm mag as thats my hunting rifle of choice for the last 26 years.
With Federal 180 grain ammo the 300 Winchester short mag from a new Winchester model 70 stealth chrono'd 2870 fps average for ten rounds. The 300 Winchester with Federal 180 grain ammo went 3030 fps.
I gotta say that sure seems like comparing a 30-06 to the 300. I don't see much of a gain over an 06.
Now the big 8mm Rem mag shoots a 220 grain serria boattail at 3040 average from a 24 inch bbl. If the 325 Win Short mag gets 2850 with a 220 grainer it would indeed make a great bear and elk rifle.
Problem is though a great a cartridge as the 8mm Rem mag was it never really got off the ground. Folks in the US just never rushed to the 8mm. Perhaps by calling it a 325 Winchester can get around that.
As far as short and long actions I got to tell you in the woods I can't tell the difference. I hear a lot of controversy about how much lighter, how much faster, how much something else. I just can't see it.
I have 243's, 308's, a 280 Remington and the big 8mm mag and I shoot them all. When I'm shooting them
Bolt throw difference does not seem to make a darn bit of difference.
The model seven Rem in 308 is surly a light gun, but so is the 280 rem mountian rifle and again I can't tell the difference when I'm shooting between this long and short action.
The 700 BDL 8 mag is a heavy rifle, but so is the remington 700 VLS 243 varmiter and again I can't tell much difference when there being shot.
Hay guys I'm sorry I got this thread off on a tangent, mabe you guys can help me understand this short, medium and long action thing cause it sure has me stumped.
All I think it boils down to is people who already have a 300 or 338mag or a 8mm Rem mag don't really need a new shorter version as they can seat heavy long bullets out further for more powder space.
And the ones thinking of buying a new rifle in above calibers might be interested in trying something new. I have had a 7WSM for a couple years now but if I already had a 7Rem Mag I would not have bought it. My rifle is accurate and stays right with the 7RM until you get into the heaviest bullet for 7mm.
I've heard that most folks get better accuracy from headspacing belted magnums on the shoulder than on the belt. I've been doing this with my 8 mags for years and accuracy is as good as any of my non-belted cases.
Nice cartridge, but I can't see where it will really do anything a 30-06 won't, with the exception of being far less versatile. Not bashing the cartridge, hope it will sell lots of rifles, but the short action is all it has over the 30-06. When you put both of them in a 22-24" barrel rifle I doubt you'd see much difference .
i dont know i think i would take the 325 wsm over the 30-06 mainly because it's new and cool and i think wil do everything the 30-06 will do better in a smaller shorter package with less recoil and i think they'll find it's accuracy is gona be top notch
I think you're a bit brainwashed by all of the marketing. I doubt the 325 WSM will kick less than a 30-06. In fact, I know it won't. The laws of physics still apply no matter what marketing spin is put on a product.
According to Newton, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
How can you possibly send more mass (bullet and powder) out of the barrel faster, and have less force exerted on the rifle and the shooter? They could truthfully say it about the 300 WSM compared to the 300 Win Mag simply because it burns slightly less powder to achieve similar velocities.
To make it worse, they are putting these cartridges in rifles that are lighter than most sporter weight 30-06's. Better factory recoil pads are probably the only reason they are selling any of them. I doubt they'd sell too many with a hard, solid rubber butt pad, or even a steel plate found on many older rifles. If you got a 325 WSM and a 30-06 in exactly the same configuration of weight, stock style, recoil pad, etc., I would bet the -06 would be more pleasant to shoot.
If you want a 325 WSM, that's fine. After all, it does have it's advantages. Just don't swallow every bit of advertising, hook, line and sinker.
i know the 30-06 still has it's advantages as well, like more verstility but if you had the same load in both cartridges i still think the recoil would be about the same, both are great cartrodges i think, and as time goes on i think the wsm's are gonna grow in popularity and then they will be as versatile with better performances, maybe not yet but i think it will happen. aklthough i dont think it will ever replace things like the 30-06 and .300 magnum just because theve been around a long time and are trusted rounds
Nice cartridge, but I can't see where it will really do anything a 30-06 won't, with the exception of being far less versatile. Not bashing the cartridge, hope it will sell lots of rifles, but the short action is all it has over the 30-06. When you put both of them in a 22-24" barrel rifle I doubt you'd see much difference .
I don't handload for a belted case but I think it's just backing of your FL die a little so you won't push the shoulder back and then trying it in your rifle to see how hard the bolt is to close. A little at a time until you can feel a tiny resistence on closing the bolt and you keep your FL die set to take the load off the belt and put it on the shoulder. I'm sure others can explain it better than me.
M1Garand,
I understand the .325 WSM might have a little on the 30-06, but from what I've seen the .300WSM compared to a High Energy or Light Mag 30-06 loading, which is a lot more apples to apples than the standard loadings, is little to nothing when fired from the same barrel length. Add .015 to the hole in the barrel and I don't think it's going to change all that much.
The .325 WSM aint no .338 Win Mag, not even close. You can look at the best case scenario factory ballistics, but they have not turned out to be very accurate so far. When I see a .325 WSM pitching a 250gr Nosler Partition at 2800fps, then you can make the comparison, but it won't. It'll barely throw a 220 at 2600, so I don't see any valid comparison between the two..it's not even close. The way a cartridge handles heavy bullets is what seperates it from the rest.
um how do you know for sure what the cartridge will and wont do according to browning it pushes a 180 grain bullet at over 3,000 fps so why would a 220 drop all the way to 2600 it wouldnt. i know browning is trying to sell the certridge and they are bst scenarious but the stats on the others are the same.
heres an article on the 325 wsm being used for elk the 200 grain bullet goes at nearly 3000 fps so i cant imagin the 220 being anywhere near 2600fps, also the 325 has almost exactly the same amount of energy as the 338, again i relaize that browning is trying to sell their product but i cant imagine it being far off
The difference in between a .308 and a .300 Win Mag could pretty fairly be summed up by the difference of pushing a 30gr heavier bullet at the same speed. If you take a look it's about the same thing. That is why I say it's not in the same league as a .338 Win Mag
If you look at loading data for a .300 WSM and a 30-06, according to Hodgdon, you will see you can get about 100fps more out of a .300 WSM using 180gr bullets. Near as I can tell the advantage dissapears to margin of error when you go to a 220gr bullet. So if you take the new, high pressure, loadings for a .325 WSM with the most streamilined bullet in the most efficient weight...and compare it to the worst loads for a .338 Win Mag, not a Federal HE loading with a 250gr bullet for example, you might think that they are similar cartridges.
This is where the marketing can blind folks to reality.
I applaud the rifle and cartridge manufacturers for coming out with new products, when their old products, properly cared for, last several lifetimes! That's a tough business to sustain.
If you're looking for no-frills practicality, the 30-06 is it (and I love the old 30-06). If you want to have some fun, try new rifles and cartridges, and help our firearms manufacturers out. My next project will be with a Mauser Yugo on the 325 WSM, and I really don't care how it compares to a 300 WSM or a 338 Win Mag (which is one of the best medium bore cartridges for N. America ever conceived)....I just want to have fun with it!
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