Which one??????

Model70 · Post by **Model70** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:17 pm

Looking at getting a .223, as a standard work rifle( roo drives) and am trying to make my mind up between browning a bolt (cheapest), howa or wby vanguard. And wether to go std.223 or wssm, though what i intend to use it for ill be leaning towards plain old .223. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated!

Cheers,
Lee.

Edited wsm to wssm...............

HiWall · Post by **HiWall** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:27 pm

Wholeheartedly agree with your leanings toward the standard old .223 mate. The WSSM's have not proven to be popular at all, in fact since the Winchester rifles went out of production Browning have been discounting their WSSM chambered gear - have seen A Bolts being advertised for just over $600 in the recent past. I suppose you could pick up a bargain, but the big drawback is that they are not a candidate for rebarreling in anything but a WSSM calibre. Not much call for a super short action with a magnum boltface. Not sure how many other manufacturers are chambering WSSM's in their rifles, but I am pretty sure they would be fairly scarce.

I believe that the WSSM's are heading for early obsolescence.

Model70 · Post by **Model70** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:31 pm

Thanks HiWall, thats what I thought, brand new a bolt for $485 in .223WSSM sounded a bit suss........................

Simpson · Post by **Simpson** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 8:45 pm

Standard 223 DEFINITELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Enough said.....

Really though if using it for a roo gun then you would be chasing the most economical and readily available components. I would be my bottom dollar that every gun shop in aus has the standard 223 ammo, not sure if you could say that about the 223 WSSM round though.

siacci · Post by **siacci** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:09 pm

My brother has a Wby Vanguard in 223 rem SS Timber stock. It shoots real good. Its a lot heavier than my T3 Lite and T3 Hunter but we mostly use his out spotlighting anyway. He likes it a lot which is all that matters.

A fellow I shoot with occasionally has a Howa blue synthetic in 22-250. He loves the gun and it also shoots well.

Definitely get a 223 REM not a wssm. Even Aussie Disposal has 223 ammo if you need some in a hurry.

Dave

Drew Jaeger · Post by **Drew Jaeger** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:46 pm

If those were the only choices,... 223 Rem. To add, I would choose a 22-250 over a barrel burning 223WSSM any day.

trevort · Post by **trevort** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:57 pm

I had a 243 wssm. it was accurate (Browning) but i just couldnt love it when the whole world is against them. Definetely wouldnt buy a 223 wssm barrel burner.

Rinso · Post by **Rinso** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 9:57 pm

MODEL 70,

I would agree with HiWall that the 223 WSSM is not a good choice for any number of reasons. I have not seen anything that makes them worth the trouble .. they may prove useful for wildcatting but thats about all.

As for which rifle I would look hard at the Remington SS Thumbhole. The XR 100 by Remington would be my choice but I imagine a single shot is not what you want so the standard version with rem 700 action would be the go .. I have seen them advertised for around $1500 and they are a tidy outfit.

HOWA look the goods but I have seen them with a locking lug that was not contacting anything and I would not buy a WBY unless for a WBY calibre and then only top of the range.
The A Bolt is a nice enough gun but the Remington 700 is hard to go past IMHO. That is due to its range of parts, you can buy anything for a Rem 700 and you can make anything out of it down the track.

Anyway best of luck with whatever you get.

Can I suggest a Vortex Viper riflescope in either 3.5-10x50 or 4-12 x 40 to go with it.

cheers
Rinso

woob614271 · Post by **woob614271** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:06 pm

Peter van Meurs is very adamantly AGAINST the WSSM', reckons the cases are not up to scratch in consistency either within lots of production or individual cases; crap in other words.
the WOOB

HiWall · Post by **HiWall** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:28 pm

woob614271 wrote:Peter van Meurs is very adamantly AGAINST the WSSM', reckons the cases are not up to scratch in consistency either within lots of production or individual cases; crap in other words.
the WOOB

I believe that is pretty much the case and I can't see that the situation will improve. I just don't think that the brass manufacturers are likely to put any effort into improving a product that is on the way out the door. Brass is going to get more difficult to get as importers won't bother bringing it in - not enough call for it, so if you do grab a bargain A Bolt, make sure you get a shit load of brass with it - at least you will be able to reload for it and rebarrel in the same calibre for a while.

Minimum legal for pro roo shooting is the .222 so that is your base line and would not be a bad choice. My personal favourite would be the .22/250.

cam_mackps2 · Post by **cam_mackps2** » Wed Jul 18, 2007 10:39 pm

When i was buying my T3 Lite in 223, the gunshop had some a-bolts build on the WSSM action that browning had changed the bolt and barrel to make them a 223rem, price was around the $1000 mark. So there are options for the WSSM but it would be costly to change it.

dave · Post by **dave** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:02 pm

The wssm maybe on the way out but at that price is it worth shooting the barrel out and getting it rechambered to .25wssm??? Its the only one i have heard anything good about to be honest...

Ive had a weatherby in .22-250 and it needed to be played with (bedding trigger) then shot great groups, have a new howa/hogue 7mmwsm which is nice to shoot even though this weather has limited it to the run in process and for a heavy wearing stock its the goods, pillar bedded with floating barrel which helps.

As for the brownings if they stay that cheap im not sure im going to be able to help myself...

Post by **kjd** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:16 pm

Dave I'm thinking the same as you!!! $485 for any new rifle is almost worth buying it, shooting the barrel out of it and handing in the rifle to the coppers afterwards....

The 223wssm whilst not ideal cannot stink that much...

I'd buy an A-bolt about 500 cases and look after them.. But in saying this I wouldn't buy a wssm at full price!!

HiWall · Post by **HiWall** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:30 pm

Well I don't know much about maths, but wouldn't it be better to just buy what you want in the first place.

Can't see the economics of buying the wrong rifle, brass, dies etc just to shoot out the barrel so you can rebarrel it to another WSSM round.

Gunsmith and cost of a new barrel are going to cost what a decent new standard .223 would and you won't need to set up to reload two calibres.

If you are going to buy a cheapy, at least get a cheap second hand one in an action size you can use for something else.

Post by **kjd** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 6:35 pm

HiWall wrote:Well I don't know much about maths, but wouldn't it be better to just buy what you want in the first place.

Can't see the economics of buying the wrong rifle, brass, dies etc just to shoot out the barrel so you can rebarrel it to another WSSM round.

Gunsmith and cost of a new barrel are going to cost what a decent new standard .223 would and you won't need to set up to reload two calibres.

If you are going to buy a cheapy, at least get a cheap second hand one in an action size you can use for something else.

That is true too mate. I recommend that Model 70 gets a 222 or 223 but its always tempting when there are rifles so cheap. It goes bang so therefore its fun

AusVarmint

Which one??????

Which one??????