give up on the custom 223 wssm now what

[okduckin]

i had a custom 700sa 223 wssm built last year and it shots great and hits hard out of a 22 in barrel . the main reason for the round choice was the short barrel performace.but the brass is giving me lots of trouble and i have had my fill!! i love shotting the heavy 22 bullets but not a big fan if long barrels. was reading on the 22-243 but the were some long barrels metioned .what could i expect out of a 22 in barrel in either the 22-243 or the 22-250 ai i could see 24 maybe but those 26-28 there is no way.any input would be nice or even if some knows how to fix the wssm brass would save me alot of cash cause it s here and paid for also thought about a 243ai and the 75s but like the heavy 22s .thanks donovan ps hello all!

[reed mosser]

Look no farther than the 22 dasher. Its just a 22 br improved and in a 24 inch tube will drive 80's between 3200 fps and 3300 fps. Brass is second to none and accuracy is benchrest standards.

[James Jones]

Reed has an great choice with the Dasher , if their is enough shank on you barrel you could have it cut off and rechambered but that may cut down on your velocity to much for you liking.

I think that the whole new short mag and super short mag craze and the claims that they do "way better" in a short barrel are complete B.S. , the barrel length that a case calls for in related to powder burned and the actual amout of powder not the case desgine. You have to look at the powder to bore ratio. The 223 WSSM from what I understand is about the same powder capacity as the 243 Winchester and if you built a 22-243 and a 223WSSM on the same barrel length and use powders close to the same burn rate with heavy bullets the differance between the two will be insignificant to the point that the barrels would likely have a differance in speed.
The 22-250 in getting close to the point of "over bore capacity" and where you go from their like ackly improoving and the 22-243 up to the 22-06 will take so much more powder to gain little speed without going to a very long barrel , you run into a "point of diminishing returns" meening that you have to add so much powder for such little speed increase that you'll burn you barrel out before a good load is developed.

[Mikecr]

You said the brass is giving you trouble.
What trouble?

[okduckin]

im not and expert but i would call it thick and springy. hard to close bolts and thick necks can size 100 cases the same everytime and 20-25 wont chamber after im done.i have some buddys who got me started have are much more experinced than me come over and it gives them fits also .

[BountyHunter]

Not sure, but sounds like you are not bumping the shoulder back. This is a hot cartridge and it will push some brass.

If this brass has been fired 3-5x it will keep moving forward to the chamber dimensions and eventually grow past the shoulder of the chamber.

Take one of hard to chamber cases, buy a stoney point comparator for measuring the shoulder and mike that case and compare it against a case that will chamber freely. My bet is you will find around .002 difference with the hard to chamber case being moved more forward.

NOTE: If you ever have a barrel chambered have the gunsmith make you a "bump guage" to measure your cases. Cost is about $15-20.

Measure all your hard cases to confirm and then set aside.

Take one hard case, lube and work die down 1/16 turn at a time until you can measure .001 setback from original dimension. Try to chamber. Ideally without firing pin in the bolt, that way you get an accurate feel. You might find you are as far out as .002 needed to chamber if they are really tight now.

As for thick necks, that makes no sense. Most factory cases are around .013-.016 max in thickness. You would normally have at least another .004 in neck diameter for most factory chambers.

If the case length grows too long it will be hard to chamber and feel like a tight neck. Another thing to check.

BH

[Mikecr]

The WSSM is way thicker than normal cartridges(.019-.021"). No doubt the result of forming from WSM brass.
It isn't for competitive level shooting/reloading, but instead single use varmint hunting.

It has potential, but could be tuff without neck turning and use in an appropriate chamber.
Anneal, bump, use moderate loads.