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.243 wssm vs. 6ppc
juddroy
Member Posts: 204 ✭✭✭
I helped my bro-in-law break in his kids .243wssm. When I started shooting 5 round groups,I was impressed at the grouping,.425 avg. @ 100 yd. This was a kid sized hunting rifle,with factory loads. I told him we've got to build some loads for this thing.Anyone have any idea how close this resembles the 6ppc cartidge.Might have to talk Savage into building some model 12 lrpv rifles in this caliber.I think there is a possibility of very near benchrest capabilities here.
Comments
"Anyone have any idea how close this resembles the 6ppc cartridge."
It doesn't closely resemble the 6PPC even though there have been lots of comments about the proportions and the "short/fat" conjecture.
The .243 WSSM has a case capacity of approximately 53-54 grains of H2O. For comparison, the .243 Win. has a capacity of 54 grains.
The 6PPC has a case capacity of approximately 32 grains of H2O.
The .243 WSSM has a rim diameter of 0.535" (standard mag. diameter 0.532") while the 6PPC rim is the oddball size of 0.445" which is between the small boltface (.223 Rem.) of 0.378" and the .308 boltface of 0.473".
There is only about 0.150" difference in length between the two with the PPC being shorter.
The comparisons are to the short fat concept in that the powder column burns more efficiently as opposed to the longer cartridges. The 6PPC is just about as efficient as a shooter/reloader can get. There is a shorter version named the WalDog but necked down to .224" which is very efficient.
The .243 WSSM is not as efficient simply because it is nearly as short as the PPC, in fact it is less efficient because it is significantly fatter.
None of this makes the WSSM a less accurate cartridge at all, quite the opposite. It has the same capacity as the other 6mm cartridges; the .243 Win. and the 6mm Rem. and we know that these cartridges have lots of potential for accuracy except the WSSM is shorter, that's all. I think you're getting the benefits of both the shorter case and the 6mm diameter.
I happen to like this ratio of capacity to bullet diameter for most types of shooting due to the range of bullets and the flexibility to use them. You can shoot varmints with the lighter bullets, hunt deer size game with heavier, properly constructed bullets and shoot targets with the VLD style bullets. It doesn't get much better than that.
Best.
Thanks for the informative response.I was going to hit up one of my shooting friends for a 6ppc case for a side by side.I do think this cartridge will be much more accurate than the .243 win.Now I need to find some Lapua brass (probably not available).
www.reloadbench.com
Unfortunately, Lapua doesn't make cases for the WSSM's. Winchester is the only maker currently and with the legal baggage associated with these cases and the WSM's it's unlikely that any will take on this as a project.
The guy that runs Reloadbench is really far behind on those drawings, nearly a year now and they aren't 25% done. Here's a link to Steve's Pages:
www.stevespages.com/page8d.htm
Best.