Why does everyone say the WSM calibers are a fad?

Question

WSM seems to get a lot of crap and I was wondering why. If I open up my 2008 shooting times buyers guide I see that every major rilfe brand has some WSM avalible in their new guns. If the big companys support WSM why is everyone saying their going to disappear soon?

Dude calm down JD, I was asking for opinions about why people put down WSM. I think your the person "once again getting sensitive".

Answer 1

I think they will go to the wayside for several reasons.
One, the price. Most Short Mags are way expenisve compared to the standard cartridge they were designed from. Secondly they are terrible to reload (most require a bigger press that has a large frame to accomdate the large dies because of the casing's increased diameter. and a good number of shooters are into reloading. Third, again because of the increased diameter, few cartridges can be held in the magazine. One that could hold 5 non-WSM cartridges is now down to 2 in the mag and 1 in the chamber of the WSM's. Lastly from my own personal observation in my area these are the guns that sit on the shelf in the gun stores and are rarely purchased.

Answer 2

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RE:
Why does everyone say the WSM calibers are a fad?
WSM seems to get a lot of crap and I was wondering why. If I open up my 2008 shooting times buyers guide I see that every major rilfe brand has some WSM avalible in their new guns. If the big companys support WSM why is everyone saying their going to disappear soon?

Answer 3

Why does everyone say the WSM calibers are a fad? I didn't know that they did. Now you know that the WSM are actually only the Winchester Short Magnums? There are other short magnums and they have been around for a long time. In fact the original short magnums were the 6.5 Remington Mangum and the .350 Remington Mangun before the term 'short magnum' came into vogue. These have been around since 1967 and have recently been 'resurrected' by Remington. If people say that they are a fad it is only because they are unaware of the extensive history of the 'short magnum caliber offering.' If you like them, use them. They'll be here for a long time.

Best.

H

Answer 4

It's just like the Glock "fad" when they were 1st introduced. People, especially hunters, like the 'ol tried and true that this country was founded on.

I think that a lot of the"crap" is because they don't really do anything that any other caliber doesn't already do. They simply make the rifle a little lighter and shorter. Persona;;y, for the price difference in ammo, I'll take a .300 win mag over a .300wsm any day.

Answer 5

Kyle they are a fad for one simple reason they don't do anything any better than cartridges that already exist. Expect the WSM's to join the ranks of the .307 Winchester, the 356 Winchester, 375 Winchester, 9mm Federal, 41AE et al

Answer 6

Once again you are being entirely too sensative about this subject.WSM calibers are still "new" in the shooting industry and the WSM calibers were created and designed for people that like to reload their own hunting or target ammunition. No one says they are going to disapper. The shooting industry its about finding ANYTHING NEW and DIFFERENT to gain a market edge over the competetion. Just because every catalog you read has new guns that fire WSM calibers, doesn't mean they are popular. Big companies support ANYTHING that will make money for them, or have the potential to eventually become popular with people. Despite any advantages to WSM's the general public is reluctant to get into them because they don't want to go thru the risk of giving up other calibers they are comfortable with or are used to. And give up a caliber they are used to for an extra 300-400 FPS? Would you want to spend $700-$1000 on a gun that you are not sure is going to be a popular caliber? Of course not. What you describe as "Crap" is someone other than yourself being cautious and smart before they buy. That doesn't make them wrong or full of crap! Relax, everyone has their likes and dislikes for their own reasons. Just like you. Does that automatically make them wrong because they don't agree with YOU? Hardly....

Answer 7

I imagine some will hang on and some will fade away. It always works that way.
A lot of people have noted that they don't do any new tricks. I agree. If you don't mind a longer, belted, case, 300 H&H gives better ballistics and feeds better than 300 WinMag, so I'm sure the latter is going to fade away soon.
By the way, has anybody seen any of the Remington SAUM's lately? They seem to have been stillborne.

Answer 8

Bought a .45 GAP or.357 sig lately????? Or the Remington electronic Ammo? Some things catch on, others don't. Time and sale will tell. Based on the answers above, I'd say fad as well.

Answer 9

As you say yourself, they are a fad. Don't believe it? Look at the ballistics.
Manufacturers have to find a way of selling new guns, old established rounds that do the job do not sell new guns.
An extra 30 feet per second may sound attractive to you, but do you think that a deer being shot in the heart knows the difference between 3,300fps and 3330 fps ?
I rest my case.

Answer 10

Look at the sales charts, none of them are doing very good, the WSM's are for the new generation of wannabe hunters and shooters, I don't own any WSM's, and I never will.