The .223 WSSM (
Winchester Super Short Magnum
Winchester Super Short Magnum, or WSSM is a line of rebated bottlenecked centerfire short magnum cartridges introduced by the U.S. Repeating Arms Company (''Winchester Inc''). It is a further development of the Winchester Short Magnum concept ...
, 5.56×42mm) is a .224 caliber
rifle
A rifle is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting and higher stopping power, with a gun barrel, barrel that has a helical or spiralling pattern of grooves (rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus o ...
cartridge created by
Winchester
Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
and
Browning based on a shortened version of the
Winchester Short Magnum
Winchester Short Magnum, or WSM, refers to a family of Rim (firearms), rebated bottlenecked centerfire short magnum Cartridge (firearms), cartridges developed in the early 2000s by the U.S. Repeating Arms Company, the maker of Winchester rifles an ...
case.
History
The .223 WSSM was introduced in 2003 by the
Browning Arms Company
Browning Arms Company (originally John Moses and Matthew Sandefur Browning Company) is an American marketer of firearms and fishing gear. The company was founded in Ogden, Utah, in 1878 by brothers John Moses Browning (1855–1926) and M ...
,
Winchester Ammunition
Olin Corporation is an American manufacturer of ammunition, chlorine, and sodium hydroxide. The company traces its roots to two companies, both founded in 1892: Franklin W. Olin's Equitable Powder Company and the Mathieson Alkali Works. Acciden ...
, and
Winchester Repeating Arms Company
The Winchester Repeating Arms Company was a prominent American manufacturer of repeating firearms and ammunition. The firm was established in 1866 by Oliver Winchester and was located in New Haven, Connecticut. The firm went into receivership ...
. The .223 designation is a reference to the popular
.223 Remington. It is currently the fastest production .22 caliber round in the world with
muzzle velocities
Muzzle may refer to:
* Muzzle (anatomy) or snout, the projecting parts of the face (including the nose and mouth) of an animal
** Muzzle (mouth guard), a device that covers an animal's snout
* Muzzle (firearms), the mouth of a firearm
* Muzzle (ba ...
as high as 4,600 feet per second (1,402 meters per second). However, the
.220 Swift still holds the record as the fastest .22 caliber centerfire cartridge with a published velocity of using a projectile and of 3031 powder.
Complaints
Even before the cartridge was commercially introduced, it was claimed
that it would be extremely hard on barrels and high wear would lead to short barrel life. Another criticism is that, although the round is suited for long range varmint hunting, it is not good for medium game any further than 200 yards.
The Winchester made Model 70 in .223 WSSM has not been revived in the new Browning-made Winchester Model 70s, but Browning has chosen to use chrome-lined barrels on all of its guns chambered for .223 WSSM and has introduced the .223 WSSM cartridge as a chambering in its A-bolt rifles. Browning rejects the charge that the .223 WSSM round is especially hard on barrels: "The 223 and 243 WSSM cartridges are said to 'burn up' barrels in as little as 300 rounds. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Advantages
According to Browning, the .223 WSSM offers a gain
with a bullet over the standard .223 Rem.
It also offers a gain over the .22-250, a popular varmint round.
This comes out to a gain over a standard .223 Rem, and a gain over the .22-250.
See also
*
.22 Eargesplitten Loudenboomer
*
Winchester Super Short Magnum
Winchester Super Short Magnum, or WSSM is a line of rebated bottlenecked centerfire short magnum cartridges introduced by the U.S. Repeating Arms Company (''Winchester Inc''). It is a further development of the Winchester Short Magnum concept ...
*
5.6×57mm
The 5.6×57mm (designated as the 5,6 × 57 by the C.I.P.) cartridge was created by in Germany in 1964 by necking down popular 7×57mm Mauser (similarly to how Paul Mauser himself created 6.5×57mm Mauser) for hunting small deer such as roe ...
*
List of rifle cartridges
List of rifle cartridges, by primer type, Caliber, calibre and name.
File:Cartridge Sample 2.jpg, 350px, From left to right: 1 .17 Hornady Mach 2, 2 .17 Hornady Magnum Rimfire, 3 .22 Long Rifle, 4 .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire, 5 .17/23 SMc, 6 5mm ...
*
Table of handgun and rifle cartridges
This is a table of selected pistol/submachine gun and rifle/machine gun cartridges by common name. Data values are the highest found for the cartridge, and might not occur in the same load (e.g. the highest muzzle energy might not be in the same ...
*
5 mm/35 SMc
*
5 mm caliber
This is a list of firearm cartridges which have bullets in the caliber range.
*''Length'' refers to the cartridge case
Case or CASE may refer to:
Instances
* Instantiation (disambiguation), a realization of a concept, theme, or design
* Sp ...
*
.223 Remington
References
Browning Press ReleaseReloading info from Guns and Ammo Magazine
Super Short Magnums - The Rest of the StorySuper Duper Shortie
External links
The .223 WSSM at WSSM Zone
{{DEFAULTSORT:223 Wssm
Pistol and rifle cartridges
Winchester Super Short Magnum rifle cartridges