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.223 Winchester Super Short Magnum

Rifle cartridge

Field	Value
name	.223 WSSM
image	223 WSSM Hdy 75.jpg	image_size = 150px
caption	[.223 WSSM](223-wssm) with 75 gr Hornady AMax bullet
origin	United States
type	Rifle
designer	Browning & Winchester
design_date	2002
manufacturer	Winchester
production_date	2003–present
parent	[.300 WSM](300-wsm)
case_type	Rimless, bottleneck
bullet	.223
neck	.272
shoulder	.544
base	.555
rim_dia	.535
rim_thick	.054
case_length	1.670
length	2.362
rifling	1-7 in to 1-9 in
primer	Large rifle
bw1	40
btype1	BT (boat-tailed)
vel1	4352
en1	1683
bw2	60
btype2	JSP
vel2	3733
en2	1857
bw3	75
btype3	BT (boat-tailed)
vel3	3378
en3	1901
test_barrel_length	24 in
balsrc	Hodgdon

The .223 WSSM (Winchester Super Short Magnum, 5.56×42mm) is a .223 caliber rifle cartridge created by Winchester and Browning based on a shortened version of the Winchester Short Magnum case.

History

The .223 WSSM was introduced in 2003 by the Browning Arms Company, Winchester Ammunition, and Winchester Repeating Arms Company. 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 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 4665 ft/s using a 29 gr projectile and 42 gr 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 600 ft/s gain with a 55 gr bullet over the standard .223 Rem. It also offers a 440 ft/s gain over the .22-250, a popular varmint round. This comes out to a 600 ft.lbf gain over a standard .223 Rem, and a 350 ft.lbf gain over the .22-250.

References

".223 WSSM data at Hodgdon Online".
"223 Winchester Super Short Magnum History and General Information". gunnersden.com.
"World record 4700 fps 223 WSSM explodes watermelon better than". YouTube.
".223 Winchester Super Short Magnum (WSSM)". ballisticstudies.com.
".223 Winchester Super Short Magnum Ballistics". gundata.org.
(18 August 2003). ".223 WSSM vs the .22-250 Remington". Browning Arms Company.
".223 Winchester Super Short Magnum". leeloadmaster.com.
"223 WSSM vs the 22-250 Rem. - Browning Article".
".223 Rem vs. .223 WSSM". fieldandstream.com.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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