325WSM

Coyote Shadow Tracker

Coyote Shadow Tracker

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Been reading these LRH posts for years and always wanted to chime in or ask some questions. I am now a 20 year member. Hope I outlive the membership. I have been out of the shooting the shooting game the past several years due to a spinal cord surgery in my neck. Starting to pull the Safe Kings & Queens and pawns out to throw some lead downrange. Haven't seen much on this cartridge since when it first came out. I have a 325WSM that I bought when the cartridge first came out. I bought a Model 70, 26" SS Ultimate Shadow MOBO - relatively a lite pack rifle. At that time, I have been shooting, hunting and doing my own gunsmithing so I lapped the barrel, did a trigger job and custom reloads. Was shooting 200gr AcuBonds over 67gr of 4350. Was shooting less than 1/2" MOA. This rifle has been in my safe for many years and I haven't done a whole lot of ballistic testing on this 325. Hunted deer in the South East, Moose in New Foundland, all the plains game animals (Kudu, Wildebeest , Gemsbuck, Zebra, ect) in South Africa. One shot to put all them down. All pass throughs. Massive internal damage in the boiler room. Just wondering why this cartridge was fazed out. I am currently building PRS – Chassis style rifles for LR steel and varmint. I have unlimited access to a private PRS Range for practice and test/development. Any input welcome. I will post some of my other rifles /cartridges later.
 
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Mustang72 said:
Welcome! I haven't ever owned either but I think the 325 wm and the 338/06 are two of the most underrated and overlooked choices out there. Hope you have a brake on it though since you have had neck issues!
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Haven't shot it 325 since Africa 10 years ago, but recoil wasn't bad - Packmeyer recoil pad. Will be doing ballistics on the 325wsm and another 270wsm Kimber Montana Mountain SS 24" (super lite). The 270wsm has only a few rounds through it-harvested several white tails. I just got back into shooting 1,000yds. Shoot PRS stations, but not competition. Looking at "F" Class. Have been shooting .260 Rem exclusively from several self-built rifles. Purchased a new Model 22 Phoenix in .260Rem years ago. I overhauled the trigger, and sent back to Cooper to customize along with a different barrel twist and threaded end. It proofed much less than .25"MOA with handloads. Same hole. The gunsmith working on it told me that it was the most accurate rifle he ever worked on/fired in his career. That rifle was supposed to be used on a hunt for Prong Horn, but didn't happen (yet). Haven't shot it since getting it back, trying to keep it new for possible sale. That's another thread. Want to work on my 325 now
 
Welcome back to shooting!
Look familiar? I love mine and found the 200gn Accubond as well as the 195gn Hornady Interlock to fly very well. The fit and finish on this rifle always blew me away.
325WSM.jpg
 
Carbon copy, except mine was the first model without the Black.Thanks for sharing. I actually sent my stock back to Winchester about a year ago because it started to feel "Sticky". This stock finish was designed to "GRIP" when wet and Winchester refinished the orignal stock - no charge shipping either way. Now I have a basically "NEW" model 70 325WSM Ultimate Shadow, Shoots under 1/2" MOA and will knock down anything in North America along with Africa depending on the bullets used. I have several different 8mm bullets that I may try, but the 200 Accubonds are accurate & devastating. Thanks for sharing the picture. I put a VXIII 4.5 x14X50mm Illuminated-Matte scope that I had Leupold customize with M-1 Target Adjustments on top of a 20 MOA rail. Should be able to get out and touch at distance! Now that I am feeling a little better physically and getting back into the game. I will be using this one with others for Western Hunts in the future. Semper Fi!
 
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I have as model 70 extreme weather in 325 wsm. I couldn't find any 200 accubonds when I was doing load development for it but I got my hands on the partitions. I used rl-17 to achieve much better velocity over h4350. I have taken an elk with it, pretty good round. Took it up to AK on a bear hunt but wasn't able to try it out.
 
Coyote Shadow Tracker said:
Been reading these LRH posts for years and always wanted to chime in or ask some questions. I am now a 20 year member. Hope I outlive the membership. I have been out of the shooting the shooting game the past several years due to a spinal cord surgery in my neck. Starting to pull the Safe Kings & Queens and pawns out to throw some lead downrange. Haven't seen much on this cartridge since when it first came out. I have a 325WSM that I bought when the cartridge first came out. I bought a Model 70, 26" SS Ultimate Shadow MOBO - relatively a lite pack rifle. At that time, I have been shooting, hunting and doing my own gunsmithing so I lapped the barrel, did a trigger job and custom reloads. Was shooting 200gr AcuBonds over 67gr of 4350. Was shooting less than 1/2" MOA. This rifle has been in my safe for many years and I haven't done a whole lot of ballistic testing on this 325. Hunted deer in the South East, Moose in New Foundland, all the plains game animals (Kudu, Wildebeest , Gemsbuck, Zebra, ect) in South Africa. One shot to put all them down. All pass throughs. Massive internal damage in the boiler room. Just wondering why this cartridge was fazed out. I am currently building PRS – Chassis style rifles for LR steel and varmint. I have unlimited access to a private PRS Range for practice and test/development. Any input welcome. I will post some of my other rifles /cartridges later.
Click to expand...
The 8 mm bore has never been popular in the U S. I has a 8 mm Remington magnum when the first came out. Hot rod and to fast for the bullets of the day. .
 
Coyote Shadow Tracker said:
Been reading these LRH posts for years and always wanted to chime in or ask some questions. I am now a 20 year member. Hope I outlive the membership. I have been out of the shooting the shooting game the past several years due to a spinal cord surgery in my neck. Starting to pull the Safe Kings & Queens and pawns out to throw some lead downrange. Haven't seen much on this cartridge since when it first came out. I have a 325WSM that I bought when the cartridge first came out. I bought a Model 70, 26" SS Ultimate Shadow MOBO - relatively a lite pack rifle. At that time, I have been shooting, hunting and doing my own gunsmithing so I lapped the barrel, did a trigger job and custom reloads. Was shooting 200gr AcuBonds over 67gr of 4350. Was shooting less than 1/2" MOA. This rifle has been in my safe for many years and I haven't done a whole lot of ballistic testing on this 325. Hunted deer in the South East, Moose in New Foundland, all the plains game animals (Kudu, Wildebeest , Gemsbuck, Zebra, ect) in South Africa. One shot to put all them down. All pass throughs. Massive internal damage in the boiler room. Just wondering why this cartridge was fazed out. I am currently building PRS – Chassis style rifles for LR steel and varmint. I have unlimited access to a private PRS Range for practice and test/development. Any input welcome. I will post some of my other rifles /cartridges later.
Click to expand...
Nothing wrong with the 325 but the bullet choices. For many years the 8 mm rem mag was the gold standard for Elk but it fell to the same culprit (Bullet selection).

Currently there are about 35 to 40 different bullets made for the 8 mm but also most are not available at this time, so you will just have to look for bullets where you can find them. I would recommend looking/shooting for some 170 to 200 grain bullets preferably bonded core for larger game and something like the Ballistic tip for deer. For targets, Sierra makes the Match King that does well in the 8 mm.

Don't give up on it if it shoots good. Some go to a 338 barrel if they re barrel and just neck their 325 cases up to 338.

J E CUSTOM
 
This is my latest configuration 325WSM Model 70. Changed the scope to Leupold VXIII 4.5X14X50 Side focus. GG&G detachable ring mount, EQW 20MOA Rail 7075 T6 Aircraft Grade Aluminum. Weighs in at 9 pounds even. Great pack rifle. I like the 200gr Acuubonds, but also have 180gr & 220 gr, I may try them in the future, but the 200s are accurate and have good stopping power when used correctly. I attached some pictures from South Africa.

I also have a 8mm Mauser German Sniper rifle double triggers & sniper scope. All German markings and matching serial #s.WW2 era. Rifle was converted into a Sporter after the war. Another project of mine I recently finished glass bedding the stock, now have to get out and work up some loads.
 

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