RIFLES
Super-Duper Shortie
Is the .223 WSSM the final word in cartridge evolution?
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I was fortunate to be included among those testing the cartridge in the field, although I confess I didn't actually shoot anything other than paper with it. This was in no way the fault of the staff at Wingmead. High winds and warm temperatures conspired against us this particular hunt. Game was taken, and reports on shot placement, bullet path and the animal's reactions were enough to reaffirm my conviction that the .22 bore will take deer with proper bullets and precisely placed shots but is not a deer cartridge per se. At least, not an ideal one.
The load used featured a 64-grain Winchester Power-Point, and it performed admirably. Expansion was complete, and penetration was more than I expected. Most bullets were recovered just under the hide on the off side. I'll further state that all game shot with the cartridge was recovered and ended up on the meat hook.
My only reservation with using the .22 caliber on deer is that it limits the hunter's options. I personally passed on a monster buck on the Wingmead hunt due to a less-than-perfect opportunity for a well-placed broadside shot. Most any centerfire will work with a classic behind-the-shoulders lung shot, but trophy whitetail bucks tend to offer fleeting opportunities at odd angles--if they present opportunities at all. That's why I like a bullet with a bit more frontal mass and penetration than the .22 provides.
The cartridge will likely gain some popularity as a deer round in Texas, where the .223 and .22-250 are already quite popular. But Texas deer are on the small side mostly, and the hunting style there makes perfect broadside shots the norm. While I don't see the .223 Winchester Super Short Magnum (WSSM) as a great dual-purpose round, as some are already claiming, it does promise to be an outstanding varmint cartridge that will, under ideal circumstances, take deer-size game.
Still A Step Forward
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, I can honestly say the .223 WSSM is in my opinion the most exciting new cartridge to come down the pike in quite some time, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to get a first look at it. We haven't seen much noteworthy news in .22-centerfire cartridges since Dr. Louis Palmisano and Ferris Pindell developed the .22 PPC in 1974. That's a long time for us small-bore aficionados to go without a new factory cartridge to play with.
It could be said the .22 PPC is the grandfather of the .223 WSSM and, for that matter, all the current crop of "short magnum" cartridges. The PPC demonstrated in competition the accuracy and efficiency of the short, fat case design. A short powder column burns more consistently, which makes for more consistent velocity and thus accuracy. Powder also burns more efficiently and produces higher velocities per grain used.
