www.olyarms.com/pcr8mag.html





Yes, the tittle doesn't lie.  Looking at the Oly site, they are going to be offering a .243 & .223 WSSM upper for the AR15?!!!!

Now I recall that a few people said that this was not possible.... I guess it is...  They are still waiting for "approval"/testing results...

Yep, I saw it at their hut this year at Camp Perry. There were a few guys clustered around it talking to the rep. From the way the rep was talking, they were not sure if it was really a go as of that time. Guess they changed their minds.

I'm already hearing feedback of WSSM rounds eating barrels. There's a price to be paid with all that powder capacity.

Talk about reduced mag capacity! Won't matter for hunting but WOW!

Unless I have seriously misread something, the .223 WSSM uses about the same amount of powder I used to load in a .257 Roberts.

Seems unlikely that would "eat barrels" to me.

We'll see.
Cheers!

I saw it at Camp Perry also.  One (smart) thing they did was beef up the bolt and the barrel extension.  It is very different from a standard bolt.

How many rounds of .243 WSSM will fit & feed from a standard 20 or 30 rnd GI mag?

I think the 5.56 is just fine, why does anyone see a real market for this ugly-ass round in an AR-15.  Those fat-boys would be a pain in the butt to lug around.

Only difference is a .224 vs a .257 bore!!! The WSSM rounds are SERIOUSLY overbore capacity and therefore eat barrels.

The .223 WSSM is amost ballistically identical to the 220 Swift.

Just a new fad on a old concept. ....And the Swift feeds better. Also, the ammo is much more available.

Same reason there's a market for the pistol caliber AR's, 300 whisper, 458 SOCOM, 440 CORBON, 50 BEOWOLF, 499 L-W, etc etc etc...  

Sure there's a million reasons why they should only make one round and one type of gun and one this, and one that, etc etc.  I guess it's different strokes for different folks.  

I am one of those lowly non-"operator" AR15 owners.   I don't use my AR15s for their true intended purposes either.  [size=3]OH NO![/size=3]  I guess I'm a poser or something?

Ammo availabillity/standardization doesn't dictate every gun purchase of mine either. Sure I have a few standard defense caliber setups in pistol and long gun to defend the fort.  But I enjoy precision reloading, and tinkering with oddball stuff.  eccentric guys like me are the reason cartridges like this come to be.

I think this round is cool, and I'll be watching its development closely.  If it proves to be a good design I may get one.  I'll Most likey just get a Savage (OH GOD another POS...) bolt gun in this caliber if they ever offer it...

The 223 version is in production now. The 243 version should be out (depending on how fast Winchster moves to release the ammo) by the end of the year.

Oly will also be releasing this rifle in a 30 cal and 7mm version based on the same casing.

The reason that this cartridge is such a big deal, is that now the average Joe AR-shooter can buy a conversion upper for his 223 rifle, and shoot a caliber that will out perform his buddies 243 and 308 Ar-10's by quite a fair margin. The cartrdges being short and fat are inherantly accurate, and the Oly gunsmith says their test rifle shoots sub MOA no problem. The 223 with a 55 grain bullet shoots a true 3,900 FPS. The 6mm 55 grain shoots 4,100 FPS!!!

In testing, I was told that because of the bigger and stronger bolt/barrel extension combo, that it will withstand a ton more pressure. Oly said they fired a casing loaded with 30 grains of BULLSEYE, that's right, pistol power, and fired it in the rifle. No problem. Slight swelling of the chamber, but the bolt and carrier held.

People, I'm here to tell you that 30 grains of bullseye in a standard AR will turn it into a GRENADE!!!

My biggest exctiment is being able to shoot this round across the course in high-power without the inherant problems of the AR10. Plus, many of my customers will be able to buy a conversion upper for under $700, instead of buying a $1400.00 AR-10, and then spending another thousand to get it to shoot a decent target. I can tell you that the high power shooters are very excited.

Can't wait to get mine.

Interesting.... okay... now the question.

How much is these upper suppose to cost?

The 220 Swift is a great coyote round and having that performance out of a semi auto would be interesting.  Additionally the 243WSSM would make an AR into a good choice for hunting deer or antelope.

Then when you get home from the hunt you can just switch back to the 5.56 upper for defence or better yet, buy another lower.

As for barrel burning, as the saying goes, "there's no free lunch".

MSRP on the upper is only $672.00

That really isn't that bad.... LOL...wonder how much replacement barrels are????

"I think the 5.56 is just fine, why does anyone see a real market for this ugly-ass round in an AR-15. Those fat-boys would be a pain in the butt to lug around."


It is not an infantry rifle (maybe a DMR concept would work).

As a deer hunter (and 11B)...

I can tell you a rifle (.243WSSM/.55gr.) I sight in 2.2 inches high at 100yds that fires 4inches low at 400yds IS A DEER'S WORST NIGHTMARE.

That means from 0-400yds there is no need to do anything more than point and shoot and you will hit deer vitals. Not to mention 300yd running shots will be easy.

The ACOG for it would be pretty simple...
a crosshair with 2 lines underneath. One for 500M and one for 600M.  

Now hopefully you can see the point of this round.

The High Power competative shooting community is crawling all over themselves to get these uppers. Can't say that I blame them. It will be very popular in the competative shooting community dependiing on your discipline.

From the picture it looks like you might get close if not half as many rounds in a mag which is more than the average bolt gun in the sniper matches, and would work well for a up and coming category with the 3-gunners called manual operated  rifle. Custom bolt guns based on a AR are available,besides the possibilities with hunting,and camp perry shooting.

One of the guys in the sporting goods dept. at the local WallyWorld had to show me a box of the 243WSSM the other day.  It was priced at a little over a buck a round, so I don't think this is something you'll go out and shoot through the AR like some of us do 5.56 at a few pennies a round.  Still, it would make the AR a legal deer rifle around here and would also make a good choice for hunting antelope.