.325 WSM

.325 Winchester Short Magnum
WSM and WSSM family of cartridges. From left to right: .223 WSSM, .243 WSSM, .25 WSSM, .270 WSM, 7 mm WSM, .300 WSM, .325 WSM.
Type	Rifle
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	Never issued
Production history
Designer	Winchester
Designed	2005
Manufacturer	Winchester
Produced	2005–present
Specifications
Parent case	.300 Winchester Short Magnum
Bullet diameter	.323 in (8.2 mm)
Neck diameter	.350 in (8.9 mm)
Shoulder diameter	.538 in (13.7 mm)
Base diameter	.555 in (14.1 mm)
Rim diameter	.535 in (13.6 mm)
Case length	2.100 in (53.3 mm)
Overall length	2.860 in (72.6 mm)
Case capacity	83 gr H2O (5.4 cm3)
Rifling twist	1 in 10 in (254 mm)
Primer type	Large rifle magnum
Maximum pressure (C.I.P.)	63,091 psi (435.00 MPa)
Maximum pressure (SAAMI)	65,000 psi (450 MPa)
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy 180 gr (12 g) Ballistic Silvertip 3,060 ft/s (930 m/s) 3,743 ft·lbf (5,075 J) 200 gr (13 g) AccuBond CT 2,950 ft/s (900 m/s) 3,866 ft·lbf (5,242 J) 220 gr (14 g) Power-Point 2,840 ft/s (870 m/s) 3,941 ft·lbf (5,343 J)
Test barrel length: 24 in (610 mm) Source(s): Winchester Ammunition

The .325 Winchester Short Magnum, commonly known as the 325 WSM is a 8mm caliber rebated rim bottlenecked centerfire short medium bore cartridge. The cartridge was introduced by Winchester Ammunition in 2005.

The name of the cartridge is a misnomer as the bullet diameter is .323 in (8.2 mm). Introduced at the 2005 Shot Show in Las Vegas, NV, it is the largest member of the Winchester Short Magnum family of cartridges. The .325 WSM was intended for the hunting of medium and large bodied thin skinned dangerous and non-dangerous big game animals of Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.

Since the introduction of the .300 WSM in 2000 there had been speculation that Winchester and Browning would release further cartridges based on the cartridge case of the .300 WSM. Then in 2001 Winchester announced the release of the .270 WSM and the 7mm WSM cartridges. The common wisdom indicated that Winchester would release a .33 caliber (8.38 mm) cartridge based on the .300 WSM case. However, Winchester surprised the shooting public in 2002 when they introduced the .223 WSSM and the .243 WSSM based on a further shortened WSM case followed by the .25 WSSM in 2003.

The introduction of the .325 WSM in 2005 took the shooting public by surprise as the 8mm caliber did not have a following in North America. Earlier introductions of 8mm cartridges in North America were met with failure as the .30 caliber (7.62 mm) was generally considered the caliber of choice among American hunters.

When introduced Winchester offered the cartridge loaded with a 180 gr (12 g) Ballistic Silvertip at 3,060 ft/s (930 m/s) (SBST325S), a 200 gr (13 g) Combined Technologies Accubond at 2,950 ft/s (900 m/s) (S325WSMCT), and a 220 gr (14 g) Power-Point at 2,840 ft/s (870 m/s) (X325WSM).

The .300 WSM case is based on the .300 Remington Short Action Ultra Magnum case design, differing only minutely from the original Remington cartridge. For this reason, the .300 RSAUM cartridge should be considered a direct parent of the WSM cartridge design. The Remington in turn was based on the shortened Canadian Magnum series of cartridges designed by Aubrey White and Noburo Uno of North American Shooting Systems (NASS) based in British Columbia Canada.