Olympic Arms .243 wssm

J

jcurt

New member
I have contacted Mike at Dtech and I know for sure he builds a awesome upper for this caliber. But with the wait time and $$$ Im looking to see what the opinions are on the Olympic upper. This will be for coyotes, and deer. Not looking to get 1/2 moa out of it, just need something that will hit the target, not that it shooting a small group will hurt but dont expect that out of a production upper. I do plan to reload, but will try some factory ammo first.

Are there any cons to the wssm round? I can get the OLY upper for $699 plus shipping and already have a spikes tactical lower, ace skeleton stock and rra lpk and 2 stage trigger. Thanks for the help
 
The stock Oly uppers with the SUM barrel are guaranteed to shoot sub MOA, and most shoot much better than that.

The down side would be that the stock 24" bull barrel is a VERY heavy unit to tote and swing.

The WSSM's run like a sewing machine, and the only feed/function problems folks encounter is when they don't set the shoulder back where it belongs when sizing. There are lots of factory and custom loads available for the .243 WSSM, so you don't have to reload.
 
Hmmm, I was wondering about weight and length of the 24". I had set out to build a 6.8spc in a 18" barrel, but after finding the .243 wssm it seems like a better round for me. I have read a post before and you said a 20" barrel is to short for the .243 wssm. So are the only good choices 22" and 24"? So would having the stock OLY barrel fluted be an option worth considering? Or should I just buy a cheap .223 upper to hold me over until I can get you (Mike) to build this .243 lol
 
I can tell you Mike is correct on all points. And they are very heavy. Oly has a new series of uppers that have a fluted barrel, 22" barrel and stainless steel.
 
I just found the 22" 1-10 twist stainless that OLY has. Is 1-10 twist good for up to 85 to 90 grains? Or is it better for the lighter bullets?

Also I do see the 22" fluted on the complete rifle but dont see it for sale as the upper only.
 
I have had a couple OLY uppers in 243 WSSM. One was a good shooter and one I did not have long enough to get some good loads for it but it did look good at 200 yards. I have now gone the way of D-Tech. I have no plans of turning back, my only plan is to order more.
 
Oly stainless and SUM barrels shoot really well. Just the thought of packing a 22 or 24" bull barrel around all day makes my neck ache.
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If you download the Oly 2010 on-line manual, they offer barrel fluting in their custom shop. I've never seen one they did, but I saw their ad for it.

I had D-Tech do my fluting because I know he knocks a lot of weight off and keeps the accuracy.
 
Originally Posted By: jcurtI just found the 22" 1-10 twist stainless that OLY has. Is 1-10 twist good for up to 85 to 90 grains? Or is it better for the lighter bullets?

Also I do see the 22" fluted on the complete rifle but dont see it for sale as the upper only.

A 1:10 twist will definitely handle 85 & 90 grain bullets. I have a 6mm Remington in that twist and it shoots anything from 70gr to 100gr bullets just fine.
 
Well got the order completed with mike today. He is going to get me a OLY .243wssm upper and cut to 22", flute, add his compensator, and install his new handgaurd for me. He is going to do some work to the upper while he has it to make sure its all in check. Im very excited and cant wait. I also just got my ace stock with buffer in the mail today so looks like ill put the lower together tomorrow. Now just have to get some bullets, brass, dies, primers, powder, mags
 
When you ordered from Mike today, did he say anything about lead time? I ordered a 25 wssm in January, and wondered if 8 months was still what he was figuring. That would put it about a month away, I'm so stoked! But I've had an email in to him for about 2 weeks with no reply, and haven't talked to him at all since February, so I don't know how its going. BTW, how much do you think the complete rifle will weigh with that ace stock. I think that's what I will use also.
Russ
 
Good job jcurt on your order! you will not be disappointed. I have his 25 wssm and love it. I ordered a 243 wssm and 20 tac at the end of November 09. I got notified by Mike this week that he is fluting my barrels.
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Originally Posted By: 204 ARWhen you ordered from Mike today, did he say anything about lead time? I ordered a 25 wssm in January, and wondered if 8 months was still what he was figuring. That would put it about a month away, I'm so stoked! But I've had an email in to him for about 2 weeks with no reply, and haven't talked to him at all since February, so I don't know how its going. BTW, how much do you think the complete rifle will weigh with that ace stock. I think that's what I will use also.
Russ

The WSSM's have been a real challenge. Olympic Arms provides all of the barrels for my semi-custom WSSM uppers. Back sometime before the first of the year Olympic Arms had a problem with one of their broaches, so the took both the .243 and .25 broaches out of service for sharpening and rebuilding. In February of this year, I used my last Oly WSSM barrel from my stock, and was unable to replace them.

I had piles of folks that had been waiting a LONG time for their uppers, and the expected delivery time from Olympic Arms was nothing short of a nightmare! For the customers that were past-due on their WSSM builds, I began offering the hand-chambered Shilen up-grade at a reduced price to keep things moving. The response was huge, and I soon depleted my supply of Shilen blanks in both .243 and .25. I have since depleted Shilen's supply of .243 and .25 blanks, and have had quite a load on back-order. Last week I received TWO CRATES full of shilen blanks. After receiving those crates I was flush on .243 blanks, but still had no .25 blanks.

During the same week, I got a box with a few of each .243 and .25 WSSM barrel assemblies from Olympic arms, the first since before the first of the year! These barrels will go to folks that are past-due and have not opted for the up-grade, and the next customers in line. Now that the pipe-line is flowing from Olympic Arms, I think I'll be able to keep filling orders fairly quickly.

While I've been waiting on barrels, I have been producing other calibers that I have blanks on hand for. Not everything that is ordered first get out the door first when certain parts become scarce.

There is "light at the end of the tunnel" I am starting to work my way out of the huge backlog, but it's going to take time.
 
[
The WSSM's have been a real challenge. Olympic Arms provides all of the barrels for my semi-custom WSSM uppers. Back sometime before the first of the year Olympic Arms had a problem with one of their broaches, so the took both the .243 and .25 broaches out of service for sharpening and rebuilding. In February of this year, I used my last Oly WSSM barrel from my stock, and was unable to replace them.

I had piles of folks that had been waiting a LONG time for their uppers, and the expected delivery time from Olympic Arms was nothing short of a nightmare! For the customers that were past-due on their WSSM builds, I began offering the hand-chambered Shilen up-grade at a reduced price to keep things moving. The response was huge, and I soon depleted my supply of Shilen blanks in both .243 and .25. I have since depleted Shilen's supply of .243 and .25 blanks, and have had quite a load on back-order. Last week I received TWO CRATES full of shilen blanks. After receiving those crates I was flush on .243 blanks, but still had no .25 blanks.

During the same week, I got a box with a few of each .243 and .25 WSSM barrel assemblies from Olympic arms, the first since before the first of the year! These barrels will go to folks that are past-due and have not opted for the up-grade, and the next customers in line. Now that the pipe-line is flowing from Olympic Arms, I think I'll be able to keep filling orders fairly quickly.

While I've been waiting on barrels, I have been producing other calibers that I have blanks on hand for. Not everything that is ordered first get out the door first when certain parts become scarce.

There is "light at the end of the tunnel" I am starting to work my way out of the huge backlog, but it's going to take time. [/quote]


I understand, Mike. I know a lot of things are out of our control, and hope you didn't take my post as criticism in any way. It must make you proud to have your work so much in demand.
Right now I've got my hands full with a pencil barreled 223ai I put together. It groups well with 40 gr nbt's, but the group seems to move slightly (different place on the target) each time. This was really noticable at 200 yards. I took it apart tonight and retorqued the ff tube nut one more hole tighter. I also discovered that the barrel is cocked slightly to the right, and does this with two different upper receivers. I think the barrel extension was not put on square. I will try it again and take another scope to try also. The group movement and any fliers seem to be mostly horizontal. Any ideas? The more I play with these rifles, I realize the more I have to learn.
Russ
 
Russ, I haven't taken any offence at all. I don't get nearly as much time as I would like to answer some of these threads. When I do get the time, and have any news to add, I try to let folks know what's going on.
 
Since my ace stock came in today I figured I would build my lower. Everything went smooth as its only my second time to build a lower but looks like everything is good and functions like it should. Here are some pics.

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