300 RUM or 7mm with 180 bergers at 3000 fps

[IdahoCTD]

Originally Posted by WildRose

You're right. The first time I read that I was thinking .96MOA.

That's sub quarter MOA which is phenomenal.

I was pretty impressed myself. It shot several .3" 100yd groups and a .7" 250yd group before the group at 550yds. Not bad for a 4.5x14 Leupold either.

[pyroducksx3]

I am considering the stw. The smith states for some reason the stw only gets about 50 or a little more fps with the 180 but seems to have a better advantage using the 168. He uses one also and has rebarreled it like 9 times he shoots it so much. I already reload and have the 7 RM Redding competition 3 die set but I'm not counting out the stw yet. I'm going to be waiting for a take off barrel from him or a customers barrel that he has done that has good life. I just dont have the $$ to get a custom barrel new yet so I will have him blueprint the action and get a quality take off barrel. Hopefully by the time that burns out I'll be ready to drop the money on a new custom barrel. So because I have the dies already and money being an issue (200+$ just for dies if I go stw) I will go 7 RM but who knows we'll see which barrel becomes available first

[WildRose]

Originally Posted by pyroducksx3

I am considering the stw. The smith states for some reason the stw only gets about 50 or a little more fps with the 180 but seems to have a better advantage using the 168. He uses one also and has rebarreled it like 9 times he shoots it so much. I already reload and have the 7 RM Redding competition 3 die set but I'm not counting out the stw yet. I'm going to be waiting for a take off barrel from him or a customers barrel that he has done that has good life. I just have the $$ to get a custom barrel new yet so I will have him blueprint the action and get a quality take off barrel. Hopefully by the time that burns out I'll be ready to drop the money on a new custom barrel. So because I have the dies already and money being an issue (200+$ just for dies if I go stw) I will go 7 RM but who knows we'll see which barrel becomes available first

Well I'm not sure what loads he's using but you might want to do some reading up on it. The STW has about 10% more powder capacity than the Rem.

As for take off barrels check the classifieds here and watch gun broker. Sometimes you can pick one up in good condition for a couple of hundred bucks.

Heck you can get a new barrel from Kreiger for about 300-400.00.

EDTA:

Just checked my Hornady Load Manual and you should be able to easily get 200FPS faster with the same 180gr bullet out of the STW vs the 7 Rem.

Personally I really don't see the need to go with the 180. I've shot the 139-152's in the hornady interlock and interbond clean through some really big hogs and Elk certainly aren't any harder to penetrade than a big boar.

You can really make those weight bullets scream with the STW too !

[pyroducksx3]

The barrel cost 3-400 hundred but then smith charges to chamber the barrel also, so this is why the take off is much cheaper. I was also hoping to get a barrel that he chambered because he knows exactly how his reamers perform. As far as the 7 stw and 180 don't what to say but this is what he has found for the reamer he uses. I can't imagine a 168 at 3250-3300 fps would be easy to beat though. I'll have to ask him more about the stw

[WildRose]

Originally Posted by pyroducksx3

The barrel cost 3-400 hundred but then smith charges to chamber the barrel also, so this is why the take off is much cheaper. I was also hoping to get a barrel that he chambered because he knows exactly how his reamers perform. As far as the 7 stw and 180 don't what to say but this is what he has found for the reamer he uses. I can't imagine a 168 at 3250-3300 fps would be easy to beat though. I'll have to ask him more about the stw

I've got a good freind that's killed at least one Elk Every year for the last twenty five years or so in CO with is 7mm Mag and he's never run anything through it bigger than 170gr.

If I remember right his go to is the 160gr accubond. He shot Partitions for a long, long time but like most of us finally figured out the Accubond was far superior ballistically.

For him 600-800 yard or farther shots are the norm.

[pyroducksx3]

Originally Posted by WildRose

I've got a good freind that's killed at least one Elk Every year for the last twenty five years or so in CO with is 7mm Mag and he's never run anything through it bigger than 170gr.

If I remember right his go to is the 160gr accubond. He shot Partitions for a long, long time but like most of us finally figured out the Accubond was far superior ballistically.

For him 600-800 yard or farther shots are the norm.

Thinking back through the conversation with the smith I remember him leaning slightly towards the 168 over the 180's. I'll have to give this closer scrutiny to make my mind up. I was thinking 180's to wring every little ft lb of energy out of the 7 RM but the more I look at it the extra recoil for sub 100 ft/lb energy gained may not be worth it

[IdahoCTD]

The difference in a 24" barrel between a 7RM and 7 STW is very little. When you go to the longer barrels is where the 7STW starts to pull away. So I'd look at what barrel length you want to tote around and decide which case from that. For me, if I was in your shoes and already had dies etc., you'd have to get up to about 27-28+" before I would go to a 7STW shooting heavy bullets.