7mm STW action

[trueblue]

Don't know which forum to post this on, so I guess I will post it here. Does anyone shoot the 7mm STW and what action is it based on ?
I was going to build a 7mm Rem Mag, but now am leaning towards the 7mm STW. Will the Remington LA Mag work ? There is .001 difference in the O.D. of case head between the 8mm Rem Mag( or 7mmSTW case) case and the 7mm Rem Mag case. How hard is it to find brass,and how much more recoil is there compared to 7mm Rem Mag. This will be a long range hunting rifle for elk. I have a 25-06, but don't think it is big enough to go after elk with.

[James Jones]

The Rem 700 LA will work , I suggest that you have the action fitted with an extended Wyatt's mag though it'll help with seating the bullet out farther.
their is a bit more powder and yur shooting a bullet a bit faster so the recoil is going to go up but I would say that it would be less than a 300 Winchester in the same gun. If you going to have the gun custom built and your adiment about the 7mm I would then step up to the 7mmRUM or wildcat their abouts and shoot the heavy bullets like the 180 and 200 gr pills that would certainly step the 7mm bullet up to the long range elk calibers

[trueblue]

I plan on shootng Barnes TSX 168gr, or maybe something fron Nosler.I don't want to jump up to the 300mag guns, as I don't think they would be as much fun to practice with, due to more recoil. I wasn't aware that a factory gun is available in 7mm STW, assumed I would have to go custom.What is this Wyatt's mag you mentioned and where is it available ?

[LewisH]

Recoil calculator:

Schroeder & Hetzendorfer LLC

Wyatts magazine boxes? Just Google it.

[James Jones]

I'm not sure who chambers for the STW now , but a few did. The Wyatt's mag box is a longer magazine box that allows you to seat your bullet a good bit further out of the case so your not compressing the powder or taking up and case space with the bullet ,it does require that the action be machined as well as the floor plate on the BDL's , I have seen a few done with a careful hand and a dremal tool and they worked great. I understand the recoil aspect but are you completely against a muzzel brake? if not you could build a big 338 cal and have less recoil than your current 7mm!!! or make a big hot 7mm feel like a heavish 308. Another thing that the bigger bore rifles would do is give you a little bit longer barrel life , just a few thing to think about.

[James H]

If you are planning on building a dedicated long range elk rifle then I would suggest the 338 RUM. Elk are very tough and personally I believe that a .338 cal bullet is the minimum when shooting elk at long range.
I actually prefer the .338 Lapua but you really should use a large diameter action for the Lapua than what you can get by with using the RUM.

Recoil is very subjective but comparing the 7mm Rem Mag to the 7mm STW there is a tremendous difference in recoil for the gain in velocity/energy. I don't mind shooting a 7mm Mag all day but the recoil of the 7mm STW is objectionable to me. In fact I do not mind the recoil of the 300 Win mag or 300 Wby mag as much as the 7mm STW, I'm sure it's related to recoil velocity.
If you go with the 7mm STW I would recommend a brake (I put one on mine) for practice shooting. But I shot my 7mm STW twice without a hearing protection, the first and last time. I do hunt with a 30-378 without a brake and do not find the recoil objectionable while hunting(just so you know that I'm not a total recoil weenie) but a few rounds hunting is a lot different than firing 50-100 rounds in a practice session.
James

[trueblue]

I don't think I would need a Wyatt magbox, but I guess it could be added later if after load developement showed a good seating depth for accuracy was to long for standard mag. After looking at some ballistic charts, it seems that the 7mm STW doesn't have much over the 7mm Weatherby mag, or am I wrong. Won't the 7mm have less recoil, but still be able to do anything the 300 mags will do up to 168gr bullets, or would I be better off looking at the 300's as my first elk rig ?