Help with bullet choice for 7 mm STW

[Blacktail]

Please do i love the caliber but have a lot to learn about loading. I learn from all of you guys with every post

 

[Roll-Yur-Own]

I agree 100% with what VH said. I use 80 grains of Retumbo in my STW with the 160 AB. Velocity is only 3050, but accuracy is great.

 

[shootinfool]

I am very partial to berger bullets, I have had really good luck with them in any gun I have loaded them for. I like nosler bullets, but for long range I would shoot berger bullets over nosler any day of the week. I like the 168 gr. vld's but the 180's are also good ones to shoot.

 

[shiredude]

71.5 gr IMR 4350, 140 gr Accubonds, Mag primers = 3400 fps out of a Sako w/ 26" tube. no signs of too much pressure.

 

[Distributor]

162 gr A-Max ,73.5 gr Rel 22, 30" Hart.
Excellent performance on game and steel,Yardages from 200-1400(as far as my range goes).

 

[Ridge Runner]

well in my rifle I just start to get a sticky bolt with the 140's at 3600 fps, and it takes 88 gr of H-1000 to get it there. the 160 gr load is shot around 50 degrees because of the temp sensativity of WC872.
RR

 

[J E Custom]

7mmSTW

With so much intrest in the 7 STW I decided to go through
my reloading notes and see if I could help those new to
this round.

I will share what my experience was with the STW and hope
others like varmint hunter will share thier's ,for an overall view
of the big 7 .

On a previous post I spoke about the velocity bug and how
bad I had it,so I set out to have one of the flatest shooting
rifles around. Remember this was when the STW was strictly
a wildcat based on the 8mm Rem Mag case.

Then as is now the longer the barrel the higher the velocity,
so I started with a 32" .284 1in91/4 twist with a finished
length of 31" This was as long as you could get at the time.

To keep the overall length of the rifle to a minimum I chose to
build it on a Browning B 78 action. Realy a nice hunting rifle
for the area of west texas that I hunted.Average shots were
300 to 400yrds with some being 800 to 900yrds so a flat
shooting rifle would come in handy.

First I started with the 120 gr bullets and exceeded 3800 ft/sec
but accurace fell off at 3680 no mater what load I used and the
best group with the 120's was a dissappointing 1.228 @ 100yrds
So after 31 different loads I gave up on the 120's.

Next I tried the 140;s These were very flat shooting @ 3625ft/sec
(my hot'est accurate load)using 7828 .RELOADER 22 gave me 3538
ft/sec but poor standard deviations (23)and H1000 was 3532ft/sec
with a SD of 15. H 5010 gave the best overall performance at 3537
ft/sec and a SD of 9. group size was .393 @ 100yrds.

I like to load at 100% case density an H 5010 worked well and was
not so temperature sensitive.

The main problem with the 140 gr bullets was 300 to 400 yrd shots
required bullets like the Nosler partition or Swift A frame and 500yrd
to 1000 needed thin jacketed bullets like the Blistic tip to perform
on deer size game.

Rather than hunt with two different bullets I decided to try 150 and
160gr bullets and give up some velocity. At 3374 ft/sec I did'nt loose
much trajectory and bullet performance was very good.

Also all of these loads liked the Rem 91/2 Mag primer better than the Fed
215 .The feds gave higher velocities but the 9 1/2s gave much better
standard deviations and groups.

Powders that seemed to work were.=H1000,IMR 7828,reloader 22 and
H 5010 with 5010 being the best in my rifle.

Also all of the best loads used 8mmRM necked down and outside neck
turned to max thickness for bullet grip.

I did'nt include powder charges because these loads could be hot in
other rifles so work up slowly.

This information came from over 200 different loads and thousands
of shots.

Good luck with this information and I hope others will post there
findings so I to can learn more about this round.

J E CUSTOM

 

[HRstretch]

JE from all of us new owners of the 7MM STW I thank you. I know this cartridge has been around for a while and it helps a lot to learn from yours and others past experiences. lets hope all of us can keep this cartridge around for many more years.

 

[TMR]

"a 160 accubond at 3340 fps" I'd be careful about attempting this velocity with the 160gr. It would be way over in my rifle. I have talked to other STW shooters who can get 3,500+ with a 140gr bullet but I wonder what pressure those loads generate. I'm sure they are "wondering" too. These loads may work for some shooters but I'd suggest looking for a more modest velocity

I must be one of those guys then.....Only I don't wonder if the pressure is to high. I get 3360 fps out of a 28" broughton with the 168 bergers. So far the cases have been reloaded 7 times. There is no pressure, the bolt opens like there isn't even a case in it. Accuracy is very good, typical groups at 100 are in the .4's if I do my part. It might be the barrel though, this rifle doesn't seem to be very finicky. I didn't start to see pressure or a sticky bolt until around 3425, which is about 2 grains more powder. I did have a reamer made with a tight chamber and be able to touch the lands, while using the Wyatts box magazine. My Dad's rifle does 3320fps with a 27.5" Lilja barrel with the same load. ES and SD are both very low in these rifles.

So far, I have around 500 rounds through this rife ( we built it the end of Feb 07), and it is still shooting great. I have taken prairie dogs at just over 1100 yds with it. Hopefully the end of the month, she will get her turn at a deer or elk in Montana.

I originally started with H1000 and velocity were averaging 3297 with single digit es for 10 shots. It was a good load. Then Dad tried some RE-22 and found that he got more velocity. So, this week I have been testing RE-22 and finding that I still get the accuracy, low es and sd, and get another 70 fps. Well, the fact that I ran out of H1000 didn't help either.

The 7mm STW if a great round. I also have a 7mm Allen Mag. It seems to be a little more finicky, but once you find what she likes, its awesome.

 

[Ridge Runner]

TMR, thats really odd, I couldn't come close to the same velocities with re22 that I had with H-1000. Mark Bansner reccomended re-22 but it just didn't give me the velocities that I felt I should get.
RR

 

[TMR]

RidgeRunner,

H1000 was my standard load. The weird thing was, my load in my Dad's Lilja barrel was close to 100 fps slower than my rifle. That drove him nuts, so he started looking for different powders. When he told me that RE-22 was running over 3320 in his rifle, I had to try it in mine.

We did some more shooting yesterday over the chrono just to make sure of things. Again, my rifle averaged 3362 with an es of 9 out of 10 shots. My 3 shot group was pretty much one ragged hole at 100 yds. Dads rifle was 3319 with an es of 6!!! His rifle shot the same way.

I did test some RE-25 yesterday with the 168. The velocity was just over 3400. There was a slight ejector mark, but no bolt lift resistance. Might be the ticket for the 180's. I will try to find a load for them after hunting season.

 

[LewisH]

What is the age of the RE-22 lot you are using? I've read that current lots of 22 and 25 give very irregular velocities.

 

[TMR]

LewisH,

My RE-22 is March of 2007, and my 25 is Feb 2007. My Dad just bought a 5lb jug on Wed., not sure what lot number it is, but it shoots good.