Which 7mm STW Dies and Brass?

[Fred Ea]

I have a set of Hornady dies I use and work very well and are easy on the necks with the oval shaped expander ball, also like the bullet seating die with the floating seater.
My first set of dies were Forester dies and I didn't like the all that much, very rough on the case necks and had to use a lot of lubrication on the necks. Just my two cents.
FE

 

[308 holes]

I have the lee dies and tooo be honest I hate them wish I could find rcbs about to pull the trigger on forester dies if rcbs don't get some out soon my stw is hungry and really wanting to try the 180 jlk's in it

 

[cowboy727]

I want to start reloading for my Remington Sendero 7mm STW I just bought and I have a few questions.

Which dies to you recommend? I have a RCBS Rock Chucker and have always used RCBS Dies.

I'm thinking about Redding Dies, whats the difference in the the regular FL die and the Type S Bushing FL die?

Also has anyone had any experience with the RCBS X-Dies? The description says:

"The patented X-Die eliminates the need for repeated trimming after an initial case trim of .020" off the maximum case length. A specially designed mandrel contacts the case mouth and reduces the growth rate. Because of an extremely close tolerance between the mandrel and die neck wall, the neck wall of the case does not thicken as the case length is pushed back. Cases repeatedly sized in the X-Die will initially grow a few thousandths of an inch, then stabilize below the maximum case length with no discernable loss of accuracy or case life."

It sounds interesting and does it work?

I'm also trying to get some brass. It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack for 7mm STW brass these days. Since WW and Remington do longer makes it, does anyone have with Nosler Brass in this caliber? I know it's very expensive just for the brass. I'm thinking about getting a few boxes of the full loaded Nosler Ammo in 160 Accubond to get a feeling for the new rifle and then I will have some Nosler brass to reload then.

Thanks!

First, congrates on your new rifle! Iv been hunting with the 7 mm stw for 20 years and love it! i shoot a Browning 25-06 falling block that was rechambered for the stw, and iv used RCBS dies since day 1 (when i started with this rifle, the stw was still new and Handloading was the ONLY option!) If you have problems finding stw brass, a viable option is to use 8 mm rem mag. brass and resize it the neck. ( the stw was built off the 8mm rem mag. just necked down) you may have to go to a range and "fire form" the brass after initial loading! Good Luck!