7mm STW Brotherhood - For those who shoot the 7mm Shooting Times Westerner

[gamehawker]

good morning Guys,

i have been to the range serveral time scence last posting tring to get her dialed in. with the 168 lrx i get a good group for the first 6 rounds then it falls apart as the barrels gets dirty.from about 5/8 in 3 shot group to over a 1.5 in group. after cleaning it will group the first 2 groups tight then it falls apart.

i found a box of the Nosler accubond long range in 150gr have shot presure groups to see if the rifle liked them. have come up with a 3 shot raged hole load but have about 50 bullets left to get use to this load for a Idaho limited entry Deer hunt in October.

has anyone seen any on a shelve?? i cannot find any on the internet or any shelves around here.

What was the load data, i.e., brass, powder, primer, OAL...?

And did you measure the velocity of that load?

Here you go:

Nosler® AccuBond® Long-Range Rifle Bullets : Cabela's

 

[MudRunner2005]

Finally took some pics of the new STW barrel....The chamber looks horrific. It's smooth, but where the shoulder touches forward on the chamber is rusted bad! However, the rifling looks pristine. I figure the smith will have to take about 1/8" off the back to fit anyway, so he'll just rechamber it for my build.

But, all-in-all, I pretty much got my 26" 1:9 .284 barrel blank for free, since my buddy who bought it owed me a chunk of money, anyway. I'd still have to pay to rechamber and fit regardless when I get the action trued.

Anyone know how many inches you'd have to cut off before you could rechamber for .280 A.I.? Just out of curiousity...

 

[WildRose]

Finally took some pics of the new STW barrel....The chamber looks horrific. It's smooth, but where the shoulder touches forward on the chamber is rusted bad! However, the rifling looks pristine. I figure the smith will have to take about 1/8" off the back to fit anyway, so he'll just rechamber it for my build.

But, all-in-all, I pretty much got my 26" 1:9 .284 barrel blank for free, since my buddy who bought it owed me a chunk of money, anyway. I'd still have to pay to rechamber and fit regardless when I get the action trued.

Anyone know how many inches you'd have to cut off before you could rechamber for .280 A.I.? Just out of curiousity...

That doesn't look bad from here at all, just surface rust. make a chamber brush out of copper brush you don't like and wrap a little double ought or triple ought steel wool around it. Dip it in CLR, put it on a drill and give it about a 20 second spin.

It should all be gone.

If not, repeat.

Then rinse it completely clean several times and do the same with the brush.

Put some 800 gr or finer lapping compound on the same brush, and give it about a minutes worth of spin.

Blow it out with your favorite carburetor cleaner and once dry hit it with frog lube and a dry patch after it sets a few minutes.

Then have someone look at it with a good bore scope. My bet is it'll look great.

 

[MudRunner2005]

My buddy got the barrel for $75 plus shipping, so I think we did alright. LOL

Thanks for the info Wild! That's good to know. I haven't seen a factory stamped STW blued heavy barrel from Rem in a long time... It says it was made in Madison, NC. How old do yall reckon it is?

 

[WildRose]

My buddy got the barrel for $75 plus shipping, so I think we did alright. LOL

Thanks for the info Wild! That's good to know. I haven't seen a factory stamped STW blued heavy barrel from Rem in a long time... It says it was made in Madison, NC. How old do yall reckon it is?

A good gunsmith could probably give you a good idea based on the stampings but my guess is going to be somewhere early to mid 90's.

At that price I wouldn't spend any money on it at all, just put it in an action and see if it's a shooter. If it is, then decide if you want to keep it an STW, cut off and rechamber to 7mm mag, or to 280 rem or 284win.

If it won't shoot as it is, rechambering probably won't make it any better.

 

[WildRose]

Ok here's a question for you guys who shoot Accumarks.

I've got an opportunity to pick up an accumark 7mm STW at a decent price.

Supposedly it's low mileage and in good shape. New I see them between 1,400.-1,800 and I'm fairly sure I could pick this one up considerably cheaper.

It's not like there's a shortage of STW's in my cabinet now but I've never owned an Accumark and have always thought about giving one a spin.

Any thoughts?

 

[MudRunner2005]

A good gunsmith could probably give you a good idea based on the stampings but my guess is going to be somewhere early to mid 90's.

At that price I wouldn't spend any money on it at all, just put it in an action and see if it's a shooter. If it is, then decide if you want to keep it an STW, cut off and rechamber to 7mm mag, or to 280 rem or 284win.

If it won't shoot as it is, rechambering probably won't make it any better.

Well, the guy said it has no idea on round count (guessing he bought it used or was given the barrel), and said his smith borescoped it, and the bore and throat looked perfect. Said if it didn't shoot, he'd reimburse me my money, which I thought was pretty generous of him.

Anyway, yeah, I'll leave it an STW. I already have 1, this will make another one. I thought about cutting it down to 7RM, since I don't have a 700 in that caliber. My 7RM is a Browning A-Bolt II.

I'm also supposed to be buying a 5R .300 WM barrel used from another member on here soon. He's pulling it off to go RUM, but doesn't want the 24" barrel. So I have been debating on leaving it a .300 WM, since I don't have one of those yet, but have all the stuff to reload for it, sitting on my bench, because I load for a buddy of mine's .300 WM.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Ok here's a question for you guys who shoot Accumarks.

I've got an opportunity to pick up an accumark 7mm STW at a decent price.

Supposedly it's low mileage and in good shape. New I see them between 1,400.-1,800 and I'm fairly sure I could pick this one up considerably cheaper.

It's not like there's a shortage of STW's in my cabinet now but I've never owned an Accumark and have always thought about giving one a spin.

Any thoughts?

I have an Accumark .257 Wby Mag. Shoots great. Needs some tweaking, and the lug and action bedded, but other than that it still shoots sub-MOA, just not like I think a $1,800 rifle should. JMO.

However, Broz said that all Accumarks need the lug bedded to shoot worth a ****, so I will try that, and hopefully that will tighten up my groups. I occasionally get a 1/2 MOA group, but usually closer to 3/4 MOA.

All-in-all, if you get a chance to own a great rifle like an Accumark, in a great caliber, like the 7mm STW, I'd be like Tanto and jump on it.

 

[ncwg2boatguy]

Im loving my first STW !! Now if I could get some baseline reloading recipes it would be greatly appreciated. 800-1000yd Mule Deer and Elk loads if possible. Im sure I will have to groom them some for my rifle but it will give me a head start on R&D and save me money. Also have 400 polished casings to load up and the will to do it!!! Any recommendations on a DIE set would also help. Its a new platform for me.

Jimbo

 

[cmor]

I am the VERY happy owner of a new 7STW. Specs are as follows:
Surgeon 1086 action
McMillian Rem Hunter stock 50%black, 25%OD, 25%Lt. Tan
Krieger 5.5 taper fluted 9.5 twist 28" long
Jewell trigger
Nightforce 5-25 ATACR scope

Initial load development with 140 Accubonds yielded 1/2" groups at 100 yards. 80 grains of IMR7828 resulted in a velocity of 3477, SD5, ES12.

Can't thank Robert Gradous enough for both his beautiful work and his patience in working with a rookie like me to select the parts for this rifle.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Cmore....That is just nasty looking! I'm jealous...

Oh, and welcome to the brotherhood.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Im loving my first STW !! Now if I could get some baseline reloading recipes it would be greatly appreciated. 800-1000yd Mule Deer and Elk loads if possible. Im sure I will have to groom them some for my rifle but it will give me a head start on R&D and save me money. Also have 400 polished casings to load up and the will to do it!!! Any recommendations on a DIE set would also help. Its a new platform for me.

Jimbo

Jim, welcome to the brotherhood as well. I like the Berger 168 and 180 VLD's myself.

I have been meaning to try the Berger 180 Hybrids, but havne't had a chance yet. I hear they are not quite as picky on seating depth as the VLD's can be.

I like H1000 and Reloder 22 for mine.

I have also heard great things about Reloder 25, 33, and Reloder 50, but have yet to try any of those, as I can't seem to find any locally.

If you plan on shooting Berger, Hornady, or Nosler bullets, let me know which model and weight, and which powder you want to use, and I can look up the Min & Max loads the recommend to give you a guide to go by.

 

[ButterBean]

Im loving my first STW !! Now if I could get some baseline reloading recipes it would be greatly appreciated. 800-1000yd Mule Deer and Elk loads if possible. Im sure I will have to groom them some for my rifle but it will give me a head start on R&D and save me money. Also have 400 polished casings to load up and the will to do it!!! Any recommendations on a DIE set would also help. Its a new platform for me.

Jimbo

Jimbo if it were me I would try some Barnes 140 TSX's with 79 or 80 gr of RL25 with some 215 GM's .....I know the 140 may seem light but its a monolithic Bullet and hits like a 168 or so The STW seems to favor RL25 but H-1000 works very well also ....Myself and several others here had Awesome results with the Barnes last year but just let me know what you have in mind and We'll get you up and running .......Load to mag length(dont try to stretch it to the lands) The stw really likes a good bit of jump .....As for dies Lee or RCBS are both great ....I would go ahead and invest in a neck sizing die and a Lee factory crimp die (You'll find these most useful) and I'll tune you up on the factory crimp die once you get going.........Welcome Aboard

 

[ButterBean]

I am the VERY happy owner of a new 7STW. Specs are as follows:
Surgeon 1086 action
McMillian Rem Hunter stock 50%black, 25%OD, 25%Lt. Tan
Krieger 5.5 taper fluted 9.5 twist 28" long
Jewell trigger
Nightforce 5-25 ATACR scope

Initial load development with 140 Accubonds yielded 1/2" groups at 100 yards. 80 grains of IMR7828 resulted in a velocity of 3477, SD5, ES12.

Can't thank Robert Gradous enough for both his beautiful work and his patience in working with a rookie like me to select the parts for this rifle.

Thats a Bad Rig Bud .....Congrats