7mm stw LRAB 168 grain

[ks31178]

Has anyone had any luck with the 7mm stw 168 Long Range Accubonds with a 1/9" twist barrel? My issue is that I hunt at an altitude not much over sea level most of the year and only get to go out west once or twice a year. I want to use the same bullet and load everywhere I hunt. The SG calculations say it's marginal at that low altitude. I am just wondering if anyone has been shooting this bullet at less than 1000 feet above sea level with the same barrel twist?

Thank you!

 

[Slick8]

I've tried it out of a 1-9 28" Douglas barrel at 100 feet asl and haven't had any luck. It's a new build that also didn't care for nosler factory ammo with 160 AB's. I tried 7828 and H1000 from .010 to .150 off the lands using fed 215's and nosler brass.

I just ordered some 150 ABLR bullets and will give them a try next. I really like the performance of the AB and the high BC of the LR so I'll keep trying to tweek on it.

In the mean time, I quickly worked up a good load with 160 SGK'S and H1000 at .035 off.

 

[ksubuck]

I have them running around 3200fps at 1200 feet in a 26 inch 9 twist Lilja. They shoot fine for me. My SG is predicted around 1.73. If I drop my altitude to sea level my calculator still shows SG of 1.59. How low is yours predicted to be?

 

[SpikeSniper]

Has anyone had any luck with the 7mm stw 168 Long Range Accubonds with a 1/9" twist barrel? My issue is that I hunt at an altitude not much over sea level most of the year and only get to go out west once or twice a year. I want to use the same bullet and load everywhere I hunt. The SG calculations say it's marginal at that low altitude. I am just wondering if anyone has been shooting this bullet at less than 1000 feet above sea level with the same barrel twist?

Thank you!

You can see my ABLR rant on this forum for greater detail, but I would steer clear of them in any weight. They definitely seem to have some issues to work through at Nosler, IMHO.

 

[Strick9]

I run them to 1/4 MOA out of a 22" & saum aroud 2850 fps..

I think a lot of folks that bash them have big thumbs and of course there are those that truly have issues with the lots being off in grain weight.

I have rarely come across a bullet other than Berger that is absolutely consistent. I just don't like Berger as I need an exit hole in the areas where I kill.

 

[ksubuck]

I think the LRABs are a little slippery when it comes to charge weight and seating depth, but when you zero in on a balance between the two the groups tighten quickly. I have 150s running consistently 0.3 to 0.7 MOA in my factory 7 rem mag, and 168s running sub 0.5 MOA in my custom STW.

If I alter charge weight by a couple of tenths, the groups go up to 1.0 to 1.5 right away. My concern is with temperature sensitivity of my powder. If I gain or lose 50 fps I lose my tight groups.

 

[Strick9]

Thus why I only run Hogdgon powder

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[Lefty7mmstw]

Thus why I only run Hogdgon powder

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I stay away from Hodgdon unless they are the only one with the burn rate I want. I've seen their temp stable powders drop the ball pretty badly... nearly as badly as (shiver) "ball" powders...I use retumbo and h4985 on occasion (I may even have some h4350 and h414 around) but I have 4 # or more Alliant to every# of Hodgdon I have. I think I have more IMR than Hodgdon too. Alliant walks in fps in a predictable fashion so if I find a load with any window at all I'm good. A load with a very narrow accuracy node will likely prove flaky with even a bit of atmospheric pressure change.

I've gotten 150 fps spreads with h4895 between the cold and hot extremes in my 25wssm tossing 100 sierra pills. There are things other than the powder that can be unstable when the temp. changes. You have to test your system and not follow blindly.