7MM STW vs 28 Nosler

[Cinchy]

I have rifles in most popular calibers 25, to 338 calibers but I don`t own any 7 mm calibers at all. Going to get a new rifle built thinking about the 7MM STW or 28 Nosler. Which would you all prefer & why?

 

[Capt RB]

Go 28 nosler or 7LRM better design. If you had one the 7stw is a beast but since your starting out without anything pick a new style non belted case.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Belt or no-belt makes no difference these days. My belted cartrdiges are producing the same incredible accuracy as my non-belted cartridges.

As for the 7mm STW and .28 Nosler, they are ballistic twins, and have ****-near identical capacities. The only advantage to the .28 Nosler, is that it is slightly shorter than the STW, which allows you to seat longer heavy high-BC bullets at cartridge length that is nearly identical to the .300 WinMag (which will fit in a standard Rem 700 long action.

 

[bigngreen]

The STW is dead, we should let it go in silence, the 28 Nosler is the last nail in its coffin, it just a better design and performed at levels I've never seen an STW do.

 

[WildRose]

I have rifles in most popular calibers 25, to 338 calibers but I don`t own any 7 mm calibers at all. Going to get a new rifle built thinking about the 7MM STW or 28 Nosler. Which would you all prefer & why?

I prefer the STW because we've had a long running love affair since the very early 90's.

My affair with the STW has lasted longer than both my marriages added together (so far).gun)

As long as you dedicate yourself to building up at least 300rds of brass as soon as reasonably possible there's no real advantage to the Nosler other than the greater access to factory ammo should you ever need it.

That being said if I were starting over today I'd probably be willing to give up a little performance for the security of a steady supply of brass and factory ammo and go with the Nosler.

 

[WildRose]

Go 28 nosler or 7LRM better design. If you had one the 7stw is a beast but since your starting out without anything pick a new style non belted case.

Lack of a belt isn't an improvement it's a marketing gimmick.

Neither of those cases offers any better design and doesn't match the performance of the STW.

The LRM is also a wildcat which makes it more difficult and expensive to load for with an extremely limited (captive) supply of components, dies, reamers, etc.

 

[MudRunner2005]

The STW is dead, we should let it go in silence, the 28 Nosler is the last nail in its coffin, it just a better design and performed at levels I've never seen an STW do.

The STW will never die, no matter how hard some folks wish it would. It's been read its last rights about 10 times over the years, but it always seems to shake the odds, and make an even stronger comeback than it had before... As long as Nosler makes brass for it, and as long as you can buy .300 H&H, .375 H&H, and 8mm RemMag brass...You can make STW brass.

I'll always have atleast 1 in my collection.

 

[Capt RB]

The Nosler has a shorter case of the same capacity, steeper shoulder, and longer neck that fits into a standard action. How is it not a better design. Research has shown those 3 factors to improve accurate barrel life.
They are within a grain depending on the brass and nosler is the plus side.
I'd agree on the 7lrm being more propriety and brass availability. However your not going to convince many that the designs of these two are not better than the STW.
Capability wise there is no difference. Barrel to barrel variations would cover the differences.

 

[Predator 22]

Lack of a belt isn't an improvement it's a marketing gimmick.

Neither of those cases offers any better design and doesn't match the performance of the STW.

The LRM is also a wildcat which makes it more difficult and expensive to load for with an extremely limited (captive) supply of components, dies, reamers, etc.

Lack of a belt is a improvement in case capacity when comparing the same size bolt face. That is why the nosler is able to get the same capacity as the stw in a shorter case length and that also improves being able to seat heavy for caliber bullets optimally where they are not taking up case capacity.
To me the 35 degree shoulder of the nosler is a better design compared to the stw's 25 degree shoulder. It should not strech as much as the stw and theoretically should keep the flame point inside the neck for improved barrel life.
Don't take this as me being a hater on the stw because I'm not. Before the 26 nosler came out I was looking at the stw for some time, the shortage of brass kept me from buying one. I had shot the stw a bit and was always impressed with it's performance.
When I started looking at building a 7mm I wanted a un-belted case between the 7mm rem and the rum in Case capacity with a 30-35 degree shoulder and minimum case taper. I was originally going to build a 7 lrm when the 26 came on the market and quickly settled on it as what I was going to build on in 7mm. The only complaint of the nosler case to me is I would have liked a little longer neck.

 

[apexmtnman]

The Nosler has a shorter case of the same capacity, steeper shoulder, and longer neck that fits into a standard action. How is it not a better design. Research has shown those 3 factors to improve accurate barrel life.
They are within a grain depending on the brass and nosler is the plus side.
I'd agree on the 7lrm being more propriety and brass availability. However your not going to convince many that the designs of these two are not better than the STW.
Capability wise there is no difference. Barrel to barrel variations would cover the differences.[/QUOTE

Show us the research, I'd be interested to read it.

 

[MudRunner2005]

The Nosler has a shorter case of the same capacity, steeper shoulder, and longer neck that fits into a standard action. How is it not a better design. Research has shown those 3 factors to improve accurate barrel life.
They are within a grain depending on the brass and nosler is the plus side.
I'd agree on the 7lrm being more propriety and brass availability. However your not going to convince many that the designs of these two are not better than the STW.
Capability wise there is no difference. Barrel to barrel variations would cover the differences.

Actually no, the only one of those factors that improved barrel life is the longer throat. And it's been proven that has a cancelled-affect when you pack the same amount of powder behind the bullet, the flame is going to burn the same amount of time, and just as concentrated (same bore diameter). According to the SAAMI specs, the 7mm STW has a .278" length neck, and the .28 Nosler has a .276" length neck.

So, technically, the STW should get you slightly better barrel life... Like I stated in my first post, the ONLY advantage the Nosler has over the STW is the shorter case length to fit in the magazine easier.

As far as cartridge design, yes the Nosler is more of an "improved" design with less wall taper and a sharper angled neck (which I agree in an improvement over the older "positive extraction" design with heavy taper and low shoulder angles)

I'll say this again as well...Belted or not makes no difference in how the cartridge performs.

 

[Capt RB]

The difference in my 243 and my dad's 6mm in performance is next to nill loaded as they are. My 243 has a torched throat. His is still fairly fresh. Round count would be more through his than mine as he's retired and shoots much more often than me. Biggest difference is neck length. I know that the 6mm at the speeds we shoot is not topped out and that plays a big part. After reading many articles on the subject and seeing these guns act in a way consistent with this line of thinking. I have to say that's the way I see it.
As far as throat as the only acceptable answer for longer barrel life. After reading about the 6mm competition's use of H1000 extending accurate round count. I started using that in a 243ai I have. Round count is 400ish and it was built to shoot the 105Amax. It looks far better than the kids rifles at about the same round count in 243. H1000 is well documented to have this effect. However the 40 degree shoulder does have an effect on the flames path that is a positive vs a negative as well. At the rate I'm going the AI won't be shot out and I dunno if I just rebarrel the 243 to another ai but in a 10tw or not.

 

[MudRunner2005]

Yes, there are many other factors that affect barrel and throat life. Powder burn rate is one of them.

You only mentioned 3 factors, and only 1 of those 3 three you mentioned truly affects barrel life...Which is neck length. Steeper shoulder angle affects brass life and cartridge/burn efficiency in a positive way, but has not been shown to have much affect on barrel life. And cartridge length vs. width has zero to do with barrel life. Cartridge capacity regardless of cartridge shape and design, affects barrel life. Now, cartridge shape and design does affect functioning efficiency of the cartridge.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Magazine length ? Bolt face ? Be a man and run a Ruger #1 in 7mm STW .