7STW Varmint Rifle

[andrews1958]

Anyone ever use theirs as one?

What is the lightest weight bullet you have used?

What velocity have you gotten

Best twist rate for light bullets?

 

[MudRunner2005]

Seems like a waste of the cartrdige's potiention...But that's just my opinion. And that's only worth what you want it to be.

 

[WildRose]

It's devastating on predators and varmints. Most of the factory guns when it first came out were built around the 159-160gr class bullets and came with 1:9 twist barrels. You can still shoot the lighter bullets just fine though with a 1:8 twist which is where I'd suggest you go.

That way you can work up a light load with the 140's and still be able to really have a nice setup for the 160-175gr class bullets for when you want to concentrate on medium and large game and long range shooting in general.

 

[andrews1958]

Any experience with 115 to 125 grain bullets? What kind of velocity can you expect from these light of bullets.

Most of the deer I have shot have been with 25-06 115 grains. It has always stopped tem in their tracks

 

[Joel Russo]

I have my version of the STW... It's a .300 Wby, necked down to 7 with an improved shoulder. Built it as a groundhog rifle a few years ago. It runs a steady diet of 180 Berger VLD's through a 9 twist barrel. We set up all our varmint rifles to shoot the heavy bullets as most of the critters we shoot are far away.

 

[WildRose]

Any experience with 115 to 125 grain bullets? What kind of velocity can you expect from these light of bullets.

Most of the deer I have shot have been with 25-06 115 grains. It has always stopped tem in their tracks

The lightest bullets I ever shot were 120gr NBT's and they were running somewhere close to 3500fps, that was around 20 years ago. I can't remember the exact load but it was around 88-90gr Ramshot Magnum or H870.

Joel probably has the better idea of looking to the 160gr or heavier bullets especially if you plan to be shooting longer ranges.

The light bullets are great out to 400yds but beyond that the STW really shines with the heavier bullets due to the higher BC's.

 

[Chaser]

If you want to shoot light bullets just build a 257STW, Mine will send 87gr. Berger's down range at 4000FPS.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Anyone ever use theirs as one?

What is the lightest weight bullet you have used?

What velocity have you gotten

Best twist rate for light bullets?

usually 120 grain pills can pushed to nearly 3600 fps in a 7stw... you may as well shoot 140's at ~3400 fps and use it for virtually anything you can shoot with the rifle.

I wouldn't go slower than 9" twist; you can get most 7mm pills to spin on this twist. If you are planning on a heavier pill rifle I'd go 8" twist.

 

[keithcandler]

Cousins and I started shooting the 7 STW as soon as Lane Simpson posted the article on it in Shooting Times Magazine, I think 1989?

We started off with 8 Rem mag brass because that was the best option back then. We wanted speed to cut down on leade on running deer, so the old 120g NOsler solid base lead tip spt for Missouri White tails.

On the first trip to the rifle range with R#22 and Fed 215's, we hit super accuracy node starting at 82g then again from 84-86g. 86g was 3900 fps, and 84g was 3800, cuz liked the 84g load but from 84-86g was shooting groups sub .300...hard to believe.

So, they have been shooting 84g of R#22 with the 120g Nosler lead tip solid base ever since, numerous deer have died, beavers, crows, coyotes, etc. I can only imagine what a 120g V max would do.

I had the reamer ground with zero freebore for this 120g-140g weight, we have had 5 more barrels chambered with this reamer, and all shoot the 120's at 3800-3900, and the 140g C/T bullet at 3550 with heavy loads of IMR 7828 and long barrel Harts, Pac NOr, and Rem Sendero re chambers. C/T bullets do not develop the pressure that naked bullets do, take that to the bank!

120g Barnes Tripple shocks, tipped and regular, shot bug holes jumping the bullet .050, same loads as Nosler 120's.

Now I hope that Remington will make another run on brass.