7STW worth the trouble??

[KS2506]

Love the STW, thought my 25-06 shot flat, till I got an STW. The first one I had was a rechambered 7RM, was very accurate. My best one was a M70 custom shop Sharpshooter. Absolute murder on deer, antelope and coyotes. Have a Sako TRG-S and a M70 SS Sporter at the present time. Only shoot 140 grain bullets, so no experience with the heavies. Do not hunt elk any more, too old and stove up to hunt the mountains.

 

[ButterBean]

STW, You will never regret it !!!

 

[iclick]

I have both the 28 Nosler and 7STW. My preference is the STW. Just my 2 cents.

 

[keithcandler]

I and family have shot 7 STW's since about 1990, can't remember when Lane simpson first came out with the cartridge, ptg probably put the date on the reamer, will have to look.

We shot 120 and 140g for years, warp speed, deer flopped and 500 yards is a chip shot...120's at 3850 shooting bug holes at 100. 140's at 3650. Reamer is ground with zero freebore for use with the 120 and 140g bullets, long barrel life. Have a uni throater for longer bullets.

A 7 Mashburn or 7 Practical will be next, I just got new reamers and am on the hunt for dies...just need to play.

 

[dougduey]

After a lot of research, and the 7 STW forum on this website, I purchased a 7 STW 7 years ago. Haven't regretted it one bit. I'm on my second barrel, and I have to admit it is probably my favorite rifle. Whether it's the 7 STW, 28 Nosler, 7 RUM, 7 Practical or 7 Dakota, you get a whole lot of sameness with this group.
Layne Simpson designed the 7 STW to have minimal freebore. To really achieve this, you need to have the larger Wyatt's Mag Box installed which can get you a COAL of about 3.785" which should be a perfect 0.015-0.020" off the lands. You'll get full case capacity and performance this way. Best performance is with a 26-28" barrel and a minimum 1:9 twist, it I have and prefer a 1:8 twist. More options for brass with the STW over the 28 N.

The beauty of this cartridge design (even with a factory length mag that produces a lot of jump) is the bullet is fully guided into the lands. This means that it does not leave the case neck (or 90% of the case neck) before it enters (jumps) into the rifling. The case neck fully guides the bullet squarely into the lands!!! This is why this cartridge tends to be so accurate.
Velocities with hand loads can be very fast. 140 gr bullets are 3400-3500 fps, 160 gr bullets are 3200-3300 fps with a sweet spot around 3275 fps, and the 175 gr bullets at 3050-3100 fps.
I run the 143 gr Hammer Hunter at 3512 fps. I dialed back the heavier bullets a little because I get better accuracy from the next lower node and don't need the flame thrower speeds. 3100 fps for the 162 gr ELDX and 2979 fps for the 175 ELDX. A little faster with the 177 gr Hammer Hunter at 3030 fps.
I've shot every antelope and mule deer with the STW. Nothing went more than 15 yards if it didn't drop in its tracks. Recoil is mild with a break. I've verified the 175 gr ELDX load out to 1070 yards. Fun to watch your hits on steel at that range and it really bucks the wind with that load.

I'll finish by saying this, all my rifles shoot 0.75-0.25" moa depending upon the weak link, which is me and what kind of day I'm having. That being said, the one rifle I have the utmost confidence in is my 7 STW.

 

[keithcandler]

We have had many barrels chambered with a zero freebore reamer available from PTG. 120-140g bullets is what we shoot, amazing accuracy, with little load development with IMR 7828 and fed 215's. R#22 also works well with the 120's at 3800 on 26" 9 Twist barrels. 2.5" groups at 600 yards with the 140's is typical.

 

[just_jon]

I'm getting excited about my STW again. I've never shot bullets lower than 160, but just ordered so idea of pushing 120s at those speeds interests me. Warp speed ahead.

 

[LRNut]

Why all the love for 120s at 3800? The wind drift of a 120 Cutting Edge 120 at 1200 is almost double a Berger 195 at 3000. The 195 kicks its butt at 800 and 1000 too.

Trajectory is a non-issue at LR but wind is THE ISSUE (with accuracy a prerequisite).

Kind of like shooting 40 grain bullets from a Swift instead of 80 or 90 grain bullets.

 

[keithcandler]

500 yards is a very long shot for most people, even though this is the long range forum.

 

[AlphaDogs]

IF you want a super hot 7mm, the 7mm RUM with a proper length bbl beats anything else. Barrels are cheap compared to a top tier scope or an outfitted hunt. The RUM win, no contest.

 

[LRNut]

IF you want a super hot 7mm, the 7mm RUM with a proper length bbl beats anything else. Barrels are cheap compared to a top tier scope or an outfitted hunt. The RUM win, no contest.

I love the 300 RUM, but the problem with the RUM case is bullet seating; that is true for the 300 as well as the 7RUM. I can live with it in the 300 RUM (but my next 30 will either be a PRC or a 30 Nosler) but the 7 RUM overbore it makes more sense to go with the Nosler IMO.

 

[AlphaDogs]

Curious as to what is this problem w/the 7mm RUM ?

Hope it's not the old "too short neck" that has haunted the 300 Winmag for decades with no side by side data to prove it. Meanwhile it keeps killing far more game and terrorists than any other 30 caliber magnum.

BTW the neck is .306 long, exceeding the old one caliber rule.

"The 28 Nosler is essentially a shortened version of the 7mm Remington Ultra Magnum. They share a maximum body diameter of 0.550 inch. Rebating the rim to 0.534 inch simplifies the production of rifle bolts since the rims of Holland & Holland-style belted magnums, such as the 7mm Remington Magnum and .300 Winchester Magnum, are the same diameter. Whereas the 7mm RUM case measures 2.387 inches long from head to body-shoulder juncture, that dimension on the .28 Nosler case is 2.166 inches. The dimension at that point on the 28 Nosler case is 0.002 inch larger, and that reduces its body taper by just a tad. Maximum case lengths are 2.850 and 2.590 inches respectively. Shoulder angles are 30 degrees for the Remington cartridge and a slightly sharper 35 degrees for the Nosler. Due to its greater length, the Remington case is about 25 percent more capacious than the Nosler.[16]"

25% more capacity equals more velocity. Nothing beats the RUM !

 

[LRNut]

Alpha:

No, not the neck is too short or even the bullet sits too deep past the neck. It is simply the OAL for best accuracy is too long to fit in the magazine, even in an extended box. The 28N, 300 PRC, and 30N don't have this problem.

If I do another RUM I will make the throat super short.

 

[crazyhorse]

Let me first state that I love my 7 STW. The STW was a big deal in the gun magazines when I came out in 1996 and after talking to a couple of guys who had custom guns, I was smitten. I immediately ran out and rechambered a three year old 7RM Weatherby Vanguard Deluxe that was shooting 1/2 moa. Bottom line: 12% more powder = 5% more velocity. Don't know much about the 28 No's or 7RUM, but suspect the bottom line is similar compared to the 7RM. The 7RM would have been equally effective for anything game animal on this continent under 800 yards. Not as sexy perhaps. I will be needing a new barrel in the near future and still stay with the 7STW because I have new brass and am set up to load for it.

This ^^^^^^