Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 7 stw making a comeback

As this is my first post i must say great site.I am wondering who uses this round and for what type of game loads ect.Where i live in northern BRITISH COLUMBIA the clear cuts tend to be on the large size i found it to be a solid performer on all types of large heavy game.Since building this rifle i have all but retired my 300 WIN MAG.I just thew that in too stir the pot up a little. THANKS GREAT SIGHT.

Welcome the campfire, the STW has long been one my favorites. BTW you don't have to try to stir the pot around
here. It can happen fast without stepping on toes. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The STW has been my "go to" caliber for everything bigger than coyotes since about '89 or so IIRC. Whitetail, mulies, elk, moose, caribou, I've never felt that I needed more gun. Played the opposite way, I never feel a over-riding need to use less gun either. I used a .308 this fall, and missed the Stewy the whole time. It all worked out though.
Model70guy

Welcome STW. I guess I didn't realize the 7STW had gone enywhere to come back from. Several people I know use the catridge with complete satisfaction. While I happen to shoot the 7 Ultra Mag I would be just as happy with the STW. It is probable that neither will ever break any sales records but they will be around a long time.

Are there any major manufacturers chambering the STW now?

As far as I know Sako and the weatherby accumark plus selective remingtons rifles will be chambered for the STW.

Love the 7mm STW, its a classic...have a Sako s/s chambered with it.

I nearly bought a 7STW this year, but I felt the 300 Ultra that I ended up with would be more versatile when African game is factored in. All in all, an excellent cartridge in my opinion.

The 7STW is about as much as can be gotten from the .284 without REALLY getting obscene in terms of powder expended for minimal gains in velocity.

It does have it's limitations; i.e. it needs a long barrel (26" minimum, IMHO), it does have a fairly significant recoil for folks with any sensitivity, and you really need to be shooting past 300 regularly on big deer, or past 450 at average deer to really have it be an advantage over smaller calibers.

But, within it's limitations and use ranges, there are few that can do what it does.

FYI - one of the slickest 7STWs I've ever run across was a HB Browning/Winchester 1885 7RM that was rechambered to 7STW. With the heavy 28" octagon barrel and REALLY good glass on top, that thing shot WAY, WAY out there and just devastated whatever it was pointed at. Think 120 and 140 NBTs loaded max-out for varmints and 140-160 Xs for everything else. The shooter really got the most out of the 800 yd laser rangefinder, and has since gone to the Leica 1200 Scan. And gets all he can out of that one, too.

I think this is a great round. I used the 7mm Rem. for about
10 years & went to the 300WM. I like the 300 better for Elk &
above but that is not to say that the 7stw would not do well, &
it could. I am thinking about having one built as I feel it is perfect for som Antelope & especially for Big Mule Deer. As
others have said, it appears to do about all you can with a 7mm without going to 28" or longer barrels & special fast
barrels to utilize the bigger cases, especially with a 140 Grain
Bullet. This is why I have not warmed up to the 7mmUM.

I purchased my Weatherby 7STW as an impulse buy while checking rifles at our local Gander Mountain I believe six years prior. My buyers remorse quickly vanished when I started dropping deer at 300 plus yards. This was a big leap from my Rem 742 30/06. I have saved my pennies to purchase a Bat action. I thought of all the new magnums that surfaced in the past six years and I think I'm going to stick with the STW.

Are you going to build a traget rifle or?

I love my 7STW ! have a "book" starting load that is so flat to 200 yds. it looks like a lazer beam trajectory ! Stuffed a 140 Sierra with H4831. Book says it shouldn't be this flat ; but it is ! I called Nosler and what I got was because I'm not "exactly" zeroed at 100 (I'm 3/4" high) it could account for being 3/8ths inch low at 200yds.! This is a lso a switch barreled gun; the other barrel is 358STA and it is awsum ! What a one -two punch ! I think the 358 STA is more potent than the 375H& H. I know the 60 " moose I took in Alaska couldn't tell em apart ! I love 7MMs and the 7STW is the best . Charles

Long range hunting rifle with target minded accuracy

I handload for a friend with a Sendero 7 STW, I swithched him to 140 Accubonds this year. He had a friend who wanted one, I found him one and have hated getting rid of it since, sellers remorse. They are that good to me. His loves IMR7828 and runs close to 3500 fps with great accuracy. I bedded it polished the crown and lightened the trigger. I don`t care for the Sendero stock, I am trying to get him to go with a McMillan.

Tim in TN: I reload the big 7 with H4831 and get excellent accuracy with 140s at about 3200fps. Nosler's book shows a max. load of 7828 at only 3355fps out of 26" of barrel. How is he getting close to 3500fps? I did see a 30" barrel on a benchrest style 7STW a guy uses for prairydog shooting and he could shoot 1 1/2 " groups at 300 yrds. with the 140 BT! Says he gets around 3400(?)fps. Neat rig; hardly any recoil.Charles

charlie358,

Welcome to the forum. To give you an example from real life I will post the loads from my 7MM-.300 Weatherby. It had a 28" barrel, but the info is still useful. I was shooting a 150 Nosler. All the loads were max to me because two more grains and the bolt would get sticky on the lift.

IMR4350 @ 75 grains = 3,400 feet per second
H4831 @ 80 grains = 3,400 feet per second
IMR7828 @85 grains = 3,525 feet per second

I would suggest you try a slower powder.

I worked up to that charge weight with 140 Sierras, and it chronoed at just over 3400 fps like 3422. Just changing to the more streamlined Nosler alone increased the velocity to 3470, I have seen this several times that the Nosler chronographed faster. I am above book max in some manuals, but always rely on the particular rifle to tell me what it wants. I use the manual as a guideline especially since the lawyers now help write them. It seems Nosler feels the 7mm Remington mag is an equal cartridge to the STW. They show only 15 FPS difference in max loads with the 140. Please don`t push reloading manuals to me. There is no way a 7 Mag can run with the STW.

82.5grs RL22, Win hulls, Fed GM215 Match primers, Nosler 120gr Ballistic tips from a 25.5" Sendero barrel=3616fps

Shoots in the low 2's

Thats what I`m taking about. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> My absolute favorite factory chambering.

I've taken it up to 84grs with no pressure signs and accuracy remained good. The fps gained was marginal so I stayed with the 82.5 load.

I was thinking of getting a 7STW and a gunsmith told me that they can be finicky to reload and get acurate. What is the difference betweent he STW and the ultra mag?

Big Dog,

The RUM is as large as the belt on the STW. It holds about 20% more powder. A fried of mine reamed his rifle with an STW and worked up loads for a 127 grain bullet. He rechamberd it to the RUM and gained about 150 per second. They will both work through and with a magnum action.

i shoot a rum, sendero,love the gun,but wish iwould have bought the stw..think its going to be around alot longer.
look at factory loads and everyone is loading for stw,rem is the only onefor the rum.i handload mine and the 160 ab seems to really shine in this gun.but the stw will do almost as good yet with less powder...

Sounds to me like your gunsmith may not be tooled for a 7STW. I hear that alot. Why would it matter to your 'smith what YOU would want?

ST

Wow a 120 BT at 3600 should hit like a handgrenade!! I bet thats a super varmint round and leaves nothing much but mist.

I've killed coyotes, blacktail, mulies and black bear with that load. I suppose it would kill a prairie dog.......grin

I LIKE it..........bolt of freaking lightning. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Here's my limited but maybe slightly interesting experience with the 7mm STW. Up until last summer I'd only read about the cartridge in reloading manuals. It sounded pretty cool but don't they all? Then, a buddy of mine who has looong range hunting aspirations bought a used SS Rem 700 with a laminated stock that someone had (very poorly we came to find out) put on a 7mm STW heavy fluted barrel. It would barely put 5 shots in 4" @ 100 yds with factory ammo! He brought it to me to diagnose (I have aspirations of becoming a gunsmith) and I found that the barrel was bound tight the entire length of the forend. So I figured that would be a pretty darn good place to start. The fellow that had hogged the stock out to accept the heavy barrel didn't bother to (or didn't know how to?) properly inlet the stock. I had to remove 3/8" or more of material before the barrel was free floated. At that point I did a full action bed with pillars and a pad of bedding to support the portion of the barrel between the recoil lug and where the taper starts. After all that work I was so excited to see what it would do I took the family out to Copper City and shot several groups in -10 temps with a chilly variable cross wind. My best group (wind died down just long enough to squeeze 3 off) was a tad under 5/8" @ 100 yds! I was jumping up and down to say the least. So now (even though my sample size is only 1) I'm a pretty big fan of 7mm STW, heavy barrels, Rem 700 actions, pillar bedding, etc.

wait till' you neck it down to 25 cal. someone will have to drive you home <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

woofer

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