Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Deer Loads for 7mm STW

I've been loading R-25 behind a 160 gr. Accubond. It gets 3250f/s and is super accurate at extended ranges. It has taken everything from coyote to moose without any problems. My longest kill was a coyote at 440 yds. Good luck.

I see alot of IMR7828 and RL22 for the lighter bullets for the STW. Are these the powder of choice for the STW?. I am starting out with IMR7828 as I am a fan of IMR powders....And some H numbers as well. I would like to know what most of you guys use in 140 to 150gr loads for the STW.

Wind drift for one. I shoot 160 Accubonds in my STW for that very reason. On the contrary, I've never understood why people take a cartridge with a huge case like an STW and squander it with a light bullet. Heck, you can get 3250 with a 140gr bullet from a standard 7mag. Due to the ballistic coefficient of the heavier bullets, they don't actually drop much more than the lighter/faster bullets.

Ok, I see why you guys like this caliber!
Just got back from the range. First time shooting the STW and was very impressed. I sighted in at 100 and then moved to the 200yrd line. I fired two 3 shot groups and got a .640 and a .672 group size. Considering the speed and power of this cartridge I thought this was very good. I ended up spliting the differance between the 140 and 160 grain bullet choices. I went with a 150gr Nosler BT and 77gr of IMR7828. It clocked at 3295 to 3302 out of my 26" barrel.

I was worried about the over all length of 3.600. My mag well won't let me load them over 3.585 and function with a full magazine. But it all turned out ok.

Shoots good enough, now I wonder how it will work on deer?

The wind drift difference is negligible due to the faster time of flight of the lighter bullet. Take a 140 accubond at 3450 vs a 160 accubond at 3200, typical 7mm STW speeds, and the wind drift at 700 yds is identical at 28.5"/10mph x-wind, but the 160 gr will have dropped 8 more inches than the 140. I'm all for shooting heavier bullets if the game you're shooting needs it, but I've never failed to get a complete pass through on whitetails with a 140. I'd rather have the flatter trajectory. The superior B.C. of the heavier bullet will eventually cause the 160 to catch the 140, but that won't happen until after 800 yds and I don't shoot at game that far.

Big 7's always bring a befuddling problem,which is good to have IMHO.....and that is.....for one use or another, lots of bullets work really well...and they ALL go pretty fast,which seems to be why.

While smaller cases come close to larger one's with lighter bullets,they do not have the case capacity to keep up with heavier bulles.

The Big 7's OTOH,have enough capacity to provide good velocities with the entire spectrum of 7mm bullets.

Like Crowhunter, I've used a large parcel of 140 NPT's and Bitterroots on game,and it is damn hard to find those 140 NPT's;the wider expansion of the BBC's has allowed me to recover a few here and there...ditto with 160's of the same brands.

And if construction is proper,seems everythingg from 120 to 175 is "elk capable".....I know they work on deer, too..

And 120 TTSX at 3550 from a 7mmDakota has a shockingly flat trajectory to 500-600 yards.How it does in wind, I have no idea.

Something I like about the Mashburn Super (an STW in drag),is that it starts even those high BC 175 NPT's fast enough that for all practical purposes,there is not much difference in trajectory between it and a 160 at 3200,out to 600 yards.....which I have confirmed with the dots.

With everything working so well, no small wonder there is lively debate about what bullet to use from a Big 7....

Well said BobinNH !!
I have noticed just that, smaller 7mm's can and do push lighter bullets just as fast or almost as fast as the big 7's do. But the 150, 160 and 175's there are a big differance.
Heavy bullets with an high BC fly further with more energy. That's why I choose the 150 Nosler BT. The only 160 I could find that was not constructed like a tank was the 162 Amax.(only hunt deer) But hard to find around my neck of the woods.

Bangflop have you tried 160 Sierra's....not much need though as the 150 BT is an accurate bullet

my recipe is 79gr h1000 behind a 160 accubond, but thats for elk, not deer.

No I have not, I am a huge fan of Sierra and shoot the 150PH in my 2008 LE 30-06 Winchester feather weight and just about everything else I shoot. The folks at Sierra states that the 160 is a VERY tough bullet made for Elk/Moose type animals. I have little doubt about there accuracy. There 150 is a little softer that the 160, but has a lower B.C. that the Nosler BT. The deer around here are small, At AT&T ranges I need a quick expanding bullet that will fly and buck as much wind as possible. So I narrowed my choices down to the 150 Noslet BT (Because they don't make a 160 in a BT) or the 162 Hornady A-Max (But hard to find around here) My rifle seems to shoot about anything pretty good, but at 400 to 600 yards the heavy bullets do much better. I have since fired my rifle at the 600 mark with the 150 Nosler's and found hitting target at that range is almost like cheating. Unless my local store starts stocking the A-Max, I have found my load.

Got it! I have been shooting that 150BT to 600 myself the past year....it's an accurate bullet.

What kinda case life are you getting? I am useing Remington brass.

Bangflop: I have 40 rounds of WW brass that I loaded with 70 gr RL25-150BT for app 3120...IIRC this brass is on it's 4th loading and last time I loaded it primer pockets were still tight.

Sweet, I was kinda wondering about that. I have 400 rounds of new brass. I have only loaded 40 of them for the first time, should last me a few decades then. Thanks for the info!!

Bangflop:yes that load is pretty sweet,and you don't have to nail it hard to get that velocity...FWIW you can swap a 150 NPT with the same charge, if you're into that sorta thing....

That was the very next thing I was going to try. Hmmm.... 150 or 160gr? That is the question. The people at Nosler tell me that all the partitions expand quickly, leaving the heavy slug to plow threw. That interest me a great deal. But then again, a lower B.C. Dang, It looks like another trip to the range.

BF: My 7 mag puts them both (150BT and 150 NPT) to the same place/group to 400 yards.Can't tell them apart...

At 600 the 150 NPT hits lower than the BT.

I have used the 160 NPT on elk and other stuf;and the 140 as well but not the 150,but I'm sure the 150 will work fine.

I started out shooting ballistic tips in my STW (700 rem with a hart barrel and Mcmillan stock). They were very very accurate but on deer I would have one entry and about 5 exits shooting behind the shoulder. The bullet did not hold togther very well at those velocities. One of the pieces of the bullet would invariably bust the paunch and make a BIG mess. YMMV but I would advise you to consider a tougher bullet for hunting.

Interesting, I will give the 150 Partitions a try as well. I am going to the deer woods Friday to check on things. I am taking my range finder to check some distance's and mark them. The I will shoot targets at those ranges just to verify. I think the furtherest I could get a clear shot is about 450 - 475 yards. It is up on a hill down a power line. Seen alot of deer on that hill, just did'nt feel comfertable sending one down range from my trusty 06 out of a stand at that range.

Good post.

Looking forward to getting mine up and going.

What powders are you using with the 120's?