Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Where to go with a Win 7mm STW?

A buddy was asking me about a rebarrel and stock for his Win M70 7mm STW. He is wanting it to do some long range whitetail work. I told him that you fellas would be the best ones to ask. He found a smith that would furnish and install a heavy barrel as well as true the action and such for $280. Sounded pretty cheap to me but what do I know. I was thinking of sending it off to PacNor for a new tube and then maybe slapping
it in one of Ricks McMillans. I also have a vested interest in this because I have the same gun in the stainless fashion. If my buds works out well then we will see about mine. Just wanted to see what you all thought about this and let you run with it. If you are able could you shoot some general prices that way we can see what we are getting into. Thanks, Ryan

Sounds like a plan to me, but I have never been able to do anything along the custom line, but Big Stick and others will surely add there input.
But your ideas sound just fine to me.
Bill

Can you give us more details on the kind of barrel he is looking at and what the smith is going to do to the action for that kind of money? It sounds to me like he is getting a "second" type barrel or cheap take off. Usually, smiths that are worth their salt command around $200 for a thread, chamber, and action blue print job. The barrel costs for good stuff runs about $225-$350. If your friend is just looking to save a few bucks by going this route, I think he will be disappointed. If you are going to spend $285, go another $150 and get a REAL barrel done by a real smith. Check out the credntials big time on the smith. If it was me, I would RUN from the "deal". It isn't worth the heartache and frustration of not getting what you think you paid for. An innacturate rifle is as worthless as tits on a boar hog. Flinch

does the gun he has now shoot? would be an awful shame to take apart a perfecty good stw. he could sell it and buy something in the stw with a sendero barrel or such. i dont know what he will gain but if his shoots now probably not much other than a hernia.
if his gun will shoot under an inch then he has it pretty good. i cant imagine a rebarrel getting him more than 1/4". awful lot of money for that.
if it doesn't shoot try bedding and a trigger job. it would be money well spent. never know. could be a 3/4" gun or less.
good luck
woofer

He said the his will do about an inch and a quarter. I too tried to steer him away from the cheap smith. The guy said that he would install a schillen barrel on the gun for that price. Heck if I know. I will talk to him about bedding his rifle. He has the wood stock, and I have the composite. Knowing him he will want me to try it out first. How hard is it to bed a factory winchester composite stock? I haven't done such a thing before. Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Ryan

i would suggest the smith you metioned to do it but if he will accurize an action and rebarrel with a shilen for $280 i dont know what to say. it is the deal of the century or an excuse to shop for a new gun. if you know of others that have had him work on their stuff then give them a call. if he does good work then by all means have him do the work mentioned. yours too while he is at it. a bedding and trigger job would probably run $75-$100. give or take. i would let him do that work for you and see if your satisfied before he takes your gun apart.
should improve the groups some. maybe not but it should help a bit. is your friend a good shot? might not be all the gun. factory ammo or handloads?
woofer

To solve a problem the first thing to do is to identify the cause. Poor groups, and 1.25 is not really poor can be caused by the shooter, the stock, the barrel, the ammo or the sights.

What do the groups look like? How does your rifle shoot? Could you switch stocks and try his action in your stock.

What does the pattern look like on the muzzle from the fouling at the crown? Is it uniform.

The price on the new barrel seems too low. Ask more questions and ask for references.

If that Win stock is the injection molded one you can free float the barrel and then add bushing (instead of pillars) around the stock screws.

What kind of scope? Does it have parrallax? Are the mounts and bases tight?