I'm trying to weight the odds between the 6.5mmSTW or the 7mmSTW. I know the 7mm shoots very well and their is a lot of information out their on this commercial cartrige, along with a variety of bullets and bullet weights. Is there any major advantage to the 6.5 over the 7mm?

I split the difference and built a 270 STW.
dave

Since the 6.5 is really too big for varmints and the 7 is not too big for deer and pronghorns, I would say that the nod goes to the 7. You can shoot heavier bullets, if needed, and also find factory ammo in a pinch...

I woulde go 7mm STW. I do not have one, but have toyed with the idea of building one. Always thought it to be a great all arond cartridge.

The 7STW is my favorite factory round. The drawback is magazine length and cartridge OAL. It has proven to be one of the most accurate boomers available when loaded with select components. You can reach 3400 fps with 140`s which is very effective. I bested this with my wildcat, but was much more costly process.

I'm in the process of building both.I'm building the 6.5STW because I'm a speed freak,my gunsmith built 1 last year for a gent.He told us he chronoed it with a 100 gr. bullet at 4087 fps.His closest feeder is 247 yds from his blind,when the bullet hits the deer he shot last year they shook like they'd been hit by lightning and threw themselves backwards.I said I've got to have 1 of them.
I'm also building a 7STW,it was a Weatherby 7 Mag I didn't like it,I had the Mark 5 action and didn't want to let it go to waste,so my gunsmith said how about an STW and I said let's build it.I also changed my 300 Weatherby Mag to a 300 Jarrett and was I surprised with the accuracy.

I think it would ultimately be dependent on your area and intending quarry. Game larger than deer I'd probably lean towards the 7mm, because you can shoot some fairly heavy bullets quite fast. Mule deer or so and on down I'd go with the 6.5mm, however, if you travel, the 7mm STW may be more practical. Either way I think you'll have a hard time going wrong. 120gr TTSX would really move out of the 7 STW I'd imagine..

I've hunted with a 7mm STW within months of Layne Simpsons articles first coming out. Mine was built on a 26 inch barreled Browning Stainless A-Bolt.

It has been absolutely deadly on ever game species I've tried it on, including many deer, caribou, bear and moose.

I had a buddy, now deceased, who used his every year to take a +1000 yard deer on a marked range he had set up. His 1000 yard combo weighed almost 20lbs and had a 30 inch barrel. He used Ballistic Tips for that application.

Once a nice black bear came out about 50 yards away from his bench - he shot it in the shoulder and the bullet failed to penetrate the shoulder into the ribcage! He killed it while it ran straight away with a bullet to the neck. It was, he said, a case of using the wrong bullet - for the wrong application.

While I've enjoyed great success with my 7mm STW (always using Barnes X's or TSX's) - I wouldn't do it again.

In my own experience the increased muzzle blast, recoil and barrel wear aren't worth it over a regular 7mm Remington Magnum. But then - I don't shoot animals at 1000 yards either.

In fact, I've even found the lowly 7mm-08 as effective on game as any 7mm magnum. I know such talk is blasphemy to magnum aficionados - but it is what my experience hunting BC's big game has shown me. I still take the 7mm STW out every year, but I often reach past it and go with the much more pleasant to shoot (and carry) 7mm-08 Remington Titanium I use when climbing steep country.

Having said that, if a guy wants a round that really carries a lot of bullet speed too real extreme ranges - few cartridges can equal the 7mm STW. I think it's at it's best when used for pushing heavier bullets as flat as milder calibers move the lighter ones. That's the reason I'd get the 7mm vesion - a wide variety of much heavier bullets.

If you've got the itch for one - scratch it.

We don't need such things - but they sure are fun to think about and to play with.

The factory availability of the &mm version is a real plus. As far as larger game is concerned, the 6.5 will do nicely!

I took an Elk at 250 yards with a lowly 6.5-284 using a Barnes 130 gr Triple X

Both shots exited. One went through both front shoulders. I am off to a black bear hunt today and I taking the 6.5-284 without hesitation. Just had to take the time to turn out some loads.

I have two custom 7 STW's with zero freebore and min spec match chambers on Rem 700's.

My barrel length is 26" and I shoot the 120g Tripple shock at 3900 fps into tiny groups, and the 140's at 3600.

With the Vias muzzle break, the recoil is about like a 25/06 or a little less.

My brother and I have killed at least 50 deer at all kinds of ranges and neither of us has ever had a deer take 1 step after being hit with the 140g Nosler Win Combined tec 140g bullets.
I have yet to kill anything with the 120g Tripple shock.

My friend used the same reamer to build a 7 STW on a 26" Pac Nor super match barrel. He is shooting the 140g tripple shock at 3600 fps in his rifle and has killed over 30 deer with it. Damage is massive with the 140g Tripple shock at this velocity, but he has also never had a runner.

My brother shot a massive trophy Kansas buck at 460 yards with the 140g Nosler/Win Combined tec bullets at 460 yards; the deer dropped in it's tracks with a quartering shot breaking it's right front shoulder and ending up under the hide in the middle of the rib cage on the off side.

I keep accurate records on my 7 STW. In 237 rounds fired, the leade has grown .032, which is not bad. Load development with the 140 Combined Technology bullets took one trip to the range using Win brass, Fed 215's, and IMR 7828. One trip to the range was all it took with the 120g Barnes Tripple shock and 120g Nosler Ballistic tip. I would love to shoot a ground hog with the 120g Nosler Ballistic tip.

5 of the 7 STW's have been built with the custom reamer that I had ground by Pacific that has zero freebore. All of the rifles are extremely accurate and extremely fast.

Another buddy of mine has a food plot set up 550 yards from his tree stand. He has killed a lot of deer over the last 3 years with this 7 STW, not one of them has ever taken a step with him shooting the 140g Nosler C/T bullets.