7mm STW Load. /COOPER rifle/

[Franki]

Opinion on 180gr Berger or 175gr Long range Nosler AccuBond?
Loaded the 175gr H1000, 215 Federal Primer, My groups were fine, but fried told
me that the 180gr Berger would be more accurate.
Advice please!

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Everyone's got an opinion on what bullet is better. If what you are shooting now fits your needs, stay with it. Nosler can be fantastically accurate; I use the 140 ab and rl25 in my rifle and it rarely goes over 1/2 moa in decent conditions.
Some really love Berger pills here; I do not fall into that category.
I shoot far more hornady and sierra with a good bit of nosler and a bit of barnes and speer and only one berger bullet ( the berger load isn't even a primary load for the rifle- it is a way to use the bullets up).

 

[Franki]

Before I was shooting with 300Weatherby for many years.
This is my first 7mmSTW and the factory load was not accurate for me.
The barrel 26" twist 1-9.
For the 175gr Nosler Long Range Accubond IMR7828 or the H1000 better? Any advice??

 

[Nitro 375]

Before I was shooting with 300Weatherby for many years.
This is my first 7mmSTW and the factory load was not accurate for me.
The barrel 26" twist 1-9.
For the 175gr Nosler Long Range Accubond IMR7828 or the H1000 better? Any advice??

Get a pound of each and try them both. They have both worked well for me in my short experience with this cartridge thus far. In in my rifle H-1000 has given me a little better velocity and accuracy with 175's. Every rifle is different as you know so you will have to do some load development and share the results!

 

[WildRose]

Opinion on 180gr Berger or 175gr Long range Nosler AccuBond?
Loaded the 175gr H1000, 215 Federal Primer, My groups were fine, but fried told
me that the 180gr Berger would be more accurate.
Advice please!

No one can tell you which will be more accurate in any given rifle.

I won't shoot the Berger's because there's just too many terminal performance problems with them but we have a whole lot of guys here who swear by them.

I had very good results with the 175gr both accuracy wise and terminal performance wise in two of my STW's.

It's just up to you to decide what you want to spend your time and money on. If you're happy with what you have now there's certainly no real reason to try anything else unless you just simply want to experiment.

I don't fool too much with any of mine if I can get to a sub MOA load as a general rule.

 

[WildRose]

Before I was shooting with 300Weatherby for many years.
This is my first 7mmSTW and the factory load was not accurate for me.
The barrel 26" twist 1-9.
For the 175gr Nosler Long Range Accubond IMR7828 or the H1000 better? Any advice??

You might do well to buy a pound each of RL26 and RL23 and give them a try.

I've seen very promising early results with both powders in several of my rifles.

Before trying anything heavier than the 175's you might want to go over to the Berger Website and run the numbers through their stability calculator. If you can't reasonably get full stability with your set up I'd say don't waste the time and money on it.

We've whipped up one heck of a fervor here the last few years with everying getting worked up about the latest, newest "Highest BC in it's Class" bullets to come out from several manufacturers and a guy can easily waste a whole lot of money playing chase the new bullet.

 

[FURMAN]

I do not have an STW but barrel life is going to be short lived. If you are happy with the bullet you are shooting stay with it and save barrel life.

 

[WildRose]

I do not have an STW but barrel life is going to be short lived. If you are happy with the bullet you are shooting stay with it and save barrel life.

Actually the barrel life of the STW is surprisingly good if you just treat it right.

Just don't shoot it hot and keep shooting. I have well over a thousand rounds through my Remington Custom Shop 7mm STW and the borescope shows I've probably not quite reached the half way point on it which surprised the heck out of me.

If and when I get to the point of rebarreling any of mine I'll probably go the route of breaking it in good and then having them melonited to extend the life even further.

I won't get 308 or 30-06 numbers out of an STW but they can last you a good long while.

 

[Franki]

Thank you guys.
I start loading with H1000 and IMR7828 and see how it goes.
Will be back with my result later on.

 

[WildRose]

Thank you guys.
I start loading with H1000 and IMR7828 and see how it goes.
Will be back with my result later on.

It would probably be worth it for you to try and pick up a pound of RL26 and give it a try as well. More velocity, single digit ES's and more velocity at lower pressures tend to be the Rule with it at least so far.

 

[Franki]

I will try the LR26 to and see.

Thanks

 

[WildRose]

I do not have an STW but barrel life is going to be short lived. If you are happy with the bullet you are shooting stay with it and save barrel life.

Barrel life is only short lived if you shoot them hot and keep on shooting.

With reasonable care 1750-2000 rounds before seeing any appreciable drop in accuracy or loss.

One of the keys is to find a bullet that works, find a load that works with it, and then don't worry about messing with more. Doing load workups however costs in time, money and if you do it right, some days off of the life of the barrel but not too many.

This is a rifle you really want to shoot less and enjoy more.

If you want to shoot lots and lots of rounds, go buy an AR or pick up something like the .260 Rem or 6.5CM or just pick up a .308 in a bolt gun. Cheap shooting for it and with the 260 and 6.5CM, great ballistics, endless sources for truly premium ammo and components

 

[Franki]

I was looking in my reloading book for the RL26 powder and cant see it.
This is the new reloading book.

I take your advice and wont be messing with to many loads. I will stay with one that works.
I did the same with my 300 and 6.5.

 

[kyron]

RL 26 is very close to RL 25, only a tiny bit faster.