7mm STW Reloading Thread

Update:

Been super busy but finally got back to range on Saturday evening.....

Redo of 140 AB 79.0 gr RL 25 1-1/2" new brass

160 Barnes XLC 81.0gr RL 25 (book max) 1-3/4" no sign of excess pressure

Redo of 160 AB 74.0 gr H1000 1-3/4" new brass

160 AB 75.0gr H1000 3/4"

So my two redo loads did much better than the first try and the 140 load was looking good then third shot drifted out a little I may redo this AGAIN....

Took a gamble and threw together the 75.0gr load w the 160s and cut group in more than half.

These were shot round robin timed 4 min between shots.
 
Update:

Been super busy but finally got back to range on Saturday evening.....

Redo of 140 AB 79.0 gr RL 25 1-1/2" new brass

160 Barnes XLC 81.0gr RL 25 (book max) 1-3/4" no sign of excess pressure

Redo of 160 AB 74.0 gr H1000 1-3/4" new brass

160 AB 75.0gr H1000 3/4"

So my two redo loads did much better than the first try and the 140 load was looking good then third shot drifted out a little I may redo this AGAIN....

Took a gamble and threw together the 75.0gr load w the 160s and cut group in more than half.

These were shot round robin timed 4 min between shots.


You'll find that both RL25 and H1000 will have the best loads around 80.0gr for the bullets you listed. If I remember correctly, the 140 gr BT in my rifle shot great with 82.5gr of RL 25, the 140gr Etip is .3 moa with 80.0gr of RL25
The 150 gr LRAB is .4 moa with 81.8gr H-1000
The 160gr AB & 162 ELD-X is .5 moa with 79.5gr H-1000

I'm still finalizing loads using RL26
 
Wouldn't it be awesome if Lake City made STW brass....Its my pipe dream but its definitely resilient brass.
What do you expect. Im retired Military :Dgun)
 
No doubt that would be great. I have a good buddy who is willing to part with a few hundred new Remington 8mm mag brass so I should be gtg for a while
 
JMack
Yeah we wish. Well Im starting to hoard again from scratch because my shop burnt to the ground. God have Pity I have no man Cave and have to watch TV with my better half...Still love her. Dillon 550, Square Deal and 2 Rock Chuckers got temp tested. Contacted Dillon and they said ship them and they will fix them if possible. I don't use a Dillon for Long Rifle loading. I use the chuckers but that says a lot about Dillons NO BS Guarantee. We shall see. Glad all the live rounds were inside or it could have been hard on the fire fighters. They did say it seemed to have accelerants that increased heat and temps. I informed them it was my gunsmith slash reloading room. lost about 11 lbs of powder but that I have plenty inside. Well I wanted a new workshop. Be careful what you ask for. no ones hurt so all is good. They say the LORD will never give you more than you can handle...But he will test your shoulders...
 
Hit the range again yesterday, I don't have all my numbers in front of me however I can say that I haven't found that sweet spot for the 140 AB with RL 25 yet. I did not reach book max, nor have I seen any pressure signs in my gun. Best I'm seeing is 1-1/4". My gun seems to like the 160s better whether it's nosler or Barnes doesn't seem to matter, can get them down to 3/4 moa.

I'll post up my results later tonight

Is it possible I'm skipping over an accuracy node by doing 1.0gr increments?
 
Hit the range again yesterday, I don't have all my numbers in front of me however I can say that I haven't found that sweet spot for the 140 AB with RL 25 yet. I did not reach book max, nor have I seen any pressure signs in my gun. Best I'm seeing is 1-1/4". My gun seems to like the 160s better whether it's nosler or Barnes doesn't seem to matter, can get them down to 3/4 moa.

I'll post up my results later tonight

Is it possible I'm skipping over an accuracy node by doing 1.0gr increments?

You could be. I typically work up in 0.5gr increments to find a node and max when pressure signs show up. Then I drop down to 0.3gr increments around that accuracy node to find where the groups "snug up" the most and not hit any pressure.
 
Hit the range again yesterday, I don't have all my numbers in front of me however I can say that I haven't found that sweet spot for the 140 AB with RL 25 yet. I did not reach book max, nor have I seen any pressure signs in my gun. Best I'm seeing is 1-1/4". My gun seems to like the 160s better whether it's nosler or Barnes doesn't seem to matter, can get them down to 3/4 moa.

I'll post up my results later tonight

Is it possible I'm skipping over an accuracy node by doing 1.0gr increments?
It's hard to get light bullets to perform as well as heavier bullets due to the differences in BC.

Yes one gr increments can cause you to skip right past a good accurate load. I generally like to stick with .3-.5gr increments when starting out looking for a new load even with the large case magnums like the 7mm STW and .300wm.
 
Any advice for me. I'm trying the 195's in my new custom 1:8 benchmark tube. I got h-1000 & retumbo along with fed 215m. Any recommendations for starting weights for both powders. Should I pick up reloader 33 also?
 
Back at the range this past weekend:

3 shot groups @100 4min timed round robin shooting consistent warm barrel all the way through sequence

75.5gr H1000 160AB 9/16"

81.0gr RL25 140AB 7/8" (book max with no signs of pressure in my gun)


Did a bunch of half gr increments and the accuracy nodes really become apparent. I'm going to bump the 140 up tiny increases then load a set to see if it tightens up more. I didn't get to book max yet on the 160s and H1000 but I bet there is another node at or just past book max.

So far I'm diggin it. Nailing the gong at 400 afterwards with some "sight in" loads I built was almost not challenging. Gotta love the STW!!


Happy 4th!!
 
Back at the range this past weekend:

3 shot groups @100 4min timed round robin shooting consistent warm barrel all the way through sequence

75.5gr H1000 160AB 9/16"

81.0gr RL25 140AB 7/8" (book max with no signs of pressure in my gun)


Did a bunch of half gr increments and the accuracy nodes really become apparent. I'm going to bump the 140 up tiny increases then load a set to see if it tightens up more. I didn't get to book max yet on the 160s and H1000 but I bet there is another node at or just past book max.

So far I'm diggin it. Nailing the gong at 400 afterwards with some "sight in" loads I built was almost not challenging. Gotta love the STW!!


Happy 4th!!


Happy 4th to you too!

I've had three 7stw barrels in a row love the 140 AB with rl25; all three were/ are 1/2 moa or less...
I load to 3.650"... I am using 82 grains rl25 in rem brass with a 215 lighting the fire.
 

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