7mm STW Brotherhood - For those who shoot the 7mm Shooting Times Westerner
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Bear 9362
Well-Known Member
The main problem with the original X tip bullets is bad copper fouling and they where not the most accurate bullet although I had a 280rem that shot 3/4" @ 100 metres.
I built a penetration box that had rubber conveyor belt for a skin, dry 3 by 2 pine for a leg bone and old phone books jammed in the middle. as expected the barnes original X tips out performed the copper/lead conventional bullets. If you are wanting penetration then they are the way to go.
The newer Triple shocks are better than the original x tips with way less fouling, better accuracy and kill very well.
I built a penetration box that had rubber conveyor belt for a skin, dry 3 by 2 pine for a leg bone and old phone books jammed in the middle. as expected the barnes original X tips out performed the copper/lead conventional bullets. If you are wanting penetration then they are the way to go.
The newer Triple shocks are better than the original x tips with way less fouling, better accuracy and kill very well.
Black Sheep
Well-Known Member
Well, after 14-15 years of applying, I finally pulled a Nevada Bull Elk tag for area 11
. Now, enter the STW. I have a Tikka T3 Lite in 270 WSM, which should be okay for elk, but I wanted something bigger! Darn you guys, and talking me into an STW! I purchased a Sendero in STW off of Gunbroker, and started load development. I ended up with 168gr Barnes LRX at 3260 fps! (A bit hot, but great accuracy! gun)) Topped it off with a Leupold 6.5-20x50 Mark 4 with the TMR reticle. Verified drops out to 663 yards (4 inch group on a gong at 535 in a good crosswind!) I'm ready to feed the STW some meat!
Well, a co-worker of mine, Scotty, had made the mistake of telling me about 10 years ago "If you ever pull an Ely elk tag, I'll help you go get one" True to his word, he did. Brought two guys with him, one for the first two days, and another for the next two days. A last minute doctors appointment in Vegas cut his hunting with me to just 4 days.
Day 1 was mostly driving around, and glassing looking for something worth my while. Day 2, and I spotted a couple of bulls in a clearing near the top of the mountain. It was decided one was worth it, so we started up. There was a road up the guy of one canyon quite a ways, so that helped. Scotty said it should be about 45 minutes, and we will pop out under a rock ledge, and hope we are close enough for a shot. An hour later, we didn't make the rock ledge. Then two hours, then three hours, then 4 hours, we made it! (I BARELY made it!!!) While we were working our way up, we ended up seeing 6 bulls or so in that saddle, one of whom was a giant Scotty estimated at 380 plus. There was also a giant 5 point estimated at 350. (we found one of his sheds) As we were cutting the distance from 828 yards across a barren sage patch, we failed to notice the two young bulls at the north end of the saddle. Needless to say, they noticed us! After we popped out of the next group of trees about 400 yards away, the bulls were already on their way over the top, and around the mountain. Exhausted, and disappointed, we climbed down to the truck.
day 3 found two 340-350 bulls in a different area, much closer to the truck. On the way up to them, we spotted what would have been a 330 bull, with his 5th and 6th on the driver's side broken off. He was beautiful, with dark horns, and really hooked fronts with white polished tips. After much agonizing, Scotty and Kelly convinced me not to take a busted bull so early in the season. I made it up to the ridge where we decided had a good view of the area the bulls bedded down in. After several hours, no bulls appeared. Oh well, back to the truck.
Day 4 started with a miscommunication. I arrived at the meeting spot 8 minutes late, and no Scotty or Kelly. After 45 minutes, I drove to cell coverage and called--no luck. Scotty says that they left after waiting 10 extra minutes for me, and Kelly says that I just slept in an extra hour and let them do all the work!! Anyway, I said screw it, and headed to the area we agreed on yesterday, near where we saw the 380 bull. From the main road, I spotted a herd of cows, and to my surprise a bull with them down at the base of the mountains! As I moved in to get a better look, I came across Scotty in his truck. He had spotted a bull a couple canyons south, right at the foothill as well! He too, was with cows. Kelly watched them through the spotter as they bedded behind a rock knob. Kelly stayed there, and Scotty and I took off. After about a mile and a half hike through the sage, we reached some pine trees about 429 yards from the rock bluff, and waited. and waited, and waited. About 4 hours later, the elk got up, and started moving south. I got on the rifle, Scotty ranged the cows at 390. I dialed the scope, and got ready. Here comes the bull at the rear! I saw his fronts, then his complete antlers! Then they disappeared, no body!!! Apparently there was a shallow drainage at the base that they dropped down into. Up we go, and run south to parallel them. Scotty stops me, as the bull gets into a small clearing and sees him, Bugles at him, and then continues south. We run some more, and find a clearing where the cows went. I get down on the rifle, and Scotty says "He's going to follow those cows up the basin" I look through the scope, and see a head and antlers above a cedar tree. Kick off the safety, and waited for an eternity for him to move. As soon as he turned his head uphill towards the cows, and took a step, the STW barked! After settling down from the recoil, I watched him drop onto his feet, and roll down the hill! I told Scotty that I hit him high, and he said that it didn't matter, it rolled him! Range on the shot was 296, so I was probably 1 moa or so high plus however he moved up or down when he took a step. After some searching, (frantic on my part) Scotty found him piled up! The Barnes LRX entered about 6 inches back of the shoulder, and 6 inches below the top of his back. Exit hole through the skin was about an inch or so. After we skinned him, there was massive damage to the bottom of the spine--a hole about the size of a silver dollar all of the way through. Kelly was able to drive the truck to within 30 yards of the bull, so there was no pack out! I'm told that gives the bull an additional 30 B&C points. I left my camera in my truck, so we used Scotty's. When I get the pics of the bull from him, Ill add them. This is all you get now...
. Now, enter the STW. I have a Tikka T3 Lite in 270 WSM, which should be okay for elk, but I wanted something bigger! Darn you guys, and talking me into an STW! I purchased a Sendero in STW off of Gunbroker, and started load development. I ended up with 168gr Barnes LRX at 3260 fps! (A bit hot, but great accuracy! gun)) Topped it off with a Leupold 6.5-20x50 Mark 4 with the TMR reticle. Verified drops out to 663 yards (4 inch group on a gong at 535 in a good crosswind!) I'm ready to feed the STW some meat! Well, a co-worker of mine, Scotty, had made the mistake of telling me about 10 years ago "If you ever pull an Ely elk tag, I'll help you go get one" True to his word, he did. Brought two guys with him, one for the first two days, and another for the next two days. A last minute doctors appointment in Vegas cut his hunting with me to just 4 days.
Day 1 was mostly driving around, and glassing looking for something worth my while. Day 2, and I spotted a couple of bulls in a clearing near the top of the mountain. It was decided one was worth it, so we started up. There was a road up the guy of one canyon quite a ways, so that helped. Scotty said it should be about 45 minutes, and we will pop out under a rock ledge, and hope we are close enough for a shot. An hour later, we didn't make the rock ledge. Then two hours, then three hours, then 4 hours, we made it! (I BARELY made it!!!) While we were working our way up, we ended up seeing 6 bulls or so in that saddle, one of whom was a giant Scotty estimated at 380 plus. There was also a giant 5 point estimated at 350. (we found one of his sheds) As we were cutting the distance from 828 yards across a barren sage patch, we failed to notice the two young bulls at the north end of the saddle. Needless to say, they noticed us! After we popped out of the next group of trees about 400 yards away, the bulls were already on their way over the top, and around the mountain. Exhausted, and disappointed, we climbed down to the truck.
day 3 found two 340-350 bulls in a different area, much closer to the truck. On the way up to them, we spotted what would have been a 330 bull, with his 5th and 6th on the driver's side broken off. He was beautiful, with dark horns, and really hooked fronts with white polished tips. After much agonizing, Scotty and Kelly convinced me not to take a busted bull so early in the season. I made it up to the ridge where we decided had a good view of the area the bulls bedded down in. After several hours, no bulls appeared. Oh well, back to the truck.
Day 4 started with a miscommunication. I arrived at the meeting spot 8 minutes late, and no Scotty or Kelly. After 45 minutes, I drove to cell coverage and called--no luck. Scotty says that they left after waiting 10 extra minutes for me, and Kelly says that I just slept in an extra hour and let them do all the work!! Anyway, I said screw it, and headed to the area we agreed on yesterday, near where we saw the 380 bull. From the main road, I spotted a herd of cows, and to my surprise a bull with them down at the base of the mountains! As I moved in to get a better look, I came across Scotty in his truck. He had spotted a bull a couple canyons south, right at the foothill as well! He too, was with cows. Kelly watched them through the spotter as they bedded behind a rock knob. Kelly stayed there, and Scotty and I took off. After about a mile and a half hike through the sage, we reached some pine trees about 429 yards from the rock bluff, and waited. and waited, and waited. About 4 hours later, the elk got up, and started moving south. I got on the rifle, Scotty ranged the cows at 390. I dialed the scope, and got ready. Here comes the bull at the rear! I saw his fronts, then his complete antlers! Then they disappeared, no body!!! Apparently there was a shallow drainage at the base that they dropped down into. Up we go, and run south to parallel them. Scotty stops me, as the bull gets into a small clearing and sees him, Bugles at him, and then continues south. We run some more, and find a clearing where the cows went. I get down on the rifle, and Scotty says "He's going to follow those cows up the basin" I look through the scope, and see a head and antlers above a cedar tree. Kick off the safety, and waited for an eternity for him to move. As soon as he turned his head uphill towards the cows, and took a step, the STW barked! After settling down from the recoil, I watched him drop onto his feet, and roll down the hill! I told Scotty that I hit him high, and he said that it didn't matter, it rolled him! Range on the shot was 296, so I was probably 1 moa or so high plus however he moved up or down when he took a step. After some searching, (frantic on my part) Scotty found him piled up! The Barnes LRX entered about 6 inches back of the shoulder, and 6 inches below the top of his back. Exit hole through the skin was about an inch or so. After we skinned him, there was massive damage to the bottom of the spine--a hole about the size of a silver dollar all of the way through. Kelly was able to drive the truck to within 30 yards of the bull, so there was no pack out! I'm told that gives the bull an additional 30 B&C points
. I left my camera in my truck, so we used Scotty's. When I get the pics of the bull from him, Ill add them. This is all you get now...Attachments
gamehawker
Well-Known Member
Well, after 14-15 years of applying, I finally pulled a Nevada Bull Elk tag for area 11
Well, a co-worker of mine, Scotty, had made the mistake of telling me about 10 years ago "If you ever pull an Ely elk tag, I'll help you go get one" True to his word, he did. Brought two guys with him, one for the first two days, and another for the next two days. A last minute doctors appointment in Vegas cut his hunting with me to just 4 days.
Day 1 was mostly driving around, and glassing looking for something worth my while. Day 2, and I spotted a couple of bulls in a clearing near the top of the mountain. It was decided one was worth it, so we started up. There was a road up the guy of one canyon quite a ways, so that helped. Scotty said it should be about 45 minutes, and we will pop out under a rock ledge, and hope we are close enough for a shot. An hour later, we didn't make the rock ledge. Then two hours, then three hours, then 4 hours, we made it! (I BARELY made it!!!) While we were working our way up, we ended up seeing 6 bulls or so in that saddle, one of whom was a giant Scotty estimated at 380 plus. There was also a giant 5 point estimated at 350. (we found one of his sheds) As we were cutting the distance from 828 yards across a barren sage patch, we failed to notice the two young bulls at the north end of the saddle. Needless to say, they noticed us! After we popped out of the next group of trees about 400 yards away, the bulls were already on their way over the top, and around the mountain. Exhausted, and disappointed, we climbed down to the truck.
day 3 found two 340-350 bulls in a different area, much closer to the truck. On the way up to them, we spotted what would have been a 330 bull, with his 5th and 6th on the driver's side broken off. He was beautiful, with dark horns, and really hooked fronts with white polished tips. After much agonizing, Scotty and Kelly convinced me not to take a busted bull so early in the season. I made it up to the ridge where we decided had a good view of the area the bulls bedded down in. After several hours, no bulls appeared. Oh well, back to the truck.
Day 4 started with a miscommunication. I arrived at the meeting spot 8 minutes late, and no Scotty or Kelly. After 45 minutes, I drove to cell coverage and called--no luck. Scotty says that they left after waiting 10 extra minutes for me, and Kelly says that I just slept in an extra hour and let them do all the work!! Anyway, I said screw it, and headed to the area we agreed on yesterday, near where we saw the 380 bull. From the main road, I spotted a herd of cows, and to my surprise a bull with them down at the base of the mountains! As I moved in to get a better look, I came across Scotty in his truck. He had spotted a bull a couple canyons south, right at the foothill as well! He too, was with cows. Kelly watched them through the spotter as they bedded behind a rock knob. Kelly stayed there, and Scotty and I took off. After about a mile and a half hike through the sage, we reached some pine trees about 429 yards from the rock bluff, and waited. and waited, and waited. About 4 hours later, the elk got up, and started moving south. I got on the rifle, Scotty ranged the cows at 390. I dialed the scope, and got ready. Here comes the bull at the rear! I saw his fronts, then his complete antlers! Then they disappeared, no body!!! Apparently there was a shallow drainage at the base that they dropped down into. Up we go, and run south to parallel them. Scotty stops me, as the bull gets into a small clearing and sees him, Bugles at him, and then continues south. We run some more, and find a clearing where the cows went. I get down on the rifle, and Scotty says "He's going to follow those cows up the basin" I look through the scope, and see a head and antlers above a cedar tree. Kick off the safety, and waited for an eternity for him to move. As soon as he turned his head uphill towards the cows, and took a step, the STW barked! After settling down from the recoil, I watched him drop onto his feet, and roll down the hill! I told Scotty that I hit him high, and he said that it didn't matter, it rolled him! Range on the shot was 296, so I was probably 1 moa or so high plus however he moved up or down when he took a step. After some searching, (frantic on my part) Scotty found him piled up! The Barnes LRX entered about 6 inches back of the shoulder, and 6 inches below the top of his back. Exit hole through the skin was about an inch or so. After we skinned him, there was massive damage to the bottom of the spine--a hole about the size of a silver dollar all of the way through. Kelly was able to drive the truck to within 30 yards of the bull, so there was no pack out! I'm told that gives the bull an additional 30 B&C points
Congrats!!!
Really nice rack!
Black67
Well-Known Member
Black Sheep
That is a great story and i like the finish that you have. The antlers look really nice, bet he will taste great too. Sounds like your friends had a great time helping you get this, that always helps.
I want to get back out west and do an elk hunt again, it was great.
That is a great story and i like the finish that you have. The antlers look really nice, bet he will taste great too. Sounds like your friends had a great time helping you get this, that always helps.
I want to get back out west and do an elk hunt again, it was great.
nwMOgsp
Member
Nice bull Black Sheep! Glad to hear the bullet performed well too.
Jason
Jason
Riverman
Well-Known Member
Very nice bull !!! That is what an STW is all about.
Would you mind sharing your load data with the 168gr. LRX ?
Would you mind sharing your load data with the 168gr. LRX ?
browtinehunter
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2012
- Messages
- 37
Black Sheep;
Nice story to go along with a nice bull elk, and worth the wait for the Tag.
And I am Glad the bullet stayed together and it was DRT
I lost a nice 6x6 when a Nosler Balsitic tip came completely came apart !
Nice story to go along with a nice bull elk, and worth the wait for the Tag.
And I am Glad the bullet stayed together and it was DRT
I lost a nice 6x6 when a Nosler Balsitic tip came completely came apart !
Black Sheep
Well-Known Member
No prob, 82.5 grains of Retumbo. Remington brass, Rem 9 1/2M primer. no extraction issues. 3shot group was about 1/2". Avg. velocity was 3268.0 with an ES of 16
This is at the upper end of pressure in my rifle. I started to get extraction issues at 83 grains, and slight primer cratering and light ejector marks at 83.5
3268 seems smoking to me for a 168 grain bullet, but when I posted my load results, everyone agreed that 83.5 was a bit too high, so I went down a grain to where the group stayed good at 100yds.
By the way, say hi to my uncle and his family that live in Bonney Lake!!!
7stw
Well-Known Member
Just a minor correction, but no biggy, I shot my deer at 292 yards with the LRX bullet. Totally upset and partially liquified the insides, and exited. My son shot at the same distance, and same time with his seven mag, using the TSX. Again, DRT, huge exit. These bullets are for real. They have a permanent home on my bench. I gambled on both of them, and neither one let me down. Shoot em, and don't look back. And the best part, NO BLOOD TRACKING NEEDED!!!!! LIKE THAT.
gamehawker
Well-Known Member
Bob,
Congrats on the deer you and your son got last week. I'm glad the LRX bullets performed perfect for you.
I would love to see some pics and you elaborating the story how the deer were killed.
7stw
Well-Known Member
Ed, are you talking about the X bullet, without the grooves? If you are, the only comment I have is to back off your load quite a bit. The " problem" with the originals are pressures. Because of the extended bearing surface, and the non compressibility factor, you will get max pressures before you get your velocity you are looking for. I shot those bullets, and had pressures earlier than expected.
When Barnes went to the TSX, that changed everything with those bullets. The grooves are a built in pressure releif. The only negative to that is that the BC suffers due to the disturbance in air flow over the body of the projectile, thus, the lower BC.
But I can tell you that the LRX bullet, and the TSX bullet worked just fine for me last week. I shot a doe at 292 yards, the long way. Total penetration, did not recover bullet obviously, but did find one " petal" inside when we cleaned the chest cavity. That deer dropped as if struck by lightning. My son used the TSX, and it worked just fine. I have a picture of the chest cavity on my phone. I will get some help later and download it to the site with a little help from my compadre.
Well, it appears that the " bros" are dong well with our caliber of choice. Funny thing Huh?
Hey Bros. I'm about to load up some 145 and 168 Barnes LRX for my semi custom Rem 700 7stw. Can some of you guys give me a starting point load data for these rounds ? I will be using RL25 and Fed GM 215 primers. These bullets will be going down a Lija 28" tube with 1-10 twist. I hope she likes these pills and can give some flat shooting velocities. Let the games begin. Thanks in advance for all the help and info.
Black Sheep
Well-Known Member
From 7STW--My " formula is as follows, and standard disclaimer applies obviously.
82.0 - RL25 - 145 LRX @ 3.687 coal. 215 GM.
Barnes says you cant stabilize the 168 LRX in a 1:10 twist barrel, so I don't know how well its going to work for you. From Barnes--[FONT="]We are recommending the 175gr TSX load data for use with the 168gr LRX. Also be sure you have the correct barrel twist as most factory 1 in 9.25" to 9.5" barrels will not stabilize this bullet. We are recommending the 1 in 9 twist for those at higher altitudes (5000ft and above) and those at sea level up to 5000ft will require a 1 in 8 twist barrel to stabilize it.
My factory sendero stabilized the 168's just fine, and I live at 4200 ft. elevation
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