7mm STW Brotherhood - For those who shoot the 7mm Shooting Times Westerner

[gamehawker]

Just a quick question. I'll be looking to possibly pick up a Sendero after the 1st of the year.If i cannot find one already in the beloved 7mm STW, what would be the best caliber to buy one in to rebarrel??? I see .300 RUM's for sale everywhere, and I'd rather rebarrel with a 28" barrel than possibly rechamber a 7mag barrel. But will pick up a 7mag if that is the easiest conversion and just get me a new barrel.

Be a little bit patient. I've seen the 7mm STW Seneros for sale on GB frequently. Right now I think there are still at least two of them.

This 7mm STW Sendero currently on GunBroker looks like it is in awesome shape! I have a 7mm STW Sendero with close to that serial # (I confirmed with Remington mine was manufactured in 1998) and it is a tack driver.

Remington Model 700 Sendero Special SF Bolt Action : Bolt Action Rifles at GunBroker.com

 

[gerryb]

I just happened to look on reloaders nest for 7 STW and saw a load for 82 gr rl-25 with 180 vld. Is this possible? I am shooting 73 grains and while it is not max I find it impossible to go up that high. any thoughts?

 

[Jim Oliver]

The Ultra Mag series uses a larger bolt face than the other mag bolts. Also, the feed rails are a bit farther apart.

Better to start with a std. magnum action, 7mm Rem, 300 Win, etc.

Jim

 

[bobs]

There is a beautiful looking Sendero in 7stw for $750 on Armslist.com. It was just posted a couple days ago. Seller says it has 69 rounds through it.

 

[kakorb]

well after a good cleaning floating the barrel and adding shims under where the stock screws on i reloaded berger 140s with reloader 22 and winchester mag primer coal 3.74 went to my camp and shot 1 inch minus the bullet dia and its sub moa. at 100 yards the bergers had inconsistant tips some angle a little some are square i ran a needle down the hollow point and some u couldnt. i seperated these ones for expansion tests since some say bergers dont perform. i will be switching bullets in spring and doing further testing for long range accuracy.

 

[hoytaddict]

My 140 Berger's expanded, no doubt. They pretty much exploded like a varmint bullet! I was told by someone at Berger that their bullets shouldnt be pushed but to around 3100-3200 Max, I was pushing around 3600 hence the explosive expansion.

 

[bobs]

My 140 Berger's expanded, no doubt. They pretty much exploded like a varmint bullet! I was told by someone at Berger that their bullets shouldnt be pushed but to around 3100-3200 Max, I was pushing around 3600 hence the explosive expansion.

In your photo are we looking at the entrance or exit wound?

 

[hoytaddict]

In your photo are we looking at the entrance or exit wound?

thats the entrance. The bullet barely made it past the entrance side ribcage, it took out the hit side lung, but the heart and offside lung were not touched

 

[bobs]

thats the entrance. The bullet barely made it past the entrance side ribcage, it took out the hit side lung, but the heart and offside lung were not touched

Reason I asked is that I've never seen an exit or entrance wound on a big game animal that looked like that. There are many here on this thread with more game experience than me that use Bergers, but I would not use that bullet on anything larger than a coyote. Many of my game shots have had to bust a shoulder or penetrate from the short ribs foreward to get into the lungs. That Berger would just cause a horrible surface wound and probably a lost animal.

 

[7stw]

I just happened to look on reloaders nest for 7 STW and saw a load for 82 gr rl-25 with 180 vld. Is this possible? I am shooting 73 grains and while it is not max I find it impossible to go up that high. any thoughts?

Yup, I can verify that load, cause that's the one I use in two STW's. One is with a 145 LRX, and the other is with a 140 partition. All are with 215 GM federal primers. One is with Winchester brass, the other is with A- Square brass. Velocity is smokin, but work up to it gradually. In the Remington Action, I am running a OAL of 3.688. In the Winchester rifle, I am running at 3.630 OAL. Enjoy, be careful. That RL25 is some awesome stuff.

 

[etisll40]

I wonder if a single shot like the Encore would allow higher velocity and psi? Is that why you went to this and a long bull barrel?

 

[7stw]

thats the entrance. The bullet barely made it past the entrance side ribcage, it took out the hit side lung, but the heart and offside lung were not touched

I had the same thing happen to me last year with a 300 RUM, and a 168 VLD. Velocity was at 3369, distance was 219 yards. Huge flesh wound. Knocked the deer down, but when I went to recover her later, she " recovered" enough to get up and disappear into the woods. Lots of blood, but she covered a lot of ground, and we did not find her. That was the last Berger bullet I have used for hunting.
I switched to Barnes LRX, and TSX , and Nosler Partition. I used the LRX this past season, and am VERY impressed. Total penetration, and great terminal performance.

 

[hoytaddict]

I wonder if a single shot like the Encore would allow higher velocity and psi? Is that why you went to this and a long bull barrel?

It definitely seemed to spit out a bit more velocity and stood up to a bit more pressure than my buddy's rechambered 700 (previously a 7mm Rem Mag) My buddys rifle couldnt take near the amount of 7828 that the encore was handeling. another great thing with the encore is you can load what ever cartridge length you need to get you seating depth right, because theres no magazine to worry about

 

[7stw]

I wonder if a single shot like the Encore would allow higher velocity and psi? Is that why you went to this and a long bull barrel?

Ed, the answer is yes and no. You can get higher velocity, just due to the longer barrel, because you have a longer " combustion chamber " if you will, but you still need to keep the pressure at or lower than 65,000 psi. Granted, that because of the heavier chamber, you COULD run higher, but the question is SHOULD you? My book says no to that. The law of diminishing returns applies here, and additionally, brass life will suffer. Another thing is, the deer won't be any deader!!!!!
You can and will get more velocity from a longer barrel, with the same pressure, and all else equal. Happy Holidays my friend!