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

[SFR292]

If anyone would like them I developed some cheat sheets and other useful charts for long range hunting and shooting I know a lot of fellow STW shooters might use. The range/distance cards are all based upon using Mil reticules for ranging on the average size of the identified target. However the forum wont allow me to upload them due to their format. If anyone would like them, send me a PM and I'll email them to you.

 

[WildRose]

I used to use Limbsaver pads but they deteriorate very badly over a short period of time, the decellerator is great pad as well. Custom fitting the pad looks much better on the decellerator's base material IMO as well.

Brakes make all the difference in the world. I really like the Holland Muzzle Brake, they work very well, not huge, and not overly loud either. That being said, there's always a trade off with brakes, the reduced recoil comes at the effect of added noise. Usually the noise isn't bad for the driver, but any passengers in the area might not like you very much. If you're out in the open (hunting in places the STW really shows itself) the noise isn't bad at all. I have a few different brakes on my guns, all work well in different ways. If you find a brake you like I'll be more than happy to share my experience with it. I do between 5-10 brakes a week in the shop. Another thing I like about Hollands are they are available in many different threads that allow them to be installed on small diameter (like most light weight hunting guns) without having to shorten the barrel down to get enough "meat" to cut the standard 5/8-24 that many popular brakes are offered in.

I've shot literally dozens of different styles of brakes over the years and all have some advantages along with disadvantages.

The "Gentry Quiet Brake" is one of the most effective brakes on the market with no increase in noise to the shooter at all.

It's fault is if you shoot it prone since it's a 360 discharge which means as you well know in our part of the world if you are shooting prone you will create a dust storm ahead of you and may if you are shooting into the wind have you ending up with a lot of debris in your face.

The Shrewd Varmint brake is a good one as well, not as much recoil reduction but still tames the tigers with no increase in noise to the shooter and even out to the sides you aren't pushing those with you. It's great for prone shooting (side discharge) but does not reduce muzzle flip as effectively as many others.

The best overall brake I've shot is this one by Snowy Mountain Rifle company.

Muzzle Brakes

Even on my 7mm STW if I don't have ear protection I can get off a couple of shots without punishing myself and it is fantastic at reducing both muzzle flip and recoil.

I was fortunate enough to get one on a rifle I bought last year and like it well enough I'll be putting it on at least four of my other magnums this year.

I've not noticed any problem with the Limbsaver pads breaking down on me but I've only been using them for three years including on the rifles I keep in the truck year round which means they get exposed to a lot of extremes at both ends of the thermometer. If they do break down on me, I'll just replace them. They are in my opinion the most effective I've ever tried. I like the Pachmayr as well, but the limbsaver does seem a bit more effective.

 

[SFR292]

We do a lot of work with Snowy Mountain, it's funny you bring up it, the shop owner where I work is related to the owner at Snowy, so naturally we do a lot together lol.
The hollands do a great job at muzzle jump to stay on target as well. The are a main side port with small top ports and none on the bottom. I also have a Cooley on a gun it doesnt a great job, but it's big and it's louder than some of my other ones.
Precision Armament makes a great brake as well. I've ordered one of their M41's to try on my STW and I've shot a few of their M11's. The M11's work great, but just big. As a side note I also put on of their bolt knobs on my STW, and I LOVE IT, perfect size and grip with and without gloves.

 

[WildRose]

We do a lot of work with Snowy Mountain, it's funny you bring up it, the shop owner where I work is related to the owner at Snowy, so naturally we do a lot together lol.
The hollands do a great job at muzzle jump to stay on target as well. The are a main side port with small top ports and none on the bottom. I also have a Cooley on a gun it doesnt a great job, but it's big and it's louder than some of my other ones.
Precision Armament makes a great brake as well. I've ordered one of their M41's to try on my STW and I've shot a few of their M11's. The M11's work great, but just big. As a side note I also put on of their bolt knobs on my STW, and I LOVE IT, perfect size and grip with and without gloves.

The Cooley if very effective but like some of the others it directs so much of the blast back towards the shooter they are unpleasant as hell to shoot on a big magnum. I'd never put one on a gun I was going to shoot at a public range either.

 

[SFR292]

You're not joking about the Cooley, my brother-in-law wasn't happy with me at all when I cracked off a round at a coyote at 640 yards without giving him notice first lol.

 

[Big Jake Duke]

Im getting ready to build another STW, I had one i put together last year in a TC Encore platform. It had a 28" full bull shillen barrel 1;9 twist with 6 flutes, a set of custom laminate stocks, a trigger job and topped with a Zeiss 6.5-20x50. I had my best groups out of it (.42") with 140 Berger VLD's pushing 3600fps with IMR 7828. I had someone make me an offer on it and regret selling it. I have a savage 110 long action that ive been thinking of rebarreling to another STW but im unsure or what i would need to change the bolt head to to accept the stw case, and is there any aftermarket extended length magazines for the savage?

Here are a couple of pics of the encore:

The savage rifles I have had all have issues lengthening the magazine unless it is a blind magazine. Savage puts the floor plate hinge in the way in the newer LRH series.
The only way to get a high performing 7 out of a savage is to go the 7mm Dakota or 7mm LRH (Rutgers 375 compact mag necked to 7mm)

 

[SFR292]

Too each their own but I'm not a fan on building on Savage actions and I will refuse to open a savage bolt up to a magnum bolt face. The bolt is already at the limit of what I consider safe (bolt body thickness at the face). If you look at any reloading manuals, even with a 140 "factory" COL it's 3.65 ish and most magazines wont go that big, or right at 3.625 max. Thats the whole reason for a custom reamer to shorten the free bore to allow you to seat the bullet deeper and not have a mile long jump like on a weatherby mag. You can also have the angle changed on the leading edge of the rifling which allows for a bit hotter load without such a high pressure spike (which is what my reamer is being built around).
I originally was going to do DBM with an AI magazine but the 300 WM and 338 Laupua magazines are limited to 3.625" max COL whereas the Wyatts box allows for 3.825 (at least on my M70 action) which gives me plenty of wiggle room even for the 180/190s without having to single shot the gun. There is some machine work on the actions to allow for the longer box but it's not to invasive. It will require you (and in my opinion you should anyway) to go with a one piece bottom metal like PTG's because you'll loose your center action screw when machining the bottom of the action.

 

[7stw]

I have a Die question. WILL a Lee 2 die set work in my RCBS and is it fine for my STW(when I finally make it and get it??) Found a set on ebay for 21 bucks

Yup, they sure will, and they are fine dies too. For some reason or another, those dies have always given me the LEAST amount of run out. And I like the expander " shank" versus the expander ball, and I think it is one of the reasons that the run out is less, because it keeps the neck in center line, on the down stroke. I like them .

 

[7stw]

Neither are my choices, I prefer the Interlock or Interbond by Hornady or the Nosler Accubond.

That being said, I absolutely agree with the sentiment. I want a hole on both sides and a good blood trail to follow in the event it's not a DRT hit.

I was at one time sold on the idea of all the energy being retained in the animal vs an exit as being a good thing.

I got over it after having to go get the dogs too many times to fine one that had taken a perfect chest hit and still disappeared into the brush.

Since most of those were big hogs over 500lbs I can assure you that following them into the brush is a hair raising experience especially after you've had a few come charging back out at you.

Amen to the two holes are better than one, but I have never been part of " let the bullet dump it's energy " inside philosophy . Shoot a well constructed bullet at a good velocity, and send it true, and it will do it's job. Just like sex, in and out!
I'm very impressed with the Barnes bullets, for doing just that, AND dumping a shock load to boot. The partition is a classic bullet, and although they are sometimes not the most accurate bullet, the terminal performance is usually predictable.
I do like the Hornady bullets of late, and they have came a long way. I like both the interlock, or Interbond, and even though I haven't hunted with them, I have faith enough, partly from feedback, that if I had one in my chamber, I would be confident that something is about to go for a pick up ride! Just my 1.5 cents.

 

[7stw]

I like both the stw and the 7rum. The rum is a bit faster and can be the cat's meow in certain cases, but for an all around fire breathing 7mm the stw gets the nod. The stw will get you at least another 500 rounds bbl life if you treat both with a bit of respect.
As far as the 7rum being finicky round, not at all if you feed it no faster than rl25 or retumbo( I prefer stick 50 cal powders) and let it eat flat base bullets with a monster jump (.4" to .5") to smooth out the pressure.
It ( the 7rum) is simply an awesome round that was so accurate in the field in my last rifle I once put the crosshair two inches below the nose on a trotting mule deer doe at over 200 yards, adjusted lead, pulled the trigger, and proceeded to put a bullet through her head within an inch of where I wanted to (I always shoot offhand and usually from sitting). Needless to say I didn't ruin any meat on that one.
I'm thinking of building a 7rum to pitch 140's with as my last one would do over 3500 fps at normal pressure with 140's; it's hard to get to 3400 fps with an stw with 140's-- some powders will get you there but barely. I think I'm going to try for an 8# 7 rum and a 10# 7stw. The rum will be a max. pbr carry rifle and the stw will be a re-work of my current lh bdl stw for cross canyon critter and long range paper punching.

Lefty, I have been rather successful in getting 3400 out of my STW's without going over 65,000 psi over the years.
Now, about the 7 RUM, IMHO, unless you have 28 inches of barrel, you can not burn all the powder INSIDE the barrel. You can put all you want in it, but quite a bit of it is going to burn OUTSIDE the barrel. The end result, noise, and muzzle flash. Don't get me wrong, to each their own, I've been down that road. I had one, and had shot a bunch of them before buying my own, and eventually conceded to the fact that too much is too much.
My STW that I built in the spring will average 3440 with 145 LRX bullets and RL25.my Sharpshooter gets 3406 with 140 partitions, and 3426 with TSX bullets. And I am not one to shoot high pressures either. I don't like feeling uneasy when I pull the trigger wondering if the bolt is going to come unbolted!!! And when you throw the barrel life into the equation, it's a no brainer for me. Just my opinion!!!!

 

[etisll40]

I think the new Lapua cip mags by Accuracy Int'l are 3.9", I converted my bdl to a seekins dbm with those mags. My bdl had the extended Wyatt box too. I'm not a big fan of hinged floorplates anyway. I actually like blind mags the most.

I'd like to convert all of my field rifles to blind mags, simpler and sleeker.

 

[SFR292]

3.625 is straight from AI, made it a point to ask them at the SHOT show this week. I asked why and they said it was a "tooling" issue and couldn't meet their current demands as it is. They can't afford to shut down and redesign at the moment to make a longer magazine plus then for the everyone else to follow suit and make a new DBM to match the new longer magazine. There just isn't a big enough market right now for those of us who shoot a round that long and that wants a detachable magazine. The main reason I wanted it was the fact that every round feeds from the center vice staggered in an internal box.

 

[etisll40]

I'll go down and measure mine shortly. I have a 338 Lapua built on a rem 700 action and it has the 300 win mag ai mags. When I bought my seekins dbm which is on a stiller action, they said I could use the longer aics cip 338 lapua mags, they are longer than my 300 win mag ones, but I'm not sure the exact length. On seekins website it says 3.9" but I believe they are 3.85". I'll take a picture of both with a ruler and post. My stiller predator action had to have a slight modification to take them. So now my 7stw rounds are longer than my 338 lapua! Go figure. actually, Go 7 STW boys.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Lefty, I have been rather successful in getting 3400 out of my STW's without going over 65,000 psi over the years.
Now, about the 7 RUM, IMHO, unless you have 28 inches of barrel, you can not burn all the powder INSIDE the barrel. You can put all you want in it, but quite a bit of it is going to burn OUTSIDE the barrel. The end result, noise, and muzzle flash. Don't get me wrong, to each their own, I've been down that road. I had one, and had shot a bunch of them before buying my own, and eventually conceded to the fact that too much is too much.
My STW that I built in the spring will average 3440 with 145 LRX bullets and RL25.my Sharpshooter gets 3406 with 140 partitions, and 3426 with TSX bullets. And I am not one to shoot high pressures either. I don't like feeling uneasy when I pull the trigger wondering if the bolt is going to come unbolted!!! And when you throw the barrel life into the equation, it's a no brainer for me. Just my opinion!!!!

I could get to 3500 fps with rl25 in my last 7stw also with rl25 and 140 nosler a-bonds. You back to currently recommended charges though( there wasn't data for rl25 when I first started using it) and you will get 3400 fps with that rifle. I was netting 3500 fps at top charges of rl25 with 140 sierra's in the rum; they are really a horse a-piece and are both good 7mm's. The rum nearly needs a chrome plated barrel or to be only shot below freezing though as it doesn't have good bore life. Been there, done that and have a 300 rum now because of it.

We are pretty much on the same page here; I am thinking of the 7rum as a very low round count rifle with max. available speeds using 140 grain 7mm's as I want minimum time of flite for running kills. I may go with a 27" or 28" barrel but I was getting good burn at 26" so I don't know if it is worth it.