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

Congrats on the new toy. I have been wanting to build another STW, but this first build in years will be my custom wildcat caliber I'm designing. It should be dead inbetween the 7mm Rem Mag, and 7mmSTW in performance.

Once I have finished designing and have myself as the proprieter and inventor of this cartridge, and have a reamer and dies for it, I will be able to post specs of it, and it's top-secret name... Then I can work up a proper load for it, and be able to give specs. But until then....It double-secret G14 classified. :D:rolleyes:

THEN, after that I will build another STW.

That right up there with " Triple Dog Dare You" , anyway, " don't shoot your eye out! Good luck on the new round, sounds like fun in the making process.
 
I not bragging on my gun but I am excited about getting it. I have been shooting a Winchester Model 70 STW for a while and I love it. I'm in the process of building my 12 year old son a Winchester Model 70 25/06 that I could give to him and he would have something his dad gave him to hunt with. Then on another forum and out of blind luck a guy told me he had a Sako 75 Stainless STW that he had shot 20 times that he wanted to sell because of recoil and the gun was priced right. After talking with this guy on the phone he told me he had five boxes of shells and one box of brass that came with the gun. The shells were federals and Rem's and a box of Winchester Fail Safes that I use to shoot in my STW. As most of you know Winchester quit making the STW case and factory ammo so I started reloading for it. So I ask my son which gun he would want to have if he had a choice and he picked the STW. Well my FFL guy called me last night and said your toys are here and this gun is perfect. Just picked it up this morning and the gun looks brand new. It was a relief to finally get it in my hands and the condition of gun being what the seller said it was. I know there are some really good people out there and this guy was one of them. I also have read where people get ripped off and this was in the back of my mind also. I got a simms recoil pad on the way and I will shoot a few to see if it needs a break. Will try to post some pictures of the gun as well. Ricky

Rickyb, congrats on the new toy, and I know what you mean about being " on edge" about things you buy on line, or through a website. I have bought two barrels of late, and was on pins and needles until they arrived, so I could do that all important inspection. Well, on both accounts, both were as promised or better. As a matter of fact, both were acquired through THIS website. The last was from one of the " brothers", and again, no problems at all.
You are going to like the Simms recoil pad. They really do have a great product.
And the brass is definitely a bonus, especially with the situation we are ALL in!
 
I am new to this thread and have never posted so bear with me. I am building a custom 7 STW to replace one I regrettably sold in the past. This will be a hunting rifle. I ordered a Broughton #5 contour 5C groove 26" finish length with a 9 twist. It will be mounted to an accurized Rem. 700 action with a PT&G bolt. It will have a Timney trigger and possibly a Vais brake. I'm looking for input on a stock. I can buy a HS precision stock now off the shelf or wait 5 months for a McMillan Hunters Edge. One of the two. Do you think one would outperform the other in the accuracy category?
 
MudRunner, I am pretty sure that Lapua dosen't make anything that a STW can be form from, in fact, I don't think they have ANY belted mags. I have been considering buying some 300 HH brass from Norma, and fire forming it. Norma brass is incredibly tough, and can be reloaded quite a bit. Primer pockets stay tight, and it hardly grows . Something to think about!
I have had fantastic luck with Norma Bass for over 30 years.
 
I am new to this thread and have never posted so bear with me. I am building a custom 7 STW to replace one I regrettably sold in the past. This will be a hunting rifle. I ordered a Broughton #5 contour 5C groove 26" finish length with a 9 twist. It will be mounted to an accurized Rem. 700 action with a PT&G bolt. It will have a Timney trigger and possibly a Vais brake. I'm looking for input on a stock. I can buy a HS precision stock now off the shelf or wait 5 months for a McMillan Hunters Edge. One of the two. Do you think one would outperform the other in the accuracy category?

I have a McMillan hunters edge stock on my Rem 700 7mm STW and love it with no brake. if you choose the HS precision stock it is goin be heavier but as long as you bed them right there shouldn't be any difference with it's accurracy potential.

Regards Steve.
 
TE=7stw760901]Ok Rick, I'll attempt to translate my thinking into text, but you are on the right track. You do not have to do this to the neck die. The neck die ONLY sizes or resized the neck only, and doesnt contact the body. But you are spot on with your approach, and understanding. I have another method that works very well, that is timeless, and guys have been doing it for years, ( me too).
Smoked shoulder anyone? Take a once fired case, lube the sides ONLY, not the shoulder or neck! Take a candle, or a cigarette lighter, and hold it under the shoulder and neck area on the case, and don't touch it. You are trying to soot it up completely. It does get warm, so use pliers if needed. Now, while it's cooling a little, back off your resizer lock ring, and unscrew it about two turns. Now comes the tricky part, but not really. Run the case up into the die and back out. Note the soot on the top of the shoulder. Keep gradually screwing DOWN on the die til you see a change in the soot on the top off the shoulder. When you just see a change in the soot, you are at about zero. I usually give it about another 1/4 turn down. Lock up you lock ring, and re adjust your expander to center, and just to the point where it pushes out the primer.
Sometimes, you may need to do this a few times, so have a few pieces of brass on hand. The better the " soot print" you have, the better you will be able to read it. If you feel comfortable with the Gage, that's fine. If you want to check yourself, this is the way to do it. This normally yields about .003 shoulder bump, +-.
great write up 7stw!
I was fortunate enough to get a fair about of new Remington brass locally and I'm going to try this tomorrow. my question is, do i need to fulll size all the brass, then serve up the smoked shoulder recipe after once firing, or can i just do a half dozen to get the soot shoulder sizing right then just size the rest from there?
 
TE=7stw760901]Ok Rick, I'll attempt to translate my thinking into text, but you are on the right track. You do not have to do this to the neck die. The neck die ONLY sizes or resized the neck only, and doesnt contact the body. But you are spot on with your approach, and understanding. I have another method that works very well, that is timeless, and guys have been doing it for years, ( me too).
Smoked shoulder anyone? Take a once fired case, lube the sides ONLY, not the shoulder or neck! Take a candle, or a cigarette lighter, and hold it under the shoulder and neck area on the case, and don't touch it. You are trying to soot it up completely. It does get warm, so use pliers if needed. Now, while it's cooling a little, back off your resizer lock ring, and unscrew it about two turns. Now comes the tricky part, but not really. Run the case up into the die and back out. Note the soot on the top of the shoulder. Keep gradually screwing DOWN on the die til you see a change in the soot on the top off the shoulder. When you just see a change in the soot, you are at about zero. I usually give it about another 1/4 turn down. Lock up you lock ring, and re adjust your expander to center, and just to the point where it pushes out the primer.
Sometimes, you may need to do this a few times, so have a few pieces of brass on hand. The better the " soot print" you have, the better you will be able to read it. If you feel comfortable with the Gage, that's fine. If you want to check yourself, this is the way to do it. This normally yields about .003 shoulder bump, +-.
great write up 7stw!
I was fortunate enough to get a fair about of new Remington brass locally and I'm going to try this tomorrow. my question is, do i need to fulll size all the brass, then serve up the smoked shoulder recipe after once firing, or can i just do a half dozen to get the soot shoulder sizing right then just size the rest from there?
Just set your dies for the correct shoulder dimension and ler 'er buck. I've had to do this with my 7stw as it has a rather long chamber. The new brass will simply neck size and fired brass will be correct.
I'm also getting 7stw brass locally; the local shop had some in today for $35 a fifty. I've already got more than enough to shoot this barrel out.
 
TE=7stw760901]Ok Rick, I'll attempt to translate my thinking into text, but you are on the right track. You do not have to do this to the neck die. The neck die ONLY sizes or resized the neck only, and doesnt contact the body. But you are spot on with your approach, and understanding. I have another method that works very well, that is timeless, and guys have been doing it for years, ( me too).
Smoked shoulder anyone? Take a once fired case, lube the sides ONLY, not the shoulder or neck! Take a candle, or a cigarette lighter, and hold it under the shoulder and neck area on the case, and don't touch it. You are trying to soot it up completely. It does get warm, so use pliers if needed. Now, while it's cooling a little, back off your resizer lock ring, and unscrew it about two turns. Now comes the tricky part, but not really. Run the case up into the die and back out. Note the soot on the top of the shoulder. Keep gradually screwing DOWN on the die til you see a change in the soot on the top off the shoulder. When you just see a change in the soot, you are at about zero. I usually give it about another 1/4 turn down. Lock up you lock ring, and re adjust your expander to center, and just to the point where it pushes out the primer.
Sometimes, you may need to do this a few times, so have a few pieces of brass on hand. The better the " soot print" you have, the better you will be able to read it. If you feel comfortable with the Gage, that's fine. If you want to check yourself, this is the way to do it. This normally yields about .003 shoulder bump, +-.
great write up 7stw!
I was fortunate enough to get a fair about of new Remington brass locally and I'm going to try this tomorrow. my question is, do i need to fulll size all the brass, then serve up the smoked shoulder recipe after once firing, or can i just do a half dozen to get the soot shoulder sizing right then just size the rest from there?

Elevendysixty, the settings I was referring to are to be done AFTER your first firing. You may want to just run ALL the NEW brass through your die before firing so you can get the necks perfectly round . When to set up your die to do this, just screw it down to the shell plate, with the ram at the top, no cam over needed for this. I have seen as much as .045 gap between " virgin" brass, and once fired. The reason for this, is that because this is a belted mag, when new, it headspaces on the BELT. After you set your dies as we spoke of, it will also be supported by the shoulder s well.
So, don't make any permanent settings until you get some once fired brass. After you get the hang of that, there are some other cool things that you can do to your brass that show accuracy " dividends" on paper. But like everything else, one step at a time.
Glad you liked my explanation. It's so easy to do, but I had to think about how I wrote it, so that I didn't skip over something that was assumed that you understood. Once you get the hang of it, and get the " perfect" die setting, you will know it! Take care, and be patient, it will come out fine.
 
How many firings do you get with norma 7stw brass?

Ed, I have to wholeheartedly agree with WildRose on the brass life, using Norma brass. In one of my 7 mags, I have EIGHT firings on some NORMA brass in that gun, and it's as good as it was when I first fired it. Pockets are tight, necks are mint, and that stuff almost doesnt grow either. It's pricey, yeah, but just like anything else, especially in this " hobby" , you only get what you pay for!
Fortunately for us, at least they make a full size HH family case that we can fire form to. How awesome would THAT be if they made this round? :D
 
Ed, I have to wholeheartedly agree with WildRose on the brass life, using Norma brass. In one of my 7 mags, I have EIGHT firings on some NORMA brass in that gun, and it's as good as it was when I first fired it. Pockets are tight, necks are mint, and that stuff almost doesnt grow either. It's pricey, yeah, but just like anything else, especially in this " hobby" , you only get what you pay for!
Fortunately for us, at least they make a full size HH family case that we can fire form to. How awesome would THAT be if they made this round? :D

There was a elderly Gunsmith who lived just acouple of streets away from me,
he was an old school gentleman and a very competitive F class shooter, winning plenty of events and trophys.
Unfortunitely he past away just last year and he had this saying,
" You gotta pay if you want to play."
I guess it would apply to most sports but when your out shooting your rifle I don't give a **** about what its costing me.:D
Regards Steve.
 
NORMA BRASS!!!!!
Hey guys, I was just on GunBroker, and there is some NORMA unformed 300 HH cases for sale. The guy has 160 pieces of brass, that can be had for $ 140.00. I don't know how to form STW brss from unformed brass, but I know it can be done. Just go to the search bar, and write in Norma brass, it will show up with a few others as well.
FYI...........lightbulb
 
NORMA BRASS!!!!!
Hey guys, I was just on GunBroker, and there is some NORMA unformed 300 HH cases for sale. The guy has 160 pieces of brass, that can be had for $ 140.00. I don't know how to form STW brss from unformed brass, but I know it can be done. Just go to the search bar, and write in Norma brass, it will show up with a few others as well.
FYI...........lightbulb
With 300 h@h brass I'd just run it through your 7stw sizer and fireform with a start load from stw data. With the belt for headspace you don't even HAVE to run your bullets into the rifling, but I would if I could to keep the stretching just above the belt down. With 375h@h I run it through either a 338win die or 300 win die set long (for the stw shoulder dimension) and then final form to 7stw with a fl sizer die. The shoulder will be narrow and a bit shallow until you pop it out with the fireform.
 
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