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

[JoeS1044]

Sorry, you are out of luck with the stw on the t-3 action. The mags won't take the 7stw as it is too long. The highest performing 7mm's you can put in a t3 are either the 7 roy or the 7-300win. There may be other issues but the mag is a pretty big one. I've got a Tikka t-3 ss lh in 270; great rifle but it suffers from the same issues with action length as the ruger 77.

man this saddens me so much I love the Tikkas so much haha

 

[WapitiBob]

Looks like a shooter Gamehawker.

 

[Brush4646]

STW put to use.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...1&d=1385130655mentid=28057&stc=1&d=1385130655
Shot this buck at 25yds. I can shoot from hill top to hill top and I get a 25yd shot. I'll take it.
Brush

 

[bigbull]

I recently purchased a Winchester M70 Laredo in 7 STW, the rifle is factory stock and in new condition, it came with a Leupold Vari XIII 6.5-20 AO Scope with a fine duplex reticle mounted in Weaver R&B and 140 mixed once fired brass. I am thrilled to have purchased this rifle and can't wait to start handloading for her, I took the first step by buying a set of Forester dies and some Nosler Accubond LR in 150 & 168gr. Next thing I got was a EGW one piece picatiny rail, next is a set of rings, still trying to make up my mind about those, I don't want anything too bulky.
Cheers
bb

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

I recently purchased a Winchester M70 Laredo in 7 STW, the rifle is factory stock and in new condition, it came with a Leupold Vari XIII 6.5-20 AO Scope with a fine duplex reticle mounted in Weaver R&B and 140 mixed once fired brass. I am thrilled to have purchased this rifle and can't wait to start handloading for her, I took the first step by buying a set of Forester dies and some Nosler Accubond LR in 150 & 168gr. Next thing I got was a EGW one piece picatiny rail, next is a set of rings, still trying to make up my mind about those, I don't want anything too bulky.
Cheers
bb

Sounds like you'll have a good rifle when you get her set up! I'm more of a burris/weaver/leopold guy for rings but it seems everyone has their favorites. Do you have a line on brass? That seems to be the hardest thing for a lot of the stw guys lately; most that don't have a stash are reforming other la belted brass to stw.

 

[bearcat2]

Sorry, you are out of luck with the stw on the t-3 action. The mags won't take the 7stw as it is too long. The highest performing 7mm's you can put in a t3 are either the 7 roy or the 7-300win. There may be other issues but the mag is a pretty big one. I've got a Tikka t-3 ss lh in 270; great rifle but it suffers from the same issues with action length as the ruger 77.

Yep, I was going to point this out but you beat me to it. I looked at the Tikkas to, because I really like them, they fit me out of the box better than about any other factory rifle I have tried except a Sako, and they come in left handed and stainless, a hard combo to find. Plus they have a clip (I know, I know, it isn't actually a clip, I know the difference, but grew up calling them clips and probably will until the day I die) which is a huge plus to me. But the STW won't fit in the magazine. So I bought a Browning A-bolt in 375 H&H, which comes in left-handed stainless with a clip, which isn't as handy since it is attached to the inside of a hinged floorplate, but on the plus side it alleviates some peoples concerns about possibly losing it. Mine had only ever had nine rounds through it and it seemed a real shame to strip it down, but I wanted the STW, so I had the action trued and bedded and a Hart barrel put on it. The Browning action is a sweet smooth action (much smoother than a factory Rem 700) with only a 60 degree bolt throw. While I haven't shot it at a thousand, at 800 it is a tack driver, I shot an elk at 820 this year and put two bullets through the part in the hair on the brisket, right where I was aiming and you could cover both bullet holes with a quarter.

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

Yep, I was going to point this out but you beat me to it. I looked at the Tikkas to, because I really like them, they fit me out of the box better than about any other factory rifle I have tried except a Sako, and they come in left handed and stainless, a hard combo to find. Plus they have a clip (I know, I know, it isn't actually a clip, I know the difference, but grew up calling them clips and probably will until the day I die) which is a huge plus to me. But the STW won't fit in the magazine. So I bought a Browning A-bolt in 375 H&H, which comes in left-handed stainless with a clip, which isn't as handy since it is attached to the inside of a hinged floorplate, but on the plus side it alleviates some peoples concerns about possibly losing it. Mine had only ever had nine rounds through it and it seemed a real shame to strip it down, but I wanted the STW, so I had the action trued and bedded and a Hart barrel put on it. The Browning action is a sweet smooth action (much smoother than a factory Rem 700) with only a 60 degree bolt throw. While I haven't shot it at a thousand, at 800 it is a tack driver, I shot an elk at 820 this year and put two bullets through the part in the hair on the brisket, right where I was aiming and you could cover both bullet holes with a quarter.

I nearly bought one of those lh browning 375's a number of years back. Someone else got it though. I do have a lh browning in 300win that is simply the plague to deer within 400 yards, but I'm only tossing a 165 in her so pass 500 yards very much and she falls off fast.
I just picked up a lss lh in 7rum yesterday; we'll see how this one shoots. If it's as good as my rh bdl was, I'll shoot her out and then make a decision on what cal she'll be. The 7rum ought to be a good inclement weather complement to my stw.

 

[bearcat2]

I nearly bought one of those lh browning 375's a number of years back. Someone else got it though. I do have a lh browning in 300win that is simply the plague to deer within 400 yards, but I'm only tossing a 165 in her so pass 500 yards very much and she falls off fast.
I just picked up a lss lh in 7rum yesterday; we'll see how this one shoots. If it's as good as my rh bdl was, I'll shoot her out and then make a decision on what cal she'll be. The 7rum ought to be a good inclement weather complement to my stw.

The 7mm rum is a good caliber, a friend of mine has one and liked it, so I looked into them before I decided on the STW. We were shooting off the same bench over the same chrono after I got the STW and using the same 180's I was actually shooting about 50 fps faster than him when he was at a max load according to the manual, while I still had a grain or two to go. BUT I was loading 20 less grains of powder to get the same ballistics as he was getting out of the rum. It will outperform (strictly ballistics, my gun is more accurate, but then his is bone stock, so nothing against the caliber) the STW with lighter bullets in the 140 range, however. All the Ultra Mags I have been around have been pretty good guns, and most are accurate shooters unless the guy behind the gun is scared off it. They are powder hogs though, they use a lot more powder for a small gain in ballistics.

 

[bearcat2]

Re: STW put to use.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/for...1&d=1385130655mentid=28057&stc=1&d=1385130655
Shot this buck at 25yds. I can shoot from hill top to hill top and I get a 25yd shot. I'll take it.
Brush

I have a shooting bench at my bedroom window upstairs, and my dad was by this morning and shot a buck that could have been that ones twin with my STW at about 275, off the bench.

I shot a 160 whitetail off it last year at 350... head shot... I love a good solid rest.

 

[Brush4646]

I was over looking a clear cut when this guy walked down the logging road 25yds below me. I'll take them any way I can. Deer are few and far between in my area. To many predators which I'll be working on after season.

 

[marioq]

No pic came up

 

[Lefty7mmstw]

The 7mm rum is a good caliber, a friend of mine has one and liked it, so I looked into them before I decided on the STW. We were shooting off the same bench over the same chrono after I got the STW and using the same 180's I was actually shooting about 50 fps faster than him when he was at a max load according to the manual, while I still had a grain or two to go. BUT I was loading 20 less grains of powder to get the same ballistics as he was getting out of the rum. It will outperform (strictly ballistics, my gun is more accurate, but then his is bone stock, so nothing against the caliber) the STW with lighter bullets in the 140 range, however. All the Ultra Mags I have been around have been pretty good guns, and most are accurate shooters unless the guy behind the gun is scared off it. They are powder hogs though, they use a lot more powder for a small gain in ballistics.

I've had both a stw and a 7rum in my rifle collection at the same time before. Both have their uses. I like that this rifle is ss and will be a good snow/rain rifle. My stw is blued and only wears a 24" barrel. In the last 7rum I burned 95 gr rl25 for 3500 fps with a 140 grain bullet. In my last stw I burned 82 grains rl25 for 3450 fps with a 140 grain bullet. 13 grains more powder for 50 fps is something I can live with if I don't have to spend $600 to re barrel the rifle.

 

[bearcat2]

I normally shoot 180 bergers, but at the time mentioned we were both testing out some Sierra's (I believe, it has been several years, and I settled on the Bergers after testing several bullets, some of which we both loaded out of the same box) from memory (so please DO NOT use this as reloading advice) I think I was loading 71, 72, and 73 grains of RE25, while he was 91-92.5 grains of the same powder. The difference in velocities wasn't enough to worry about, but the STW would outshoot it. This flipped with lighter bullets and with 140's the RUM would outshoot the STW, as you noted.

Yes, you can buy a heck of a lot of powder for the price of a barrel swap.

 

[Roll-Yur-Own]

Hi STW Brothers!

I'm looking to load 150 TSX with my STW. Hodgdon's manual's max loads are 3 grains lighter than what I use with 160 accubonds. Barnes loads much higher.

Need help

Thanks
Johnny