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

[Lefty7mmstw]

Hey everyone I need your advice I am tossing around the idea of buying the NEW cooper model 92 backcountry in a 7stw I'm wondering if the 24" barrel will be a problem and what kind of velocities do you think I will get shooting the eld-x 175 or 162's
Or is it not worth it with a 24" barrel?

A 26" or longer barrel helps, but is not absolutely necessary. I could get 3450 fps from a 140 in my 24" 10" twist 7stw when I had that bbl. on my rifle... another load I had was doing in the high 3200's with a 140 with the 24" bbl... That was a rather stout load of rl26... I'm only doing 3350 fps with a 140 ( using my old rl25/ 140 ab load) in my 27" 8" twist shilen barrel on the same action. My Pops is running a but over 3300 fps with a 140 in his 25" bbl'd remmy dbm with the factory pipe...

I think your barrel taper has as much to do with the rifle being hunt-able in a 7stw as the length... as long as you are over 22"... A fly weight barrel will heat fast and be a poor choice for anything demanding accuracy wise... I like a light bull contour or heavy sporter contour... I have a #5 taper Shilen on my rifle...

 

[jonthomps]

I'm jumping into the 7 STW pond! Just ordered a McWhorter 7 STW and I'm looking forward to getting some time behind it. I've never owned this round but I'm looking forward to seeing what it's capable of.

2 questions for all you STW veterans: I'll be ordering a set of Redding bushing dies. What size bushing are you guys running with Nosler brass? Second, is H1000 a good powder for the 195's?

 

[Blacktail]

I'm jumping into the 7 STW pond! Just ordered a McWhorter 7 STW and I'm looking forward to getting some time behind it. I've never owned this round but I'm looking forward to seeing what it's capable of.

2 questions for all you STW veterans: I'll be ordering a set of Redding bushing dies. What size bushing are you guys running with Nosler brass? Second, is H1000 a good powder for the 195's?

I run h1000 behind 160 ABs to 3220 not a hot load at all and get 1/4" to 1/2" groups

 

[jweigel]

I just measured three loaded 195 VLDs in Nosler Brass. I get right at 314.5 to 314. So a 312 should get you real close. Or even a 313.

Make sure you get a twist more then 9. Either 8.5 or 8. I could not get the 195s to shoot below 1 MOA with my Factory Sendero with a 9 twist. I shoot at around 1800 msl.

With heavy bullets like the 195, I would look at R33 or N570. I have had great luck with N570. H1000 or Retumno would be better with lighter bullets up to 180.

jjw
ND

 

[jonthomps]

I just measured three loaded 195 VLDs in Nosler Brass. I get right at 314.5 to 314. So a 312 should get you real close. Or even a 313.

Make sure you get a twist more then 9. Either 8.5 or 8. I could not get the 195s to shoot below 1 MOA with my Factory Sendero with a 9 twist. I shoot at around 1800 msl.

With heavy bullets like the 195, I would look at R33 or N570. I have had great luck with N570. H1000 or Retumno would be better with lighter bullets up to 180.

jjw
ND

Thanks a ton, this is exactly what I needed. The barrel I spec'ed out is a 1-8 twist finished at 26". I have 12 pounds of N570 so it's good to hear that powder performs well with the 195's.

 

[doverpack12]

I'm jumping into the 7 STW pond! Just ordered a McWhorter 7 STW and I'm looking forward to getting some time behind it. I've never owned this round but I'm looking forward to seeing what it's capable of.

2 questions for all you STW veterans: I'll be ordering a set of Redding bushing dies. What size bushing are you guys running with Nosler brass? Second, is H1000 a good powder for the 195's?

My nosler brass all measured 0.314 with a 180 berger, 175 ABLR and 168 LRX so I ordered a 0.312 bushing and its been working well so far.

 

[marioq]

I'm jumping into the 7 STW pond! Just ordered a McWhorter 7 STW and I'm looking forward to getting some time behind it. I've never owned this round but I'm looking forward to seeing what it's capable of.

2 questions for all you STW veterans: I'll be ordering a set of Redding bushing dies. What size bushing are you guys running with Nosler brass? Second, is H1000 a good powder for the 195's?

I got one of these and I am just loading tonight.....
I am not sure what they loaded for a load but I think it was 4831sc... I have to look into my notes...

Let me know what you load for yours or what Allan makes for it as he loads for the guns and give you a load.... I am trying to use retumbo as I have 12 lbs of it... or 16...
I just want to get a good load and if I have to change I will..

Thanks
Mario

 

[jonthomps]

I got one of these and I am just loading tonight.....
I am not sure what they loaded for a load but I think it was 4831sc... I have to look into my notes...

Let me know what you load for yours or what Allan makes for it as he loads for the guns and give you a load.... I am trying to use retumbo as I have 12 lbs of it... or 16...
I just want to get a good load and if I have to change I will..

Thanks
Mario

I'll try to remember to post their load here after I pick up the rifle. I'm hoping they use H1000 - I've got a ton of it! What are your rifle specs?

 

[marioq]

I bought it from some guy here used. 26 in hart or other 1-8 twist stiller action with their name on it. Same as all the others shoots ok with factory ammo. Just loaded Berger 180s with retumbo to try. 75-77gr in 0.5 gr increments.

 

[7mmtyler]

So what's everyone's go to dies? I'm looking at redding and whidden...thoughts?

 

[WildRose]

So what's everyone's go to dies? I'm looking at redding and whidden...thoughts?

For the first thirty years I was handloading I primarily used Lee dies and got along pretty well with them.

I've spent a good bit of the last year upgrading and modernizing and where I can I've gone to the Redding Premium Deluxe 3 die sets. For the STW I got the Deluxe 3 die set and then purchased the micrometer seater separately.

I found you can certainly drive yourself nuts just sorting through all of the available options that are out there today.

 

[MudRunner2005]

I started out using RCBS dies (still have a lot of them), and have 3-die sets for all of them (FL, Neck, and Seater). For some cartridges I have Redding Deluxe 3-die sets, and for my 7mm STW I also have a Redding Competition Neck-Sizer Bushing Die that I picked up cheap from another member on here.

 

[kyron]

RCBS X-die for full length sizing and Forster ultra micrometer seating die. gun)

 

[bigbull]

So what's everyone's go to dies? I'm looking at redding and whidden...thoughts?

I have narrowed my choice after many years to Redding and Forster with some Lee dies thrown in just to keep everyone honest.
I really like the Forster Dies and especially their custom die work on reaming the necks to your specs, it saves your brass by not overworking. I also really like their comp. bullet seater it i similar to Redding and alot cheaper and has been around a lot longer.
The other merits of their dies are available on their site so I won't comment further.
Lee also makes an excellent neck sizer in their Collet die, I believe it is superior to the other neck sizer out there giving lower runout than all of them IMO.
In saying all of this I still have and use a s_ _t load of RCBS dies.
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