7mm STW Reloading Thread

[WildRose]

WildRose
Have you tried the Peregrine bullets in any other calibers?? Mainly the STW? Just curious. I wouldn't mind trying these, but they don't have load data for my 300 WSM, & STW or 6.5-284 Norma. Are you loading the PlainsMaster bullet in your 260?

This guy was taken with one shot through the crease of his neck, spine and exited behind the off shoulder with one of the Peregrines and live weight he was well over 500.lbs. The shot was 320yds at a slight uphill angle.

I've used more of them in the .260 primarily just because I bought two of them this year and really wanted to give them a workout and I couldn't be more pleased. Whether deer shot through the rib or big hogs shot through the neck I get basically the exact same performance plus or minus very little, exit wounds about two fingers width in diameter up to the size of a golf ball.

Of nine deer the wife and I took this year 8 were taken with the Perigrines, four hogs and I'm up to about 20 coyotes. Not a single bullet has failed to give me great performance in flight or more importantly terminal performance on game.

I've been through a total of five boxes now in 6.5, .308, and 7mm and I'm supposed to have a bunch more in this week coming straight from Africa as they had someone flying over who volunteered to bring them.

 

[Nitro 375]

New to the 7 STW but not to shooting and reloading. Been experimenting with mine the past four weekends in a row. This rifle has been a challenge but getting things dialed in. Rifle is a Weatherby Accumark currently in a B&C Target stock [think Weatherby TRR] 26 inch factory barrel. I adjusted the trigger, thats about it. Could not get anything to shoot at first despite bullets, powder types or charges and seating at maximum mag length. Then I tried Sierra's suggested C.O.A.L. for their 160 grain H.P.B.T. Game king, then a one inch group happened, aha. And then started a whole series of seating depth test. Thus far this rifle shoots long heavy bullets best. Two best loads are:
#1
Nosler 175 grain Partition
Rem. 8 Mag case
Rem. Mag. primer
72.5 IMR 7828
O.A.L. 3.630
avg. velocity 2,952
three shot group size .752

#2
Sierra 175 grain Game King, S.P.B.T.
Rem. 8 Mag case
Rem. Mag. Primer
78.0 Hodgdon H-1000
O.A.L. 3.630
avg. velocity 3,054
group size .724

I really like this rifle and caliber. Looking forward to more experimentation and use in the field.

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https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B32eTJBkFdm9dnE1Q1R1UlB5dmd6M1Vvd29hckxoeHpPREZ3

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B32eTJBkFdm9d1RZUHhVbXZ6OFpRRTh6X0VNT2NJXzZvX0Zn

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B32eTJBkFdm9cGpfbWdiaGxKSFg5S1E1aWR6NHhjUHYxQkhj

 

[WildRose]

Welcome to the Brotherhood. The Accumark is an excellent rifle. I've been tempted to pick up an Accumark STW several times when I've seen them for sale because all of them will shoot with a very few exceptions.

I'm not a big fan of the SGK's, they have shot "Ok" for me at best over the years and I've had too many of them come apart on game when they should have given me a clean pass through. That leads to wasted meat and occasionally waisted game.

The best results I've seen both as far as group size and performance on game from my 3 STW's has been with the Peregrine Plainsmaster 154gr VRG4.

 

[bigbulls]

I really like 195gr bergers N570 powder. If your rifle likes long and heavy you might want to give them a try.

 

[Nitro 375]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I will try those in upcoming test. Wild Rose I hear you on the GK's. I have just had good luck with them accuracy wise in several other rifles and calibers and they are reasonably priced. I bought a box of Nosler 175 grain Accubond LR bullets the other day. I have looked at the Peregrine bullets online and they look to be quite the bullet. The research continues.....

 

[WildRose]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, I will try those in upcoming test. Wild Rose I hear you on the GK's. I have just had good luck with them accuracy wise in several other rifles and calibers and they are reasonably priced. I bought a box of Nosler 175 grain Accubond LR bullets the other day. I have looked at the Peregrine bullets online and they look to be quite the bullet. The research continues.....

The best thing about the Peregrines is they mirror the VRG4's by matching them with a ballistically identical target bullet that is rather inexpensive.

That enables you to do all your load work up and tuning, along with practice shooting with a low priced bullet then come hunting season just use the same load data for it's matching VRG4. The big expense with the Plainsmaster is the machining of the opening and the plunger, mostly of course the plunger just because of how small they are and what's necessary to get them to fit and perform properly.

All I know is that the more I use them on game the more impressed I am with them and I'm finding that up and down the line they shoot extremely well. I've loaded and shot them in .260 Rem (2), 7mm STW (3) 300wm (3) and 3 300Rum's.

I'm going to do some comparisons with them and the Hornady ELD-X at least in the .260 and maybe the .264 as well.

Aside from the fact they shoot well I've shot everything from coyotes to Kudu and Black Wildebeest with them in the same gun and get the same terminal performance pretty much every time.

 

[Nitro 375]

Wild Rose that sounds amazing, I will definitely look into the Peregrine's.

 

[WildRose]

Wild Rose that sounds amazing, I will definitely look into the Peregrine's.

You can go to their website and look at what's available, to order here in the US the best thing to do is to email Hermann directly.

<[email protected]> He's actually an airline pilot by profession and this is just a part time gig to help his friends in the RSA who own the company so if it takes him a day or two to get back to you, don't feel slighted.

 

[Nitro 375]

You can go to their website and look at what's available, to order here in the US the best thing to do is to email Hermann directly.

<[email protected]> He's actually an airline pilot by profession and this is just a part time gig to help his friends in the RSA who own the company so if it takes him a day or two to get back to you, don't feel slighted.

Got it, thanks!

 

[walleyealx]

I've got a custom 7mm that I've only been shooting factory ammo out of and I've been debating if I want to get rid of it for a 300 of some sorts. It shoots well with the factory 160's (1.3" at 300 yds), but with the factory Nosler custom 140's I struggle to keep them sub MOA at 100. I will be reloading in the future, but that could be a few years out. I'm thinking it might be better for me to buy something I can get factory ammo for at this time.

Before I lose my mind and do this, what are some realistic speeds you can get out of 140's and 160's in the STW? I remember seeing some ludicrous numbers (which led me to getting an STW in the first place), but the vast majority of what I've read as far as hand-loads go shows pretty pedestrian numbers. Do the doubletap 160 accubonds achieve their advertised speeds? Is it possible to get 3300+ with handloaded 160's? 3400+ with 140's?

Kind of a weirdly arranged post, sorry about that.

 

[jweigel]

HSM will provide factory loads for heavier Bullets like 180 VLD. There is a good chance these will shoot very good.

I.Q. Metals Inc. - 7mm STW

jjw
ND

 

[ButterBean]

I've got a custom 7mm that I've only been shooting factory ammo out of and I've been debating if I want to get rid of it for a 300 of some sorts. It shoots well with the factory 160's (1.3" at 300 yds), but with the factory Nosler custom 140's I struggle to keep them sub MOA at 100. I will be reloading in the future, but that could be a few years out. I'm thinking it might be better for me to buy something I can get factory ammo for at this time.

Before I lose my mind and do this, what are some realistic speeds you can get out of 140's and 160's in the STW? I remember seeing some ludicrous numbers (which led me to getting an STW in the first place), but the vast majority of what I've read as far as hand-loads go shows pretty pedestrian numbers. Do the doubletap 160 accubonds achieve their advertised speeds? Is it possible to get 3300+ with handloaded 160's? 3400+ with 140's?

Kind of a weirdly arranged post, sorry about that.

3250-3300 with the 140's you can PM me if you want to

 

[eshorebwhntr]

There are a lot of variables that can effect your velocity. Same cartridge will produce 75-100fps differences depending on reamer design, barrel, barrel length, etc and how hard you decide to push it. Speed comes at a price and in big magnums that usually comes by way off barrel and brass life.

I think if you reload you could likely improve on velocity and accuracy. I've shot Berger 140, 168, and 180 from a custom stw with a 28" Krieger. Mostly 180s. I've always gotten what I've wanted from h1000 and retumbo. 180s were 3100-3150. 168s 3300-3350. I never chronoed the 140s and only shot 20-30 of them. They shot ok but not quite as well as the heavier bullets so I didnt spend as much time on them. I would guess they were 3500+.

I think you could realistically expect 3200+ from the160s and probably knock on the door of 3400 with the140s. Retumbo/h1000 and R33/R26 will probably get your best velocity.

Whatever you choose find what seating depth your gun likes, load up a ladder, find a safe load your gun likes and go enjoy it.

 

[Nitro 375]

Had a good day today, did some more load work. Have determined at least in my rifle thus far 160's just don't make it happy and that is ok. Once again 175's just seem to shoot really well. Two best loads today were as follows.

#1 same as before, 78.0 H-1000, Sierra 175 Game King, Rem. 8 mag brass, Rem mag primer, COAL 3.630, group .653 inch, velocity avg. 3054



#2, 78.0 H-1000, Nosler 175 Accubond LR, Rem. 8 mag case, Rem mag primer, COAL 3.630, group .724 inch, velocity avg, 3049

I was pleasantly surprised how well the Accubond LR bullet shot out of my rifle. I expected a little more load work. While shooting for chrono data I was aiming at a spot on the muddy backstop. The impacts were pretty awe inspiring. It looked more like impacts from my .375 Ruger or .400 Jeffrey, mud flying everywhere. Hole was about baseball sized and looked to be 8 to 10 inches deep in my spotting scope. Brutal expansion to say the least. Would have liked to dig them out if I could but that's a no, no. I know some guys are getting more velocity but I am pretty happy with the accuracy and consistency I am getting. H-1000 powder has really been working well in this rifle, very happy with it.