7 mm stw

I really really wanted one years ago. What turned me off from a lot of the "super mags" if you want to call them that was the ability to seat the bullet out to touch the lands and still have it fit in the mag box. But then it also depends on what it is for? Something different and cool? It certainly is. A long range accuracy round? Perhaps but the 7wsm might have it beat for case design.

That said if someone offered to sell me a Winchester m70 or Remington 700 in 7mm stw I would have to really find a good way to hide that purchase from my wife. They are just cool.
 
Perhaps the correct answer to the super 7 dillema is the 7mm Practical, a 7mm-300 Winchester with a 30 degree shoulder. The advantage it has over the STW is a cartridge that will drive a 195 gr bullet at 2950 from a 26" rather than a 28" barrel, has better bore life than the 7mm Ultra, and is short enough to run through a Remington magazine while allowing a long bullet to seat into the lands.
 
My son has a Cooper model 56 chambered for the 7mm STW. The pro's for this cartridge/firearm is, most accurate, very flat shooting and loves to kill trophy animals. The con's, while it kills from one end of the rifle, it wounds from the other. The 7mm STW cartridge dwarfs my 7mm Rem. Mag., hence much more powder capacity.


This is my son's 2016 Whitetail Buck.

 
The 7mm STW was an example of classic special advocacy by Layne Simpson. He liked to compare the STW, loaded to the nuts, in a 28 inch barrel, to the most anaemic factory 7mm Rem mag ammo he could find, fired in a 24 inch barrel, to demonstrate the superiority of his STW. I was annoyed by the hype and flat refused to chamber them for the first couple of years. Finally, it occurred to me that I was only hurting my own bottom line so I bought a reamer and went to work. I think I chambered or re-chambered about 35 of them the first year then fifteen or so the next. Within three or four years, the market seemed to have been largely filled and I was, once again chambering more 280's than STW's.
From the same barrel, the 7mm Remington will do about 3150 or so with 160's while the STW will manage close to 3250 at the same pressures. If 100 fps means a lot to you, then the STW is the cartridge for you.
The place where the STW really shines is in it's ability to use real slow powders with lighter bullets. With some powders, the 7mm Rem may not have enough capacity to reach max pressures with a case full. Here, the STW's extra capacity pays off and one can reach some very impressive velocities with bullets from 120 to 140 grains.
 
It'd be interesting to shoot deer sized game with 120gr mono at 22-250 velocities.

Worth it or not is irrelevant. If it appeals to an individual then I say go for it.

The 6.5STW would be neat as would the 358STA.
 
One advantage is a slight increase in performance without having to step up to the expense financially or weight wise of the rum or similar cartridges. Buy a $450 savage package gun of the ee, run a reamer into it and bobs your cross shift, lil extra jam in your 7mag
 
I bought a ruger no 1 that was factory chambered in 7mm Remington mag then re chambered in 7mm stw. Absolutely love how flat shooting, accurate and powerful the stw cartridge is.
 
I have owned 6 - 7mm STW rifles over the years since Layne Simpson touted it as the real thing. I learned quickly that a 24" barrel does not allow the STW to perform to it's potential.
Guntech built me one with a 27" barrel, and it was pretty impressive. It would drive 160 Partitions to 3300, and 140 's to very close to 3600. It shot plenty flat, and I shot 3 or 4
moose, and 5 Elk with this one, plus 2 deer. Shots ranged from 140 meters out to close to 500 meters. All were one shot kills. I did recover a couple of bullets, but most exited.
This rifle was very accurate with any load I tried in it. I sold that STW to a friend, and he still hunts it regularly. I have no STW's in the stable ATM, but have kept my dies..."just in case" lol. D.
 
I have owned six 7mmstw rifles. and I still own one as my go to big game rifle. I drive a 140gr bullet at 3500fps, or a 150gr bullet at 3400fps , out of a 26" barrel.
 
I'll be the odd man out and say the 24in barrel works just fine. I'm zipping 160gr TSX along at 3275 fps out of the 24in barrel on my Winchester 70. Very accurate too and it was a cheap and easy upgrade on that rifle.
 
I'll one-up that too. Had a jennings brake cut into a Browning 24" barrel , and was running 160 Barnes xlcs @3280 +/-15 spread, would print under 1"@100

And as all stats are only good down to the fine line and n-th decimal point, it can be argued that the STW has a MPBR that is dozens of yards further than an reg 7 mag.
 
Yoteboy said:
Dogleg where are you? He's probably shot more 7 STW rounds than anyone on here.
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Out bear and bounty hunting. šŸ˜„ Since I shot out the Sako STW I've been a little light on stainless STWs for boat duty so have been mostly hauling a 7-300 around this spring. .270 Weatherby the last couple times.

The STW is still my favourite cartridge, even though I've only got 3 left.
 
remington jim said:
I have a 7MM -300 WBee 26" Custom rifle now and it really Outperforms Both my 7 mm RMags with 24 " barrels now - so we shall see how well the 7 mm STW i am ptting together with a 26 " pipe does ! Thxs for the opinions - RJ
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I'll place my bets on the 7-300 bee for speed due to
the free-bore, and the STW for accuracy for the same
reason.
Let us know how it turns out.
 
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