7stw reloading question

I went through 5.or 6 7mm STWs when the concept was new. My best results with bullets from 160 - 175 grains was with
old H5010 [50 BMG powder] With it, I was able to safely get 3300 with 160/162/168 grainers and 3175 with the 175 Partition.
this in a 26" Pac-Nor 1-9" twist barrel. I used some Norma MRP, Reloder 22 and IMR 7828, but they would not reach the
same velocities at safe pressures. All delivered good accuracy, though. Dave.
 
Derailing the thread 🤪
Funny thing with that BIG CARTRIDGE - it’s just doesn’t get er done - 7 PRC is EASY 3150 and 3200 near Max .
Less powder - Shorter case 👍😀

And Yes I own a 7 STW 🥲
I have always wanted a STW, not sure why. When I was having issues getting it to group at the start; I was wishing I made a 28 nosler out of it instead of a stw (2nd barrel was made pre 7PRC). Now that it shoots I am happy with it, just trying to sub in a powder that has no reloading information for a 7STW now. Haha
 
I went through 5.or 6 7mm STWs when the concept was new. My best results with bullets from 160 - 175 grains was with
old H5010 [50 BMG powder] With it, I was able to safely get 3300 with 160/162/168 grainers and 3175 with the 175 Partition.
this in a 26" Pac-Nor 1-9" twist barrel. I used some Norma MRP, Reloder 22 and IMR 7828, but they would not reach the
same velocities at safe pressures. All delivered good accuracy, though. Dave.
I have a few lbs of H5010 - will try it sometime in my STW -
 
STW cartridges are great but overbore capacity and as such, each rifle is an entity unto itself for the most accurate load.

Every one of them I've seen and the few I've shot, only owned two, shot acceptably well to hunt with out to the ranges I was willing to shoot at an animal and on a few attempts at 600yds.

Both rifles were custom jobs, one was built on a fine old "Magnum Mauser" action and the other was built on Mannlicher Schoenaur, done by an unknown European smith.

Both rifles had 1-20cm twist rates, which is close to 1-8in so there weren't any stability problems.

The powder charge I used in their 26 inch (66cm) barrels was 89.0 grains of BMG50 or its equivalent, as it was a surplus powder from Higginson's. I don't remember if it came from broken down for component 50 BMG cartridges or it was NOS reserve powder. Tom didn't have a lot of it and asked me if I wanted it, as there was very little demand for such slow powders at the time. He sent me two 50 pound drums, which took a lot of time to move at gun shows, even at $10/pound.

I only had a Chrony back then and it showed velocities around 3000fps with the 175 grain Speer Grand Slam bullets I was using.

The powder was slightly compacted, which is how 50 BMG gives the best results.

One thing I do remember very clearly about both rifles is they were both "extreme throat burners" The Magnum Mauser was good for less than 1000 rounds and the Mannlicher wasn't much better. Maybe with some of the newer types of steel being used for barrels, throat erosion wouldn't be such a problem.

I did try some VLD Bergers, which were still fairly new on the market at the time, but couldn't get them to shoot well at all, so didn't pursue them after the first box.

Just to be clear, both rifles were new when I started shooting them. The Magnum Mauser was barreled for my by Nobby Uno, with a reamer he borrowed from someone and the Mannlicher appeared to be a factory job.

I was into the tedious habits required for match shooting at the time and was in the habit of measuring throat wear.

Both rifles had over .050 erosion after the first two hundred rounds the throats burned away faster after the initial wear.

I sold both of those rifles to a fellow who had a reamer and insisted he could set back the barrels and get another 1000 accurate enough for his needs, shots out of them. The Magnum Mauser had a very long chamber section, for just this purpose, so it might have worked with it, but the Mannlicher had a sporter profile and setting back the chamber??????????

Right about that time I lost interest in "magnum and other overbore capacity cartridges"
 
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STW cartridges are great but overbore capacity and as such, each rifle is an entity unto itself for the most accurate load.

Every one of them I've seen and the few I've shot, only owned two, shot acceptably well to hunt with out to the ranges I was willing to shoot at an animal and on a few attempts at 600yds.

Both rifles were custom jobs, one was built on a fine old "Magnum Mauser" action and the other was built on Mannlicher Schenaur, done by an unknown European smith.

Both rifles had 1-20cm twist rates, which is close to 1-8in so there weren't any stability problems.

The powder charge I used in their 26 inch (66cm) barrels was 89.0 grains of BMG50 or its equivalent, as it was a surplus powder from Higginson's. I don't remember if it came from broken down for component 50 BMG cartridges or it was NOS reserve powder. Tom didn't have a lot of it and asked me if I wanted it, as there was very little demand for such slow powders at the time. He sent me two 50 pound drums, which took a lot of time to move at gun shows, even at $10/pound.

I only had a Chrony back then and it showed velocities around 3000fps with the 175 grain Speer Grand Slam bullets I was using.

The powder was slightly compacted, which is how 50 BMG gives the best results.

One thing I do remember very clearly about both rifles is they were both "extreme throat burners" The Magnum Mauser was good for less than 1000 rounds and the Mannlicher wasn't much better. Maybe with some of the newer types of steel being used for barrels, throat erosion wouldn't be such a problem.

I did try some VLD Bergers, which were still fairly new on the market at the time, but couldn't get them to shoot well at all, so didn't pursue them after the first box.

Just to be clear, both rifles were new when I started shooting them. The Magnum Mauser was barreled for my by Nobby Uno, with a reamer he borrowed from someone and the Mannlicher appeared to be a factory job.

I was into the tedious habits required for match shooting at the time and was in the habit of measuring throat wear.

Both rifles had over .050 erosion after the first two hundred rounds the throats burned away faster after the initial wear.

I sold both of those rifles to a fellow who had a reamer and insisted he could set back the barrels and get another 1000 accurate enough for his needs, shots out of them. The Magnum Mauser had a very long chamber section, for just this purpose, so it might have worked with it, but the Mannlicher had a sporter profile and setting back the chamber??????????

Right about that time I lost interest in "magnum and other overbore capacity cartridges"
Very cool that you are old enough to know Nobby. Great guy from years gone by.
 
Very cool that you are old enough to know Nobby. Great guy from years gone by.
We were goof friends, even if we didn't see each other, except at gun shows and matches and the odd visit in between.

Nobby (Nobi) showed me how to refine chamber reaming to the point my personal rifles were competitive in matches, such as perfecting alignment to center of bore axis and ordering reamers with minimal specifications, etc.

I liked him a lot, we would do barrel buys together to get good prices from Shilen and Hart, as well as a couple of European makers, such as Lilja.

I was into other types of shooting, not just matches, so wandered off in different directions, but Nobi was focused on extreme accuracy. He did work for some very notable shooting and was very highly respected.

I remember showing him one of the targets I shot when I first got into the game with Al Forslund.

Nobi looked at the target and said "The rifle is fine, we have to work on the shooter"

He wasn't being being snide or abusive, just "telling it like it is"

I wasn't a "bad shooter." I was more inclined to faster shooting under stressful conditions, where any hit was a good hit, which had been a high priority a decade earlier.

I first met Nobi in 1985. I liked/respected him a lot. I miss him to call and throw some ideas at, just for his opinion, and his off the wall comments.
 
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