over pressure?

ok so whats the proper fix reduce my load or send it to a smith to have the chamber sorted

You still have mentioned nothing about your rifle. So, prior to 1998, there were no SAAMI standards, so any reamer maker / any gun maker was free to pick numbers for reamers, etc. and call it a 7mm STW - they could choose whatever came to mind as an appropriate neck diameter, etc.. If your rifle is a "custom" piece, could have been chambered with an off-spec reamer from before 1998, if that is what the "custom" maker had on hand. I can not know what you have. Find the 2015 SAAMI specs - details of the standard SAAMI dimensions are there - both for cartridge and chamber. If you can not do the measuring - print them out and take to your gunsmith to compare. If you can not slip 7mm bullets all the way through your fired case necks, either your chamber is not standard, or your brass is not standard, and you have to actually measure, with appropriate micrometers to find where the error is. If either is not standard, you can not rely on "standard" information - no standard dimensions are usually called "wildcats".

In Europe, any firearm made and sold to a consumer has to be "proofed" at a government proof house, to specified "proof" pressure levels, with specified standard dimensions. Even their military surplus has to be "proofed" before it can be sold to civilians. Not so in North America - anyone can cut whatever for a chamber, screw it on to a receiver and sell it.
 
You still have mentioned nothing about your rifle. So, prior to 1998, there were no SAAMI standards, so any reamer maker / any gun maker was free to pick numbers for reamers, etc. and call it a 7mm STW - they could choose whatever came to mind as an appropriate neck diameter, etc.. If your rifle is a "custom" piece, could have been chambered with an off-spec reamer from before 1998, if that is what the "custom" maker had on hand. I can not know what you have. Find the 2015 SAAMI specs - details of the standard SAAMI dimensions are there - both for cartridge and chamber. If you can not do the measuring - print them out and take to your gunsmith to compare. If you can not slip 7mm bullets all the way through your fired case necks, either your chamber is not standard, or your brass is not standard, and you have to actually measure, with appropriate micrometers to find where the error is. If either is not standard, you can not rely on "standard" information - no standard dimensions are usually called "wildcats".

In Europe, any firearm made and sold to a consumer has to be "proofed" at a government proof house, to specified "proof" pressure levels, with specified standard dimensions. Even their military surplus has to be "proofed" before it can be sold to civilians. Not so in North America - anyone can cut whatever for a chamber, screw it on to a receiver and sell it.

for some reason we lost the post were i replied with the info for my gun, its a mid 90's SS Rem 700
 
You can turn he necks a bit thinner. Or open the chamber neck diameter. This can be tricky.

I would turn the necks. Buy a batch of new good brass, turn the necks, and go from there.

im a little out of my element on this, to be honest ive only been hand loading for about a year or so (i got all the equipment given to my with this rifle)


im starting to lean more and more to just sending it to a smith to have it sorted out
 
So, from Wikipedia - SAAMI accepted the cartridge in 1996. Remington started making rifles for it in 1997. Both of those dates are past "mid-1990's" - so perhaps your rifle was re-chambered from something else? If so, where did the reamer come from? It would be reasonable to assume that Remington, by 1997, was using a SAAMI compliant reamer - but you likely want to do yourself, or have done for you, a chamber cast and verify actual dimensions in your rifle's chamber. Now look at your brass. From Nosler Loading Manual #7, they are showing .316" as the outside dimension for the case neck, at the mouth, with a Nosler 7mm bullet loaded. If your hand loads are larger than that, then your brass is thicker than theirs.

I see your post that you are new to loading, etc. You started with a pretty high end thing - Nosler #7 shows 140 grain bullets maxing out at 3,400 fps at safe pressures. You are using brass re-formed from something else?? Layne Simpson did that when he invented the cartridge, and then involved Kenney Jarret in the final design - but not so sure that you are really ready to go there?? Maybe consider a 7mm STW as a "pay to play" type cartridge - there are many other $6 to $10 per cartridge chamberings, probably why they are not as common as 7mm Rem Mag and 30-06.
 
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So, from Wikipedia - SAAMI accepted the cartridge in 1996. Remington started making rifles for it in 1997. Both of those dates are past "mid-1990's" - so perhaps your rifle was re-chambered from something else? If so, where did the reamer come from? It would be reasonable to assume that Remington, by 1997, was using a SAAMI compliant reamer - but you likely want to do yourself, or have done for you, a chamber cast and verify actual dimensions in your rifle's chamber. Now look at your brass. From Nosler Loading Manual #7, they are showing .316" as the outside dimension for the case neck, at the mouth, with a Nosler 7mm bullet loaded. If your hand loads are larger than that, then your brass is thicker than theirs.

I see your post that you are new to loading, etc. You started with a pretty high end thing - Nosler #7 shows 140 grain bullets maxing out at 3,400 fps at safe pressures. You are using brass re-formed from something else?? Layne Simpson did that when he invented the cartridge, and then involved Kenney Jarret in the final design - but not so sure that you are really ready to go there?? Maybe consider a 7mm STW as a "pay to play" type cartridge - there are many other $6 to $10 per cartridge chamberings, probably why they are not as common as 7mm Rem Mag and 30-06.

as i said i inherited the rifle dies and reloading setup all at the same time, i was able to find some factory loads from a member here and a bag of fresh brass from a dealer here in calgary. as for the bullet weight i received a couple of boxes of sierra 175gr sbt's and that's what the was loaded in the ammo i received with the gun. checked put the nosler page on load data for 175 sbt bought the powder and primers and bobs your uncle away i went.

its my understanding that 7mm stw bass is 8mm rem mag necked down to 7mm and the pre loads i received were exactly that. i was able to get my hand on a bag of hornady 7mm stw brass though.

since then ive been loading for my 30-06,6.5mm CM, 30-30 and .270 without issue but this gun is a problem child. I'd really like to get this thing sorted out as i plan to mainline it for elk/moose. ive tried before to find it but can anyone tell me if there is somewhere where i can look up serial numbers to find out if it is a factory set up or a wildcat? last time i looked i was only able to find the manufacture year
 
just double checked the serial# unless it was built in 1969 it's from 1998, that doesnt mean it wasnt a wildcat but hopefully not?

also i went and put my caliper to the loaded brass and the sample i grabbed (8ish) are all .314 -.315
 
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Hodgdon load data says to start at 70 gr for your components. Try it at 70 and see. If it helps great and if it doesn't at least you got out to burn powder.

Hmm now that is interesting to hear i haven't checked any other sources for a different recipe with the same components. At this point I think we've concluded that there is an issue with the neck as well but I think I need to research some more loads if what your saying is true
 
I attributed it to the a spot on the bolt where a burr had been forming from the recoil i filed it smooth

Can you describe this problem a bit more? A rifle bolt should not be developing a burr from recoil and should not require filing. Take photo's of the area in question and post them when you have a minute.
 
I attributed it to the a spot on the bolt where a burr had been forming from the recoil i filed it smooth

Can you describe this problem a bit more? A rifle bolt should not be developing a burr from recoil and should not require filing. Take photo's of the area in question and post them when you have a minute.
Its difficult to explain and I can't ever seem to get pictures to work on forums but at the back of the bolt just forward of where the firing pin screws in the top side of the bolt was starting to mushroom up the way metal does when its hit repeatedly... it wasnt a major amount of damage I showed it to a gunsmith at the range and he didn't this it was a big deal and said just give it a couple quick passes with a file

I'll try and post a picture of the spot tomorrow if you still want to see it
 
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The first thing that I would do, is to choose one case, and stick with it, mixing cases will not provide consistency.

So when choosing a recipe I should choose my case then base everything else off of that? I'm seeing some drastically different numbers for load using the same components but different manufactures cases...
 
If your barrel was made by Remington, it will have a little REM proof stamp on it, and a date code - I have a 30-06 barrel from a Remington Model 30 that is dated stamped to Jan 1926. If the barrel was chambered by Remington, it will have the correct cartridge name stamped on it. Your receiver has the serial number - when you look that up, you will get the year the receiver was made. Rem 700 actions are very popular for "custom" rifles - the receivers alone can/could be purchased or a factory rifle purchased and cannibalized for the action. Your stainless steel barrel may have been a "custom" barrel that was made up, threaded and installed on that action. I do not know, off the top of my head, what the models were that Remington made in 7mm STW. I do not know if they offered a stainless barrel option. So, it might be reasonable to assume that you have a "custom" installation, not a factory one, and you really should have a chamber cast done to verify your chamber dimensions. It may be correct, but you will not know until a cast has been done correctly and measured with a micrometer.

Most modern loading manuals are developed with pressure testing equipment - either Copper Crusher barrels or with piezometric strain gauges. They have access to SAAMI standard pressure loads to calibrate their testing machines. Older information, from 1950's, 1960's was known to be developed the same way home hand loaders now use - measuring case head expansion, measuring velocity, gauging bolt hand lift effort, "reading" primer deformities. Can read articles comparing those "home done" ways to assess pressure against actual strain gauge pressure testing - some methods work, some work in some cartridges, and some do not seem to work reliably, at all.

You mention that you were using data from Nosler, bullets from Sierra and re-formed cases. I do not know of any reason to believe anyone's data will apply to your set-up. And you are finding very different "recipes", depending on which components are selected. Wildcatters like Simpson and Jarrett may indeed have used 8mm Rem Mag brass as basis for the cartridge, but they also are deeply involved in reaming, case neck turning, chamber dimensions, etc., and all the tricks that wildcatters use. Jarrett has considerable reputation as rifle builder for "bean field" rifles - very long range deer hunting, among other things.

Nosler #7 manual, on page 385, says their 7mm STW data was developed using Nosler brand cases - at top of the chart, can see that they got 89.4 grains (weight) of water in their case, with a Nosler 175 grain Partition bullet seated to Cartridge Over All Length of 3.600". They used Federal 215 primers, and list a Start load of 68.5 grains of H1000 powder. If your cases have less internal powder room, you are going to get higher pressure. If you swap out bullets (as you are doing) or primers, you might get more or might get less pressure. Some other cartridges and rifle chambers might be more "forgiving" about swapping things - for whatever reason, your rifle thinks otherwise?

I had read of similar chambering issues with Weatherby cartridges. Factory design has a rather long "free bore" ahead of the chamber, before the bullet engages the rifling. This helps to relieve some of the initial peak pressures. Some custom rifle makers chose to chamber a Weatherby cartridge with minimal or no free bore, in pursuit of better accuracy. Those custom rifles often display significant excess pressure when firing standard factory Weatherby cartridges - the free-bore area ahead of the chamber is significant - another reason to have your chamber cast, so that you know.

And your earlier mention that you can not drop a 7mm bullet all the way through the neck of a fired case is a sure sign that there is a physical incompatibility with your brass. or your brass within that chamber - I suppose extreme pressure could "flow" case wall brass forward into the neck, but I would be looking at inside reaming or similar to make that issue go away.
 
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I went on-line to where you got your Nosler loading data. It appears to be from their #8 Loading Manual. Different numbers than from their #7 Manual. They have added the Long Range Accubond bullet to their 175 grain bullet data. They now use a 24" H-S barrel for velocity, whereas #7 uses a 26" Lilja barrel. So different.

I have owned Long Range Accubond bullets - they are a very long bullet compared to the Partition of the same weight. They appear to have kept the COAL the same - 3.600" - so makes sense that the case volume would be less, using a longer bullet. However, they do not report doing any tests with a Sierra bullet - no reason to think the results would be the same. I do find it curious, though, that for H1000 powder, their "new" Start load in #8 (74 grains) is higher than their "Max" load in #7 (72.5 grains). Same primers. Same twist rate. Then, I noticed that every powder listed in #7 has lower Start and Max numbers than the same powder listed in #8. So, maybe you will want to ask Nosler to explain??
 
Chrono the loads. Will tell you velocities that indicate pressure problems. I am continually stunned how much people will spend on other things and refuse to buy or arrange with someone to use a chrono.
 
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