Just came across this somewhat dated thread. Pardon the dust, but I did not think it necessary to start a new thread...
Like Blue, came across an estate sale deal, and had no idea what I got myself into. God bless the guy who use to have this Rem700 mag-face rifle as he kept it immaculate (detailed guy or did not get to shoot it much as I ran Patch-Out through it when I got it and it came out clean). Supposedly made by a custom shop in Texas (
https://egaguns.com/) by the markings on the 28" M24 barrel that is a 1 in 8.5 twist of unknown brand origin and unknown number of rounds down through it (thinking most likely a hunting rig, but it came on an old school thumbhole AICS chassis; note to self, get a bore scope). Thinking about calling them to find out the freebore on this build to mitigate pressures if I am conservative with my loadings. It would be nice for things to last more than a few firings with annealing extending the brass life...
Like Blue, I did not want to back away from what history has dubbed an incredible round with a short barrel life...I now know who beat me on gunbroker. Quickly found out it was a rabbit hole, but one I was willing to take the red pill from Morpheus, er, Layne Simpson, to see how deep it would go....and yes, I know, he and others here, like
@FuhQ with his 22 years (man that made me breathe a sigh of relief), were ever offering was the truth....nothing more...
The factory Nosler 300 rounds Blue bought/acquired/has is easily close to $1500 when each 20 round box of Nosler old new stock of factory 7mm STW 140s/160s go for $130 average a box. Unless I am wrong, Nosler brass is made by Norma for their factory rounds; hence, why, like Blue, I went the factory round for brass even though
@FuhQ showed a Hornady variant link which still works as of this post's date for $160/box (not for me, nope).
Believe it or not, Sportsman Warehouse (
https://www.sportsmans.com/search/?text=7mm+stw) still has some actual old stock in some of their stores and DoubleTap (
https://doubletapammo.com/collections/7mm-stw) still makes this round seasonally, although I am not sure what brass they use (emails to them never get answered on this query). If anyone knows, please chime in. Lately I am a Norma whore like Blue and will only go with the best brass I can get my hands on that will most likely outlive the barrel. Glad there are people here who know way more about this 1979 round creation / 1989 debut than all the reading I could get my hands on from Layne Simpson of Shooting Times (who I am amazed still writes articles for them). Some links below the veterans most likely will know back of their hand, but good reference for the newbies to keep this hotrod going:
The search for a Bigger Seven opened the door for a family of magnum cartridges.
www.rifleshootermag.com
The 7mm Shooting Times Westerner may have more competition today than 30 years ago, but it continues to hold its own with any cartridge of its caliber.
www.shootingtimes.com
Just about every case shape imaginable has been modified to hold both 7mm and .30-caliber bullets, but it was gunwriter Layne Simpson who saw a gap in the lineup: there was no 7mm cartridge based on a full-length .375 H&H case. In 1979, Simpson took the excellent 8mm Remington Magnum and necked...
www.americanhunter.org
Here are eight of Layne Simpson's favorite 7mm STW handloads.
www.shootingtimes.com
The 7mm Shooting Times Westerner, sometimes referred to as the 7mm STW, began as a wildcat rifle cartridge developed by Layne Simpson in 1979.[3] It is an 8mm Remington Magnum case that has been "necked down" (narrowing the case opening) by 1 mm to accept 7 mm (.284 in) bullets. This cartridge...
handwiki.org
Explore the world of Nosler, renowned for crafting the finest bullets, ammunition, rifles, and brass. Discover our extensive lineup, including Partition, AccuBond, E-Tip, Ballistic Tip, Custom Competition, and more. Experience superior quality and performance with Nosler products.
www.nosler.com
I am just finishing my STW build and am planning on shooting the 180 gr Bergers. Is anyone else using this combo? I am having a hard time finding much load info for it. Thanks
www.longrangehunting.com
Sometimes when you get the right question you find the answer you're looking for. Hopefully this is one of those times. The 180 gr Berger in 7mm seems to be really outstanding, and I see more and more people on the Hide shooting it for real. I have been looking at this for some time as the...
www.snipershide.com
Makes me wonder what the nick is for / if Mr. Simpson is on the Hide or some other forum (assuming no as he is a gun writer who makes his living not giving away his advice for free).
@RUN8 above said about 25% of factory life for 300 rounds. Link below says "barrel life for the 7mm STW is between 600 and 900 rounds depending on methods of use and cleaning procedures. With good throat polishing procedures and low volume shooting it is possible to push barrel life beyond 1000 rounds. The STW represents the absolute maximum velocities obtainable from the 7mm bore."
Source:
https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/7mm+Shooting+Times+Westerner.html#:~:text=Barrel life for the STW,obtainable from the 7mm bore.
In any case, I am all in, doing the accuracy reloading with 0.310 sizing for a 0.001 neck tension on factory Nosler brass with loaded 0.311 necks with Berger 180gr hybrids using Retumbo (starting low at 70 grains and working up to 80 or so). Goal is long range steel banging with sufficient cooling times in between. Barrel gets changed when its time, not worried about it; like a tire, change it when you have to. Lots of decently priced factory 7mm barrel pulls with no rounds down them on the Hide Exchange, eBay, etc. MODBB from Bartlein I do not think is worth the money or the time given the short barrel life; rather, just will go with off the shelf pulls on the relative cheap. Figured good to have one hot rod in the stable that has an excellent pedigree and not as bad of a kick as I thought it would have. Then again, it is braked well (spiral radial brake flush fit on M24 profile barrel) and I only shoot it when no one is within 10 feet of me.
The idea of an ackley improved version with a 40 degree reamer piqued my interest not for the increase in powder capacity (Retumbo already leaves like 10-15% space in the case for the Berger 180 hybrid), but because I only fired factory brass once and I am at max length needing to trim before next reload; want to slow the flow. I find multiple sources quoting trim-to-length of 2.830" to 2.850" with most saying 2.840". I would rather trim down to 2.830" and give myself a few cycles more before having to trim again, but I do not know if 20 thou is really too much to take off the neck. Chamber seems to be cut so brass headspaces off the shoulder and not the belt, so I seek others more experienced than I to guide me on this point.
Is it worth on the next re-barrel to ask Dave Kiff of PTG to make a 40 degree variant (Manson and JGS take way longer to make even though I know more people go with them than PTG; but PTG is months faster)? Sounds crazy I know, but the round is not hard to load for and the amount of research done by many before me makes me want to continue to press the easy button for this all-around do-everything rig; barrel-life be damned. Should I consider an AI variant (
https://pacifictoolandgauge.com/sea...rway=desc&search_query=7mm+stw&submit_search=) and ask John Whidden to make the Ackley improved dies for it?
My rationale lies in what Cal Zant, in his PRS Blog article about the 2018
Q Creek Extended Long Range PRS match, revealed that "there are many high-BC 7mm bullets to choose from, which would 'cheat the wind' like the 215gr Hybrid does. I asked the match director, Scott Satterlee, about the cartridges that have led in the past, and he said while he is also running a 300 Norma Mag personally, he suspects that we may see a trend down towards the 7 magnums for these types of matches." (
https://precisionrifleblog.com/2018/06/06/300-norma-mag-custom-elr-rifle/)
1982 Movie Bladerunner -
Tyrell: "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very very brightly, Roy. Look at you. You're the prodigal son. You're quite a prize!"
