7mm stw

[thunderchief]

Both of my 7mm STW barrels I got in from Numrich seem to be a little less than fully finished. The chambers and bores are fine but the outside finishing just doesn't look "finished"- maybe like a 180-220 grit finish. Nothing wrong with that in my opinion, especially for the price, and I like to do my own finishing anyways, but do be aware... Also, my barrels did not come marked with any type of markings- no caliber, manufacturer, nothing. I thought this was a little weird being that they are factory original barrels. It may make it difficult for me to keep them separated- I bought a 300RUM also, if I don't mark them soon, I will forget. Just putting it out there.

[Blue Avenger]

factory barrels are not stamped until the are mounted! How else would you know where to put the stamp!

[calib]

that sounds fine about the barrels. i can deal wth no stamp and barrely finished. deffinetly paint that gun

[calib]

i ordered my barrel from numerich's last night see how long it takes to get it. anyone shooting the 180 grn berger?

[calib]

anyone have any 168 grn berger vld recipes for the stw?

[wbm]

anyone have any 168 grn berger vld recipes for the stw?

Going to sound a bit strange since most people shoot really slow powders in that cartridge but both of the STW's I built really liked Reloader 17 with 160-168g bullets. Start with 63g and magnum primers and that should put you at about 2900fps in a 26" barrel.


Both of my 7mm STW barrels I got in from Numrich seem to be a little less than fully finished

Got mine from Numrich this week and it was fully finished. I was going to have it bead blasted and lapped and then sell it but after I bolted it up and broke in the barrel I was so impressed with the quality of the bore and the accuracy that I changed my mind. The bore is really "slick", grabs VERY little copper and in the 26" varmint contour it is heavy enough that I see no need for a brake.

[calib]

wbm,

what loads are you using now the reloader 19? ill be interested to hear what you get out of your gun. keep me posted.

[wbm]

Using Reloader 17....Have not used Reloader 19. But now that you mention it RL-17 is about the same as IMR4350 and RL-19 is slower than both it could be worth looking into.

[calib]

i have 19, but dont have any 17. i may try try some reloader 19, retumbo and i did buy a lb of 4831, but i dont know if i will get much out of that that i couldnt out of the others.

[wbm]

Getting ready to go to the range. I have loaded some RL-19 with the 160 Speer SPBT. Also loaded some RL-22, some 160g Sierra's (79g H-1000 the Sierra V manual "accuracy load"), and some RL-17.
Will post my results and load data when I get back.

[calib]

sounds good amd good luck. hope she shoots well

[wbm]

All the loads were too hot. Barrel is definitely tight. Went back and reloaded on the down side and hit a winner.

73g H-1000
160 Speer SPBT
Federal 215
Winchester Neck Sized Brass
OAL=3.650" Group Averages=.60" Some smaller some larger.

[calib]

wbm,
if you ever come across any data on the 168 berger would you post it for me? i will start loading for this gun in a week or so. thanks

[calib]

i should be getting my stw dies thursday. cant wait to process the brass i have. get it all cleaned and ready so when i get my barrel back from sin man i can throw it on head space it again and then check the oal and produce a few strings.

[wbm]

What did you have Devin do to your barrel?

Don't be disappointed if your first strings with the STW are not what you expected. It will settle down after 50-100 rounds, some more some less. You might also consider just partially sizing the brass after the first firing. I set my FL die so that it sizes the neck and does not bump the shoulder back at all. My brass lasts longer and the brass is head spacing off the shoulder rather than the belt.

[calib]

i bought a set of dies with the neck sizer die. i can handle 100 rounds for load development, but just to break a barrel i hope not. i dont know how much i will have to break it in, it is a savage barrel so it should be less correct? i am having sin man put on a break. he had to thread and time it all for a good price compared to any where close to home.

hows your gun been shooting?

[calib]

if you could copy those pages and send them to me that would be greatly appreciated mostly 168 grain info is what i would be most interested in. thanks

[calib]

well i got my barrel back with the break on it. i threw it on and headspaced it as soon as i could get all the stuff out of hiding. i checked my oal and my 168 grain bergers dont really touch the lands tell my oal is 3.893" wow i dont mind a single shot though. i figure if i was to max out my magaizine i would have to jump the bullet atleast a 1/4 inch. i loaded 25 rounds i did 5 reloader 22 77grain charges and 5 77.5 grain charges. then i did 77grains of h 1000 and 5 77.5 grain charges. then i did one 5 shot string of 77 grains retumbo. i cant wait to see what this thing does.



wbm,
how your stw doing?

[calib]

after looking at some data i may have been over loading the reloader 22 and the h1000

[calib]

i think i am getting close to haveing a load for my stw with 168 begers. it is so far with retumbo. i would like it to get going a bit faster, but i am not sure how fast and accurate i can get them going. i think they are going about 3075 rite now