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7mm STW 26" or 30"

lostriverproductions

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Full Member
Minuteman
Jun 4, 2009
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43
Three Rivers MI
I just got 2 8mm mags and one needs a barrel so I'm going to build a 7mm STW. I want to get the most out of the cartrige. So can I get by with a 26" barrel or spend a little extra and get the 30"? It will be used for hunting and probablt wont shoot anything heavier than 140 grains. What would br the velocity diffrence? If any have one in these set up's.
 
Re: 7mm STW 26" or 30"

10 to 20 fps per inch. Is 12 to 16 oz. a issue? If not longer never hurt. Also you will need a faster twist rate for the 140gr. I would go with a 1-10 1-11 twist.Remmber that the bc is better with 140 to 180gr.
 
Re: 7mm STW 26" or 30"

26" is standard on them in production guns but a 28 or 30 might give you a little
more speed. Mine is a 1:9.5 twist and won't stabilize a lot of the 175's. I shoot 162's
and it loves them. The cartridge was really designed for the 140's but you don't get
the advantage of the new high bc bullets in 180 grains if you slow the twist down.
The longer barrel would help the heavier bullets more than the 140's I think as you
could slow the powder down a hair. m2c
 
Re: 7mm STW 26" or 30"

Did you try a ladder loads on 175? The Berger 180vld work very well in mine. Some problems with loading into the magazine but there if allot of variables that come into play with what bullet works in a rife
 
Re: 7mm STW 26" or 30"

thanks I will probably just go with the 26" I don't need the heavier bullets for what I'll be hunting. Also thanks for the heads up on the twist.
 
Re: 7mm STW 26" or 30"

I would go with a 1-9 twist on whatever barrel you use. I am not sure how the other fella got a 180 to stabilize in the 1-10 or 1-11 twist.

Any of the top barrel companies will work. My normal STW builds are usually 28" barrels. It seems to be a good compromise. I would probably go with a Broughton or Rock barrel. My dad has a 28" Lilja barrel STW, and I have a 28" Broughton barrel STW. My rifle is 100fps faster with the same load. My reamer was used to cut both chambers and we used ammo that I had loaded for my rifle. This has been the case with a few of them I have built on Broughtons. I run the 168 bergers at 3380fps out of my 28" barrel. I never ran the 180's in this rifle...mainly because a I had a 7mm/338 Lapua Improved that launched 180's at 3500+ fps.