Thoughts on 7mm STW?

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Citadel99

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Guys,

Brother in law was asking me about picking up a 7mm STW. I knew nothing about the caliber. A cursory web search seemed that it's faster and flatter than the 7mm Mag and about on par with 300 Win Mag. Brother in law does NOT reload. I was thinking he'd be better off from ammo cost and availability perspective to go with the 300.

Will be used mostly for deer and nilgai.

Thoughts?

Mark
 
Great caliber. Ammo is not that easy to find at local stores and is expensive when you order it. A quick search on Midway's site was anywhere from $50 to $82 per 20 rounds. If I didn't handload, I'd go with a regular 7 Rem Mag. You're only gaining about 150 fps anyway.
 
Brother in law does NOT reload.
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Then the 7mm STW is NOT a good choice for him, unless he has no problem spending $3-$5/round.

Will be used mostly for deer and nilgai.
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Had to look up nilgai, but from what I gather, they are typically the size of a large deer or cow elk. Unless your BIL plans to be shooting them at very extended ranges, there is absolutely no need for a 7 STW, .300 mag or any other big boomer. He'll likely be better served with a 7x57, .270, .280, .30-06 or something similar. There's just no need for a big magnum to bring down a 400-600 pound animal at any reasonable range, and very few people can shoot well with a heavy recoiling rifle. I certianly don't shoot my 8mm mag (the parent of the 7mm STW) as well as my .25-06, only use it when I have a bull tag, since a big bull can weigh in excess of 800 pounds and require that shots be taken at considerable range (they don't get big by bein' stupid!). For all pronghorn, deer and cow elk hunts, I use the .25-06.
 
its a great caliber. Mine hits like a sledge hammer is accurate and flat shooting. After saying all of that if i didnt reload i wouldnt even consider one. A non handloader would be much better served my a 7rem mag or 300 win mag.
 
The 7mm STW is the old 8mm Rem Mag necked down to .7mm. Remington has bested the old STW with the 7mm Ultra Mag or RUM. It's essentially the same length but with a larger diameter at the base.

The 7mm Rem Mag is roughly 1/5" shorter than the STW or RUM and has the same diameter as the STW (.532").

Truth be told the 7mm Rem Mag should be all you ever need in a 7mm; however, the STW & RUM will shoot slightly flatter, hit slightly harder, and kick slightly more then the Rem Mag. Nothing wrong with any of them BUT I wouldn't consider the STW if I didn't handload. The STW & RUM factory ammo will cost you considerably more than 7mm Rem Mag.

Also worth mentioning: the STW & RUM will eat barrels faster than the Rem Mag. All relevant depending on how often you shoot the rifle.
 
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There you have it!

Citadel 99--ALL of the above comments tell me that your BIL does NOT want a 7mm STW. Unless he's stupid-rich and likes having his shoulder pounded.

BTW, If, I say IF, he just HAS to get it, or any of the big magnums, that is an XLNT reason to start reloading. Just sayin'.
 
Smokey,

He's not stupid rich but doesn't mind getting shoulder pounded. He's not the kind of guy to get into reloading but I guess I could do it for him...

Mark
 
The STW is a great cartridge, but finding ammo would definitely be a down side. And unless he intends to ever start reloading, the 300 WM would be the best option.

GS
 
for someone who doesn't reload, i'd look at another cartridge. ammo isn't as commonly found and is quite pricey.

a friend had a nice stainless ruger #1 in 7mm stw that was his elk gun. beautiful gun, but he traded it off for the previous reasons along with the fact that he moved back east and it's overkill on whitetail.
 
Abel,

7-08 is too light for Nilgai. He's shot mine and lives it but he shoots more Nilgai than deer.

Mark
 
Texas has the largest population of Nilgai outside of India. Nilgai are one of those special animals that if you do not put the bullet in the right place they will run to the horizon.

A 7mm-08 with something like a 160 or 175 Grain Nosler Partition will work if you put it in the right place. I would prefer a 7mm-08 to a 7 Mag or 7 STW because it is just flat out easier to shoot with better accuracy and less recoil.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr
 
7-08 is too light for Nilgai. He's shot mine and lives it but he shoots more Nilgai than deer.
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Nonsense. People kill elk all the time with .243, .257 Roberts, .25-06, 6.5x55, 7mm-08, .308. Accroding to what I've read, a VERY large Nilgai is about 650-680 lbs on the hoof, which is about the same as a medium sized bull elk. It seems that the average animal is only a bit larger than a mature mule deer buck.
 
Nonsense. People kill elk all the time with .243, .257 Roberts, .25-06, 6.5x55, 7mm-08, .308. Accroding to what I've read, a VERY large Nilgai is about 650-680 lbs on the hoof, which is about the same as a medium sized bull elk. It seems that the average animal is only a bit larger than a mature mule deer buck.
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Nilgai are notoriously tough animals. They also can be extremely difficult to get close to.

I was thinking he'd be better off from ammo cost and availability perspective to go with the 300.
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You are thinking correctly. If he can stand the recoil of a 7 STW he'd have no issues with .300 of some type or better yet a .338WM or such.
 
Yes, I've seen a nilgai dropped with .223 DRT ammo. I'm sure given the right circumstances you could kill one with a .17 HMR. The two I've shot have been just over and just under 300 yards and on the move and I was glad I had a 7 Mag. Both died within ten yards of the shot. As a side note, I have no idea what the Indians did to them back in the day but they are about the most skittish animals I have ever seen.

Bottom line is he wants a bigger, more powerful rifle than the ones he currently has. I've pretty much talked him into a more common round based purely on ammo availability and cost. He lives in a rural area and has no plans to reload ever.

Mark
 
As a side note, I have no idea what the Indians did to them back in the day but they are about the most skittish animals I have ever seen.
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Might have something to do with living in the habitat and being a prime prey species for the Bengal Tiger.:)

Another reason that Nilgai have the reputation of being tough is that like most Asiatic and African animals their vitals lie further forward than a North American animal. Shooting them North American style behind the shoulder may or may not get the back part of the lungs. You need to place your shot squarely in the middle of the shoulder for a quick reliable kill. And you need to shoot them with a bullet/caliber combination that has enough poop to get through the thick shoulder muscles and possibly some bone at longer range.
 
I love my STW, but hand loading is the only way to justify shooting it. The Remington ultra mag may best it, but not buy much, and it takes a big jump in powder to gain 50 to 100fps. If I didn't load for it I would go with a 300 win mag.
 
The 300 win mag is an all around great caliber and easy to find ammo for. Either will work well for Nilgai. The difference in felt recoil for both is negligible. You can shoot 220 grain bullets from the 300 not so with the 7mm STW.
 
Regarding the 7-08 comment, If I were going with a non-magnum 7mm for large game in the 160 gr and up bullets, I'd rather have my 7x57 than the 7-08. The extra case capacity and the long neck is better for the heavier bullets.

The 7-08 (and 7x57 for that matter) shouldn't really be in the same discussion with the 7 magnums.
 
Counting down 5,4,3,2,1 until there is a Bell reference in regards to the 7x57........:D;) And yes we all know Bell shot elephants with the 7X57 and 173 Gr solids. However that is a close range deal like inside 40 yards so while a 7X57 will definitely kill a big animal with a well placed heavy bullet it is not a good long range set up.

Totally different kind of hunting.
 
^ Yeah I was waiting on the Bell reference too. I'm shocked it hasn't been brought up.

The responses on this types of threads crack me up. You have one extreme saying always downing any magnum round as overkill and the other side that wouldn't use anything but. Just because someone somewhere has killed an animal with a specific small round doesn't make it the ideal choice.

I'm paraphrasing Bob Hagel here (IMO the best of all the old time gun writers). "You don't use the round that will do the job when everything goes right. You pick one that will do the job when everything goes wrong." He also said, "I much prefer overkill to underkill."

But it seems there's just something loco about those morons that prefer a magnum round. :rolleyes:

Bottom line, he didn't ask what caliber he should choose for the task at hand. He asked if thinking from a cost of ammo perspective he should choose the .300 Win Mag over the STW and looking at it through that view, he certainly should. He never asked about the effectiveness of the 7mm-08 or any other cartridge.
 
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