I just purchased a Remington Sendero SF in 7mm STW. Has anyone worked up aload for this rifle and cartridge? Any experience with this combo being a "barrel burner"? Thanks.
Your Sendero should shoot pretty good. I have 2 7mm STW rifles and 4 different barrels that like the same load. 82.0 gr of H1000 with either 140gr Nosler Partitions or Nosler Ballistic tips. About 3350 fps with 26" barrel. 5 shot groups consistantly 3/4" or smaller. This is a max load in my rifle, so work up to it. Basically, I have found the H1000 to be the best powder in the STW with the 140 to 160gr bullets. I have tried H4831, IMR 4831, IMR7828, RL22, RL25, H870. I have shot out two barrels. One was a rechambered 24" Remington (20+ yr old formerly 7mm RemMag). That rifle now has a 26" SS PacNor. The other is a 16 lb benchrest rifle. After about 1200 rounds, it lost target accuracy, but would still group less than 3/4" most of the time. It now has a new 28" Krieger and is shooting .3 groups with 180gr JLK bullets. The cartridge has great accuracy potential.
Barrel burner? I've always been puzzled that people who use rifles primarily for hunting could be concerned about barrel life. 1200 rounds is more that most hunting rifles see in 4 generations. If you're hunting deer, or caribou, or elk with your 7mm STW, (and not shooting 200 rounds in a weekend at 1000 yard targets) then worry about what your great-great grandchildren will do when the throat is eroded too badly to produce MOA groups. I've got a .264 Winchester that's starting to loosen up a little -- after 36 years as my primary hunting rifle!
Posts: 13263 | Location: Henly, TX, USA | Registered: 04 April 2001
I have a Rem 700 in 7STW rebarreled from Pac-Nor. Barrel length is 26.5". This load is max so start out reduced 10%. R-P cases,WW WMR primers, 84.0 gr RL-25,Nosler 150gr BT or Part. MV 3394fps. This load averages .5" groups at 100yds. Always shoot 3 shot groups when working with this cartridge letting your barrel cool between shots. sure-shot
People really get carried away at the range and this is one cartridge you don't want to shoot very quickly and overheat. It doesn't take much! A common misconeption is "burning out the barrel" when in actuality what you are doing is burning out the throat. In many cases when this happens simply turning the barrel back and rechambering will extend the life of the barrel by years because you are getting rid of the eroded throat area. Keep it cool!
Posts: 4360 | Location: Sunny Southern California | Registered: 22 May 2002