I currently use my 300 mod 70 win mag for several hunting situations. It is a great deer,elk,and varmet gun. I would like to purchase a rem 7/08 just for small deer sized game. Next I want a 7mm stw for long range varmet ect shooting. What do you think of these calibers? :

Here's my $0.02:

I own a 7-08 among other rifles and I think it's a near perfect rifle/cartridge combo for deer of any size. For a varmint gun, you should spell out your needs a little more clearly.

What kind of varmints?
What is your idea of long range?
How will you be hunting them? (shooting from a bench or truck bed or prone over bags? or will you be walking a lot)
How many shots would you expect to get in a day?

IMHO the 7 stw or any other caliber of this type is simply WAAAAY too much gun. Even with a very heavy rifle, the recoil of anything like 50 shots a day is going to be pretty grim. I'd suggest that you consider a 6mm or a 25 caliber. With any of these cartridges you can get as flat a trajectory as a big 7mm and plenty of wind bucking ability and all the killing power that you possibly need.

You may think that you are recoil proof but most of us are not. I have a 9 lb 25-06 and can testify that 100 rounds from prone (shooting at ground squirrels) is a full dose of recoil. Any magnum that is light enough to carry all day, would beat the dickens out of you with that many shots and is far more powerful than necessary.

JimF

The 7mmstw is a great caliber for deer,pronghorn,sheep,elk,moose and bears but is way too much gun for varminting.I have two as my primary hunting rifles for small to medium game and they are my favorite rifles but they heat up too rapidly for varmint shooting and barrel life will be extremely short if you do heat them up on a regular basis.

Thanks for your reply. I guess I need to think about my choices of varmit calibers. Thanks again, Jim