Finally building first rifle. Will be long range hunting. Choices narrowed down to 7mm Dakota, 7mm STW, or 7mm Ultra. Have asked for help on reloading, now I need experienced gunsmithing comments PLEASE. Which Mod. 70 action for donor? Is Krieger 27" ok? Is it worth it to wait on a MRC action? Will a 375H&H or 300WBY action be the right length? What about Mag. length? etc. etc. I know there is some great talent & technical experience on this forum so all comments & suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Just buy a new M70 Classic in 7mm Rem Mag or 7MM STW. They even come in stainless if you want. Most of them, and all the STW's have 26" bbls too.

The new 7MM bbl I just got on my WSM has the smoothest chamber and barrel I have ever seen on a factory rifle.

That's all there is to it. Spend $650 and you have a nice rifle. If some detail is not up to your wants then work on it after you try it. Things like the trigger you can do yourself.

Custom rifles don't bring much on the used market. Don't waste your money.

As much as I try to avoid belted cases I think the 7MM RUM is too big. I chose the WSM as I mentioned but somehow it seems you want a bigger case.

Thanks for the info Don. You're probably right, I have a 300WSM, just have the bug for something different. Today I'm leaning towards hotrod 338. Have until mid Jan. to make up my mind.

Thmpr - the 7mm STW is about as big as is prctical for the 7mm bore, The 7mm Ultra is just a waste of powder. The 7mm Dakota is a good round and will work in a M70.

Let me share my views on each of these.
The RUM is overbore, I really find no need to burn %10 more powder to get 50fps more than the STW. Also requires a slightly longer magaziner to function properly.
The STW is belted and requires a long action. The Dakota on the other hand is not belted, and requires only a medium length action, only problem is it will reduce the capacity of the magazine by 1 round.
My personal prefrence is for the Dakota.

Stick a fork in me I'm done. Dakota here I come.

Where it me, I would go with a 7 rem mag, and shoot the snot out of it.. The 7wsm "does the same thing" with higher pressure, and the others, unless you've got a 30" tube, there's not a hill of beans difference in a 22-24"tube.
if you can drive 140s at 3200+ you are still going to have blood shot meat, bullet failures, and a flat shooting rifle.
(bullet failure can, and in this case does, mean the bullet lost it's structural integrity, not that the animal doesn't expire)

nice thing about a 7RM, you can go down to wally mart, get it in a savage, and shoot it till you are bored, sell it, and really just be out the price of brass, dies, and powder.

jeffe

I like jeffeoso's idea. Most guys won't realize or admit just how good the 7 Rem Mag is.Properly loaded it will shoot as flat as most of can take advantage of in the field.I got my 7 Mag sort of by default. I wanted the rifle because it had a Brown Precision stock and a Leupold scope.The fact that is was a 7 Rem Mag was irrelevant.I loaded some 140 Ballistic Tips with up to 68 grs of IMR 4350,got over 3300fps and I was surprised at the accurracy and the trajectory.I've been thinking of tearing it apart and using the action to build a 300 Wtby to put into a Sendero stock that I have,but the more I think about the 7 Rem Mag I may have to find another donor rifle for the action.