After reading Layne Simpson's stories about the 7mm STW in Shooting Times magazines I had my Sako 7mm RM rechambered to this cartridge in 1992. The secret to getting this cartridge to really perform is to have it long throated. Mine consistently uses 4 to 6 grains more of Retumbo than recommended in reloading manuals,AR 2225 here in Australia with normal pressures. The velocity increase over the 7mm RM was incredible. With 140 grain Nosler Partitions 3520 fps. Barnes X MRX 160 grain which I still have plenty of 3360 fps. And Barnes X 175 grain at 3150 fps all out of a 24 inch barrel. When travelling around Australia it's the only gun I carry as it will comfortably handle everything from pigs and deer to buffalo and Scrub bulls. This rifle has accounted for over 850 animals virtually all one shot kills and still shoots under an inch. This is one rifle that you don't spend much time at the range with as the barrel gets hot very quickly. I have a 6.5 Creedmore for any range work I want to do. When the barrel eventually wears out I will probably get a new barrel in 28 Nosler and have it long throated so I can seat bullets out to the full 3.6 inch magazine length. The STW is definitely not efficient powder wise but performance is outstanding. If you want a fast car your generally not that concerned about fuel economy.

Honestly when I see a 10 min talk and the video is 41min. I get excited to sit and listen. Love the podcast. 3 legends

Can we have a safari cartridge talk? All the modern magnums that came from the H&Hs, Jeffreys and Rigbys it would be cool to have a deep dive

7mm STW & 358 STA make a helluva pair. Layne Simpson is a legend !

You’ve made my day, summer and life! All time favorite cartridge from a time before rangefinders, dialing turrets and man-buns and Teslas. Thanks guys 🔥🔥🔥

Yes! Another Lead Balloon! The more obscure the cartridge the more excited I am to watch.

Need an hr podcast on the LAZZERONI catridges. Their really cool and got crazy numbers. Also lead balloon.

I have a story about how I came into mine … my buddy borrowed money from me and said ‘if I can’t pay you back in a year my Montana rifle is yours.’ So now I’m the proud owner of a SS Rem 700 in 7mm STW!

Since Mark mentioned it, what ever happened to the 6.5 BC??

My boss is part of the 7mm STW cult. He took his STW to Tajikistan on a Marco Polo hunt and brought one down from 600-ish yards.

"raw horsepower and rock n roll" jim had some great lines this wpisode

Finally, more cartridge talks! Thanks! I’d like to hear about the Ruger Compact Mags.

Oh my, Ryan said he almost built a 264 win mag!!! What what what? Crazy , I wanna hear more about that. Thanks for another great podcast fellas!

Actually grew up on my dads 7mm STW he bought back when it was a wildcat. Truly do love that gun. It was the reason I ended up building out a custom APR chambered in 28 Nosler.

Layne Simpson is a Legend! So are his creations. 8mm RemMag is no slouch either. I've recently acquired a 358 Shooting Times Alaskan reamer and die set. I'll be forming brass with 375 Weatherby. Go Big or Go Home! Vortex Rocks, Thanks for the Cartridge Talks.

I’ve been on the efficiency bandwagon for awhile, started years ago with a 6.5x284. More recently 7.62x39 (no joke, solid 250 yard deer rifle) and 6.5 Grendel. I also have a 9.3x62 and am amazed at the h.p. increase gained from upsizing a cartridge. I think the next steps will be people actually coming to their senses on how far they shoot game animals and cartridges like the 338 federal and 8.6 blkout will become more popular. Very rarely are people shooting table fare at over 400 yards.

I had a special order fluted barrel Blaser in 7STW and used it extensively in Scotland and Namibia plus a Tikka chambered also. It was an excellent choice for plains game etc. I used hand loads and factory Federal Premium in 160g with great results. I found it to be an extremely accurate round. I also had a REM 7mm UM but did not like it as much as the 7mm STW. I’ve had several of the Lazzeroni calibres and loved them too, particularly the 308 Warbird which I still own. It’s a devastating long range cartridge. Mine is built on a Nesika Super Magnum action with Krieger barrel,Sunnyhill floor plate, timney trigger you name it, we incorporated the best available at that time and the end result was an outstanding rifle with proven results both in U.K. and many Namibian safaris. His cartridges would make a great podcast topic

Love the cartridge talks, I nerd out on this even though I don’t reload. Still waiting on .270 Win vs 6.5 PRC comparison 👍

Long story short. My uncle got the 7stw for hunting sheep in Montana. Practiced with it shooting prairie dogs! Hundreds of rounds. Got his sheep. Walked through grizzly country in the pitch black solo down the mountain with his sheep on his back and rifle barrel in hand over his shoulder. Finger prints are rusted into the barrel. Shot my first moose with it in BC. Epic gun and cartridge for those reasons alone for me! Stories are what make us love the rifle and calibers! Winchester M70 custom shop stainless hexagon barrel with beautiful maple stock

Best Waterboy reference ever! Ryan is the G.O.A.T.!

My license plate is actually 7STW. I think one thing that made it popular quick was that you could ream out a 7 Rem Mag to STW and gain several hundred FPS in the same rifle. My current one is a Remington 700 that started life as a 7 Remington mag.

I want the 7 SAUM lead balloon talk.

hey now here’s one I never heard of! And I am new to bullets. And I like to learn!

More cartridge talks!!!

My late, former Father In Law was a Custom Gunsmith/Builder in Boerne, Tx. He introduced me to the 7 STW and it was a laser I could own at the time because of my relationship to him obviously. I miss that rifle and I miss Butch Graham.

Buddy of mine got one as a gift from his dad when we were in high school, it's a 700 sendero special, he has toted that rifle all over the country and canada and he just loves it,only recently has he stopped hunting with it due to ammo scarcity.

Great talk, kinda shocked/bummed the 28 nosler never came up..

Can we get 8.6 blackout in a “10min” talk. Thanks for all the content guys, I’m always learning something 👏👏

Congratulations on another infinitely informative and entertaining video. WHERE IS THE .358 vid for us older, lever gun gentlemen ? Thank you gentlemen, jmp

The year the 300 Rum came out I had originally ordered a 7 STW went on a fishing trip and read about 300 Rum coming out. I canceled my STW and have been a RUM fan every since. The STW is a great caliber without a doubt.

The .257STW is no slouch.

Jim is the best 😂

Love the Lead Balloon talks. Might also be fun to have a category for uncommon cartridges that have managed to hold on in their little niche, thus dodging LB status. I thought about this a couple days ago when I saw two boxes of factory .41 Magnum on the shelf at the local big box sporting goods store.

Now let’s do a comparison between the 7mm STW vs the 6.5-300 Weatherby

My remington 700, with a mcgowen 26 inch remage barrel, 175 grain accubond long range, shoots a .387 group with 86.5 grains of rl33 at 3186 fps. Good luck getting a prc anywhere near close.

My STW is a Ruger #1B with a 26" 1:9 Heavy. My dad had it built for me when I was a teenager because he got tired of me using his Ruger #1B STW 🤣. They've both killed a lot of elk in the past 20+ years. We handload 160gr AccuBonds with H1000 I've been shooting 28 Nosler along side the STW since '17. They're very comparable cartridges and I can shoot them pretty interchangeably. Been loading the 28N with 180gr ELDMs and H1000. Impressively accurate

I got bit by the STW bug as a kid in the late 90s. My dad shot one in a Sendero up until the introduction of the 7mm RUM (bigger and faster), and I had always loved watching him take shots with it at ranges I couldnt fathom trying at the time. Now, he still shoots the Sendero, and I run one in a Winchester 70 Laredo. It's definitely nostalgia that has made me such a fan

Now that you covered this cartridge,how about doing an episode on its big brother,the 358 STA. Also,Id just like to state that there are a group of people out there,like myself,who are turning back to more obscure cartridges that absolutely worked back when and still will.In my experiences and my style of hunting,I rarely shoot over 300 yards,and I get it,there are situations where shots can be longer,but I'm not into seeing how far I can shoot an animal,just the opposite,I want to see how close I can get. Therefore,I want to find and buy a 318 WR,I still love the 30/06,Id like to try the 9.3x62 and 64,and I'd like to try a 404 Jeffries.I also like the 257 Roberts,25/06,7mm-08,and many other older classic cartridges.Lets not also forget the 338/06,and the 35 Whelen.There are so many great cartridges out there that are becoming oddities because of all the hype for these new cartridges.Im not saying the new ones are bad,there are a couple Id like to try,but there's no need to throw away a lot of the old classics,they are classics because they worked.

Love the 10min ish talk

Good one. Very interesting

👍 Good Job Guys! 🥳

Just sold my 7stw over the winter and replaced it with a 300 prc. Couldn't be happier 😊

Great Stuff 💯💥💥💥💥💥💥💥

It's interesting listening to these talks and the comments that I have in my own head, which inevitably you guys get to, like the fact that you can probably (for most hunting applications) get away with a 6.5 Creedmoor, 270, 7mm-08, 308, 30-06, or even step up a little to a 7 Rem Mag, 300 WSM or 300 Win Mag and be just fine. Not to downplay all of the new and neat stuff but at its core I guess that's why all of those cartridges have survived.

I turned 72 a few days ago. I grew up in West Texas and I've been hunting since I was eight years old. I started reloading before you guys were born. I have always enjoyed your , younger guys perspective, until today. You would have had to live during the times all of these cartridges were created to appreciate their valve at the time or even now. I have reloaded for the 17 Hornet to the 45-70 Government and a lot of cartridges in between including the 375 H&H mag, 338 Lapua mag, 300 Weatherby mag, 300 Winchester mag, 300 H&H mag, 7mm STW mag, 7mm Remington mag and a host of other cartridges. One of you made the comment that we never paid attention to the BC of a bullet, just a light weight projectile and speed. That's not remotely the truth. Going fast without a good BC defeats your whole purpose. I can shoot anything from a 120 grain to a 190 grain in my STW. Most of those bullets would group from 1/2" to 3/8" at 100 yards. With my Remington 700 Sendero. My Remington 300 Winchester mag in a PSS would group 1 7/16" at 600 yards, I have the steel plate I shot to prove it. You made another comment about the length of the action of the rifle for a STW, it has to be one of those H&H magnum size actions. Just a standard long action Remington works just fine. Then the comment about Batman and his belt, a little beneath you, for the knowledge you're supposed to have. Back in the early 1900's when H&H created the 375 and a few years later the 300. The belt was needed for head spacing because of the taper and lack of shoulder on the cartridges. Roy Weatherby didn't remove the belt, so almost every magnum after that had a belt. I grew up with a lot of belts. If we hadn't evolved from the 45-70, of Elmer Keith's era to the 270, of Jack O'Connor's and the gun writers of my era, you wouldn't have what you have today. We had Joyce Hornady that started a bullet business and his son, Steve, that learned from him, to what we have today. To me, calling all the cartridges of the past, that may not have lasted as long as the 30-06 has, are lead balloons is like saying all the wars we fought for freedom were unnecessary and a waste of time. We are supposed to learn from history.One last thing, you talked about the way we judged distances in the past before laser range finders, you knew your rifle, you knew your cartridge's limits, you scouted the area you were to hunt and you multiple landmarks that you the distance of. Old school, you had to be a hunter, not just some dude on a weekend hunt with a bunch of fancy gadgets.

I've looked in close to 100 stores for the 7mm rem "meag" that mark talks about and all I can find is the 7mm rem mag

A 7mm STW and a Shepard scope with the deer or elk vital circles was the hot pair for long range here around western wyoming before lazer rangefinders made it on the scene.

Love the 7mm stw, I have 2 of them myself. One factory and one custom. My custom is shooting a 200gr chinchaga at 3108 with necked up 6.5-300wby peterson brass. Best 7mm out there in my opinion.

@VortexNation Day 2 of asking "What's the deal with the picture of Jason Alexander?" lol😛

Another 7 I didn't hear you mention was the 7rum . That was Another lead balloon .

I remember reading about this way back. Now these long, high BC bullets and laser range finders have changed shooting. I remember when everyone wanted more fps. & 270 win & 7 Rem were fast, & all the Weatherbys were “FAST!”

I had an Abolt browning stainless stalker, came from browning as a 7rem reamed to a 7stw. On the barrel it had written 7rem lined out, 7stw by browning stamped in the barrel.

Twist rate was a big limiting factor on factory guns, 9.5 was a standard for 7mm RM and bled over to factory 7mm STW, so for solid copper you capped out at 160's. If you went with an 8 twist barrel on a custom, you could use the heavies, but stuffed to far back into the case. Great talk yet again fellas!! Thanks

One first rifles as a kid was the 7mm STW. Remington 700 Sendero with a fluted stainless barrel and black stock with white swirl. Loved that rifle as it kicked like a mule and my buddies wouldn't shoot it. Funny thing about that round, the only deer in my life I lost, was taken with this rifle and a Core-Lokt. High shoulder shot from 105 yards. We found her the next afternoon and the bullet did it's job. Deer had to have been a bionic roid deer lol. This caliber is what got me into reloading as well. Life came along and I ended up needing a .308 for work. This was sacrificed and I would give almost anything to have it back. Great jobs guys!

Would love to see a cartridge talk on 9.3x62!!!

Everyone over the age of 45 in my family owns a Remington 700 with a 4-12 leupold 7mmSTW. All muzzlebroke. Being in Nevada. It was the gun to have to shoot these distances and carry that power with it. All shot with hand loads. 7STW is the first round I learned to reload and it made me love ballistics. Side note. I’m buying a 7PRC😂

I would love to hear a podcast about muzzleloading hunting. I think it's a wonderful way to take game early and it makes you feel like the mountain men of old.

My mentor and best friend back in college owned three rifles rem 700 in 7mm stw was one of them he had it built in like 1995. For western hunting primarily mule deer he wanted to take a world class mulie. And had that rifle build specifically for that purpose of hunting the dakotas Wyoming etc. I believe the 7mm stw faded out cause it in competition with the lazzaroni cartridges at the time. I feel it faded out because it was more cartridge than what most of Americans needed back then shooting a thousand was a feat. The varmint hunting association back then would recognize in their magazine people who made into the thousand yard club which was a prairie at a thousand with witnesses and verification with range finders which using a rangefinder back then was hit and miss at times to get an accurate range. I considered the cartridge but went with a seven mag mostly for commercially available cartridge and reloading purposes.

This was popular in long range bench rest when it came out

Back in the early 90’s had rifle started as a 338 win mag and I had it reamed out to fit a 8mm/ rem case. So it became a .338/8mm mag. Like the 7 stw but with the 338 bullets. I wanted a 340 weatherby but gunsmith suggested to go this route. For hand loading I start the higher end of 340 recipes. No I would not do it again.

7mm stw with 140 gr bullets will put deer down fast ..and drops only 17 inches at 600 yards vs 7 mag 4 foot with same bullet..the only case that is the same is 28 nosler..it's lightning in a bottle

I have a 700 sendero 7mag that was reamed into a stw. Been shooting magnums since before my pops should have let me. My elk gun now is a 7 rem mag, my two fav cartridges are 223/308 and I’ve never shot paper or at long range better than I do today.

"everyone knows 5.56 is better" 😂😂😂

the 8mm rem mag was very popular where i grew up, I'd buy one if i hunted large game on a regular basis for sure

Can we get a lead balloon talk about the parent case? 8mm rem mag. Im from the neighbor state to id love to even make it over to Wisconsin with it!

The answer to the capacity discussion around minute 14 is that the STW will still have more capacity, just not as much. The STW holds about 10 grains more water than 7mm PRC. A VLD bullet will consume less than half of that, so the STW will still have 6 grains additional capacity. That capacity may increase velocity by 1.5 %, or 50 fps. The extra room may also allow a bulkier, slower powder to be used that will increase velocity considerably more than the 50fps.

Yes sir, 7mm STW is old school horsepower. Burn lots of slow powder to make velocity. I easily achieved 3500 fps with 140 grain. Used a 6-18 Leupold with target knows. We had laser range finders to 600 yards. Didn't understand B.C. didn't care. We understand speed. Speed equals flat trajectory. 7mm ultra magnum. Same thing.

Have you done 7-30 Waters?

Took one to Zim and South Africa and it excelled at long range.

Brother has a 7stw in a r700 Sendaro. I was infatuated with the round as a teenager, still am as an adult.

The stw is a beast

In the olden days before range finders and such, we actually had to learn how to hunt.

Would love to hear you guys talk about Saum cartridges🔥

Had mine built in 1995, by re-barreling a Sako TRG-S that was in 375 H&H, with a 30 inch polygonal twist barrel. It would push Nosler 120gr Ballistic Tips at stupid velocities (3800fps??) and just explode jack rabbits at 250 yards. Literally blew a coyote in two at around 200 yards. Sold it having never really rang it out with a proper optic to see what it could do. Love the 7mm bullets and went the other way and built a 20" 7mm BR on another Sako action, and that became my dominate coyote rifle. One third the powder and muzzle blast and still just "turned off" the coyote.

Length action? My stw is in a ruger number one so those details do not concern me

i would love to see you guys talk about the .30-378 Weatherby

I had one years ago before it was commercially available. Used 300 Weatherby nickel case, rl22, 140 grain HT bullets at 3650. A winchester 375 h&H action, 27.5 shillen barrel with brake. It shot 160 partitions as well.

Another reason for the benefit of 7 PRC over 7 STW to Jim's question about stuff bullet further back in the 7 STW would be that to get magazine COAL you are stuffing the same bullet back further in the case on the STW and even if the velocity is same on both, you would not likely get the same jump to lands in some instances due to Ogive shape on longer bullets and that may affect the STW's ability to get same accuracy if the bullet choice is picky about jump to lands distances.

I still have and hunt with my 7mm STW I had built in 1995. Took a caribou at 555 yards with it and it sounded like it got by a semi truck (and it looked just like it did!). 140 Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertip ammo. Now the magic in this cartridge is a 168 gr Berger vld hunting at 3200fps. All copper bullets are not good for the STW, needs to be a lead core to keep the overall length within its optimum. More efficient than the 28 Nosler being that the actual real world velocities are nearly the same with far less propellant. I did have a laser range finder back then but they were not capable of anything but give you a distance. A Shepherd scope with the matching reticle and the old laser and you were in really good shape. Remington 700 BDL Left Handed. I am thinking that the CDL is a post STW model. I only recall the BDL and ADL models back at the time I had mine built. Gunsmith couldn't keep up with just the rechambering jobs to STW back then.

Do the 7mm Mashburn, please. It is the best of the 7 mags.

Please do a talk on the wildest cartridges like the .22 eargesplitten loudenboomer!

I almost bought one, then the 7 RUM came out, I bought the RUM which was a mistake. The RUM burns more powder with little fps gain.

Obligatory comment for the WSSM series as lead balloons

Very good friend of mine has a couple custom built 7mm STW rifles. Built by his uncle Louis Laberge, target shooter and gun smith from VT. Louis is no longer with us, but his hand crafted master pieces live on and are regularly used by some. Guns shoot great. Ammo is expensive and can be hard to find.

My buddy and his dad both shot 7mm STW breaked rifles when they hunted out west for elk and mule deer. They were on a guided hunt and found elk my buddy described laying in a 3 foot wash with his head and rifle at the top of the wash scoping these elk with the guide beside him on the binoculars. When the guide said to shoot my buddys dad told the guide to get back because of the muzzle break. The guide said he was fine not to worry about him. My buddy took the shot at the elk hitting it the guides hat blew off and my buddy then 14 said he heard every swear word he would ever know that day with the guide rolling around holding his ears at the base of that ditch.. they got the elk and this would have been in 2003 so im sure there were guides not accustomed to breaked rifles

You should do a 10min talk on the 260 rem and why you got rid of it.

The 7mm STW was a wonderful cartridge in a time when big long case full of powder and medium weight caliber bullets going really fast was the ticket for big game and flat shooting. By todays standard of shorter stubbier case full of powder with heavy for caliber bullets seated farther out it has lost most of it favor except for the diehard magnum action or custom build crowd. Still a very capable cartridge.

"Batman has a belt, and that's all I have to say about that" Greatness

Do one on the 7mm RUM cartridge, feel like it’s long forgotten

I still prefer light for calibre, flat & fast cartridges. Because I keep everything within MPBR and the longer that is, the better. Old school way of operating but it works.

I love you guys... but the 7mm PRC doesn't get close to 7mm STW velocities. Even with the outdated design of the STW... it has so much more case capacity that it will be at least 200 FPS faster. Ryan was mentioning that there wasn't much difference with the STW and the PRC because you have to push the bullet into the case so much on the STW. While it's true that to fit SAMMI spec the STW will push the bullets into the case... That doesn't matter until you get to a 185 gr bullet in the STW. Go check out the Nosler load data and not a single compressed load until you get to a 185 gr bullet. And even if you have to do compressed loads... That's not stopping the 300 WSM. The point I'm trying to say... is just because you have to seat a bullet far into the STW case doesn't mean it's suddenly going to go as slow as a 7mm PRC.

What's everyone's view on the 6.5 grendel for deer hunting. I've had very good results with some hornady and am curious about your thoughts on the cartridge?

7 Rem Mag is still the king of the fast 7mm’s. Hail to the king!

The 7mm stw is cool, but you know what's an amazing round the 340 weatherby magnum, and it's coming up next on the next 10 minute talk

To answer Jim’s question if we will come back to STW performance, we have in the ballistic equivalent called the 28 Nosler. It’s a modernized twin of the STW

I'll give my two cents on Jim's thoughts about High HP cartridges vs efficient cartridges trend. I like and appreciate efficient cartridges. I don't own an overbore cartridge and tend to like cartridges that do as much with less. (Mark would be proud....I just added a 300 WSM) I think the efficient case/high bc thing is going to be around for a while. That being said, since I don't have a stupid big, absolutely uncalled for and something I would never need cartridge, that'll be my next build. My next one is going to be a 338 Edge. To be honest, having one that you can hand someone the cartridge and them say "...whoa", is a good enough reason for me.

Can we have a 10 min converation of the 7mm wsm please!

I dont know why they say it is a dead cartridge. It just disappeared for a moment and was reborn as the 28 nosler.

Should do one on 250 savage or 256 win mag

Need a Safari cartridge episodes!!