A good 160-grain bullet is hard to beat for all-around use of the 7mm STW on game ranging in size from deer to elk.

So while Remington must be given a lion's share of credit for the success of the 7mm STW, we must not overlook the fact that Winchester was chambering custom rifles for it and A-Square was making the ammunition before Remington got around to adopting it. After Remington made an honest cartridge out of the 7mm STW, Winchester, Weatherby, Sako, Ruger, Tikka, Savage and possibly others also started offering rifles chambered for it. Federal, Winchester and Speer (under the Nitrex label) started loading the ammo.

These days you are more likely see me in the field with the 6.5 STW, mainly because I have come to appreciate that bullet diameter, but I still sometimes hunt with rifles in 7mm STW. In addition to that first Jarrett rifle, the Model 700 Sendero given to me by Remington and the Winchester Model 70 Sporting Sharpshooter I mentioned earlier, my battery contains a lightweight rifle built on the Model 700 action by Lex Webernick that weighs six pounds with scope. It is actually one of three matching Webernick rifles I own, the other two in .257 STW and 6.5 STW. I also have a Ruger No. 1 that was rechambered from 7mm Remington Magnum.

Right from the start the Nosler 140-grain Ballistic Tip proved to be the most accurate bullet in my Jarrett rifle. I have taken quite a few whitetail deer and pronghorn antelope at longish ranges with that bullet and have even used it to bump off a caribou or two, but it is too soft to use on larger game, so for elk I settled on tougher 160-grain bullets such as the Nosler Partition and Swift A-Frame.

As I grow older I tend to keep life more simple by using a good 160-grain bullet on everything from mice to moose. The 160-grain Nosler AccuBond is also an excellent choice, and a friend of mine is convinced that elk-bullet evolution ended with the Barnes X-Bullet of that weight. When loaded to 3,200 fps and zeroed three inches high at 100 yards, either of those bullets is just about dead on the money at 300 yards and less than a foot low at 400 yards, where it is still packing more than 2,000 ft-lbs of punch. A 140-grain bullet at about 3,400 fps shoots a bit flatter, but not by enough to really matter and it is nowhere near as versatile.

From the very beginning the Nosler 140-grain Ballistic Tip was the most accurate bullet in the author's first 7mm STW rifle.

As for factory ammo, I really like Remington's loading of the 140-grain Core-Lokt for deer and Federal's Premium loading with the Nosler 160-grain AccuBond for all-around use on everything from pronghorn and deer to moose and elk.

6.5 STW LOAD DATA
BULLET	POWDER		VELOCITY	DATA SOURCE
	(Type)	(Grs.)
Sierra 85-gr. HP	IMR-7828	85.0	4,016	L. Simpson
Nosler 100-gr. Partition	H1000	88.0	3,863	L. Simpson
Speer 120-gr. SP	H1000	83.0	3,511	L. Simpson
Nosler 125-gr. Partition	AA-8700	91.0	3,515	L. Simpson
Swift 130-gr. Scirocco	H50BMG	88.0	3,461	L. Simpson
Nosler 140-gr. Partition	AA-8700	90.0	3,316	L. Simpson
.257 STW LOAD DATA
BULLET	POWDER		VELOCITY	DATA SOURCE
	(Type)	(Grs.)
Hornady 75-gr. HP	RL-22	85.0	4,036	L. Simpson
Nosler 85-gr. B-Tip	RL-22	83.0	3,914	L. Simpson
Nosler 100-gr. Partition	H1000	86.0	3,709	L. Simpson
Nosler 115-gr. B-Tip	AA-8700	92.0	3,546	L. Simpson
Sierra 117-gr. SBT	AA-8700	89.0	3,507	L. Simpson
Nosler 120-gr. Partition	H1000	82.0	3,466	L. Simpson
.358 STA LOAD DATA
BULLET	POWDER		VELOCITY	DATA SOURCE
	(Type)	(Grs.)
Barnes 180-gr. XFB	RL-19	95.0	3,357	Barnes
Barnes 200-gr. XFB	IMR-4831	90.0	3,217	Barnes
Nosler 225-gr. Partition	H4350	87.0	3,182	Hodgdon
Barnes 225-gr. XFB	IMR-4831	87.0	3,128	Barnes
Barnes 250-gr. XFB	IMR-4831	86.0	2,995	Barnes
Nosler 250-gr. Partition	H4350	89.0	2,981	L. Simpson
A-Square 275-gr. LL	H4831	90.0	2,857	A-Square
NOTES: All powder charges are maximum and should be reduced by 12 percent for starting loads. Cases for .257 STW and 6.5 STW formed by necking down Remington 7mm STW brass; .358 STA case formed by necking up 8mm Remington Magnum brass and fire-forming with a reduced powder charge. All rifles had 26-inch barrels.

I have lost count of those who have taken the time to write through the years to tell me how pleased they are with the accuracy of their rifles in 7mm STW. Many of the rifles had been rechambered from 7mm Remington Magnum, and the accuracy of a very large percentage improved dramatically after their rechamber jobs.

Remington's first 7mm STW factory ammo was loaded with the 140-grain Core-Lokt bullet, and it often exceeded 3,400 fps in 26-inch barrels.

Most who saw the sizes of their groups shrink assumed that it was due to the 7mm STW being a more accurate cartridge than the 7mm Remington, and while that may very well be true I have my doubts. Rather, I tend to believe that the improvement in accuracy was most often due to more concentric chambers cut by the gunsmiths who rechambered their rifles.

I still receive a good bit of mail from fans of the 7mm STW, but it has now lost a great deal of the momentum it once enjoyed. Remington stopped promoting it soon after introducing its own 7mm Ultra Mag, and not long after that the super-short magnums came along to steal even more of its thunder. Most companies no longer chamber standard-production rifles for it, and few writers (including this one) even bother to mention it anymore. But one thing is certain: The 7mm Shooting Times Westerner was a fun ride while it lasted.

WARNING: The loads shown here are safe only in the guns for which they were developed. Neither the author nor Primedia assumes any liability for accidents or injury resulting from the use or misuse of this data. Shooting reloads may void any warranty on your firearm.