Rifle build,which caliber?
 

last year my oldest and best friends dad passed away.While going through his stuff he came across some older sako long actions NIBand kindly gave me one.So the question is which caliber to build a rifle on.His dad was one of the first people I knew who had a STW so that's the sentimental favorite.I've talked to a local gunsmith.it's gonna be a hart or shilen med contour barrell and mcmillian stock.

Thanks

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

STW, just a pretty awesome round.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

What is the Sako Model ?

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

I'm at work soI can't put my hands on it but I believe it is a L691M.


CB

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

That action should work. Only 2 I would considerwould be the 300 win or 7 STW. If your going to be shooting mostly deer I would go STW using 140 grain bullets..load up 160's for the bigger stuff. I would look at other barrel manufacturers as well.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

I'd go with a Broughton 5c, Pac-Nor, or a Lilja.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

That STW is an impressive round! I would love to have an extra action right now!

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

I would opt for the .300 Win Mag., if I wanted a good all around big game hunting rifle. If wanted something a little out oif the ordinary or different, I would consider the7mm STW. Yeah, the 7mm STW has it beat in speed and a tad better trajectory, but it's just awful hard to beat a good shooting .300 Win Mag for all around big game hunting. There is also more handloading/reloading options for the .300 Win Mag and not to mention the variety and availability of factory ammo.

BTW, You cannot and will not go wrong with a Hart barrel. It's is as good as any and better than most on the market. Don't let anybody tell you other wise.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

Seems only fitting to have a 7mmSTW built in his memory.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

I'd vote STW as well....I've never owned one, but I have had the oppurtunity to shoot one and I was impressed.

I believe the only reason I'd consider the .300 is ammunition availability, but it's hardly a problem if you're handloading.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

If you're going to have a rifle built then it's obvious to me that the STW is the only choice.
Why invest the time and money in building a 7mm Rem Mag or 300 Win Mag when is so easy to buy one at any gun shop.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

I voted for the STW as well. Like others said, it'd be a sentimental piece, and not something you can buy everyday off the shelf at the local sporting goods store.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

If I were going to be forced into those 3 it would have to be the STW, I'm working on a similar project but it's going to be an STA.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

STW!! A ballistic chart reader's wet dream!

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

Ridge runner, what's the scoop on the 200 gr wildcat load????
The only question I have about the stw is brass availability for reloading,I hear winchester is no lomger making it.I guess you can allways neck down 8 mag cases.


CB

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

If we were to follow that jacked up sense of logic, thenthere wouldnever ever be any need for another custom 22-250, 243 Win, 270 Win, 7mm Rem Mag, 308 Win, 30-06, 300 Win Mag, etc, etc, to ever be built again.[&:]:eek: Man, that would put a hurting on us custom rifle builders.

If you think that's wet dream, then check out the 7mm RUM. The STW sucks hind teet to the 7mm RUM.

IMO, I don't see how your rifle can shoot 140gr-200gr bullets withsuch consistant accuracy, over such a wide weight span. Seems to me, that the 200gr bullets would need a 1:9, 1:8, or even a 1:7 twist toshoot accurately. With that fast of a twist, you can only hope to get minute-of-whitetail, with 140gr bullets if yourfortunate.

With a 1:10 twist you may get tad betteraccuracy with the 140gr's, the accuracy with the 200gr's would be tad worse, and optimum accuracry with the 160gr's-175gr's.

With a 1:12 twist, you get optimum accuracy with 140gr's,fair accuracy with 160gr's, and basically wasting your time with 200gr's.

What kind of twist are you shooting in your rifle to get such great accuracy out of such a wide variety of bullet weights??

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

My stock Rem. M700 7mm RUM runs 140gr Ballistic Tip at an honest 3,674 FPS and160gr AccuBounds at an honest 3,527 FPS. Hardly twins at all. Never tried anything heavier than 160gr, because I still haven't seen any need to.

Also, the brass is a non-factor, unless you want to shoot competition, where you must squeeze every .001" of accuracy out of a gun and load.A 1/4"or less ain't going to make or break a big game rifile and load.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

Ordered 200 rounds of brass (same lot #), sorted cases by weight, trimmed & turned necks, uniformed flash holes, annealed, etc. Ended up with 71 rounds of matched brass and have the others segragated into 2 other batches. On the third reloading with these cases, haven't had any problems yet with split necks, swelled primer pockets, or head case separations, etc.

Yep Remingotn brass is not my first choice of brass for any of my rifles, especially in my wildcats, but in this case it was the only brass available in 7mm RUM. Not trying to convince you of anything. Been reloading for far tolong, withmany hundreds of thousands of rounds reloaded myself, for that.

RE: Rifle build,which caliber?
 

No, never used it. You get that from Hi-Tech Ammo??I have gotten some powder from them in the past.About 10 years ago I bought a 4# jug of SRB-118 (I think it was). I used it to work a load with the 175gr Sierra MK HPBT in my .308 Wintacticall rifle. I was amazed when the chronograph lit up at over 2,900 FPS when we got higher charges, with no pressure signs, and sub- 3/4 MOA accuracy.

For my 7MM RUM, I use Accurate Arms 8700. With the 140gr B-Tips my load is 115 grains. With the 160gr AccuBonds, my load is 111 grains. One thing to note is, that I do not seat the bullets to feed thru the magazine. I use it as a single shot, so I seat the bullets so they are .0005" off the lands, and when seated that far out they will not fit into the magazine, but it allows me to get acouple extra grains of powder in the case.