Rickt300-I have put over 800 rounds through a 7mmstw and accuracy is still great.I know of one stw with almost 1500 rounds through it and accuracy is still acceptable for hunting.I shoot all my deer in the lungs and lose very little meat.If you can't handle this type of cartridge don't worry about it as there are people out their who are up to the task.

Edited by - stubblejumper on 09/08/2002 22:31:51

I only meant that the 7 STW would make a perfect starting point for a 375 H&H. Honestly a 140 at 3500 will be a destructive round under most circumstances don't you think? Since you could start the same bullet out at 3000 fps, sight in for 300 yards and only have 11 inches of drop at 400 yards and the bullet is still traveling at over 2000fps with longer barrel life and better bullet performance, why wouldn't you? Even this at normal ranges is a powerful deer load. I'd save the high end loadings for elk pushing the 160 or 175 partitions as fast as possible. Or I'd get a 300 Win mag and shoot 200 grain bullets.

rickt300-I don't have to guess about the damage a 140 gr bullet at 3500 fps will do.I have taken well over a dozen deer as well as pronghorn,bighorn,moose,blackbear and elk with this bullet weight and speed.Who do you think has a better chance of predictig what damage this combination will provide -you by guessing or me by actually observing the results?

Thats kind of funny because after examining the damage done by 270's and 30-06's at normal ranges (less than 300 yards) I can easily suppose that the extensive damage done by faster bullets will be somewhat worse. Now if you are trying to say that 3500fps is less damaging than 3000fps you will definitly have to show me. There is such a thing as poor bullet performance at the faster velocities else why would we be trying to get solid copper hollow points to work for us. Once again try to explain the importance of 3500 fps over 3000 fps to the rest of us poor unenlightened types.

Meat damage is often relative to bullet placement. I saw a .30-06 hit a deer in the tenderloins and spine and blew it totally apart. I have seen .300 Mags through the ribs that left a 1/2 dollar sized exit hole. It's all in the placement.

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

Barnesx.308-You hit the nail on the head.Proper shot placement results in very little lost meat reguardless of the caliber and speed of the bullet.
Rickt300-3500fps vs 3000fps gives an advantage at longer ranges due to flatter trajectory and less wind drift.If you never shoot farther than 250 yards or so the differences will be small but at 400 yards they become significant.

stubblejumper, I must agree with you RE: bullet placement. I once shot a small TX whitetail buck at about 60 yrds with a 140 Nosler Partition at 3350 MV, right behind the shulder and a little low. It was a full broadside shot, and I lost NO edible meat at all. I also once shot a big N.M. mulie buck at about 40 yards on a quartering away shot as it ran. The bullet hit behind the last rib on the left, travelled up into the right shoulder, and destroyed most of the right front quarter. Same bullet, same load!! Placement is everything, but you don't always get a picture-book broadside shot!!

Keep yore powder dry!!

The less than 2 inches of difference at 400 yards isn't all that significant as you still have to adjust for it (wind drift). Sure if every shot you get is broadside thru the ribs you won't damage much meat and if this is the case why shoot some barrel burner like the STW? I agree that the super sevens are useful about 1% of the time when you absolutely have to take that over 400 yard shot but the rest of the time you are putting up with extra weight, length, noise, barrel wear and recoil that is unnecessary. By the way I own one now that has had 1100 rounds put through it and it still shoots into 2 inches! I'm looking for that H&H barrel now.

Rickt300-I don't have a problem with carrying an extra half a lb of rifle and hunt mostly fields or mountains where a 26" barrel is no handicap.I don't find the recoil a problem and am willing to have a rifle rebarreled every 1500 rounds if necessary.My average shot is around 200 yards and have killed several animals at over 400 yards so for me the advantages of a flat shooting cartridge outweigh the disadvantages.If you aren't fit enough to carry the extra half pound and can't tolerate the recoil you should use a lighter rifle in a milder cartridge.If you are up to it is is no problem at all.