The Weekly Cartridge – The 7mm Shooting Times Westerner.

The 7mm Shooting Times Westerner is a cartridge I have had for a little while in my collection but haven’t had the chance to take a photo of it until recently. An if I don’t have a photo, I can’t talk about it.

The 7mm STW was designed by writer Layne Simpson. What I have read tells me that he created it something in 1981/1982 but it was officially introduced in 1988 in the Shooting Times Magazines. Originally the cartridge was named the 7mm Remington Maximum but eventually changed the name to the 7mm STW. The 7mm STW is basically a necked down 8mm Remington Magnum which is based on the full length Holland & Holland belted magnum case.

While this cartridge was a wildcat for many years one manufacturer did chamber rifles for it prior to SAAMI acceptance which was Winchester. Eventually Remington took this cartridge to SAAMI and registered it in 1997. Once registered they also started to produce rifles for it alongside ammunition.

When looking into it the only manufacture that currently produces ammo is Federal Ammunition. However, you can still find brass for it as a handloader. When looking in my wonderful book of knowledge it looks like Nosler offered some factory loadings as well.

With a factory Nosler loading you could obtain 3300 fps and 3385 ft/lbs of energy with a 140gr Nosler Accubond projectile.

As far as trajectory goes the when shooting the 160gr loading from federal you get the following ballistic data:

200 Yards: 2.2181 inches of drop.

500 Yards: 37.7124 inches of drop.

1000 Yards: 259.8445 inches of drop.

(Please note the above trajectory information was pulled from http://gundata.org/ballistic-calculator/ )

This is very similar to what a modern cartridge will do in today’s day and age. An example being the 27 Nosler with a 150gr bullet has 225.8 inches of drop at 1000 yards. Which puts it roughly 3 MOA of difference at 1000.

Short Notes.

Official Name: 7mm Shooting Timer Westerner (7mm STW and 7mm Remington Maximum.)

Year Designed: 1981 to 1988.

Designed by: Layne Simpson.

Parent Case: 8mm Remington Magnum

Rifling Twist Rate: 1 in 9”.

Maximum Point-Blank Range: Roughly 405 yards.

I hope you enjoyed this brief overview of the 7mm STW and will return next week for our Cartridge of the Week series.

Please remember to always practice safe muzzle control when dealing with firearms and happy shooting.

B