7mm STW offer – What would you do?

Let’s just say that due to a strange twist of fate one has a gun dilemma on his hands. This is stricty hypothetical, obviously.

Due to the recent passing of a dedicated western hunter, his widow, let’s say, has offered one first dibbs on a 1980s vintage rifle of reasonable quality (American).

And now the klinker. It’s chambered in the old boy’s favorite touch-em’-all elk-whacker: The 7 MM Shooting Times Westerner (STW).

The 7MM huh-wah? Yes, the 7 MM Shooting Times Westerner or 7 MM STW. Yes, factory ammo is available and if you have to ask what it costs, you can’t afford it.

The 7 MM STW is, BTW, a necked down version of the equally unheard of 8 MM Remington Magnum. It was saw development in the early 1980s as a factory cartridge, its wildcat origins date back to the late 1970s when gun writer Lane Simpson designed it as his ultimate big sky caliber.

Price is not a relevant factor as I–eerrrrrm I mean our “hypthetical person”–will certainly pay what the owner’s widow is asking, even though I think strictly speaking she is on the high end of the range due to advice from other family members and an optimistic gun dealer.

The point is this: Would you?

As far as factory calibers go, this is on the odd end of the oddball scale. IMO, having shot it at 400 and punched sub-tennis ball sized groups, it would really be a fit for bighorn, barren ground caraibou, elk, goat, etc. Basically, all the stuff where a trophy may present itself at a place where getting closer is not an option.

I would NOT rate it as fun to shoot, but I can see where like the .300, 8mm, etc, its whole job is to be able to induce a sudden dirt nap at ranges outside where the more common calibers leave off.

I have no real use for said rifle. Sentimental value is moderate as I knew the owner, but it wasn’t as if he were my grandpa or something. It is an interesting rifle, and I can see some point where I might wish I’d bought it, but that point will be a long time in the future. As I’ve said, the gun is not fun to shoot, no is it cost effective. Currently, factory ammo would cost about $10 per bang.

Don’t get me wrong, it would be terrific fun to whack a whitetail waaaaaay out there in a hay field with this baby. In fact, one might be tempted to back up as far as possible, just cause I can, beeeeaaaach. But as a practical reality, this gun is overkill for anything east of elk territory.

On the other hand, I feel bad saying “no” as the widow obviously wants me to have it.

WWYD?

Grouse

PS – Please, no PMs with “if you don’t buy it…”. No, I will not give you the address or phone number of the seller. If I don’t buy it, the gun will be sold to a local dealer and he claims to already have a buyer, so I doubt it will ever hit the open market.

This a very interesting caliber. I borrowed this same caliber for my elk hunt in 04. It’s a beast no doubt. I was told the gun was more than capable of 500 yard shots. I didn’t have the time to test the accuracy at that distance before the hunt. Although I did very cleanly miss and elk at 20 yards with it.

For me, that is a glaring whole in my cabinet. I’m leaning towards a 300 but this gun would certainly fill that gap. Probably only get shot less than a dozen times the rest of my life(hopefully I get a dozen elk and moose hunts).

So, do you have this same gap? If so, how badly do you want to fill it? Personally if the price wasn’t pretty good, I’d probably stay slightly more mainstream. However, I know you like odd stuff.

Personally, lacking strong sentimental ties, I would have ZERO interest in buying a gun that is expensive, shoots expensive ammo, not fun to shoot, and tough to find ammo for. Looking at all of the factors, even getting the gun for free would only mean that I would sell it to buy something that was a tad more ‘user friendly’.

T

Interesting points, gents.

I will say that cost of gun and ammo are not really a concern or factor. I mention them only to emphasize that I’m not thinking about it because its a great deal price-wise.

To Timmy’s point about not fun to shoot, in the realm of big-big game guns very few ARE. Nobody goes plinking with a .338 or 8 mm mag . I was mainly thinking it’d be an interesting safari rifle for plains game.

Kooty you have the main”for” point exactly. For taking a 500 yard poke, this is THE sh##. There are only 5 or so other chamberings that fly this flat and hit as hard as this one.

Grouse

Id buy it.

It would be a great conversation peice. Its one of those guns that you get sighted in and let it be. Bring it to the range when your plinking and check your zero with a few shots.

to me its like this.. I’m not a collector. so I only need or really want a few guns that will do the jobs i demand of them..

I got my 44 mag for bear protection while on a remote moose or caribou hunt. Ill be carrying my 7mm mag. that I use from everything from coyote to moose. from there I have a few smaller rimfire rifles that I get the most pleasure from hunting for small game with the kids. couple shotguns and case closed.

so for me I would pass..

on the other hand if your a collector of guns.. this gun is priced fair knowing you may never find another in this condition at a fair price then jump all over it.. you may only shoot it a few times.. maybe you find a hunting trip to use it on..

regardless it would look good displayed in your kill room..

then buy it…

If it causes no regrets to make the purchase, let that out weigh the regret you know will come when you someday wish you’d have done it. We only go around once. Perhaps you should capitalize on the opportunity strictly because you WANT TO. If it compromises nothing, own it and feel good about it, for your reasons only. Sometimes……it’s not about making sense, especially when it’s connected to the heart.

I would say buy it! As for ammo price, you re load also. Neck down your own rounds and make your own. a bit time consuming but they will shoot better than factory anyway.

I have a Remington 700 BDL in 7MM STW. Bought it at an auction probably 12 or 13 years ago. It was originally a 7mm Rem Mag, and the previous owner never marked the new chambering on the gun when he had it rechambered. Was kind of a surprise when the 7mm brass I shot fireformed and split. Luckily a friend of mine knew what it could be. After I had it verified by a gunsmith, I bought some ammo – although it was only $40 for a box of 20 rounds then. Actually I found a box on a shelf for $18 at the time.

The previous owner had a trigger job done and had it glass bedded. It’s a great shooter.

I don’t find the recoil to be too bad, but I’m a big guy and am used to shooting 3″ shotgun slugs and turkey loads. It’s not bad compared to that.

I bought it knowing that some day I would elk hunt out west, and maybe a couple other species out there. Plus I like oddball calibers and can’t resist a deal on a gun. I haven’t made the elk hunt happen yet – but I will someday.

I say get it. I like mine.

Well, goes to show you never can tell. Didn’t expect to get advice from the man that owns one. Honestly, CH, you’re probably one of three guys in MN that has that caliber.

It looks like factory ammo has gone up a little since you managed to find that box at $18 however. Ahhhh, the good old days. If you got change for a C Note these days, it wouldn’t be much change.

So the decision is…

No. I really WANT to, but I cannot justify it based on future “I might…” situations.

Also, in the interest of marital harmony and the continuation of 15 years of wedded bliss, I’m going to exercise a little restraint. Yeah, for once.

Mrs. Grouse has been very kind in indulging my rathere expensive and oddball fieldsport tastes. Including the go-ahead for a little adventure down to Argentina, more on this later.

Bottom line is that I can’t go beyoned speculative uses, so I’m just not going to pull the proverbial trigger.

What I will do, however, is tell the good widow to be sure her nephew handles the sale AND forces the gun dealer to stick to his original offer and not a dime less. I was a little surprised at what the dealer offered, given that he says he plans to resell it. But I’m going to make sure he wasn’t just throwing out a highball number to get her to the table and then negotiate down from there. I’ve done some research and as as a retail price he offered in the high end of the range, so that’s what he’s going to pay or no deal.

Appreciate all the advice. I LOVE adding guns to the collection, but even for me and my oddball tastes, this one was out there.

Grouse

Grouse

I do not understand the question. Hell yeah would be the answer. We have burned a lot of powder through dad’s 7MM STW. A blast to tip game with.

Of course we reload for it, and all our rifles.

I know, I know. I could hardly believe the words were coming from MY mouth when I turned it down.

But it’s just too much of a niche rifle for me. Oddball varmint calibers? I’d be all over it. But a Big Western rifle like the STW deserves someone who will use it more than I will.

My next rifle will probably be a .270 WSM or a .25-06. Something that I hope I’ll get a bit more use out of.

Grouse

Love my .270 WSM! Wish I had a trip out west to put it to better use but the shooting I’ve done with it…… I really like the gun!

Although not as rare as a caliber, I bought a Browning A Bolt chambered in 7mm WSM for a steal, probably because ammo is not readily available and the cost. Long story short, I’m so glad I bought that gun. It’s the best shooting, accurate gun I’ve ever had and is now my go-to whitetail gun. i say buy it!!