I am building a 7 wt, 9', 2 pc. Thinking about a 16 DF stripper, 10 DF tamer (about 4'' from Stripper).... an 8 SF drop down guide and then SF runners of either 6's or 5's. Thoughts or suggestions welcome. I usually build lower wt fly rods.

What you propose will work well. You could eliminate the 8 SF if you want - the line doesn't need it. Going directly from the 10 to the #6 runners won't change the angle by even a half millimeter.

If using Pacific Bay Minima's, I'd go with #5 runners. In ceramics I'd stick with nothing smaller than a #6.

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Steve, if I were doing this one I would replace your #16 with a # 12 stick with the #10 or use a # 8 and go with the #6 the rest of the way. A 7 wt is not that heavy a rod and the 7 wt line will shoot well with this set up.

Both my 8 wts are build exactly as Sam proposed above and work great

Ron Weber

Recently built a fly rod for a guy and eliminated the 'drop down' guide. Guy thought it looked wrong. I told him it casts great but that I would gladly add the drop down. I will pre wrap this 7 per your suggestions and try it out. Thanks guys

Right that's the thing - using all the various sizes isn't done for the line or any functional reason. It's done for the eye of the customer.

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I would forget the tamer unless you find that you need it. Most of my rods do not.

If you are going with #5 or 6 runners I assume that they are ceramic. I think ceramic are much too heavy for a fly rod of any weight - certainly #11 and below. You are going to rob the rod of performance. I would use #3 REC Recoil runners.

So - a stripper of max #16, #10 DF then # 3's all the way. With a REC recoil Tip-Top small ring.
Herb