I mentioned in a post a couple of weeks ago that sometimes I just kind of check out when life gets noisy and only pop my head back up when things settle down. Well it looks like I missed some really cool sh%t.

I broke out my google-fu two weeks ago trying to decide between building a 280 A.I. or a 35 Whelen. It became obvious I was completely oblivious to everything going on in the rifle cartridge world, after all how often do we get a new, unique offering.

I ran across the new to me 7 PRC. I’ve gotta admit that this sounds like my ideal one rifle, one cartridge gun. It shoot a 175-180 gr high B.C. bullet north if three thousand fps while staying inside SAAMI spec.
The recoil is 15%-25% less than a 28 Nosler depending on what recoil calculator you trust.
It doesn’t burn a huge amount of powder.
No rebated rims or belted cases.
The components are easily available.
It looks like there are some trusted, accurate loads developed with the Hornady ELD-X.

I’m not ready to give up my 7LRM but I did order a 1-8” twist 7mm barrel, 200 rounds of Nosler brass and 400 of the 175gr. ELD-X today. It looks like I will have some stuff sitting on the shelf until I decide it’s time to re-barrel the LRM or build the PRC.

I've performed load development on quite a few 7mm PRC rifles this year.

None made the velocity you have read about. None exceeded 2950 fps with a 175 gr.

Per my documentation:

7mm PRC, 175 gr 2725-2950 fps, depending on barrel length.
7mm Rem Mag, 180 gr 2830-3050 fps, depending on barrel length
28 Nosler, 195 gr EOL, 2775-3050 fps, depending on barrel length.

In my samples, 28 Nosler is the King of 7mm (recoil is no big deal). 7 Rem Mag still makes more velocity than 7mm PRC.

Every one of them are great cartridges. I don't get hung up on MV. I'll take it when I can get it, but it isn't my priority.

I built myself a 28 Nosler with a 20" barrel, suppressor, and 195 gr EOL. That's the 2775 fps sample. That's a new barrel and virgin brass. It will cross the 2900 fps line pretty soon. By shooting it more.

It will be interesting to see where the 7PRC or for that matter ALL the 7mm’s end up when they roll out the 7mm Backcountry if that’s what the name really is.

What is the 7 mm Backcountry?

J.G., I didn’t claim the PRC to be the penultimate 7mm, just that it sounds like the best choice for what I’m looking for.
I don’t chase the highest velocity. I’m just currently looking for something around 60-100 fps better than what my 7LRM can do. If I really want fast there a more than a few wildcats that can get me there. I want to shoot the ELD-X because it should give better terminal ballistics around 200 fps slower than the current bullet I use in the LRM. The velocity increase and bullet change with the PRC should give me almost 200 yards more range on medium to medium-large sized game (given a good dog town it should give me around 1K more yards). In my LRM I’ve never found a bullet that shoots as well as the Hybrid I currently load. As far as steel I don’t really care what I shoot. I’ve shot the LRM to more than a mile and if I want to go longer than that I’m sure the 338 Edge can get me there.

I absolutely drink drink the 7 LRM Kool-Aid. I’m getting 2930 fps with a 180 gr. Bullet from a 23” barrel and I’ll admit that I’m on the edge of what this combo can do. I’m in no hurry to retire this rifle since I still have plenty of brass, bullets and powder for it. Oh yeah, the PRC should also use about the same powder charge as my current LRM load and still be faster.

I’ve always heard rumors of the 7 Rem Mag that can push a 180 gr. bullet to 3000fps but have still never seen one in real life. I’m sure that a few of them exist and I’m also sure that those are being pushed well beyond SAAMI spec. If you look at the load data on almost any rifle cartridge it’s going to be limited to around 62k psi on the high side. That’s the cool thing about hand-loading, we can develop that one off load that shoots great in one rifle but not another. Heck, I load my 6.5x47 Lapua almost 4 grains over everyone’s published max. I also had that rifle chambered with a custom reamer so I could seat the bullet longer than SAMMI to increase case capacity without raising the pressure. That’s also why it shoots faster than a Creedmore. There are always exceptions to the rule.

As far as recoil, I’ve shot everything from a rimfire up to a Rigby. Total foot pounds of recoil isn’t the problem, it’s what you can do with the recoil. It’s just harder to control the recoil pulse of the Nosler since it’s faster and sharper than most other 7 magnums. I can handle it with the 7LRM. Heck, I can even do it with the .338 Edge since it weighs over thirteen pounds. The recoil from the Nosler is just inherently tougher to deal with. I am only looking to make my life easier, after all I only get to shoot from the bench during the load development. I’ll always look for that cartridge that gives me the results I’m looking for with 7#-12# less recoil.

And just in case anyone is curious, I decided to go with the 35 Whelen built around the 225 gr. Game King.

Yeah never heard of that one either

180 gr, 3000 fps 7 Rem Mag, I've done it several times. SAAMI spec means nothing to me. I'm not making ammo to sit on the shelf in some gun shop.

Are you saying a 28 Nosler is fast sharp recoil impulse?

It's the hottest thing going right now...I think I'm one chamber from it being the reamer with the most chambers cut. I've got 2 of them to build right now for guys.

The prc chambers are prone to have clickers, there are reamers out there that will prevent this...mine were spec'd by Alex Wheeler to eliminate them. He's basically just opened up the .200 line by .0005 and it allows the die to size that area. Just something else for you all to know/realize as you get one built.