The 21st century has seen the 7mm bore diameter gain much ground in the rifle world, what with the resurgence of the .280 Ackley Improved, the release of the popular 28 Nosler, and most recently Hornady’s 7mm PRC and Federal’s 7mm Backcountry. Whether it may be attributed to the higher Sectional Density of many of the 7mm projectiles, or the fact that modern bullet technology has made the 7mm bore diameter even more effective than it was a century ago, the 7mm bore has become increasingly popular of late.
The 2022 release of the 7mm PRC—Precision Rifle Cartridge—was certainly an eye-opener, building on the successes of the earlier 6.5 PRC and 300 PRC. Based on the .375 Ruger case (itself a derivative of the beltless .404 Jeffery), the 7mm PRC was designed for use in a long-action (read .30-06-length) receiver, with a case measuring just 2.28 inches, where most cartridges suited to that receiver come in somewhere around 2.50 inches. Leaving plenty of room for longer, heavier bullets with very impressive ballistic coefficient values, the 7mm PRC uses a 1:8 twist rate in order to stabilize those projectiles. It has been called—by this author, and others—everything the 7mm Remington Magnum should’ve been, as it doesn’t have the case stretching issue associated with the H&H family of belted cases, allowing the 30-degree shoulder to handle the headspacing duties instead of the belt. Velocities are pretty close to those of the 7mm Remington Magnum, if slightly higher, but the performance should be pretty similar until the ranges get longer. It is out at 1,000 yards and more that the 7mm PRC shows its unique abilities, as those fantastic projectiles—even the 160-grain monometal CX—will stay supersonic out to 1,500 yards. And while I’ve had some great hunting experiences with Hornady’s 7mm PRC, its forte is that of a dual-purpose cartridge, getting the job done wonderfully in both the hunting fields and on the target range or in competition. Hornady offers the 160-grain CX and 175-grain ELD-X at a muzzle velocity of 3,000 fps, and the 180-grain ELD Match at 2,975 fps.
The 2025 SHOT Show saw Federal’s turn to shake things up, this time with the release of their 7mm Backcountry, a cartridge with a very unique feature: a special alloy steel case, which allows the cartridge to develop pressure levels higher than those normally accepted with conventional brass cases. Where the vast majority of the cartridges we are all familiar with have a maximum pressure level of 65,000 psi, the 7mm Backcountry runs those pressure up to 80,000 psi, all due to the steel case and the metallurgy developed by Peak Alloy. The premise of the cartridge is not necessarily a blazing muzzle velocity level, but to deliver the familiar 7mm Remington Magnum velocities from a 20-inch barrel designed for use with a suppressor. Where hunters enjoy that 7mm Rem Mag ballistic formula, when you use a traditional 24-inch barrel and add a six-inch can on the end, you have what amounts to a rather unwieldy rig. The cartridge shares the case head diameter of the .30-06 Springfield, and closely resembles the .280 Ackley Improved, though the dimensions are different. The case measures 2.417 inches—slightly shortened in comparison to the 280 Remington or .30-06 Springfield—again in order to use the longer bullets which have become so popular of late. Federal offers two loads featuring their excellent Terminal Ascent bullet, at 155 and 170 grains, a 168-grain Barnes LRX load, a 175-grain Fusion Tipped load and a 195-grain Berger Elite Hunter load. With a 20-inch barrel, you will see some familiar velocity levels, but if you use the cartridge in a rifle with a 24-inch barrel, you can expect a velocity increase of up to 150 fps. For example, Federal indicates that the 175-grain Fusion Tipped load leaves the muzzle of a 20-inch barrel at 2,975 fps (I measured 2,982 fps), but will give 3,125 fps from a 24-inch barrel. That’s an impressive number from a cartridge of these dimensions, though you feel the pressure and velocity increase on your shoulder.
This pair of new cartridges offers a very attractive set of ballistics, either of which could be used for an all-around hunting cartridge or as a dual-purpose target/hunting choice. I’ve found that both cartridges exhibit good accuracy, even by today’s standards, and both have a decent selection of bullets which could handle any hunting scenario a 7mm cartridge would be called upon to handle. The decision between the two cartridges might come down to the question of whether you are comfortable using a steel alloy case. The 7mm PRC—Hornady’s latest, and in my opinion, the most useful of the PRC family—utilizes a conventional brass case, and has been picked up by Remington, Federal, Nosler, Weatherby and Norma. It gives a familiar set of velocity and trajectory figures, and features modern, high B.C. bullets. For the conventional reloader, the 7mm PRC is a straightforward cartridge and I really enjoy using it.
The 7mm Backcountry and its steel case are going to be suspect, especially until folks embrace the idea. Federal indicates that the case can be reloaded, though it will require special tools and techniques. And, Federal has offered a good selection of hunting projectiles right out of the gate, so there should be no complaints in that department. Despite the increased pressure levels, I found no extraction issues among the four loads I tested.
If you like the idea of a short-barreled rifle, or if you have embraced the suppressor on your hunting rifles, I say the 7mm Backcountry makes a whole bunch of sense, in spite of the new case technology. It is smaller in diameter than the 7mm PRC, so you can potentially get an extra round in the magazine. However, unless you’re willing to embrace the additional steps to reload the steel cases, you will be limited to factory ammunition. The 7mm PRC is a balanced case, giving very uniform results in both group sizes and muzzle velocities. I've taken the cartridge out to 1,500 yards at the SAAM Training Course at the FTW Ranch in Texas, in those canyons and draws which make reading the wind so difficult. The cartridge fared very well, better than I could ask for.
I should call this a draw, as the differences between the two are negligible. But I can anticipate the resistance to the Peak Alloy case, as we hunters tend to be traditionalists. So I will qualify my decision as such: for now, I will give the crown to the 7mm PRC, though I would definitely like to revisit this in five years, when—and here is my prediction—the higher pressure cartridges are accepted, and the suppressor is more widely accepted, and this decision might be reversed.
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