7 PRC

[208 TZR]

I've got a 22" barrel as well. Shooting at an elevation of about 3700', at about 50-60* F.

66-68gr of Retumbo with 175gr Bergers is giving me about 2850fps, and 2850fps with 195's. The H1000 at 64gr with 175gr Bergers is only pushing about 2680-2700, and the 195's at 2750fps. Of course, temps aren't always identical...but Retumbo is giving me a little bit more juice with the same group results. I can easily hit 3k fps, but my groups go to hell when I do that. At least for my rifle, 64 gr H1000 and 68 gr Retumbo have been the sweet spot for groups, at the expense of some velocity.

Consistently though, with a varying range of powder grains between H1000 and Retumbo, Retumbo is yielding better velocity than H1000.

 

[208 TZR]

Did Retumbo get you more fps than h1000?

What's your fps with Retumbo and 175's? I'm getting 2950 with h1000 and a 22" barrel.

How many grains are you running with H1000? I've only gone up to 65 grains but never broke 2900 with my rifle. My groups were getting worse on the high end, so I've kept it at 64.

 

[Bfish22]

How many grains are you running with H1000? I've only gone up to 65 grains but never broke 2900 with my rifle. My groups were getting worse on the high end, so I've kept it at 64.

I ran up to 70 gr without pressure, I stopped there for the time being. Best groups were at 69.5 which is what I used for hunting last year. Will do a more refined load work up with some rounds down the barrel and once fired brass now.

Bergers load data for the 175 is 64-70.6 gr of h1000, so you should be able to push it a little harder, watching for pressure signs.

 

[Bfish22]

I've handloaded a couple hundred rounds of various loads for my 7 PRC, Seekins Havak Element. I've finally hit the jackpot with Berger 175 Elite Hunters and 195 EOL's using H1000 and Retumbo. I got better velocities with MagPro and N570, but the SD and groups are consistently 1/4 MOA with H1000 and Retumbo. 64gr H1000 and 68gr Retumbo was money, 5/1000 off the lands.

What's your coal with the 195's? You mentioned shooting them right off the lands. Mine touches the lands at 3.43 with the 195. I've seen a pretty wide range of lengths for the this bullet, mostly from 3.41-3.47

 

[ncwg2boatguy]

Fellas it's simple really, it favors people that don't reload and for that purpose the PRCs are the option. For those of us that do reload maybe it isnt but it is what it is and it's a fantastic round and it does shoot you can't dispute that, I'm not saying it's better than anything else on the market, but it is not a turd by any stretch. It's purpose built does not for everybody's purpose.

 

[Bfish22]

Fellas it's simple really, it favors people that don't reload and for that purpose the PRCs are the option. For those of us that do reload maybe it isnt but it is what it is and it's a fantastic round and it does shoot you can't dispute that, I'm not saying it's better than anything else on the market, but it is not a turd by any stretch. It's purpose built does not for everybody's purpose.

I've never understand the thinking that a cartridge would favor factory ammo shooters over reloaders….for the reloaders, there are many more bullet options and much better brass options over factory ammo along with the obvious of being able to adjust powder charge and seating depth etc…

 

[cheeseburgersfearme]

H1000 - 68.5, Berger 180, 24" gets me 2970. That's with Hornady or ADG brass. Peterson brass I had to drop to 68 due to pressure signs. Haven't worked with 175s as the 180s shoot too good. Have been toying with trying 195s but not sure it's worth the barrel life with how the 180s shoot.

 

[Okanogan]

I've always found Berger's load data to be on the hot end of the spectrum but others experience may differ. Hornady's load data has generally been closer to my observed max load charge weights though I can't always duplicate their reported velocities. The Hornady data for the 7 PRC is available through their app. Here are their max charge weights/velocities for H1000 and various Hornady bullet weights 175gr/67.1/2950, 180/67.4/2900, 190/66.7 /2850 With the Hornady max charge weight for 180 being heavier than 175gr, I'd assume there is some wiggle room.

My load development has been for a Seekins Element with a 22 inch barrel. I've been up to 67.6 gr of H1000 but only got 2830 fps with 175 ELDX and F215M. For the same charge weight, I would expect a 175 EH with CCI250/ F210M to be at least 50 fps slower.

I've been working mostly with RL26 because it gives me better velocities than H1000 without exceeding Hornady's max charge weights for Hornady bullets. I would attach an excel file with my chrono data but it doesn't appear the website will allow it. My best results seem to be with Berger bullets (175, 180, 195) with about 0.040 jump. If I push the charge weight/ velocity for the loads beyond the sweet spot, the group size and SD/ES start increasing. With the 175 EH and 180 hybrid the sweet spot for the Seekins seems to be 2860-2900 fps. Factory Federal ELDX has been 2880 fps average for the rifle so I don't think I'm pushing my 175/180 Berger loads too much and the charge weights are more than a grain below Hornady's max for their bullets.

I've tried N570 with the 195 EOL but have never gotten good enough SD or groups from it with charge weights up to 68.3 gr. RL26 seems to give decent results with 64.8-65.3 gr but I'm only getting 2760-2780 fps. Hornady's max charge weight for comparison is 190/64.9/2850.

 

[208 TZR]

What's your coal with the 195's? You mentioned shooting them right off the lands. Mine touches the lands at 3.43 with the 195. I've seen a pretty wide range of lengths for the this bullet, mostly from 3.41-3.47

My best groups had a base-to-ogive of 3.694. Using Hornady's gauge, I measured my lands to be 3.698. Everything with this length has fed and chambered great in my Seekins so far.

 

[Schw15]

I've always found Berger's load data to be on the hot end of the spectrum but others experience may differ. Hornady's load data has generally been closer to my observed max load charge weights though I can't always duplicate their reported velocities. The Hornady data for the 7 PRC is available through their app. Here are their max charge weights/velocities for H1000 and various Hornady bullet weights 175gr/67.1/2950, 180/67.4/2900, 190/66.7 /2850 With the Hornady max charge weight for 180 being heavier than 175gr, I'd assume there is some wiggle room.

My load development has been for a Seekins Element with a 22 inch barrel. I've been up to 67.6 gr of H1000 but only got 2830 fps with 175 ELDX and F215M. For the same charge weight, I would expect a 175 EH with CCI250/ F210M to be at least 50 fps slower.

I've been working mostly with RL26 because it gives me better velocities than H1000 without exceeding Hornady's max charge weights for Hornady bullets. I would attach an excel file with my chrono data but it doesn't appear the website will allow it. My best results seem to be with Berger bullets (175, 180, 195) with about 0.040 jump. If I push the charge weight/ velocity for the loads beyond the sweet spot, the group size and SD/ES start increasing. With the 175 EH and 180 hybrid the sweet spot for the Seekins seems to be 2860-2900 fps. Factory Federal ELDX has been 2880 fps average for the rifle so I don't think I'm pushing my 175/180 Berger loads too much and the charge weights are more than a grain below Hornady's max for their bullets.

I've tried N570 with the 195 EOL but have never gotten good enough SD or groups from it with charge weights up to 68.3 gr. RL26 seems to give decent results with 64.8-65.3 gr but I'm only getting 2760-2780 fps. Hornady's max charge weight for comparison is 190/64.9/2850.

Berger just uses quick loads for there data. But I have found the samething there's being hot

 

[Bfish22]

My best groups had a base-to-ogive of 3.694. Using Hornady's gauge, I measured my lands to be 3.698. Everything with this length has fed and chambered great in my Seekins so far.

2.694 to ogive? Close to 3.45ish coal?

 

[ncwg2boatguy]

I've never understand the thinking that a cartridge would favor factory ammo shooters over reloaders….for the reloaders, there are many more bullet options and much better brass options over factory ammo along with the obvious of being able to adjust powder charge and seating depth etc…

I totally agree handholding is exponentially better for accuracy to your specific rifles, far exceeding factory results but not everyone has the time, patience or ability.