7mm PRC

[TX Badger]

I mentioned this in the previous thread, but it's worth pointing out here again for those who are complaining about "mid length", "not short action", "not long action".

Savage and Tikka have short magazine boxes in their long actions. ~3.5" and ~3.4" respectively.

The 7mm PRC is designed to account for that "shortfall" (see what I did there ). Two of the most popular off the shelf platforms, will now have a cartridge designed to maximize the performance of long, high B.C., 0.284 bullets.

I'm not a Hornady f@nboy, but I can tell you from experience, that SAAMI throats and twist rates are not ideal for the 7mm Mag (7 PRC fixes this) and 264 Win Mag (6.5 PRC fixes this).

This cartridge (and 6.5 PRC) is not for all you folks who wail and moan about how the 7 STW, 6.5 Sherman, 7-300 PRC, long throated 264 WM and 7mm Rem Mags, etc, etc, etc. have been around forever...

It's for your cousin Bob. Who wants to buy a Tikka and some ammo from Cabelas and pretend he can shoot 500 yards at a whitetail or 1000 yards on steel at the local club.

That's a good thing. It's a good cartridge. Is it better than something us enthusiasts can have custom made? Probably not, but we are a FRACTION of the hunting public.

Preach. This is the reality. I think the enthusiasts on this site are a little too close to the issues sometimes. In the broader scheme of things we're a very small part of the market. The top x% of the market reloads, orders custom spec.ed barrels, pushes the market forward... And then eventually Joe 6 pack wants an easy plug and play version from Bass Pro.

 

[7.62 Gunner]

Not trying to completely derail this thread but..... where do you think that 225gr bullet goes when it's set in a 30noz case that's 0.010" longer than a 300prc case, to a COAL that's 0.100" shorter than your hypothetical 3.7" 300prc?

Yes a 30noz has more case capacity than a 300prc. I agree with that 100%! But what are we talking about 90gr vs 96gr? So a 5% advantage goes to the 30noz? If you cram a long 225gr bullet into a 30noz case and make it either Saami COAL @ 3.340" OR a shorter COAL than a 300prc that bullet is sitting deeper in the case and eating up any meager 4-6gr case capacity advantage the 30noz had.

Load any of the same bullet in both the 30noz and 300prc to where the base of the bullet does not sit deeper than the neck shoulder junction line and the 30noz will be faster hands down. Where the Saami 300prc excels over the Saami 30noz is being able to load long high BC bullets and not eat up case capacity.

Yes you CAN long throat and Wyatt's box a 30noz to make it do more than a 300prc and that has been proven many times on the forum.... but myself and the vast majority of the shooting public CAN go buy an off the shelf rifle and load 300prc to CIP length at 3.850". The 30noz is great cartridge but hamstring'd itself out the gate by going with a 3.340" COAL. The 300prc holds long bullets better in "stock" form than the 30noz.

Sorry bro I'm talking purely case design not saami throating or factory ammo..
My 30 nos is throated for 230s and with 225s at the bearing surface neck shoulder junction it's 3.6"
Hence my reference to shorter fatter cases.
I've owned a 300 PRC and it's underwhelming for a handloader, and the clickers were terrible

 

[DUCKMAN11]

Clickers as in failure to ignite the primer?

The 300prc is an "optimized" version of the 300wm.

 

[8andbait]

"Clickers" are a click at the top of the bolt throw after the round has been fired.

 

[cowboyarcher]

"Clickers" are a click at the top of the bolt throw after the round has been fired.

What causes the click?

 

[8andbait]

The PRC die "problem"

There are a number of people experiencing sizing issues with the PRC case. When designing a chamber, brass, and resize die there is no one size fits all. We want good hard case brass, but its harder to size. We dont want sloppy chambers either. I have experience with designing reamers with...

www.longrangehunting.com

 

[vancewalker007]

We've now built four of the 7 PRCs in our shop. The 175 ELD-X PH load has been extremely accurate and spot on for velocity. The box states 3000 FPS and our rifles have been running 3015 average in 24" length.
View attachment 387531

That's good news. I'll be replacing my LRM barrels with this cartridge once they shoot out. I was a little worried when the case came in shorter than the LRM but it sounds like performance is basically a wash with the LRM. Our 3 LRMs easily run in the 3000-3100 range with the 175/180 bullets from 26in barrels. I can push hard to 3100fps but cannot get accuracy at those pressure levels and cases don't last. Sounds like Hornady hit their 2900-3000fps goal, it should give long throat life and great accuracy bandwidth and great long range effect on game.

 

[quigley257]

Here's some chrony data from earlier. Customer info redacted. Hornady Precision Hunter #80712 175gr ELD-X.

 

[8andbait]

Do those 175's really have a G1 of .550?

 

[quigley257]

I wouldn't trust that number. Our system isn't giving accurate BC readings for some reason.

 

[TheViking]

How much less recoil that a 300WM? Almost the same numbers, just a little better BC.

 

[tahoe1305]

I'd argue it should be substantial. From an ballistic state for the 300WM to get the same BC as a 175g 7mm you need to push 212g+ bullets (comparing Hornady). If both launched at ~3000fps the 7PRC is at 3500ftlbs and the 300WM is at 4250ftlbs (assuming you could get the WM to that speed). My math has that at over 20% more energy that is going into your shoulder (ack not same exact as recoil).

Adding: 175g is just scratching the surface for high BC 7mm bullets. With the 180s and 195s the BC is even higher. My opinion is the 7mm is currently the best BC class (outside of 338+ calibers). I would hope/expect in the coming years for manufactures to encroach on the 200g 7mm class bullets with BCs in low .8s or so. Would be awesome to push a 200g 7mm bullet 2900+ or so.

Also adding: I do just shy of 3000fps now with my 23" 7wsm. At 24" it would be there…..to add to the why another 7 cartridge. I'm still interested in it IF good factory support sticks, but I won't expect a ton more performance than my wsm which is in a true SA.

 

[laker]

I'll put one together on a tikka once things become available

 

[TheViking]

I'll put one together on a tikka once things become available

I have a 6.5 PRC Tikka. Would be fun to make a 7 PRC out of it.