Is the 7mm Backcountry a Gimmick or a Game-Changer?

The Backcountry makes use of a brand new type of case that enables it to be safely loaded to a whopping 80,000 psi. These excessive pressures, Federal claims, permit the Backcountry to hit 3,000 feet-per-second (fps) with a 175-grain bullet out of a 20-inch barrel.

That’s the type of declare that may make you sit up and concentrate, however we’ve seen this tune and dance earlier than. Each new cartridge is meant to revolutionize the business, however few truly do, and this one has solely been out for 4 months. That’s why I used to be excited to get my fingers on a number of packing containers of ammo, together with a slick rifle from Horizon Firearms, to see if the Backcountry lives as much as its guarantees.

On the coronary heart of this cartridge is a proprietary metal alloy case Federal has dubbed “Peak Alloy.” We don’t know precisely the way it’s made (see: “proprietary”), however the ammo maker says it’s stronger than brass and may stand up to a lot larger pressures.

So far as I can inform, it really works. I’ve seen zero excessive strain indicators on the instances I’ve shot–no cracks or bulges or caught actions. However you don’t should take my phrase for it.

The Sporting Arms & Ammunition Producers’ Institute (SAAMI), the affiliation tasked with establishing business requirements for security, gave the Backcountry its seal of approval. What’s extra, Derrick Ratliff of Horizon Firearms instructed me they haven’t had any bother, both. They’ve shot hundreds of rounds utilizing this cartridge during the last 12 months, and he stated he’s by no means skilled any high-pressure-related weirdness.

Pink-tipped bullets are the 175-grain Fusion, and the blue suggestions are the 168-grain LRX.

When you’re not a ballistics nerd, and plenty of hunters aren’t, the upsides of the 7mm Backcountry won’t be instantly apparent. I’ve tried to clarify some great benefits of this cartridge to a number of individuals who don’t reside and breathe muzzle power and bullet velocity, and so they have a look at me like I’m making an attempt to promote them ShamWow.

It helps to match the 7mm Backcountry to different frequent 7mm cartridges. A 175-grain 7mm Rem. Magazine. leaves a barrel round 2,800 fps, and the 7mm PRC chugs alongside round 3,000 fps. Each are high-powered magnum cartridges able to taking just about any North American huge recreation animal. However the 7mm Backcountry has them beat—at the very least, in line with Federal’s revealed information. Each of these different 7mm cartridges require a 24-inch barrel to hit these velocities, however the Backcountry can attain 3,000 fps out of a 20-inch barrel. From a 24-inch barrel, it may well throw a 175-grain bullet 3,150 fps.

Why does that matter? Just a few causes. When you use a 24-inch barrel to hit these larger velocities with a 7mm Backcountry, you’re taking a look at 10 fewer inches of drop at 500 yards in comparison with the 7mm Rem. Magazine. and 500 extra foot-pounds of power in that elk or deer or moose.

Nonetheless, when you like working a suppressor otherwise you need your rifle to be as gentle as doable, you possibly can nonetheless exceed the efficiency of the 7mm Rem. Magazine.–and match the efficiency of the 7mm PRC–in a shorter, lighter rifle. Throwing a 6- or 8-inch suppressor on a 24-inch barrel turns your rifle right into a broomstick. Lowering the gun’s general size with out sacrificing efficiency is a large plus for a lot of hunters.

However why cease at 20 inches? The Horizon Venatic Carbon I used for these checks sports activities a tiny, 16-inch barrel. You may assume that bullet velocity falls off a cliff, however that isn’t the case. In my testing, the 175-grain Fusion bullet averaged 2,884 fps out of this rifle, and the 168-grain Barnes LRX averaged 2,894. That’s a lack of solely a bit of over 100 fps in comparison with a 20-inch barrel, and nonetheless higher than a 7mm Rem. Magazine. out of a 24-inch barrel.

A 175-grain bullet going 2,900 fps has sufficient juice to take something you may wish to hunt at any affordable distance. Doing that with a 6-pound rifle that measures a mere 38 inches is one thing earlier generations of hunters might solely dream about.

“I need to be mad at it, however I haven’t fairly discovered a purpose to be mad at it but,” Ratliff joked. “I do know everybody needs to say it’s unhealthy, however I can’t discover a strategy to say that, exterior of not with the ability to reload it.”

After all, there are many Gucci wildcat cartridges that supply unimaginable efficiency however can’t be had for love or cash. The 7mm Backcountry received’t do you a lot good when you can’t discover it on the cabinets.

Proper now, Federal is the one firm making the Backcountry, and it’s unclear if every other producers will soar on board. Hornady or Remington or Nosler may begin loading cartridges with Federal’s Peak Alloy instances, or they may attempt to introduce their very own high-pressure choice. In the event that they select the latter, Federal is likely to be the one firm to ever make the Backcountry.

“If these different ammo corporations can’t help it, it makes it actually exhausting for a cartridge to have stay-power over time. Take a look at the 6.8 Western. It was nice, but it surely had no help,” Ratliff identified.

That prospect ought to make hunters nervous. Not having ammo to make use of in your searching rig is the worst, as many found throughout the ammo shortages of 2020 onward. If one other black swan occasion sparks a panic, it would flip that Backcountry rifle into nothing greater than an costly paper weight.

That is normally the half the place I’d say, “However you may get your self a set of dies and reload your individual.” Sadly, that’s not the case with the Backcountry–at the very least, not but. I’ve heard of some particularly formidable reloaders utilizing a 280 Ackley reloading die to roll their very own 7mm Backcountry cartridges, however I don’t advocate that experiment. No reloading tools corporations have launched a die set for this cartridge, and it’s unclear if an everyday reloading press might even work with the Peak Alloy instances. (This, by the way in which, is why Sig’s Hybrid case makes use of a metal head affixed to a brass physique. Sig engineers needed to provide reloaders a strategy to make Fury cartridges safely, which will not be doable with a metal case design.)

The excellent news is that Federal has launched a full suite of choices and ramped up manufacturing to match demand. The corporate says they plan on releasing the next loadings:

As of this writing, Federal reveals the 168-, 170-, and 175-grain as “Accessible” on their web site, and Halfway USA lists two of these choices in inventory for about $60 per field.

Ammo is likely to be exhausting to return by, and barrels won’t final as lengthy. There’s no getting round the truth that the Backcountry will put on out a barrel sooner than a standard-pressure cartridge. How a lot sooner is difficult to say, however as MDT’s Rob Orgel factors out, the Backcountry in all probability received’t be excellent for high-volume shooters.

After all, Federal didn’t title this cartridge the “Competitors LaserBeam.” They named it the “Backcountry,” and their present choices all characteristic searching bullets fairly than match-grade capsules. It’s clearly meant for searching functions, and in that context, barrel life issues far much less. Hunters might by no means shoot 2,000 rounds with a rifle, even when they use it each season for his or her whole lives. There are higher choices for competitors shooters, however the Backcountry is supposed for the sector.

When Federal approached me to place the 7mm Backcountry to the take a look at, they despatched me a listing of gun makers that had dedicated to chambering rifles of their new cartridge:

Not all of those producers are at the moment providing rifles within the 7mm Backcountry, however a few of them are. I used to be additionally happy to see that there’s a pleasant mixture of high-end and budget-friendly corporations, so you must have the ability to discover a rifle that meets your value level.

I opted for the Venatic Carbon from Horizon. At $3,999, this isn’t a rifle I’d ever have the ability to afford by myself. However I needed to provide the Backcountry the perfect likelihood doable. No matter efficiency points I bumped into, I didn’t need to fear they is likely to be attributable to the rifle.

I had a number of issues once I took the rifle to the vary. First, I wasn’t certain whether or not the Backcountry would reside as much as its velocity guarantees. As you’ve already learn, it did.

I used to be additionally involved about recoil, particularly with such a light-weight rifle. I shot utilizing the equipped muzzle brake, with a naked muzzle, and with a suppressor. I concluded that I like this rifle/cartridge combo considerably extra with a can hooked up to the tip.

The rifle kicks like a mule with out a brake, however produces a teeth-rattling concussion with a brake. I used to be not wanting ahead to accuracy testing till the suppressor got here into play. My .30-caliber SilencerCo suppressor was greater than in a position to tame the 7mm Backcountry, and I felt no discomfort on the vary. Even within the subject, taking pictures with out listening to professional didn’t go away my ears ringing.

The 7mm Backcountry is a magnum cartridge, and it kicks prefer it. A heavier rifle would do a greater job absorbing that recoil, and an extended barrel would assist tame the concussion. However no matter gun you utilize, I wouldn’t advocate searching with out listening to professional until you could have a suppressor.

Lastly, I used to be involved about accuracy. A souped-up cartridge screaming out of a 16-inch barrel is liable to do absolutely anything. I’d seen reviews that the Backcountry struggled to publish constant teams, however Ratliff instructed me they’ve seen “stable teams” which can be even higher than what he anticipated. My testing confirmed that evaluation.

Ammo

175g Fusion

168g Barnes LRX

Small Group (in)

0.6

0.6

Common Group (in)

0.9

1

Common Velocity (fps)

2882

2894

Muzzle Power (ft.-lbs.)

3227

3124

SD

8.6

13.8

Teams shot with the 175-grain Fusion.

As you possibly can see, the 7mm Backcountry is greater than correct sufficient for any affordable searching scenario. These teams mixed with an SD hovering round 10 equal glorious downrange efficiency. I didn’t have sufficient ammunition to conduct a lot testing at prolonged ranges, however the few teams I shot at 200 and 300 yards had been all sub-MOA. I additionally didn’t have any bother ringing a metal prairie canine at 400 yards.

Assured within the Backcountry’s efficiency, I used to be excited to get a possibility to take it out into the sector. I’d been speaking for a number of months with the parents down on the East Basis about visiting their ranches in South Texas, and so they had been form sufficient to ask me down for a free-range nilgai hunt.

We put a stalk on a bull, and I took a shot from a tripod at 166 yards. I used to be instructed to intention for the shoulder for the reason that vitals are farther ahead than a whitetail. I hit a bit of farther again than I meant, and tales of nilgai absorbing bullets and working off flashed by way of my head because the animal took off. However my concern was pointless. It tipped over after working about 50 yards, and the cleansing course of revealed that I’d hit each lungs with the 175-grain Fusion bullet.

There are nonetheless questions that must be answered concerning the 7mm Backcountry. Barrel and motion longevity is a giant one. I’m curious to see accuracy reviews from inexpensive rifles (it looks like most customers up to now have opted for higher-end choices), and the reloading query might be a significant wrench on this machine. I’m additionally questioning if we’ll see high-pressure .30-caliber or 6.5mm cartridges down the road.

We do know sufficient to say that the Backcountry provides hunters an edge. It isn’t magic. It received’t assure success within the subject, and actually, it doesn’t do that rather more than different trendy magnums in the marketplace. However it does supply higher velocity and power in a suppressor-friendly platform. With the 7mm Backcountry, you don’t should sacrifice efficiency simply since you need to save your listening to. For some, that’s sufficient to make the change.