Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 7 PRC Factory vs Handloads

I followed DeanA down the ADG brass path this morning. I have a box coming to try against some once fired Hornady brass casings.

I’m also doing a bullet change out. Again, DeanA lead me to a sample pack of 170gr Hammer bullets I’m going to try along with some 168gr VLD Hunting Bergers. Heck, I’m certain I can at the very least generate some consistent velocity that I’ve been struggling to obtain from my boxes of Horn 175gr eldx ammo.




**I used my Garmin Xero C1 Chronograph yesterday to check some early speeds on my Fierce 7PRC and Fierce Mini Rogue in 6.5 CM. There isn’t anything I hate about the Garmin Xero. For me, it’s a game changer just in portability and ease of set up.

It’s an extremely small unit - palm sized. Even my cell phone is bigger. It comes in a box with a charging cable and small legged tripod that screws into the bottom of the unit. You charge the unit for 4 hours after opening the box. Then you’re ready to set up for shooting.

The Garmin is feature rich with pairing to your cell phone via the Shotview App for those who like stored data on their phone. The unit also allows you to enter a specific bullet you’re shooting - if you want kinetic energy and power factor information. Or, go with simple choreographed speed, without the nuisance of bullet type being fired.

The Xero C1 is using Doppler like Labradar. One could assume Garmin has targeted Labradar users and hoping to take market share and then some from them.

The small unit is extremely easy to get setup and ready for capturing a fired round. I’m far from a tech geek, but where I would sometimes struggle remembering what I needed to do to get my Labradar on ready. I had no issues like that with the Xero C1. It’s very intuitive with simple button pressing to manage and maneuver through the screen.

Another feature of the Garmin, is there isn’t a time limit to get a shot off, like the Labradar would go into sleepy mode. Then you have to hit the button to wake it up. I hated that. I would always feel rushed to take a shot. My eyes were always looking to see if the orange light was still on the LRDR if I was taking longer to get comfortable. The Garmin just sits there waiting, almost indefinitely to capture your shot.

Positioning the Garmin, when using a rifle is a lot simpler than the LBRD. With the LBRD, you must remember where the unit needs to sit in relation to a naked muzzle, which is a different position than if you have a break or suppressor attached. I placed the Garmin where my barrel met the forend of the stock. Worked perfectly. No error reading. I would typically get one or more error readings from my LBRD.

The Garmin is a simple. Just point in the direction of the target (no alignment sight) just point it and place the unit 5” to 10” behind the muzzle on either side of the barrel. Readings from fired shots are fast. I don’t know if the readings on the unit appear faster than a LBRD or a MagnetoSpeed, but it’s an extremely fast reading.

For portability and set up on a shooting table. There’s no comparison to the Xero C1. It’s light as a feather, taking up little to no room on a bench. My LBRD was a PITA to get squared away on my bench.

Smaller is better. Lighter is better. Features are better. Set up for game on, is simpler. To me the Garmin kills the competition in everything that is important to me.

The only question is…How’s its long term durability going to be? That’s the unknown. Guessing I will find out over time.

I forgot. The Garmin does Bow, Pistol, and Airgun as well. With specific settings for each weapon.

I say get one.



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I'm curious about your 270 load with the 150 ABLR. I'm also working with that bullet and RL26 in a 1:9 Fieldcraft and getting some inconsistent pressure signs.

In the 7 PRC, I've no doubt that 2900 with 175's is doable in a 22" barrel with RL26, but not sure about other powders.

I'm curious about your 270 load with the 150 ABLR. I'm also working with that bullet and RL26 in a 1:9 Fieldcraft and getting some inconsistent pressure signs.

In the 7 PRC, I've no doubt that 2900 with 175's is doable in a 22" barrel with RL26, but not sure about other powders.

[quote=Beaver10]





Great info Beav. Mines on BO from Grafs, but all the stuff you mentioned is why I ordered one up. Pretty excited to use it.

I am thinking it is going to make a huge dent into others share of the market.

How's the battery consumption? Any issues for a normal few hour range trip?

Fotis,

How do you like your Vortex LHT scope?

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I used the 150 ABLR in my old Tikka with 26 and man, it shot like crazy right over 3K. Other rifles I have not been so lucky with, but that rifle, man, it would shoot them!









Sorry to sidetrack the post, but I figured I'd throw this up since it's what we're measuring the PRC up against. I wouldn't be scared of trying H4831, Magnum, or even RL16/H4350, etc since they'll all likely get into the 2900 range I'd think.

JG,

Apologies. Not meaning to hijack your thread.


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Nice. Poke an critters with the 150ablr?

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Federal sent my some 7 PRC ammo loaded by their custom shop with the 170gr Terminal Ascent. Velocity is right at 2900 with a 22” barrel.

I have 4 of them. Some on my WBY's They are great highly recommend. With Vortex I only use the Razor series. Probably overkill but.......

Sorry to sidetrack the post, but I figured I'd throw this up since it's what we're measuring the PRC up against. I wouldn't be scared of trying H4831, Magnum, or even RL16/H4350, etc since they'll all likely get into the 2900 range I'd think.

Federal sent my some 7 PRC ammo loaded by their custom shop with the 170gr Terminal Ascent. Velocity is right at 2900 with a 22” barrel.