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7 PRC Build

For a few months now, I’ve been gathering parts and pieces to build a 7 PRC. Well, it’s finally done, and according to the LGS, they should have some 7 PRC ammo later this week. I’ll wait until I get a chance to shoot it before I make a final judgment on it’s ‘worthiness’.

The build:

Defiance Deviant Hunter L/A Mag
Barlien S/S #3, finished at 26”
Rem 700 BDL Bottom Metal
Wyatt’s 300 PRC Mag box and follower
Triggertech Special Trigger
Leupold Backcountry 30mm Low Rings
Swarovski Z8i 2-16x50 4W-I
H-S Precision/B&C Stock (more on this later)

As mentioned, parts and pieces have been gathered over a period of a couple of months. I started gathering shortly after the late June release of the SAAMI spec for the 7 PRC Sourced the Defiance action from Southern Precision Rifles (bugholes.com); the barrel directly from Bartlein. Chose the Deviant Hunter over the anTi because of previous issues with the anTi bolt handle clearance. For the most part all of the other parts were those that I had ‘laying around’. The stock was an ePay purchase. Reamer and headspace gauges came from Manson Reamers in MI. All of the ‘smithing was done locally by MJ Gunsmithing – couple of younger guys who are making a name for themselves.

Got a call a couple of weeks ago (the day before I was to head for TX for some whitetail and hog hunting) that my 7 PRC barreled action was ready for pick-up, so I beat feet down the road and picked it up. The barreld action sat in the safe until I got back from TX last Friday. I was chomping at the bit to get the rifle completed so Saturday morning found me with a Dremel in hand, opening up the recoil lug area of the stock and preparing the stock for bedding. It was at this point that I noticed something wasn’t quite right. The stock I acquired from ePay was advertised as a McMillan Classic. You’d have been hard pressed to tell otherwise. It wasn’t until I was opening up the recoil lug area and cleaning up the receiver area for the new bedding compound that I noticed the the stock had an aluminum bedding block. Hmm – certainly not a McMillan, but I pressed on. Layed the barreled action in the stock around noon and let it cure until late Sunday.

After pulling the freshly bedded barreled action from the stock late Sunday afternoon, I cleaned up the excess bedding material and completed the assembly of the rifle. My initial impression of the completed, yet unfired rifle was – HEAVY. That said, I weighed the rifle - 10# on the nose. Not what I had even come close to hoping for. Turns out the stock alone comes in at 40oz!

As mentioned in the opening, I’ll hold my judgement on this build until I get a chance to shoot it. But, I have it in my mind to at least find a lighter stock, and possibly rebarrel it with a CF wrapped bbl – Proof or Bartlein. Before I get too carried away, I’m gonna weigh the 6.5PRC that I have built on a Deviant Hunter w/Proof 26” CF, Mesa Precision stock and same scope to see what I can come close to expecting should I decide to ‘rebuild’ this 7 PRC. (Update: Weighed the 6.5PRC build – 8# 8oz, so I’ll be lookin’ to shed a pound and a half, or so, off this rifle.)

LGS got 7 PRC ammo in on Thurs, 11/3. 20bx of the 175gr ELD-X and 20 bx of the 180gr ELD-M. 5 boxes of the 175s are in my possesion. Touched off 2 rnds this morning and will be sending the fired cases to Hornady to have them make a COAL gauge for me. Picked up some Hornady dies a month or so ago, so when the time comes I can do some reloading.

Real World Results

The weather finally presented an opportunity to get out and shoot my build. Unfortunately, I wasn’t the nut behind the butt – work got in the way, but a co-worker was heading out to shoot and ‘volunteered’. The results shown/posted below were all shot at 100yds. Chrono results are from a Caldwell chrono. Since this was the initial outing for this gun, as well as a couple of guns my co-worker took for break-in, the guns were cleaned every 3 shots as part of the break-in process. Not bad for out of the gate, though the velocity is a little short of Hornady’s advertised 3000fps.

Pretty cool about the rifle WiFowler.

Wondering if it'll keep speeding up as well.

Some barrels are slower than others.
How do you like MJ's smithing services? I've bought several used guns there recently but haven't used him. A friend dropped a malfunctioning Mod 94 there for service, but hasn't got it back yet. They seem like pretty good folks and I've sent several friends there for ammo and pistols.

I've got the 5/16-36 tap for the Hornady LnL tool to make the cases if you need something quickly. I threaded/modified a .308 and a 7-08 case this weekend in the the lathe. If you bring them over I can do it while you wait.

Pretty hard to get all worked up over velocity with only 17rnds down the tube. Time will tell, but the chrono results appear to show a slight increase as the round count increased - save a couple of shots. I guess I'd attribute those to ammo inconsistency.

I've had MJs spin up 2 or 3 builds in the last year or so, as well as had them do some Cerakoting, and have been pleased with the work each time. As I mentioned, they're making a name for themselves. Good work, and don't hesitate to call and ask if they have any questions about how I want something done. They are pretty good about holding to their timeline. All of my builds were done in 6-8 weeks, which was their estimate when I dropped the parts and pieces off.

Gzig, as it turns out, another co-worker of mine, has the 5/16-36 tap and volunteered to make the case gage for me if he could have an empty for his cartridge collection. It was a fair trade-off.

I'm still on the fence as to the final weight of this build. Got it in my mind to spin up a CF bbl and find a lighter stock, be it a Stocky's NextGen CF, AG Composites Privateer or a McM of some sort.

FWiW, and not to hi-jack my own thread, LGS guys mentioned today that they were allocated 2, Rem 700 Long Range Hunter's, 26" bbl in 7 PRC, today, by one of their distributors. Should be on the shelf Friday or next Monday. I knew Remington was stepping to the plate with a 7 PRC, but would have never thought they'd be an early participant.

Those Remington LR's would be a cool way to get into the PRC game. Are they old 700 actions or the new updated one?

This is a pretty cool build, I hope you post progress on it. This cartridge really seems promising, and I’m enjoying sitting back and watching these builds finished out, I’m trying to feel out the optimal configurations.

Well, hopefully this weekend I get a chance to be the nut behind the butt, and not a co-worker. Really want some personal trigger time with this build. Can't recall ever letting someone else shoot a build before I did . . . .

Still on the fence as to weight. I have access to a Proof Sendero Lite, 7mm, 24", 8T and might spin that up. 'Getting rid' of the current Bartlein #3 will not be a problem, as I've had a couple guys ask about taking it off my hand if I change things out. Gonna pull one of my CA Ridgelines from the McM Game Hunter that they sit in and mate it up to the Defiance 7 PRC and see what I shed in weight. Might be that I take a chance on a Stocky's NextGen, though the lack of texture in the grip and forend has given me pause.

Is it any different than a 7mm RUM with barrel set up for VLDs ?

Seen this just now… https://www.gunbroker.com/item/956489625

Update: Sorry - no pics

Weather, while cool over this past weekend, did allow me to get out and shoot the 7 PRC build a bit more. Temps hovered right around 30* F, with a slight NW breeze. Made for some interesting shooting.

My shooting and subsequent results both on paper and across the chrono pretty mimicked those of my co-worker. Velocity came up, albeit only increasing the average to 2933FPS, vice the 2919 my co-worker recorded. Three shot groups continue to be a mystery of sorts. 2 shots (not necessarily consecutive) will stack or nestle next to each other with the 3rd ending up an inch or more away. Correlating this to the chrono results seems to indicate the 'flyer' has a significant velocity difference.

One other thing that I have noted about this build is that the barrel seems to carbon foul quickly; moreso than any other build I've done with a Bartlein barrel.

WiFowler,

Feeding/function good with that mag box/follower? Thanks.