Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 7mm Big Game Cartridge Showdown

And if you are hand loading, why not size the brass like this: adjust the die so you size the neck, then only bump the shoulder enough that the bolt closes without unnecessary force. This allows the case to set against the belt and shoulder. Surely I'm not the only one who does this.
Charlie

Last I tested the 7mm Rem mag with 175 grain Partitions, 3000 fps measured in the mid 70,000 psi range. With a 27 inch Lilja 1x9 twist barrel.

The real problem is that they don't make animals as definitively different as cartridges within the same caliber, so that there can never be a separation of these cartridge with this one will kill this animal and this one won't.

That's why comparing cartridges can only be separated by different bullets used and different ranges of application.

BUT, and there is always a BUT, if the same bullet is used in each cartridge, something universally respected such as the 160gn Accubond, there is no appreciable difference between any of them if the bullet is placed in the same spot.

Something else I learned culling, the more cartridges you use, the more similar the performance over a number of animals. When they all work, it negates most arguments.

He wanted to give the other cartridges a chance, beretzs!

This should be interesting. I like that they're going to test the best factory options at 100 and 600 yds as well as all the handloading stuff. I wonder how they'll address pressure differences in the handloading part. This guy seems very knowledgeable but, he's definitely got opinions. How he handles the testing will be make or break. Super smart idea for his company though - tap into all the angst over these questions and personal feelings. If done methodically and fairly, it'll be great and sell some rifles, too I bet!

As he said, mag box length/handloading is huge comparing these cartridges. On a side note that might interest a couple of you, I'm packing up my 7PRC CLR to go back to Outkast for a re-paint. You learn alot about yourself with a custom build if you're open to it and, I've had to admit to myself that I'm just not man enough for a brash paint job on a rifle stock! God bless you guys who are and can handle the sideways looks from your hunting buddies when you uncase those tawdry shootin irons. Anyway, I emailed Glenn to let him know it was on the way and asked him about lengthening the mag box. He told me he had just finished a fixture to make that a standard option on his CLR jobs - milling the mag box well and ejection port and installing a Rem 3.7 mag box. Those guys are killing it. So, that's on the work order. When I get around to handloading for this thing or rebarrel it for the Mashburn I'll be all set!

And if you are hand loading, why not size the brass like this: adjust the die so you size the neck, then only bump the shoulder enough that the bolt closes without unnecessary force. This allows the case to set against the belt and shoulder. Surely I'm not the only one who does this.
Charlie

BSA1917HUNTER
I've never understood the belt problem either. I hear folks say there is the "headspacing off the belt" problem. What problem ? Then they say its hard for a gunsmith to cut that chamber and head space it correctly. Any smith who cant cut either belted or non-belted equally as well, needs to get some training or another job.

I'd like to see a better fit on the first firing.

You may think the long actions and belts are superfluous, and that's everyone's choice. For myself, I think the PRC is a marketing gimmick to sell more rifles and ammo. It does nothing for me as a reloader because I can load any bullet I want and match or beat it in velocity and accuracy. Gotta love choices and maybe for the majority of hunters that shoot nothing but factory ammo it may have an advantage for now. But as more gun makers put 8 twist tubes on their 7mm Rem mags that could very well change.

I used Reloder 22, Magnum, and IMR 7828, H1000.
Magnum worked the best, lowest pressure with most velocity and best groups. Still, mid 70's is way too high for me.
But for some, that's just getting started good !

To Charlie’s point, how does a 7 PRC get 3k with a 175 but a 7 Rem can’t do it under 70k

Special shoulders?

Extra special speed from its short length?

It’s not from extra case space I’d guess

I used a 7mm RM for almost 20 years, great cartridge, maybe better than the PRC for most deer hunting but I think it's the best of the 7RM and 300 WM when distance increases with 175 projectiles. BTW, it is a "long action".

Marketing gimmick??? Hardly, it's the slow evolution of a better/improved cartridge which has been very subtle since the '06 in 1906!

Belts have been a useless "gimmick" since they were introduced with the exception of the 300 H&H that actually needed a belt to headspace. Belts have been marketed for "magnums" to give the hunter/shooter the impression that his cartridge is something extra special that needs the extra support. Totally useless and a disadvantage if the cartridge actually headspaces on the belt. The "belted-mag" is the epitome of marketing gimmick!

For handloaders (I was one for years, don't have time or interest now), your choices are almost limitless, but for someone who buys off the shelf, specialty ammo is hard to find.

Fairy dust, brother. I've noticed some in the ones I've pulled apart.

Fair enough! Seen that stuff do some amazing stuff!

I don't mind the new cartridges coming out. Being "marketing gimmicks" or not. If a guy already has a 7mm RM, then he probably won't really benefit from buying a PRC. Especially if he's just your ordinary hunter. Most hunters making shots on big game animals at less than 400 yards anyway, just about any 7mm works. Yes, even the little 7mm-08. Just don't try to blow smoke up someones azz by saying the belt is a problem on a cartridge. It may not be needed, but it really poses no adverse problem.

Where the newer cartridges really shine is in the twist rate, but if we are talking 160gr bullets in the 7mm, that is a moot point. Because every 7mm will shoot a 160gr projectile with ease. Hell, even the 7x57 earned its reputation with a 175gr bullet. W.D.M Bell used his 7x57 rifles to kill over 1,000 elephants with 173gr military ammo..