Federal's 7mm Back Country - What is your opinion?

[Uncontrolled_round_feed]

In the year of our Lord nineteen hundred twenty three, Winchester developed perfection and released it two years later. One hundred years on, I still see no reason to choose much else in its weight class, including high pressure guff like this. I vote future Dead Cartridge (and get off my lawn)...

 

[Muskox]

It''s super gay!

 

[JG26Irish_2]

In the year of our Lord nineteen hundred twenty three, Winchester developed perfection and released it two years later. One hundred years on, I still see no reason to choose much else in its weight class, including high pressure guff like this. I vote future Dead Cartridge (and get off my lawn)...

Well said brother. About 35yrs ago, I finally grew up and stopped hunting with black rifles and bought an old vintage Mauser custom in 270 Win and with the exception of the last two years, hunted successfully in the Eastern Deer woods every year. The only reason, I did not take it to Africa with me was that my PH said it was too small for PG and my rifle did not shoot the heavier 150g ammo as well as the 130g stuff and the PH was preaching heavy for caliber (generally good advice too). So, I took a 308 that worked great. After the PH saw me take five animals all with one shot, he said I could hunt with anything I wanted after that including a 243, lol. Count me in as a 270 fan.

 

[Nevada Mike]

I have all the 7mm power I need - a 280AI and a 7mm RM. Special cartridge casing needed? I reload/handload my ammo. So, no thanks, I'm good.

 

[pilar]

In the year of our Lord nineteen hundred twenty three, Winchester developed perfection and released it two years later. One hundred years on, I still see no reason to choose much else in its weight class, including high pressure guff like this. I vote future Dead Cartridge (and get off my lawn)...

Yes! I have two a Winchester m70 pre64 that I shoot 150gr Norma oryx out of
And a Winchester light weight with 130gr ttsx
Though I have other options .270win is my grab and go .
My brother has probably 60-70 different rifles from .223 - 375h&h , I don’t think I have seen him use anything but his Sako forester 270 for years and his wife her .270wsm .
She shot her zebra and impala with 140gr TSX in Zimbabwe on lake karibi
Definitely a punch above its weight class cartridge

 

[nomspc]

I’ll offer a different point of view. I see value in manufacturers developing new tech and bringing new approaches to established disciplines to market. Of course, the market will decide whether a particular item succeeds. But the R&D and innovation borne of market competition serves us all.

I like old rifles, but also appreciate new ones. I’ve hunted many years with pre-64 Model 70’s, but mostly use Seekins and Blaser rifles these days. To me, the 7 Backcountry isn’t a solution in search of a problem. It’s a reasonable attempt by Federal to produce a cartridge that will deliver heavy bullet ballistics at long range out of a short barrel, taking advantage of the trend towards suppressed hunting. I think that’s brilliant.

My interest is in suppressed elk hunting. I want at least 1500 ft/lbs of energy at 500 yards. I can easily get that from my 22” 280AI, but the 7BC will give me better than that with a 4” shorter barrel and a heavier bullet. So I’m interested.

 

[Altitude sickness]

Momspc, looks like you actually read up on the ballistics before commenting.

But Who wants a heavier bullet with more velocity (without barrel burning speed and ejectia) with an 18” barrel ?

And it shoots accurately at long range. It’s a long range caliber. Who needs an accurate rifle capable of shooting out to 800 yards? Which means I can’t shoot animals at 150 yards with it.

Tongue in check of course

 

[Tbitty]

I’ll offer a different point of view. I see value in manufacturers developing new tech and bringing new approaches to established disciplines to market. Of course, the market will decide whether a particular item succeeds. But the R&D and innovation borne of market competition serves us all.

I like old rifles, but also appreciate new ones. I’ve hunted many years with pre-64 Model 70’s, but mostly use Seekins and Blaser rifles these days. To me, the 7 Backcountry isn’t a solution in search of a problem. It’s a reasonable attempt by Federal to produce a cartridge that will deliver heavy bullet ballistics at long range out of a short barrel, taking advantage of the trend towards suppressed hunting. I think that’s brilliant.

My interest is in suppressed elk hunting. I want at least 1500 ft/lbs of energy at 500 yards. I can easily get that from my 22” 280AI, but the 7BC will give me better than that with a 4” shorter barrel and a heavier bullet. So I’m interested.

I can appreciate this answer. And I agree that I like the R&D thought of trying to get creative with a way to capitalize on the suppressor usage trend.

Fortunately or unfortunately, we have reached a point where there is not really a significant hole in ballistic performance that cannot be filled by an existing cartridge. Which basically means, gun and ammo companies are almost like a meticulous handloader now: chasing any last bit of performance they can get that to be better than what's out there. Performance differences may be miniscule or irrelevant to someone who is happy with their current rifle(s), but to a new hunter or first time gun buyer, that little bit more or different may suit their style.

I'd still rather buy or suggest to a new buyer an established cartridge for reasons outlined using my previous post, but I dont belittle anyone who wants to try it.

 

[MS 9x56]

If you can’t hit your game with a 2700fps cartridge what makes you think an extra 400 for will improve your aim?

 

[BeeMaa]

I'm at the point in my life where I'm not likely to add anything else to my current battery, so it's a "no" for me. Someone younger who's looking for more performance will certainly have a different point of view. Especially if they are considering long range and suppressor use...which is what the manufactures are targeting.

I do see the advantages of the 7BC over the 7PRC & 7RM in ballistics. As far as it overtaking the 7RM in popularity...very unlikely. The long-term market will determine availability on store shelves and in remote camps, but it's going to be a long road.

Best of luck to those taking the plunge.

 

[greyfox]

Well said brother. About 35yrs ago, I finally grew up and stopped hunting with black rifles and bought an old vintage Mauser custom in 270 Win and with the exception of the last two years, hunted successfully in the Eastern Deer woods every year. The only reason, I did not take it to Africa with me was that my PH said it was too small for PG and my rifle did not shoot the heavier 150g ammo as well as the 130g stuff and the PH was preaching heavy for caliber (generally good advice too). So, I took a 308 that worked great. After the PH saw me take five animals all with one shot, he said I could hunt with anything I wanted after that including a 243, lol. Count me in as a 270 fan.View attachment 701615

Sounds like we hunted with the same PH - he has no love for the 243.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I agree BeeMaa I would never suggest a wildcat cartridge to a neophyte. In fact I gave my Son in Law a 7 Rem mag for elk. It was a toss up from a .300 WM or .338 WM. The 7RM won out.

Me personally, I buy a rifle type(DR, Falling block, magazine) or caliber to see what all the fuss is about. Then sell it for a loss if it’s not my thing.

So a 7mm with a heavier bullet and more velocity with the same perceived recoil. That isn’t burning barrels out. And my chief attraction 16-18” barrels. Is definitely on my radar.

My model 70 .416 Taylor with 21” barrel and my Sako 85 Black Bear with a 20” barrel are such a joy to carry. I now notice musket length rifles when I carry them.

 

[Philip Glass]

When I first heard of this new caliber I was like most in thinking why do we need this? I have heard quite a bit about it and it actually is very different than the other new calibers in many ways. I was intrigued that it was designed specifically for shorter barrels due to the suppressor craze. Ok they had my attention there! Like many of you I would want to see more ammo availability and variety before jumping in.

 

[Altitude sickness]

I also understand the negative aspect of not being able to easily reload for it.

I don’t reload. So as long as the rifle is built to the available federal ammo and bullet design. Twist rate etc. I don’t need many ammo options.

Of all the companies building a rifle in 7BC several built them specifically for the cartridge and those get great accuracy and function.

 

[BonUm16]

Why don’t they market a 14 gauge shotgun shell with a ceramic polymer non reloadable hull? Easy because it’s silly and no one wants it.

Well, there was a time Winchester thought the public might want two out of three on that list…

 

[jreidthompson]

80000 psi rather than 80000 cup

 

[BeeMaa]

I agree BeeMaa I would never suggest a wildcat cartridge to a neophyte. In fact I gave my Son in Law a 7 Rem mag for elk. It was a toss up from a .300 WM or .338 WM. The 7RM won out.

Me personally, I buy a rifle type(DR, Falling block, magazine) or caliber to see what all the fuss is about. Then sell it for a loss if it’s not my thing.

So a 7mm with a heavier bullet and more velocity with the same perceived recoil. That isn’t burning barrels out. And my chief attraction 16-18” barrels. Is definitely on my radar.

My model 70 .416 Taylor with 21” barrel and my Sako 85 Black Bear with a 20” barrel are such a joy to carry. I now notice musket length rifles when I carry them.

Have to get you onboard with a Blaser R8 to chop 4 more inches off a traditional rifle.

The least you could do is buy one and if you don't like it, sell it for a loss to me!

 

[Nevada Mike]

I also understand the negative aspect of not being able to easily reload for it.

I don’t reload. So as long as the rifle is built to the available federal ammo and bullet design. Twist rate etc. I don’t need many ammo options.

Of all the companies building a rifle in 7BC several built them specifically for the cartridge and those get great accuracy and function.

I agree that they are accurate, But how many 'accurate' 7mm cartridges do we need? My 7 Mag and 280 AI have been shooting sub 1/2" - I am not a match shooter and don't need bug hole groups - I need a light rifle that has good velocity and terminal performance.

Not slamming the 7 BC, just sayin' I am set with what I have.

 

[Altitude sickness]

BeeMaa, I was very close several times to buying that R8 I posted here on the “Good gun deal” thread.

300 WM and full wood stock. (Which I prefer) thankfully a member here bought it.

My Chief reason for not buying an R8 is I would no longer have an excuse for all the rifles I currently have.

 

[longrangehunterII]

When it came out I thought good luck with that, very small market group would buy that!!

There’s already too many 7mm magnum cartridges out there that aren’t doing much as it is. The 7mm PRC has a lead already with gun manufacturers.

I’ve chronographed Hornady’s boxed ammunition in a friend’s Seekins rifle and it’s not really any faster than my 280 AI. That said, is that really going to change anything when it comes down to hunting, or taking game at distances that don’t involve shooting game at over 600 yards?

I’ve been a competitive shooter for over ten years, hunting out West all over everywhere and yet I’ve still never shot anything over 500 yards away even when shooting rifles fully capable of taking game at further distances.

Federal is taking the approach of the same velocity in a shorter barreled version…. But suppressed, which gets the length back to a long barreled rifle. Or selling it on the assumption that you’ll be able to get through heavy cover with a shorter barreled weapon….. Absolutely, but in heavy timber does it still make sense to have all that extra energy in the form of Foot/pounds? Not IMO, for the last hundred years hunters have been able to do that with just about anything they hunt with!

Which is IMO, the point. It’s just another opportunity to push sales from one brand or cartridge to another. It doesn’t change much of anything that hasn’t already been done by a bullet type to the magnum craze to doing more with less because of ballistic Apps that allow smaller cartridges to be effective further away vs less bullet drop for line of sight shooting.

I’ll add one more observation, 80,000 psi is a lot of pressure! Sure we can manufacture an action and barrel steel to better handle the pressures of modern day smokeless gun powders….. but that’s a little like driving 20% faster than the speeds we’re accustomed to….. And how many times can you do that until something catastrophic happens?

I like the way my face looks, and that I can physically see, but that’s just me.