Leading aerospace engineer Mo Shiran reviews the 7PRC.
The year 2022, people are looking for a solution to a problem. That problem is to find the perfect cartridge and calibre for both hunting medium to big game and long-distance precision shooting. In the age of AI and technological advances, the desire was to see an intelligent cartridge, one which can combine the terminal ballistics of 300 PRC, 300 Win Mag and 7mm Reg Mag, with shoot-ability of 6.5mm PRC, 270 Win and 308 Win!
The 7PRC could it be an improvement on the 6.5PRC that we used in Ireland? Epic Sika Hunting Ireland
In June 2022 Hornady responded to this call and officially released a new 7mm cartridge, precision was the name of the game, 7mm Precision Rifle Cartridge. Last time a 7mm became popular was in 1962 when 7mm Rem Mag was introduced by Remington Arms Company. It took the world by storm and went on to have a stellar career and to this date is still arguably one of the best all-round cartridges out there.
In recent years, Hornady developed a remarkably successful recipe with 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5mm PRC and 300 PRC. Exploitation of the case capacity and pairing it with a remarkable long aerodynamic high BC projectile. With 7mm PRC Hornady managed to elevate this recipe to the next level by adding a few more ingredients, without exceeding 65,000 psi of chamber pressure or specifying an absurdly long barrel.
Sweet Spot Bullet
7mm bullet strikes a good balance of design parameters. It’s more aerodynamic than .30 calibres, retains more velocity and energy over long distances, yet has a larger cross-sectional area than the 6.5mm bullet, offering higher energy delivery.
In addition to choosing a sweet spot in bullet size, Hornady also maximised bullet efficiency by offering heavy, high BC bullets, with fast twist rate of 1:8”. A high BC and stable bullet mean less air drag, flatter trajectory, better wind resistance and higher retained energy.
The current bullet on offering from Hornady are:
160 gr CX, in Outfitter product line
180 gr ELD-M, in Match product line
175 gr ELDX, in extremely popular Precision Hunter product line
The most interesting of the three for me is the 160gr Copper Alloy monolithic CX bullet. Hornady basically copied the profile of its ELD-M precision match bullet to create a sleek projectile with a very high BC value of .596 (G1), with excellent expansion, weight retention and penetration. For comparison, the heaviest monolithic bullet for 7mm Rem Mag is 150gr with BC of .455 (G1). I think this would be an excellent choice for deer stalkers in the UK.
Optimal Case Design
7mm PRC has less case taper compared to older case designs and 30-degree shoulder angle. Both features allow for maximising case capacity and optimal powder burn efficiency. And of course, being a modern cartridge, 7mm PRC has a non-belted case which I am sure is a welcomed change for hand loaders.
Precision Chamber Design
One of the biggest advantages of the 7mm PRC compared to all its predecessors is that it was designed for match grade chamber which makes it more consistent and efficient using factory ammunition. Older cartridges suffer inconsistency in a few areas such as free-bore length, throat dimensions and pressure variations, ggiving edge to the hand loaders to tune those parameters for optimum performance. With 7mm PRC factory ammo users can expect close to hand loaded ammo performance and accuracy.
So how do all these advancements impact the 7mm PRC performance compared to its closest rival 7mm Rem Mag? With similar bullet weight both cartridges have comparable performance, but where 7mm PRC shines and creates a class of its own is the ability to push much heavier bullet e.g. 175gr ELD-X with higher muzzle velocity and higher energy and with less drop.
It is evident this cartridge is technically impressive and dare I say a revolution in cartridge design, a turnkey solution to performance enhancement instead of small improvements in bullet design which seems to be the industry trend. But after all a cartridge is only as good as the number of gun makers agreeing to take it on board and offer it in volume and affordable prices. Hornady did an amazing job aligning the industry to launch this product and certainly in the US 7mm PRC seems to be off to a great start with many firearms manufacturers (almost all of them) offering this cartridge. European firearm manufacturers and UK consumers on the other hand seem to be slow in embracing this great cartridge. I attended the British Shooting Show 2025 and somehow was underwhelmed by the lack of enthusiasm from the market. So, short term scarcity of the rifles and ammunition will remain a limiting factor in the UK, but I have no doubt over the coming months 7mm PRC will find its fan base here.
I wrap up this brief introduction with a suggestion which will undoubtably upset some of your purists. With its short and efficient case and high BC fast twisting bullet, I think this cartridge is an excellent choice if you are considering a compact 18” barrel rifle with better ballistic and terminal performance compared to 24” barrel 6.5mm PRC or 270 Win, an excellent option for hunting in the UK. Oh, I just heard someone shouting, “you are butchering a great cartridge” and my response would be “but how much power do you need?” More will be revealed in future articles!
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