7 PRC vs 7mm Rem Mag: Here’s Why the New Cartridge Is Superior

There was a time when American shooters weren’t very keen on rifle cartridges with “mm” of their names. The 7mm Remington Magnum helped change that perspective when it was launched 64 years in the past alongside the enduring Remington 700 bolt motion rifle. For Huge Inexperienced, the timing was excellent. Huge-game hunters shortly got here to view the mixture as an ideal marriage, particularly for searching elk and mule deer in massive, open nation.

Since then, shooters have been capable of make use of quite a few 7mm cartridges, however few may problem the recognition of the 7mm Rem Magazine. That’s altering with 7mm choices that showcase advances in cartridge design. One beginner that not solely challenges, however in some ways beats the 7mm Rem Magazine, is the 7mm PRC, delivered to us by the revolutionary minds at Hornady. 

With these two cartridges, now we have a traditional old-school versus new-school matchup. Right here’s a more in-depth take a look at how they stack up towards each other and what it’s worthwhile to know to decide on the cartridge that’s best for you.

Historical past

The 7mm Rem Magazine was largely a creation of clothes shop and firearms author Les Bowman, who experimented for a while to give you an optimum cartridge for searching elk in excessive, open nation. What he actually needed was a cartridge that may convey extra power than a .30-06 Springfield, with out producing terribly punishing recoil, whereas flying with the flat trajectory of the 270 Win. 

He discovered an answer by necking down the .338 Win Magazine to 7mm and shortening the neck. He initially known as the cartridge the .280 Rem Magazine, however Remington modified the identify to 7mm Rem Magazine upon introduction as a result of the corporate didn’t wish to kill its 280 Remington cartridge. Gross sales took off nearly instantly, and the 7mm Rem Magazine established itself as one of the widespread searching cartridges of the time. It has since been used to take nearly each recreation animal on the planet.

The 7mm Rem Magazine stays widespread at this time in a world awash in new cartridge designs, however the newer 7mm PRC is stealing a number of the 7mm Rem Magazine’s thunder.  

The 7mm PRC made fairly a splash when it was launched by Hornady simply 4 years in the past, with some calling it the “trendy magnum” of 7mm cartridges. That’s as a result of it embodies the identical modern cartridge design ideas utilized in rounds just like the 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, and 300 PRC. In some methods, it outshines all of those, and delivers extra environment friendly efficiency than the 7mm Rem. Magazine. It does so from a standard-length motion with out utilizing a belted case.

Based mostly on a shortened .375 Ruger mum or dad case, the 7mm PRC makes use of lengthy, heavy-for-caliber bullets in rifles with quick charges of twist (most frequently 1:8). In consequence, it shoots flat, bucks the wind, retains velocity downrange and is inherently correct. Utilizing Hornady’s 175-gr. ELD-X bullet, the spherical stays supersonic previous 1,800 yards, and power doesn’t drop beneath 1,000 foot-pounds till practically 1,200 yards. That’s overkill for the whitetail woods, nevertheless it makes the cartridge a terrific alternative for Western hunters pursuing mule deer and elk at longer ranges. Additionally it is very a lot at house on the African plains.

Accuracy

Rifles chambered in 7mm PRC usually produce nice accuracy — particularly when in comparison with a number of the conventional magnum cartridges. PRC stands for Precision Rifle Cartridge, and your complete household of PRC cartridges was designed from the start to supply superior accuracy at distance.

The 7mm Rem Magazine was not. It was designed to carry out properly on recreation at a time when 1.5-MOA accuracy was thought of excellent for manufacturing facility rifles utilizing manufacturing facility ammunition. This isn’t to say that the 7mm Rem Magazine is an inaccurate cartridge. Through the years, my common 3-shot teams with most 7mm Rem Magazine rifles have been pretty shut to 1 MOA, or a little bit higher with hundreds these rifles most popular — just a few weapons sometimes did higher. This, in fact, is simply my anecdotal experiences capturing the cartridge, not the end-all-be-all commentary on its accuracy.  

The rifles I’ve shot in 7mm PRC have seldom did not print 3/4-MOA-or-better common teams and half-inch-or-better greatest teams at 100 yards (these have been 3-shot teams, once more take this as anecdotal proof).  

Particular person 7mm Rem Magazine rifles are able to excellent accuracy, however based mostly on my experiences, the general accuracy benefit goes to the 7mm PRC. Outside Life Capturing Editor John Snow also gives the 7 PRC the nod.

“The 7mm Rem Magazine can actually shoot properly, however you usually want to leap by a few additional hoops to get nice efficiency with the highest 7mm goal bullets,” as he places it. “The 7 PRC is the simple button due to the inherent accuracy baked into its design.”

Recoil

You’ll usually hear that the 7mm Rem Magazine produces extra recoil than the 7mm PRC, however that’s essentially the case. Sure, the 7mm Rem Magazine can produce a punishing degree of recoil, particularly out of lighter rifles with heavier hundreds. Nonetheless, many hunters generally shoot 7mm Rem Magazine ammo loaded with lighter 140- to 160-gr. bullets, which may produce much less recoil than capturing the 7mm PRC’s heavier normal bullets. 

These quick, mild hundreds got here in helpful at a time when hunters have been principally utilizing the holdover methodology for longer pictures (earlier than laser rangefinders have been invented). A part of the 7mm Rem Magazine’s enchantment, particularly with Western hunters, was that it shot comparatively flat.

On common, the 7mm Rem Magazine produces about 22-25 ft-lbs. of recoil power, whereas the 7mm PRC produces common recoil power of roughly 25-29 ft-lbs. Nonetheless, these common numbers might be deceptive as a result of recoil power varies significantly relying on elements like rifle weight, bullet weight, and powder cost. 

With heavy rifles, recoil with each the 7mm Rem Magazine and 7mm PRC is manageable for many shooters. Drop the rifle weight down, and recoil can turn into an issue for both cartridge. With seven-pound rifles, for instance, the 7mm PRC produces 33.9 ft-lbs. of recoil power with a 175-grain bullet, whereas the 7mm Rem Magazine generates 29.45 ft-lbs. of power with a 162-grain bullet. 

With each cartridges, recoil is considerably greater than with short-action cartridges, nevertheless it’s lower than the recoil of most belted magnums producing true magnum velocities. In fact, recoil might be partially mitigated with using good recoil pads and muzzle brakes.

Ballistics

There isn’t any query that the 7mm PRC is ballistically superior to the 7mm Rem Magazine when used with the heavier, sleeker bullets the cartridge is designed for. However is the distinction sufficient to justify selecting one over the opposite? Let’s take a look at two cartridges utilizing the identical comparatively heavy bullet weights, with all numbers calculated for an altitude of 5,000 toes and a 200-yard zero. 

Hornady’s 7mm PRC Precision Hunter load launches a 175-gr. ELD-X bullet at 3,000 fps. That’s 240 fps quicker than Federal’s 7mm Rem Magazine 175-gr. Fusion load. Efficiency out to 300 yards isn’t terribly completely different. At that distance, the 7mm PRC load drops 5.99 inches, whereas the 7mm Rem Magazine load drops 7.57 inches.

Past 300 yards, nonetheless, the higher velocity and better BC of the 7mm PRC load present exponential benefits. At 500 yards, the 7mm PRC runs at 2,405 fps, drops 33.49 inches and hits with 2,247 ft-lbs. of power. The 7mm Rem Magazine load, in distinction, runs 358 fps slower, drops 9.57 inches extra and delivers 619 fewer ft-lbs. of power at 500 yards. The 7mm Rem Magazine load drops beneath 1,500 ft-lbs. of power earlier than it reaches 600 yards. The 7mm PRC nonetheless carries 1,500 ft-lbs. of power past 900 yards. 

The story is far the identical on the subject of bucking the wind. With 175-gr. bullets, drift in a full-value, 10 mph wind for the 7mm PRC is 3.64 inches at 300 yards, 10.40 inches at 500 yards and 46.53 inches at 1,000 yards. The 7mm Rem Magazine drifts 1.62 inches extra at 300 yards, 5.11 inches extra at 500 yards and a whopping 26.28 inches extra at 1,000 yards.

7mm Rem Mag Federal 175-gr. Fusion

7mm PRC Hornady 175-grain ELD-X

The clear winner on this case is the 7mm PRC, however a humorous factor occurs whenever you evaluate the 7mm Rem Magazine and 7mm PRC utilizing lighter bullets. For those who test the numbers for Hornady’s new 154-grain SST American Whitetail Tipped 7mm PRC load (with a G1 BC of .525) towards the ballistics of Federal’s 155-grain Terminal Ascent 7mm Rem Magazine load (with a G1 BC of .586), there’s little or no distinction in ballistic efficiency. If something, the 7mm Rem Magazine has a tiny edge, outrunning the 7mm PRC by 67 fps at 500 yards. Some great benefits of the 7mm PRC are actual, however they’re primarily achieved when utilizing heavier, higher-BC bullets.

Learn Subsequent: Federal 7mm Backcountry, Tested and Reviewed

Ammo Availability and Choice

The 7mm Rem Magazine simply beats the 7mm PRC when it comes to ammo availability just because it has been round for thus lengthy and is manufactured by so many ammo makers. At the least 30 completely different ammo manufacturers presently load 7mm Rem Magazine ammo. Solely a couple of dozen load 7mm PRC ammo, however that represents a comparatively speedy rise in reputation for the reason that cartridge’s introduction in 2022.

Collectively, Federal, Remington, Hornaday, Winchester and Barnes supply 40 completely different 7mm Rem Magazine hundreds. The identical producers promote simply 14 hundreds in 7mm PRC (Winchester and sister firm Browning don’t load for 7mm PRC in any respect). Over time, I count on the 7mm PRC to steadily achieve floor in availability. 

The 7mm Rem Magazine is a little more versatile when it comes to manufacturing facility ammo choices, with manufacturing facility bullet weights starting from about 120-180 grains. The 7mm Rem Magazine successfully slings lighter bullets as a result of most rifles in 7mm Rem Magazine have barrels with comparatively gradual 1:9 to 1:10 twist charges. These twist charges will not be optimum for stabilizing a number of the longest and heaviest 7mm bullets. That is the place the 7mm PRC shines, with its normal 1:8 twist charge, and that’s mirrored in manufacturing facility ammo choices with a narrower vary of bullet weights concentrated within the 155-180 grain vary.

Premium ammo for each cartridges tends to command premium costs. 

Terminal Efficiency

Hunters are properly outfitted with both the 7mm Rem Magazine or 7mmn PRC to deal with just about any recreation on the planet, however there’s room to quibble even about that relying on what bullet the cartridges are loaded with. Bear in mind, “Karamojo” Bell used the .275 Rigby (renamed from the 7x57mm Mauser) to deflate tonnage of elephants, and others have used 7mm cartridges to kill a number of the most harmful animals on the planet.

At normal searching distances, animals hit with both the 7mm Rem Magazine or the 7mm PRC, with comparable bullet weights and designs, aren’t prone to discover any distinction between the 2 cartridges. At distances past 300 yards, the smooth, heavier 7mm PRC bullets will influence with considerably higher retained power. In fact, animals aren’t killed by power ranges alone. They succumb to terminal harm created by well-designed bullets. All different issues being equal, heavier bullets with higher sectional density will usually carry out higher than lighter bullets with decrease sectional density.

Some shooters nonetheless assume that the phrase “magnum” imbues cartridges with some magically elevated killing potential, they usually don’t contemplate something to be a magnum cartridge if it doesn’t have a belted case. With their earned reputations as thumpers, belted magnums just like the 7mm Rem Magazine will not be going extinct anytime quickly, however they may probably proceed to lose floor to extra environment friendly and modernized cartridges just like the 7mm PRC. The 7mm PRC delivers true magnum efficiency with the additional advantage of higher concentricity, as a result of it headspaces off a 30-degree shoulder slightly than a belt, and probably higher ensuing accuracy. 

Learn Subsequent: The Best 7 PRC Rifles

Remaining Ideas on 7 PRC vs 7mm Rem Magazine

The sheer variety of 7mm Rem Magazine rifles in circulation ensures there will probably be ongoing demand for the cartridge for a very long time to return, as there must be. It’s, nonetheless, a 20^th century design, and the 21^st century 7mm PRC has it beat in a number of essential respects. 

Along with providing higher effectivity, wind resistance and power retention, the 7mm PRC can feed extra easily in some rifles than belted instances and produce comparatively reasonable recoil for true magnum efficiency.

Selecting which cartridge is best for you is a unique matter. That depends upon whether or not the 7mm PRC affords you a major benefit in your particular capturing and searching pursuits. If you’ll by no means shoot at an animal past 300 yards, both cartridge will do the job. However if you happen to plan to hunt massive recreation at longer distances within the open nation of the West, you’re better-served with the trendy 7mm PRC.