7mm PRC short barrel?

[Bfish22]

I haven’t finished load development yet but so far they’ve been plenty accurate for my uses.

Looking good. What powder are you using with the 175’s?

 

[TxLite]

Looking good. What powder are you using with the 175’s?

H1000. Gordon’s reloading tool is showing more complete powder burn with Retumbo in the 18” barrel so I may switch when I redevelop after my new brass comes in. Hopefully it’ll help the velocity spread.

 

[gtriple]

Bumping this thread. Trying to decide between an 18" and a 20" barrel for a 7prc Tikka. I'll be running an Ultra 7 Gen 2 can on it. Anybody have velocity data for factory Hornady Precision Hunter or hand-loaded Barnes LRX loads?

 

[IrkedCitizen]

Go with 18" from the numbers I've seen you won't be giving up much.

 

[Mark at EXO]

I'd go 18"...especially with the 7" can. I am really happy with my 18" SAUM.

 

[TxLite]

Bumping this thread. Trying to decide between an 18" and a 20" barrel for a 7prc Tikka. I'll be running an Ultra 7 Gen 2 can on it. Anybody have velocity data for factory Hornady Precision Hunter or hand-loaded Barnes LRX loads?

I was averaging 2750 the first few shots with the 175 Precision Hunter. After 70ish rounds I am sitting around 2762 with an SD of 17. Still hoping for additional velocity as my barrel continues to speed up. I think you’d get better velocity consistency due to more complete powder burn in a 20” based on what I’ve seen with my 18” so far, but the 18” is very convenient with the suppressor.

 

[IrkedCitizen]

So they claim 3000fps from a 24". So 250fps for 6" less barrel. 175gr bullet at 2750fps from 18" is good

 

[philcox]

I'd go 18"...especially with the 7" can. I am really happy with my 18" SAUM.

What is your total length with the folded stock and can? I'm about to pull the trigger on a barrel, and was thinking 20" until I saw this. I compare this to carrying my 300WM in a Mesa Stock and a 22" Barrel. I have the Banish 30, so can run 7" or 9". For a backcountry trip would be 7".

 

[Way Overkill]

Bumping this thread. I got a 7 PRC 20” Preferred Barrel Blanks barrel in carbon fiber. I’m shooting 175 grain ELD-X. Velocity has been all over the place, but I am assuming this is mostly because of my chronograph which isn’t the greatest. Highest velocity recorded was 2823 and the lowest was 2679. Removing some of the outliers, and I feel like the average is about 2750.

What are you guys seeing for velocity shooting ELD-X?

 

[TxLite]

Bumping this thread. I got a 7 PRC 20” Preferred Barrel Blanks barrel in carbon fiber. I’m shooting 175 grain ELD-X. Velocity has been all over the place, but I am assuming this is mostly because of my chronograph which isn’t the greatest. Highest velocity recorded was 2823 and the lowest was 2679. Removing some of the outliers, and I feel like the average is about 2750.

What are you guys seeing for velocity shooting ELD-X?

There’s another thread on here that covers realized velocities with factory ammo and from what I’ve seen listed there, recent lots have been much slower than the originals. Lots of rifles (mine included) were having pressure issues with early production ammo lots.

 

[Oregonhuntrboi]

I currently am running a seekins element which has a 22 inch barrel and I just got my banish backcountry suppressor. I wouldn’t mind chopping the barrel down to 18 inches or ordering a shorter pre fit from straight jacket armory for they make one for my seekins. They offer lengths down to 16.5 inches. Any thoughts on a barrel that short with the can? I like the idea of how compact it will be. I primarily run the factory eldx 175 grains and just want to be effective out to 600 yards or so for elk.

 

[TxLite]

I currently am running a seekins element which has a 22 inch barrel and I just got my banish backcountry suppressor. I wouldn’t mind chopping the barrel down to 18 inches or ordering a shorter pre fit from straight jacket armory for they make one for my seekins. They offer lengths down to 16.5 inches. Any thoughts on a barrel that short with the can? I like the idea of how compact it will be. I primarily run the factory eldx 175 grains and just want to be effective out to 600 yards or so for elk.

I have an 18” and would not go any shorter. 70 grains of powder in 16.5” is not great on most suppressors. Gordon’s reloading tool is showing roughly 93% powder burn for me with H1000 in my 18”. I haven’t looked at 16.5” but I would imagine your SD’s might get a little weird with that powder burn.

You might get the velocity you need for expansion at 600 yards though if that’s your main goal.

 

[renagde]

Finally got a chronograph on mine. Haven't gotten around to putting a load together yet so I'm still shooting the 180 Precision Match ammo. I'm averaging 2790 with a 20" Carbon Six barrel. I have a Thunderbeast Dominus can which is shorter and fatter than the Ultra cans. I'm happy with the 20" barrel and I'm glad I didn't go shorter. I also have a folding stock so it's pretty compact when folded.

If I can get to 2850 with Berger 184s I'd be thrilled.

 

[Oregonhuntrboi]

Finally got a chronograph on mine. Haven't gotten around to putting a load together yet so I'm still shooting the 180 Precision Match ammo. I'm averaging 2790 with a 20" Carbon Six barrel. I have a Thunderbeast Dominus can which is shorter and fatter than the Ultra cans. I'm happy with the 20" barrel and I'm glad I didn't go shorter. I also have a folding stock so it's pretty compact when folded.

If I can get to 2850 with Berger 184s I'd be thrilled.

Nice! Have you got a chrono on the 175 eldx? And why are you saying your happy you didn’t go shorter ?

 

[renagde]

Nice! Have you got a chrono on the 175 eldx? And why are you saying your happy you didn’t go shorter ?

I have not.

I am happy I didn’t go shorter because I am right at the velocity range I was hoping for. I would be a little lower with a 18” barrel. With the folding stock and shorter can, I’m still at a very packable length overall.

 

[donrleonard]

Bumping again. Did the muzzle velocity on the 18” barrels stabilize as they broke in?

Was also interested to read about pressure issues in early ammo. I had a heavy bolt lift a while back while doing some initial chrono work on my XBolt in 7PRC. Didn’t occur that it could be the factory (Hornady CX in my case) ammo.

 

[Vogt]

First post... This thread has helped me make my mind up so I figured I'd post my findings. Sorry for the book, I hope someone finds it helpful.

The Build: I decided to take a factory Bergara and slap an 18" Proof on it. Trued up the action, performed some magic on the chamber and assembled the rifle for about $1800-$1900 before accessories.

Barrel break in: Boy this was such a journey with velocities and pressure I thought I built a nice rifle to get rid of. I like to break barrels in by shoot-clean-shoot-clean etc. The amount of rounds is something like 1-1-1-1-1-3-3-3-3-3-5-5-5-5. Well these couple boxes I just shot into the dirt but still through a chrono. Velocity was from the low 2800s to the mid 2600s and some chewed up brass. Sounds pretty standard.

At about 200 rounds: The pictures below are of the brass from the first and last box I shot. The 175 ELD-X Precision Hunter speed has stabilized at 2695 after truing my drop. It consistently shoots about MOA sized groups out to 600 in bench conditions. I will still get a random flier but that could be me, the cheap stock or the fact that Hornady has figured out how to make a good cartridge but not a good round. I have shot groups of their 160 CX outfitter, 180 ELD-M and the 175 ELD-X. Best average group size is in that order. I just got my hands on some of the new Federal 175’s and can follow up with their speeds and groups if interested.


My thought process: I wanted to go with 18” because even though I shoot steel most of the time but it’s still just practice for the backcountry. The 175 ELD-X Precision Hunter at 2695 fps the max effective range to me is at 925 yards. That is where it still has over 1500 fps for expansion and over 1000 ft-lbs of energy for penetration. Well beyond my max ethical range in field conditions. And that’s still beyond most factory 300WM rounds. For shooting steel the round doesn’t go subsonic till just shy of a mile at 1675 yards. Also at this velocity its wind number is 5 for some easy math. A click per 100 yards for every 5 mph of wind. So a 300 yard shot in 15 mph full value wind is 9 clicks or 2.25 MOA.

My personal results: This is without a doubt my favorite rifle and will be my primary rifle on all of my hunts. I have heard of people having the round explode on game at close ranges. In my opinion that's because out of a normal length barrel the round is still screaming. With mine I have shot a handful of coyotes inside of 100 yards and they’ve all dropped in their tracks. I shot a white tail at about 100 and it went 30 yards and crashed. I shot a bull elk at 360 and it went 40 yards and crashed. All were clean pass throughs and the shock liquified the lungs on the big game. One white tail this rifle shot was at about 150 yards. He was hit a little back about the liver/diaphragm area and it didn’t go more than 30 yards and had liquid lungs still. If you are wanting a buy once cry once do it all hunting rifle, this is it in my opinion. Plus my 12 year old daughter can shoot it.

 

[Ed Hunt]

First post... This thread has helped me make my mind up so I figured I'd post my findings. Sorry for the book, I hope someone finds it helpful.

The Build: I decided to take a factory Bergara and slap an 18" Proof on it. Trued up the action, performed some magic on the chamber and assembled the rifle for about $1800-$1900 before accessories.

Barrel break in: Boy this was such a journey with velocities and pressure I thought I built a nice rifle to get rid of. I like to break barrels in by shoot-clean-shoot-clean etc. The amount of rounds is something like 1-1-1-1-1-3-3-3-3-3-5-5-5-5. Well these couple boxes I just shot into the dirt but still through a chrono. Velocity was from the low 2800s to the mid 2600s and some chewed up brass. Sounds pretty standard.

At about 200 rounds: The pictures below are of the brass from the first and last box I shot. The 175 ELD-X Precision Hunter speed has stabilized at 2695 after truing my drop. It consistently shoots about MOA sized groups out to 600 in bench conditions. I will still get a random flier but that could be me, the cheap stock or the fact that Hornady has figured out how to make a good cartridge but not a good round. I have shot groups of their 160 CX outfitter, 180 ELD-M and the 175 ELD-X. Best average group size is in that order. I just got my hands on some of the new Federal 175’s and can follow up with their speeds and groups if interested.

View attachment 634542View attachment 634541
My thought process: I wanted to go with 18” because even though I shoot steel most of the time but it’s still just practice for the backcountry. The 175 ELD-X Precision Hunter at 2695 fps the max effective range to me is at 925 yards. That is where it still has over 1500 fps for expansion and over 1000 ft-lbs of energy for penetration. Well beyond my max ethical range in field conditions. And that’s still beyond most factory 300WM rounds. For shooting steel the round doesn’t go subsonic till just shy of a mile at 1675 yards. Also at this velocity its wind number is 5 for some easy math. A click per 100 yards for every 5 mph of wind. So a 300 yard shot in 15 mph full value wind is 9 clicks or 2.25 MOA.

My personal results: This is without a doubt my favorite rifle and will be my primary rifle on all of my hunts. I have heard of people having the round explode on game at close ranges. In my opinion that's because out of a normal length barrel the round is still screaming. With mine I have shot a handful of coyotes inside of 100 yards and they’ve all dropped in their tracks. I shot a white tail at about 100 and it went 30 yards and crashed. I shot a bull elk at 360 and it went 40 yards and crashed. All were clean pass throughs and the shock liquified the lungs on the big game. One white tail this rifle shot was at about 150 yards. He was hit a little back about the liver/diaphragm area and it didn’t go more than 30 yards and had liquid lungs still. If you are wanting a buy once cry once do it all hunting rifle, this is it in my opinion. Plus my 12 year old daughter can shoot it.

View attachment 634538

What is the length of your suppressor?

 

[Vogt]

What is the length of your suppressor?

That is a 9", I have a 7" on order. I don't expect it to make a noticeable difference but will get the rifle length from 47" to 45". If that 7" can't tame the short barrel it'll just go on my 308.

 

[Ed Hunt]

That is a 9", I have a 7" on order. I don't expect it to make a noticeable difference but will get the rifle length from 47" to 45". If that 7" can't tame the short barrel it'll just go on my 308.

Awesome, thanks! Very helpful