Time for another 7 Backcountry Thread

[Okie_Poke]

John Snow at Outdoor Life has a good write up on the cartridge someone posted over in the other thread. For occupational reasons, he's obviously required to be a bit of a fan boy, but several questions are raised and answered in a semi-skeptical way.

Federal 7mm Backcountry, Tested and Reviewed

We've shot the 7mm Backcountry more than anyone else and have the most comprehensive accuracy, velocity, and rifle data on this hot new round.

www.outdoorlife.com

On reloading:

Whether the 7mm Backcountry can be reloaded is an open question. And as of this writing, it doesn’t look promising for reloaders.

The first issue is the construction of the case. Because the 7 BC case uses a steel alloy rather than traditional brass, it isn’t as reloader-friendly. According to Federal, the steel alloy cannot be annealed, which means that the cases will probably get brittle after a handful of firings. At that point I’m assuming they’ll exhibit cracked necks or shoulders and need to be pitched. I say, “I assume,” because I haven’t been able to test this myself. This is based on what Federal’s engineers have said.

I know that RCBS is working on reloading dies for the 7 BC, and I’m eager to try them. But from what I’ve heard from RCBS, the dies are having trouble resizing the cases. In order to get them back to their original factory size they need to be run through the die multiple times — more than a dozen cycles, in fact.

On suppressors:

I spoke with their engineers, and they told me that despite the high pressures the round develops in the chamber, the pressure at the muzzle is no greater than a regular 7mm magnum round, like the 7mm PRC.

I don’t know how they pulled that off, but I’m going to take them at their word. I’ve been running the 7 BC with a few different suppressors, mostly the outstanding KGM R30K, but also the Able Company Theorem-L, Silencer Central Banish Backcountry, and Elite Iron STFU. I haven’t had any issues with any of them.

He notably didn't try the Scythe, though, which his buddy Tyler Freel sent flying with a 300 PRC.

I guess time will tell whether this is the future, but I'm personally not interested if it's not reloadable.

 

[bojangles808]

I know I know it's everyone's favorite gun toober, but shooting same speeds in a 16inch barrel as a 26 in 7 prc certainly is intriguing. Not a reloader, so my questions are what is the recoil and what is the barrel life. (And also are we stuck with federal bullets)

 

[TaperPin]

It’s growing on me - not for me, but for my short barrel Rokslide friends. It would warm my heart if you all started packin’ the equivalent of a 7 mag.

I do like the extra heavy 7mm bullets and wish I had 1:8 twist barrel on my rifles.

 

[HuntHarder]

Time will tell. If I am truly able to reduce barrels to the legal minimum and still maintain higher velocity, that is pretty cool to me. Lots of unknowns and the lack of pressure signs showing up on cases is a little alarming from a reloading standpoint. How would you know when you are approaching 80kpsi or if you are at 100kpsi? Lots of questions on my end but I am always interested in new technology if it truly is innovative.

 

[Lou270]

John Snow at Outdoor Life has a good write up on the cartridge someone posted over in the other thread. For occupational reasons, he's obviously required to be a bit of a fan boy, but several questions are raised and answered in a semi-skeptical way.

Federal 7mm Backcountry, Tested and Reviewed

We've shot the 7mm Backcountry more than anyone else and have the most comprehensive accuracy, velocity, and rifle data on this hot new round.

www.outdoorlife.com

On reloading:


On suppressors:


He notably didn't try the Scythe, though, which his buddy Tyler Freel sent flying with a 300 PRC.

I guess time will tell whether this is the future, but I'm personally not interested if it's not reloadable.

This guy has some bad info. Federal did submit a 6.8 cartridge using this technology and was rejected by the selection process. So they went commercial with it Others did as well including several polymer case variants (True Veliocity got theirs saamied but never saw it). The 6.8x51 (277 Fury) is getting deployed right now. As to challenges I’m sure there were some but the hybrid case design used by the 277 sig is getting FAR more testing and use than the Federal version. As to why not seen 277 sig it is because the ammo and resources has been going to the military. It is just now making it to civilian market. Once Lake City facility is up I expect may see some benefit to consumer

Lou

 

[Okie_Poke]

This guy has some bad info. Federal did submit a 6.8 cartridge using this technology and was rejected by the selection process. So they went commercial with it Others did as well including several polymer case variants (True Veliocity got theirs saamied but never saw it). The 6.8x51 (277 Fury) is getting deployed right now. As to challenges I’m sure there were some but the hybrid case design used by the 277 sig is getting FAR more testing and use than the Federal version. As to why not seen 277 sig it is because the ammo and resources has been going to the military. It is just now making it to civilian market. Once Lake City facility is up I expect may see some benefit to consumer

Lou

Lou, are you referring to this part of the article or something else?

The DoD’s answer to this is to drive heavy bullets at faster speeds, and to do that means jacking up the pressure. This is the philosophy behind the Sig 277 Fury but, as you might know, that round has been beset with problems in pursuit of that goal.

The 7 BC aims to be a better mousetrap, one that is reliable and accurate. Time will tell if the 7mm Backcountry accomplishes this, but my initial experience suggests that the round is poised for success.

 

[Lou270]

Lou, are you referring to this part of the article or something else?

Yes - as noted the Federal version of the 6.8 was in the running for the contract. So it is not a “better mousetrap”, or at least it was not selected. Being a 277 fan, I have been following the 6.8x51, at least what is published online. The main issue I have seen reported was accuracy beyond 200 yards with the original 6.8 army projectile (some top secret with penetrator) not the cartridge. This had been fixed with a projectile redesign. Not saying the 7mm BC is a good or bad round but this guy makes it sound like the Sig version is a failure. He also says there is only one source for 277 Fury and that is true right now, but Winchester won the contract to make the ammo not Sig so there will be at least 2. I think I saw 5M rounds in 2023 but could be wrong as going on memory

Lou

 

[WyoWild]

Curious as to why the case design on this cartridge is circa 1915 except for the case materials. It looks exactly like a 30/06-270 win-280 rem. Long action, skinny case, and no 35-40 degree shoulder. Seems like it ignores all of the improvements in cartridge design since PO Ackley. Perhaps the steel case is the reason for that. Maybe it won’t handle the steep shoulders.

It is a modern case design. Skinnier case yes but with minimal case taper, don't necessarily need a fat case if you don't require as much powder capacity. Will hold 1-2 more rounds in the magazine if that matters to you. Has a 30 degree shoulder which is the same as the 6.5 Creed and 7 PRC. For reference the shoulder angle on 30-06/270 is 17.5 degrees.

The Outdoor Life article has a pic of the SAAMI specs for reference.

Federal 7mm Backcountry, Tested and Reviewed

We've shot the 7mm Backcountry more than anyone else and have the most comprehensive accuracy, velocity, and rifle data on this hot new round.

www.outdoorlife.com