Federal just introduced a new rifle cartridge called the 7mm Backcountry. The company claims that it’s a high performance, all-range cartridge that reinvents ammunition as we know it. That’s bold talk. For a cartridge to do that, it would have to be pretty damned special. Well, the 7mm Backcountry is, in fact, special. And while it might not have reinvented ammunition, there’s no question it has changed the rules. Let me explain.
With the 7mm Backcountry, Federal’s goal was to create a rifle cartridge for big-game hunting that would not only shoot flatter and hit harder than any other 7mm rifle cartridge, but would also do it from a suppressor-friendly 20-inch barrel and without additional recoil. Under the usual rules of ammo-making, this would seem like an impossible task. So, Federal changed the game by ditching the typical brass cartridge case and swapping it out for a steel one. But not just any steel. This isn't the stuff of cheap, steel-cased, Soviet-made ammunition. For the new Backcountry, Federal chose a patented material called Peak Alloy, the same material used in nuclear reactors, to create an entirely new cartridge case that's substantially stronger than brass, feeds more smoothly, and is still reloadable.
Dimensionally, the 7mm Backcountry is very similar to the 280 Remington and the 280 Ackley Improved. It’s noticeably smaller than other magnum 7mm cartridges—which allows for more magazine capacity—and yet it outperforms them all. If you're wondering how that's even possible, keep reading.
How the New Federal 7mm Backcountry Cartridge Works
It’s confusing because cartridges like the 7mm Remington Magnum and 7mm PRC hold more gun powder. As a result, they look more powerful and seem like they ought to be. However, their brass cases have pressure limitations. Manufacturers load traditional 7mm cartridges to between 61,000 and 65,000 psi, but Federal can load the Peak Alloy cased 7mm Backcountry to 80,000 psi. What's more, because of those pressure limitations, traditional loads must use slower-burning powders. The 7mm Backcountry uses faster burning powders, allowing it to use less and still outperform its peers.
But what about those monster magnums like the 28 Nosler and 7mm Remington Ultra Magnum? From a 24-inch barrel, their velocities can slightly exceed the Backcountry’s, but because of the massive amounts of slow-burning powder those cartridges use, they need a long barrel to perform. Shorten their barrels to 20 inches, and they cannot hang with a 20-inch-barreled Backcountry or perform as efficiently. The bottom line is that the 7mm Backcountry gives you the optimum in long-range performance from a lighter and shorter rifle that’s more suppressor and more hunter friendly. (By the way, if you already have a can on your current 7mm or 0.30-caliber long-range rifle, there's no need to buy a new suppressor. It'll will work just fine on rifles chambered for the new cartridge.)
We call Newton’s third law a “law” for a reason, so why doesn’t the 7mm Backcountry recoil harder? It’s because of ejecta, everything launched through the rifle’s barrel contributes to recoil, and that includes the weight of the bullet and the gun powder. The Backcountry shoots the same weight bullet at faster velocities but uses less gun powder. So, the recoil impulse is different—it’s a tad sharper because of how the pressure spikes differently with faster burning powders—but side-by-side, it’s hard to tell the difference in a 7mm Backcountry and a 7mm PRC.
What About Barrel Burnout?
With everything ballistic, there's a trade-off—more of one thing always means less of another. A potential weak link with the 7mm Backcountry is the very thing that makes it work—pressure. Shooters claimed that the 264 Winchester Magnum would burn out your barrel quicker because of the relationship of pressure to bore diameter. With the 7mm Backcountry—at least mathematically—the same should be true. With 30% more pressure than a 7mm Remington Magnum, logic suggests that throat erosion could occur about 30% sooner.
You can get 2,500 rounds or so from a 7mm Mag before accuracy begins to deteriorate, so it’s reasonable to assume—depending on how you shoot and care for your barrel—issues with a 7mm Backcountry might appear at around 2,000 shots. Does that matter? Yes and no. That’s 100 rounds per year for 20 years, and more than $6,500 in ammunition. If you can afford to shoot that much, you can afford a new barrel in 20 years. But most hunters don't shoot that much, and many will buy a new rifle in half that time. In short, even with the Backcountry's high-pressure loads, barrel burnout won't be an issue for most hunters.
Related: Hornady 7mm PRC, Tested and Reviewed
Available Rifles and Loads for the New 7mm Backcountry
Speaking of new rifles, Gunwerks, Seekings Precision, Christensen Arms, Proof Research, Weatherby, Savage, and a lot of other companies will be chambering rifles in 7mm Backcountry. I evaluated the cartridge on my home range in a brand new, tack-driving, prototype bolt-action rifle called the King Hunter from Geissele. Out of this rifle’s 20-inch barrel, the two loads I tested outperformed their advertised velocities. I didn't test the 7mm Backcountry for precision because that has as much to do with rifle it's being shot from than anything else. That said, the groups I did shoot left me with little doubt about its capabilities. I did, however, test for penetration, recovered bullet diameter, and weight retention, as shown in the chart below. I’ll know more about how this cartridge will perform in the field soon, as the 7mm Backcountry will be going on safari in Africa with me in June.
But a new rifle is not completely necessary. Since the 7mm Backcountry has the same rim diameter as the 270 Winchester and 30-06 Springfield, and since the overall cartridge length is the same, you could just re-barrel your old 270 or 30-06 rifle for the 7mm Backcountry. All you would need is a 1-in-8-twist, 7mm barrel and a competent gunsmith to do the work.
With any new cartridge, the available loads are important, and this is even more critical with the 7mm Backcountry because it uses proprietary cases. Federal is initially offering five loads that include a 155- and 170-grain Terminal Ascent, a 168-grain Barnes LRX, a 175-grain Tipped Fusion, and a 195-grain Berger Elite Hunter. These bullets have all proven themselves in other cartridges, and I got to see how four of them performed at close range when fired into blocks of Clear Ballistics at 100 yards. They all held up to the Backcountry’s high velocity. Here are the specs on each load.
Why the 7mm Backcountry May Be Only the Beginning
What really entices me is what Federal can do with this Peak Alloy case technology if applied to other cartridges. Can you imagine the ballistics of cartridges similar to the 308 Winchester or the 6.5 Creedmoor, loaded to 80,000 psi in Peak Alloy cases? When I was at Federal, I shot 5.56 NATO ammo loaded to 80,000 psi in the Peak Alloy cases from an AR15. We staggered the ammo in the magazine with standard-pressure 5.56 NATO loads, and the Peak Alloy cased ammo chronographed 300 fps faster than conventional 5.56 NATO ammo.
Of course, Federal cannot just start offering SAAMI-approved cartridges with Peak Alloy cases loaded to 80,000 psi. SAAMI's current pressure restrictions on those cartridges prevent it, for one thing. That's why Federal created a whole new case for the 7mm Backcountry as opposed to using Peak Alloy cases with a SAAMI approved cartridge like the 280 Remington. To improve on the performance of some of the current brass-cased cartridges we’re familiar with, Federal would have to create similar but new cartridges with different specifications in Peak Alloy cases. That said, I can't think of any reason why they wouldn't.
For now, the 7mm Backcountry is a hell of start. There are more high performance 7mm cartridges than in any other caliber, but the 7mm Backcountry is the most suppressor friendly, flattest shooting, and hardest hitting of them all. It’s legit, and it has set a new standard. Is it necessary for big-game hunting inside 300 yards? No. Your 270 or seven-mag will continue to work just as well as always. However, if you want a really flat trajectory, and if you want to hit critters really hard, especially with a short-barreled suppressed rifle, the 7mm Backcountry has no equal. But I think the real news—the real innovation—is the Peak Alloy case and how Federal might use it to create other high-performance cartridges. I’m most excited to see what comes next. Depending on what Federal does going forward, this new cartridge could represent the greatest ammo-making innovation in more than a century.
