7mm PRC: Complete ballistic data (recoil, trajectory, energy)

Hornady has an incredible track record with cartridges over the last 20 years: 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, 300 PRC, 17HMR. The list goes on. In fact, I’d guess that 80% of the new hunting rifles in most gun stores today are chambered in a cartridge designed by Hornady.

The 7mm Precision Rifle Cartridge is a long-action centerfire rifle cartridge designed to shoot 180 grain bullets at 2,950 fps. It is intended for long-range shooting due to its ability to utilize high BC bullets, and is also uniquely suited for hunting large animals such as elk.

Hornady revealed in an interview on the Backfire Youtube channel that they plan to officially announce the cartridge on October 26, 2022 at the NASGW Expo. The 7mm PRC was approved by SAAMI on June 7, 2022 and the public introduction was released on June 16, 2022. Backfire’s Youtube channel was the first publication to break the story of the cartridge’s SAAMI approval, and Backfire is also the first group to build a 7mm PRC and show it to the public.

Pros and Cons of the 7mm PRC

Building the First 7mm PRC in the World

As soon as the SAAMI specs for the 7mm PRC were announced, I immediately got to work building one. Since Hornady won’t announce the cartridge until the end of October, and since I talked to many different component makers who made me custom items to make the build possible, I can confidently say that this is the first public 7mm PRC rifle build in the world. I’m sure there are hundreds in existence at some of the big rifle makers, but they are under NDA until the cartridge is made public.

Big thank you to Preferred Barrel Blanks for making me a barrel as soon as I got a reamer in, and also to MDT for sending out an Oryx chassis for the build. If you’re building a 7mm PRC, contact Preferred Barrel Blanks and they can make you a prefit.

Loading the 175gr ELD-X Bullet in the 7mm PRC

Important Note: This is anecdotal testing in my personal rifle. Your results may vary. Unlike a load data book from one of the ammunition companies, I am not measuring pressure with a computer. I’m just looking at the brass for symptoms of being over-pressure, but sometimes those symptoms don’t show up until 70k or 75k psi–which is an unsafe pressure. Do not rely on my anecdotal testing for your rifle. If ya do… you might blow your face off.

First, let’s take a look at H4831SC powder loaded with a 175gr ELD-X bullet. This is using CCI Large Magnum primers, and shooting out of a 24″ test barrel.

Powder Charge	Velocity (fps)	Notes
61gr H4831SC	2,754
61.5gr H4831SC	2,806
62gr H4831SC	2,823
63gr H4831SC	2,918
64gr H4831SC	2,950
65gr H4831SC	2,975
65.5gr H4831SC	2,995
66gr H4831SC	2,988
66.5gr H4831SC	3,010	Compressed load
67gr H4831SC	3,037
68gr H4831SC	3,025
69gr H4831SC	3,113	Obvious pressure signs

Next, I loaded H1000. Unfortunately, the chronograph (Labradar) glitched out and didn’t record all the velocities, but I did at least shoot the following two that were recorded. Note that BOTH of these are a compressed load, so you couldn’t really go much faster than this with H1000.

This is again shooting the 175gr ELD-X bullet out of 24″ test barrel with a large magnum CCI primer.

Powder Charge	Velocity (fps)	Notes
68gr H1000	2,912	Compressed load
69gr H1000	2,958	No obvious pressure signs, but I didn’t feel I should compress further.

Last, I shot Accurate Magpro powder with the same 175gr ELD-X and CCI large magnum primer out of a 24″ test barrel. Here’s what I found.

Powder Charge	Velocity (fps)	Notes
66gr Magpro	2,700
67gr Magpro	2,756
68gr Magpro	2,789
69gr Magpro	2,836
70gr Magpro	2,848
71gr Magpro	2,928
71.5gr Magpro	2,942	Still a decent amount of case capacity left.

After seeing these numbers, I’m most interested in pursuing H4831SC for this cartridge. H1000 ran out of space for powder before I reached max velocity. Magpro had a lot of case capacity left, but wasn’t getting the velocity I’d hope to see without just burning a ton of powder.

Personally, my load for the 175 ELD-X in the 7mm PRC will be 66.2gr of H4831SC, which should yield exactly 3,000fps. I believe that should be a max load but still safe in my rifle, efficient loading, and impressive speed. I did all my testing with a CCI Large Magnum primer, but I have not yet tested standard large primers to see which is better.

It seems that the cartridge was designed to compress the load right at the point where you’d reach pressure with these common powders.

Interestingly, I loaded 61.2 grains of H4831SC in a 7mm Remington Magnum, and a 7mm PRC. I used the same primer, and the same 175gr ELDX bullet. However, the 7mm PRC shot on average 105 fps faster.

There is still quite a bit more case capacity left with Magpro (my guess would be you could go to 77 grains before it compresses), so that could be an option for max velocity, but you’d be going through quite a bit more powder to get there.

Loading the 195 Berger EOL Bullet in the 7mm PRC

For this load, I chose the 195 Berger EOL and loaded it to max COAL of 3.34″. I used CCI large magnum rifle primers, and lovingly caressed each bullet before sending it on the ride of its life. I’m still using the same 24″ test barrel by Preferred Barrel Blanks for this cartridge.

Powder Charge	Velocity	Pressure Signs
64gr H4831SC	2,850fps	No pressure signs
65gr H4831SC	2,911fps	Over pressure (Ejector mark)
66gr H4831SC	2,949fps	WAY over pressure (Don’t even think about it)

Powder Charge	Velocity	Notes
64gr H1000	2,652	No pressure signs
65gr H1000	2,710	No pressure signs
66gr H1000	2,792	No pressure signs, compressed load
67gr H1000	2,839	No pressure signs, compressed load

7mm PRC Compared to Other Common Cartridges

Please note that the table below isn’t an apples-to-apples comparison. This is mimicking Hornady Precision Hunter ammunition, but that means the 7mm Rem Mag is using a much lighter bullet than the 7mm PRC, for example, since we don’t yet know any velocity numbers for the 7mm PRC for that load, and if Hornady will release a heavier 7mm ELD-X for this cartridge.

	Energy at 200	Max Effective Range (2,000 fps)	Drop at 400	Drift at 400	Bullet Weight	Muzzle Velocity
7 PRC (175gr ELDX)	2840	770	23	7.3	175	2975
7 PRC (195gr Berger EOL)	2891	720	25.5	7.0	195	2825
300 Win Mag	2812	561	26.1	11.3	200	2820
7mm Rem Mag	2519	684	23.23	8.5	162	2940
280 AI	2359	615	24.99	9	162	2850
6.5 PRC	2270	686	22.63	8.2	143	2960
270 Win	2233	594	23.47	11.6	145	2970
308 Win	2062	388	32.5	12.8	178	2600
7mm-08 Rem	1844	450	29.3	11.8	140	2800

Comparing the 7mm PRC to Similar Cartridges

Cartridge	Bullet Weight	Muzzle Velocity	Muzzle Energy	Action Length	Caliber
28 Nosler	180	3100	3,840	Long	0.284
300 PRC	225	2,800	3,916	Magnum	0.308
Gunwerks 7 LRM	180	3,025	3,657	Long	0.284
300 Win Mag	180	3,000	3,597	Long	0.308
300 WSM	180	3,000	3,597	Short	0.308
7 PRC	180	2,950	3,478	Long	0.284
6.8 Western	175	2,840	3,134	Short	0.277
7 SAUM	180	2,825	3,189	Short	0.284
7mm Rem Mag	180	2,825	3,189	Long	0.284
280 AI	180	2,760	3,044	Long	0.284

As you can see from the above table, the 7mm PRC is most similar to the Gunwerks 7 LRM. In fact, Aaron Davidson, CEO of Gunwerks, jokingly said that the new 7PRC is the 7LRM. Obviously, there are many technical differences between the two, but they do fill a nearly identical hole in the market.

Personally, I have said for a long time on the Youtube channel that my ideal hunting cartridge would be a 7mm shooting 180 grains at 3,000 fps. That’s exactly what the 7PRC is, but it is by no means the only cartridge that offers those specs.

My prediction? The 7mm PRC will kill the following cartridges: 280AI, Gunwerks LRM, and the 7mm Rem Mag. Personally, I like all three of those cartridges for different reasons, but I think this new cartridge will become so popular over the next few years that those cartridges will quickly fade in the rearview mirror. Obviously, the 7mm Rem Mag isn’t going to just vanish in the next 10 years. It’s an incredibly popular cartridge, but over time, I expect the 7 PRC to overtake it.

7 PRC Cartridge Design

Cartridge	H20 Capacity	Max COAL	Case Length	Shoulder Angle	Head Diameter	Neck Length
28 Nosler	98	3.34	2.59	35	0.534	0.2756
300 PRC	96	3.7	2.58	30	0.532	0.3076
7 LRM	82	?	2.514	30	0.528	0.382
300 Win Mag	83	3.34	2.62	25	0.532	0.2639
300 WSM	77	2.86	2.1	35	0.535	0.2979
7 PRC	78	3.34	2.28	30	0.532	0.2868
6.8 Western	75	2.955	2.02	35	0.535	0.2765
7 SAUM	74	2.825	2.035	30	0.534	0.3108
7mm Rem Mag	82	3.29	2.5	25	0.532	0.2712
280 AI	65	3.33	2.525	40	0.472	0.3455

Recoil

The recoil of the 7mm PRC produces 27.7 ft-lbs of energy at a recoil velocity of 14.1 fps. That is more recoil than a .30-06 but barely less than a .300 Win Mag. It is on the upper end of what most large adult shooters can comfortably tolerate.

Cartridge	Bullet Weight	Muzzle Velocity	Recoil Energy	Recoil Velocity	Powder Charge
28 Nosler	180	3100	35.8	16.0	83
300 PRC	225	2,800	35.4	15.9	76
7 LRM	180	3,025	30.5	14.8	73
300 Win Mag	180	3,000	28.7	14.3	69
300 WSM	180	3,000	27.9	14.1	66.5
7 PRC	180	2,950	27.7	14.1	69
6.8 Western	175	2,840	24.4	13.2	67.5
7 SAUM	180	2,825	23.8	13.1	63.5
7mm Rem Mag	180	2,825	23.4	12.9	62
280 AI	180	2,760	22.3	12.6	62

Bullet Weights

The 7 PRC is designed around the 180-grain ELD-Match bullet; however, some people will certainly point to the fact that the 7mm Rem Mag has been able to shoot 180-grain bullets for many decades. The specified twist rate for each cartridge dramatically impacts the ability for a firearm to spin a bullet fast enough to stabilize a long bullet in flight.

Shooters will gravitate toward heavy-for-caliber high-BC bullets in the 7mm PRC. I have a table showing the highest BC 7mm bullets, but here are a few bullets likely to be popular in the 7mm PRC:

• 175gr Hornady ELD-X
• 180gr Hornady ELD-M
• 195gr Berger EOL
• 197gr Sierra MatchKing HPBT
• 190gr Berger Long Range Hybrid Target
• 185gr Nosler RDF
• 183gr Sierra MatchKing
• 180gr Berger VLD Target
• 180gr Berger Hybrid Target
• 180gr Berger VLD Hunting
• 175gr Berger Elite Hunter
• 175gr Nosler Accubond

Below are the specified twist rates for many similar cartridges to the 7 PRC.

Cartridge	Twist Rate	Bullet Weight Range
28 Nosler	1:9	120 – 185
300 PRC	1:8.5	175 – 250
Gunwerks 7 LRM	1:9	180 (Factory)
300 Win Mag	1:10	125 – 220
300 WSM	1:10	125 – 220
7 PRC	1:8	Likely 150 – 195
6.8 Western	1:7.5 (Browning), 1:8 (Winchester)	110 – 175
7 SAUM	Varies	120 – 185
7mm Rem Mag	1:9.5	120 – 185
280 AI	1:8 (Varies)	120 – 185