I was expecting some marketing gibberish but the Hornady guy was pretty frank about what’s going on with 7PRC velocities. Start at 29min
https://youtu.be/5UF1dXpJ8_M?si=xTcckdb65RNSkRHU
https://youtu.be/5UF1dXpJ8_M?si=xTcckdb65RNSkRHU
Hornady answers 7PRC velocity shortcomings
- Thread starter Jon87
- Start date
Nothing new at all there, pretty common knowledge that test barrels are cut to minimum SAAMI specs and factory barrels vary from different manufacturers.
I have personally seen 100 FPS differences with two different rifles of the same cartridge numerous times .
Cat
No, not that part. That’s just boilerplate stuff. People are reporting a recent consistent shift in velocity that wasn’t present when the cartridge first came out. He said they switched up the powders because of the nitrocellulose shortages and they temporarily prioritized consistency over velocity. Basically just validating everyone’s suspicion that something odd is going on. 100 fps variation between rifles is normal but the same rifle losing 200 fps between boxes is pretty weird
So 7mm RM velocities then. This admission does add some context to varying velocities with factory ammo of different lots, and also the challenge of matching some factory loads with the powders available to hand loaders.
That part I wouldn't know anything about as I have not shot factory ammo in over 35 years.
Even when I did, it was rare for a factory rifle to equal listed velocities.
I also know of no serious competitors that shoot factory ammo either but if factory ammo has lost that much velocity consistently for a given cartridge, hand loading is the obvious answer.
Cat
I thought it was pretty well-known that Hornady had to switch from RL-26 to H1000 for their 7mm PRC loads which resulted in similar consistency but lower velocities? I've seen a lot of speculation but this was not an unknown, I think the biggest thing is the loss of performance which appears to be a permanent thing now that RL-26 is no longer be available (not just to reloaders but to all non-Vista civilian ammo manufacturers).
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I have some older stock factory 175 precision hunter ammo I bought to get brass initially. I pulled one apart and it’s 72.5 gr of ball powder and I get around 2980fps. I know there’s been lots of speculation they’re loading it with RL26 or H1000 or StaBall, etc, etc. Nobody really knows I guess as it seems they’re switching things up a lot. I’m using H1000 in my handloads and getting over 3000 fps easy. Handloading is the answer no matter which way you look at this I think
If I were a factory ammo shooter I'd be pretty choked to see a 100-200fps drop in velocity from a long range precision gun. That's huge at distance.
Have the 6.5 and 300 PRCs seen similar drops recently with Hornady ammo?
I wonder if other "match" ammos have seen a similar change in velocity? FGMM etc?
Glad that I got into rolling my own.
Have the 6.5 and 300 PRCs seen similar drops recently with Hornady ammo?
I wonder if other "match" ammos have seen a similar change in velocity? FGMM etc?
Glad that I got into rolling my own.
Wild_Thing
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
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A lot of Hornady Bros were showing up at ranges after bragging about the caliber and getting 2850-ish out of their 24" barreled rifles using the Hornady Precision Hunter boxed ammo. Some of those guys are pissed after they thought is was their rifles. More so now that cat is out of the bag thanks to some YouTubers. False advertising, etc.
Some just switched to Federal or were just rolling their own anyway and were not affected.
Isn't case capacity between the two (PRC and RemMag) practically the same?
I bought a case of Hornady Precision Hunter 175gr ELDX and am farming the brass, they are running average 2985 FPS ES 31 SD 11.1 and shoot 3/4" at 100 yards, no complaints here. I also shot 2 boxes 180gr ELDM Hornady Match ammo which by the way averaged 2989 FPS but ES was 71 and SD was 21.4 and they were max in my gun, had a couple sticky bolt lift and extractor marks on the brass, only had a couple boxes and shot them all already.
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That’s almost exactly the same performance I get with my older stock precision hunter ammo. It’s pretty hot too. No sticky bolts but it’s very close. Getting the brass was also my plan until ADG brass became available.
nowarningshot
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Just a old school hunter. Given ammo, brass availability issues. Teething problems described above.
Would you buy a 7rm if you had it to do again? I went up the power scale of 7mm probably over 20 yrs ago. Their all gone now except a 7x57.
Would you buy a 7rm if you had it to do again? I went up the power scale of 7mm probably over 20 yrs ago. Their all gone now except a 7x57.
Good question. I'd still go with the 7PRC again. This is the only 7mm I have though. Had I already owned a 7RM/7SAUM/28Nosler/etc I wouldn't have bothered. The only real advantage I see of 7PRC over 7RM is it's easier to use the modern long high BC heavy for caliber bullets.
