7mm PRC Effective Range – The Truth About Guns

Hornady is aware of the way to design and promote new cartridges. They excel to find the candy spot for a selected caliber and optimizing case design to squeeze each final little bit of constant velocity from a brand new cartridge. And Hornady has hit one other new candy spot with the 7mm PRC (Precision Rifle Cartridge) that was formally introduced to the world on the NASGW Expo in October of 2023. 

By all measurements, this new cartridge is simply the newest non-belted magnums. The 7mm PRC shares fairly a little bit of territory with the 7mm Rem. Magazine., Gunwerks 7 LRM and .28 Nosler as an elk cartridge. This new PRC is meant to deal with heavier, high-BC bullets than the 7mm Rem. Magazine. It could be considered equally to the comparability of the .300 Win. Magazine. and the .300 WSM.

Efficient Vary For Searching Elk-Sized Sport

The 7mm PRC is designed for long-range searching owing to its skill to launch heavy-for-caliber, high-ballistic coefficient bullets from a long-action centerfire rifle. Rifles firing 180-grain bullets at roughly 2,950 fps ought to show to excel at hammering elk-sized recreation at longer ranges. For instance, let’s use a considerably arbitrary variety of 1,500 ft-lbs because the vitality wanted to take an elk. The 7mm PRC simply barely falls in need of 1,500 ft-lbs at 1,000 yards. 

Please word that is all hypothetical from trying solely on the information. Taking a 1,000-yard shot on an elk is extraordinarily far. Whereas I’d by no means advocate a hunter strive that, the ballistics present it’s doable with the 7mm PRC. All of it comes right down to ability, recreation measurement, shot angle and shot placement. Most hunters’ photographs shall be 500 yards or much less, and at that vary it’s positively a viable cartridge for elk.

Hornady has the cartridge rated as able to dealing with medium to giant recreation, which interprets to animals between 50 and 1,500 kilos. This implies the cartridge can be utilized on coyotes, feral hogs, white-tailed deer, elk and every little thing in between. In truth, the Precision Hunter load is particularly designed to work properly on a wide range of recreation animals and predators. Based on Hornady, it really works properly on recreation weighing as much as 1,500 kilos, which would come with most moose. Nonetheless, needless to say utilizing it on smaller animals will trigger important injury. If you wish to hold hides intact on coyotes or comparable predators, it could be finest to make use of a smaller cartridge. 

Lengthy-Vary Precision Taking pictures

The 7mm PRC performs nice at long-range work, grouping sub-MOA out to 1,000 yards and able to ringing metal at one mile. The trajectory and ballistics are maybe most spectacular round 400 to 600 yards when in comparison with different magnum cartridges. For example, a 7mm PRC bullet drops lower than 20 inches at 400 yards. It additionally performs higher than many different cartridges at 1,000 yards because of the excessive BC bullets’ flat trajectory and spectacular resistance to wind deflection. Nonetheless, the .300 PRC will outperform it at distances round one mile.

Lastly, it’s value noting that 7mm PRC is taken into account a medium-recoil cartridge with extra recoil than 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5 PRC, however significantly lower than .300 PRC or .28 Nosler. For instance, a 10-pound 7mm PRC rifle firing a 175-grain ELD-X generates 23.80 ft/lbs of recoil. By comparability, a .28 Nosler firing a 162-grain bullet will produce 29.84 ft/lbs of free recoil from that very same 10-pound rifle. All of those traits of the 7mm PRC are necessary issues for precision shooters.

7mm PRC Ballistics

The ballistics chart beneath is from Hornady’s web site for the 180-grain ELD Match manufacturing unit load. 

The place to Purchase

Wrap-Up

The 7mm PRC is a really versatile cartridge. Though it shines at long-range use, equivalent to for precision rifle capturing matches, it may be used for nearly something. This is a wonderful cartridge for goal follow, searching numerous sizes of recreation and capturing out to 1 mile.

This text initially appeared at ShootingSavvy.com and is reprinted right here with permission. 

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