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An In-Depth Look at 7mm Backcountry
by NRA Staff posted on January 7, 2025
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Federal Ammunition set out to create a brand-new 7mm, with an eye toward speed, suppressors and seriously heavy bullets. This pursuit, which has culminated in the 7mm Backcountry, can be encapsulated by three measurements: 20, 170 and 3,000. What does this mean? Through 20-inch barrels and with 170-grain bullets, the 7mm Backcountry—not a magnum cartridge—can achieve 3,000 feet-per-second (fps). How it does it is the real question. For the answer, read on, or check out the video embedded above.

The first and most important part of the answer is the cartridge's unique, Peak Alloy case. The patented, high-strength steel alloy—similar to the steel alloys used in bank safes, race cars, and nuclear reactors—is stronger than brass used in conventional cases. This allows it to safely handle higher chamber pressures, boosting velocities to magnum levels through a shorter barrel while maintaining comparable, if not reduced, perceived recoil.

7mm Backcountry Expansions

This leads to some incredible results. Federal’s 155-grain Terminal Ascent bullet, the lightest bullet Federal will initially offer in 7mm Backcountry, has an astonishing 24-inch barrel muzzle velocity of 3,300 fps. And, its 20-inch barrel data comes in at 3,150 fps. Through a 16.5-inch barrel, it can still clock an impressive 3,000 fps. Federal’s load, with the heaviest bullet being offered and with the highest ballistic coefficient (the Berger Elite Hunter 195-grain bullet), produces a 24-inch barrel muzzle velocity of 3,000 fps. Its 20-inch barrel velocity still comes in at 2,850 fps. These remarkable numbers are currently unreachable, even in 7mm PRC.

“7mm Backcountry is a result of six years of development,” explained Abramowski. “Driven by the U.S. military’s need for improved performance ammunition, we tested many materials at high pressures to ensure rifle function out of a one-piece case configuration for manufacturing efficiency and design reliability. Peak Alloy delivers everything we dreamed it would. It can be loaded at a maximum chamber pressure of 80,000 pounds per square inch (psi) and achieve 3,000 fps velocities with 170-grain class bullets out of 20-inch barrels.”

When developing the cartridge, Federal engineers developed testing to confirm safety when loading high-strength steel cases at 80,000 psi.

Case on box

So why design something with an eye toward shorter barrel performance? In a word, suppressors. Hunting suppressed has become all the rage lately, and its not hard to see why. With less felt recoil and hearing-safe options, shooting suppressed saves ears and shoulders alike.

“We acknowledge that hunters are moving away from magnum cartridges in long barrels to short, light, compact rifles with suppressors,” said Mike Holm, Federal’s director of centerfire rifle ammunition. “However, cartridges and rifles haven’t kept pace with this trend. Installing an 8-inch suppressor on a 24-inch barrel results in an awkward and impractical platform."

7mm Backcountry Cartridges

Initial Offerings

Federal launched its new cartridge with a gamut of all-range and long-range projectiles to best exploit the velocity, energy, range and trajectory advantages of 7mm Backcountry. These flat-shooting, 170-plus-grain class, heavy-for-caliber bullets offer a balance between sleekness and energy, touting high ballistic coefficients (BC).

“Our goal was to take the new case technology and design the ultimate, high-tech hunting cartridge that could handle loadings at a higher pressure,” said Eric Miller, Federal's centerfire rifle product line manager. “We also wanted it to operate in non-magnum, standard long actions to keep room for round capacity. The result is a non-magnum-looking cartridge with the same neck length as 7mm PRC, body taper and shoulder angle as 6.5 Creedmoor, and a cartridge size similar to 30-06 Springfield or 280 Ackley Improved. Yet it accepts heavy bullets with a long ogive.”

“Terminal Ascent is our flagship all-range big game bullet that extracts the utmost performance from the 7mm Backcountry cartridge,” continued Miller. “Its bonded construction penetrates deep on close targets, while the patented Slipstream polymer tip initiates expansion at extreme long range. The 155-grain load is the fastest 7mm on the market with 3,150 fps out of a 20-inch barrel, while the 170-grain achieves 3,000 fps out of 20-inch barrels. The 155-grain bullet has a G1 BC of .586, and the 170-grain is .645.”

Next is Federal’s Barnes LRX 168-grain load. This offering is specifically for those looking for an all-copper option, and achieves 3000 fps from a 20-inch barrel with a G1 BC of .513.

The Federal-engineered Fusion Tipped 175-grain provides a more traditional option, traveling at 2,975 fps from a 20-inch barrel with a G1 BC of .575

Finally, Federal will load its new 7mm Backcountry cartridge with Berger Elite Hunter 195-grain bullets. These bullets have an incredible .755 ballistic coefficient, the highest on the market among hunting bullets, and travel a blistering 2,850 fps out of a 20-inch barrel.

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