Yes. No point in buying a cartridge that burns lots of powder only to give it not enough barrel to burn, and therefore make use of, said powder.
If you want an efficient 20” gun get a .308 win.
7 PRC and 300 PRC
- Thread starter Jeffo
- Start date
If you want an efficient 20” gun get a .308 win.
I have 2 7PRC barrels, one for stalking and one for range work:
22’’ shooting 180 ELDs at 2860 with RS76
28’’ shooting 180 ELDs at 3000 with RS76
Both extremely accurate and the shorter barrel works exceptionally well for stalking at all ranges.
If I want a bit more, which is unecessary, I get out the 300 Norma which is pushing a 225 ELDM at 3000 through a 26’’ barrel. The 300 PRC will be about 10% less at a rough estimate.
As others have said, no point in running a 20’’ barrel but 22’’ definitely works and is a cracking longer range stalking calibre. It’s also pushing Vertus 165 Merlin’s at 3060 - deadly!
Hope this helps a little!
22’’ shooting 180 ELDs at 2860 with RS76
28’’ shooting 180 ELDs at 3000 with RS76
Both extremely accurate and the shorter barrel works exceptionally well for stalking at all ranges.
If I want a bit more, which is unecessary, I get out the 300 Norma which is pushing a 225 ELDM at 3000 through a 26’’ barrel. The 300 PRC will be about 10% less at a rough estimate.
As others have said, no point in running a 20’’ barrel but 22’’ definitely works and is a cracking longer range stalking calibre. It’s also pushing Vertus 165 Merlin’s at 3060 - deadly!
Hope this helps a little!
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
Yes. If you want a 20” barrel just go 7-08. Larger powder loads need the additional volume of a longer barrel to burn all the powder to get all the additional velocity. Chop the barrel down all that additional powder is just burnt up after the bullet has left the barrel. You may as well just burn pound notes.
If you use a faster burning powder to compensate for shorter barrel you risk getting pressures too high.
I would keep barrel long and have a moderator with a bayonet type quick detachable mount so that you the mod on and off with just a half turn. Makes rifle easier to carry.
On the other hand short barrelled PRC's seem to work extremely well in the US. 6,5 prc with 18" gives similar performance than 6.5CM 24-26" barrel is what they say. We are just getting ourselves 7PRC's built with 22" carbon barrels for light weight hunting rifles. I think there will be plenty power for deer sized game.
edi
edi
AM_Lillycombe
Well-Known Member
Going 22inch it will be hand loads so we can adjust it to prevent muzzle flash. Apparently 22 is not a problem for factory loads anyway.
pse stock not mdt. Longer wait but worth it imo.
pse stock not mdt. Longer wait but worth it imo.
I get 2860 fps with my 26” 300 and 225s
Have had several 300Normas now
26 and 24”
Current is a 24” “stalker” built on M995 Sako TRG-s
200gr at 3250fps
About to build a range queen with a 30” 1:8” for no other reason than I want to see what it will chuck 245-250gr rounds at
To be honest I have run 200s out to 1100m and don’t think there is any advantage in longer of faster or heavier at that range
Shot significantly better than I am capable of
Ran the 230 Atips but recoil was definitely greater but ballistically not far enough to justify the potential increase
Looking to push past a mile and the longer barrel and heavier projectile is definitely an advantage
They are knocking on at a fair rate!
Get it chambered in .280AI, no point in all the extra Powder with nowhere to burn it.
AM_Lillycombe
Well-Known Member
I could have also done 7mm backcountry…
Going off the factory box figures, 280AI 162gr ELDX would have 5cm more drop than 7prc 180gr ELDX at 300m according to my BC app.
The 7mm backcountry country 175gr federal would actually have 2cm less drop over the same distance.
What length barrels are the box velocities based on?
AM_Lillycombe
Well-Known Member
Whatever the box/manufacturer says. It looks like 100 fps per 2 inches of 7prc barrel so it would be far off.
Where did you get your figures from? The hornady website shows .9” more drop between the 180 gr PRC and 162 .280AI loads with 24” barrels. That’s .3 moa and tighter than a lot of people can shoot at that range!
Real world data it’s probably even closer. I really fancy a 7 PRC but it’s just too close to my straight .280. To put it in perspective my 124 gr yew tree .280 has about .03 mm more drop at 300 yards compared to my 300 PRC does, my scope has .1 mil clicks, so effectively the same drop.
I just really can’t see the point in a magnum cartridge with a short barrel! There are more suited cartridges out there, you just end up wasting powder or downloading to match a smaller cartridge anyway.
AM_Lillycombe
Well-Known Member
Hornady website is a 200yard zero. I used a 100m zero with the bc and velocity from the Hornady website.
All the aforementioned cartridges are going to be fabulous fun.
Ok 2 to 4 more inches on 7prc would get the absolute most out of the round but we are talking 100 or 200 fps difference. But It’s still sending a 180gr round at 3800+ fps so a 22 inch barrel will be fine.
7mm backcountry looks like the ultimate hunting round (short action with 80,000 psi max pressure and high velocity even with short barrel) but it’s a bit too obscure for me.
You said it was the box info?
Hey, whatever floats your boat, as I say I’d have a 7 PRC by now if I didn’t have the .280 and when it gets rebarrelled it will likely end up with a PRC barrel. But it will be 26”
.It’ll do what you need it to do and then some and looks a nice build for sure. It won’t send a 180 gr anywhere near 3800 though fps!
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AM_Lillycombe
Well-Known Member
Reason I said “box” is because we all know the fps won’t be anywhere near what says on the box…You said it was the box info?
Hey, whatever floats your boat, as I say I’d have a 7 PRC by now if I didn’t have the .280 and when it gets rebarrelled it will likely end up with a PRC barrel. But it will be 26”
It’ll do what you need it to do and then some and looks a nice build for sure. It won’t send a 180 gr anywhere near 3800 though fps!
Hornady Data uses 24" with 7PRC as well as 280AI, 7PRC does 125fps more with 180gr than 280AI with 162gr. The energy difference at 300yds will be quite big.
I would by far prefer a 22" 7PRC over a 26" 280AI for hunting.
edi
The energy difference at 300 yards is quite minimal, 2429 vs 2679 ft lb, so the smaller, more efficient cartridge is carrying more energy at 300 than many deer cartridges at the muzzle.
As for the 22” being a better length than 26” for an all round hunting rifle, no disagreement there. My point is with 10% less barrel it might better be matched with a cartridge burning 10% less powder, which will still have more energy at 300 yards than many deer cartridges at the muzzle.
The OP mentioned loading the 22” PRC to avoid muzzle flash - that means less powder/minimum loads for a 100% burn. That would be more easily achieved, with better load density in the smaller cartridge with very little difference in performance.
Penyard
Well-Known Member
I suspect the OP was referring to the use of a faster powder to achieve a full burn and to avoid muzzle flash. In 7PRC this will likely be at the further expense of performance. My early results with RS76 suggest you could develop some still very potent loads using a 22” barrel and just have to forget that you have not quite achieved 100% burn.
That’s kind of my point, you are compromising the cartridge performance to try and make it something it’s not, whereas a smaller cartridge burning 10 grains less powder is not having to be compromised and will be just as potent.
