First Look: Federal 7mm Backcountry

Federal Ammunition has recently launched a long-action hunting cartridge focused on 7mm/.284 heavy-for-caliber bullets, focusing on speed, increased performance in short barrels and suppressors, and making use of heavy bullets with high BC, all in a non-magnum load.

The new, Federal-designed 7mm Backcountry cartridge is boosted by new Peak Alloy case technology, which provides magnum performance in a standard bolt face rifle. Through 20-inch barrels and with 170-grain bullets, it can achieve 3,000 feet-per-second (fps). These numbers; 20, 170, and 3,000 form the baseline for Federal’s goal behind the round.

“Welcome to the future of rifle cartridges,” said Mike Holm, Federal’s Director of Centerfire Rifle Ammunition. “With our new 7mm Backcountry cartridge, hunters and shooters will experience true innovation. Those three numbers spotlight the three advantages of this new cartridge. It utilizes a revolutionary high-strength case technology that results in the fastest production 7mm rifle cartridge on the planet. This extreme speed allows for flat shooting while enabling the hunter to shoot a shorter barrel rifle to take advantage of a suppressor. The non-magnum-size cartridge retains magazine capacity and can be loaded with heavy bullets for greater ballistic coefficients and down-range performance.”

“Traditional ammunition typically uses brass cases with muzzle-velocity data advertised on its box that is generated using an industry-standard 24-inch factory test barrel,” explained Brad Abramowski, Federal’s Centerfire Rifle Ammunition Engineer. “And although we still spotlight 7mm Backcountry’s astounding speed for a 24-inch barrel on the front of every box, we also detail the velocity data from 20-inch barrels on the back of the box. This is because hunters are trending toward using shorter-barrel rifles with suppressors. They want a rifle with a shorter barrel to make it more manageable while on the hunt, but they also want to achieve that blistering speed goal of 3,000 feet-per-second for flat-shooting performance.”

Ballistic data released by Federal shows that the 155-grain Terminal Ascent bullet, the lightest bullet Federal will initially offer in 7mm Backcountry, sports a 24-inch barrel muzzle velocity of 3,300 fps. Its 20-inch barrel data comes in at 3,150 fps. Finally, through a 16.5-inch barrel, it still retains a velocity of 3,000 fps. Federal’s load with the heaviest bullet 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.

Federal also cited the growing popularity of suppressed hunts as a reason for the Backcountry’s development.

“We now hunt in modern times, so suppressors are everywhere, and rightfully so,” explained Holm. “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. To counter this, many shooters are selecting rifles chambered in cartridges like 7mm PRC with 20-inch barrels to make room for their suppressor. But, in the process, they lose the magnum velocities, energy, and trajectories their cartridge supplied initially.”

Finally, Federal wanted to use heavier bullets with high BC for the Backcountry cartridge family, and will offer this new cartridge in its internally designed Terminal Ascent 155- and 170-grain bullet options. Next is Federal’s Barnes LRX 168-grain load, which is an entirely-copper option. The Fusion Tipped 175-grain option appeals to hunters looking for reliable, accurate ammunition at a specific price point. Finally, Federal will also load its new cartridge with Berger Elite Hunter 195-grain bullets.

Learn more at www.federalpremium.com.

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