Federal 7MM Backcountry: A Hunter’s Perspective

There’s been a lot of chatter on the interwebs and social media about Federal’s new 7MM Backcountry since it was released. I had the honor to shoot, test and hunt with this new round over the past fall and have some thoughts from a hunter’s perspective on the 7MM Backcountry. 

First a bit of technical data to bring Federal’s new round into focus. . . The 7MM Backcountry pushes 170 grain class bullets from a 20” barrel to 3000 fps and beyond. From a 24” barrel the speeds are in the neighborhood of 3200 fps. The pair of test rifles I shot were a Weatherby 307 Range XP 2.0 and a PROOF Glacier Ti, both with 20” barrels which I exclusively shot suppressed. I tested Federal’s 168 grain Barnes LRX load and both rifles recorded speeds over 3K. The Weatherby averaged 3061 and the PROOF got 3047. Both rifles were highly accurate at the range.

The 7MM Backcountry is NOT a magnum cartridge and owes its performance not to a boatload of powder but to increased chamber pressure, 80,000 psi, thanks to its Peak Alloy case. This case material is a steel alloy that is reloadable thanks to its alloy makeup. Do not confuse this with steel cases found in cheap Russian ammo, it is not the same. Peak Alloy is the same material found in nuclear reactors. It chambered and extracted beautifully for me, and features a “brushed” finish that is very slippery in the hand and in the gun. Federal told me that the reloadable cases have a life of 3-5 reloads and there are plans to offer unloaded cases specifically for reloaders. 

So what does the 7MM Backcountry offer hunters? Well, I love the fact that it gives me magnum level performance in a compact package. Hunting with a suppressed rifle is game changing but adding a 7-9” suppressor to a 26” rifle barrel creates a cumbersome hunting rifle. The 7MM Backcountry allowed me to carry a rifle with a 20” barrel, shoot heavy for caliber bullets, with 5 rounds in the gun, thanks to the standard case (think .270 and .30-06), and keep my rifle weight (gun, scope, bipod, loaded magazine) to less than 9lbs in a handy rifle configuration that was a joy to carry as well as shoot. 

I took a nice muley buck with the Weatherby 307 Range XP 2.0 a few weeks ago from just under 500 yards. The 7MM Backcountry allowed me superb performance in a hunting friendly setup and the results were very nice. I enjoyed toting a compact, well-balanced rifle with magnum level performance. 

As a hunter who pursues western big game across a wide variety of terrain I love the capability the 7MM Backcountry extends to me. Having a short-barreled, suppressed, well-balanced, lightweight rifle that I can tote in the timber for heavily pressured elk, into the high country for alpine muley bucks and across the wide open plains for extended range pronghorn is very appealing. 

In the past there were always tradeoffs with my rifles; length and weight vs speed, power, and accuracy, portability vs shootability. . . not anymore. While I’ll never be a “one gun guy”, my hunting arsenal has been trimmed down thanks to Federal’s 7MM Backcountry. 

From this hunter’s perspective the 7MM Backcountry is a win. I don’t shoot game at long range, 600 yards is my limit, if yours is further, the 7MM Backcountry’s ballistics have you covered. On hunts I carry a rifle a lot more than I shoot it and I hunt a variety of western big game with the same gun, so how a rifle handles is important for me and the handy configurations the 7MM Backcountry allows are a plus.

To sum it up… 7MM Backcountry gives me magnum performance from a short barrel with a suppressor in a lightweight, easy to carry rifle, and it will easily take any western big game I choose to hunt. I’m excited to see where this new cartridge goes and how Federal’s new Peak Alloy case technology impacts the future of cartridge development.