Recently, Hornady released the brand new 7mm PRC ammunition, the latest member of the company's "Precision Rifle Cartridge" family. Cooperating with the existing 6.5 PRC, .300 PRC, it provides a good intermediate option.
7mm PRC ammunition is quite different from traditional ammunition.
This Grand Island, Nebraska-based ammunition manufacturer has a good tradition of projectile and cartridge innovation. The most popular rifle ammunition in the past few years is probably the 6.5 Creedmore designed by Hornady, which has improved cartridges and chambers to improve shooting accuracy and maintain consistency in shooting accuracy.
This article is a commentary article published by Guns Ammo magazine. Author Joe Kurtenbach is translated and edited by others to share with you.
7 PRC is between the previously launched 6.5 PRC and .300 PRC, which perfects the PRC series of ammunition.
Hornady's ballistic experts have been at the forefront of designing advanced projectiles that maximize aerodynamic efficiency and have extremely low air resistance in flight. They even used Doppler radar technology to find that projectiles using polymer hoods will fly at high speeds, and the polymer hood will melt and deform due to air friction, which will make the traditional projectile muzzle higher the initial velocity, the lower the flight efficiency. Based on this discovery, Hornady has launched a polymer hood made from insulation material , a technology that is now adopted by other ammunition manufacturers.
In June 2022, the Hornady 7mm PRC was approved by SAAMI as standard ammunition, cartridges and chambers designed for precise shooting.
If equipped with projectiles such as ELD Match and ELD-X series, they are widely praised for their high ballistic coefficient, better speed storage ability, lower extension trajectory and smaller wind bias. This ammunition allows hunting and long-range precision shooting enthusiasts to confidently expand their effective range and shoot targets at longer distances.
Currently, the original 7mm PRC ammunition includes: Match 180 Grain ELD Competition Ammunition, Precision Hunter 175 Grain ELD-X Ammunition, Outfitter 160 Grain CX Ammunition. And there are matching reassembly tools.
Hornady's "Precision Rifle Ammunition (PRC)" product line combines expertise in chamber, cartridge and projectile design. Designed from the outset to determine the pursuit of excellent performance, these cartridges are designed to accommodate and fire high ballistic coefficient projectiles that are too long and too heavy for traditional cartridges.
7mm PRC ammunition full-length rendering, from top to bottom: 180 grain ELD, 175 grain ELD-X, 160 grain CX.
Hornady says the 7mm PRC represents the first truly modern 7mm Magnum ammunition. This 21st century ammunition has a properly designed cartridge and chamber, equipped with heavy low resistance projectiles. By simultaneously designing the cartridge and chamber, the 7mm PRC provides shooting accuracy, accuracy consistency and long-range performance.
Joe Kurtenbach uses Outfitter 160 Grain CX Ammunition to hunt a male moose .
The author of this article used Outfitter 160 Grain CX ammunition to successfully hunt a male moose in BC , proving that this fresh ammunition can effectively hunt large prey. He said the 7mm PRC ammunition is likely to become his new option for hunting large North American animals.
cartridge at the bottom is Hornady, 7mm PRC.
Outfitter 160 Grain CX ammunition uses nickel-plated copper cartridges, which looks more special. After the cartridge is nickel-plated, the self-lubricating characteristics of the coating are used to improve the reliability of the supply. Given that this ammunition is mainly used for hunting, it is possible to ensure the reliability of firearms and ammunition in relatively harsh wild areas. The 7mm PRC is between 6.5 PRC and .300 PRC, which effectively solves the problem of insufficient hunting and stopping ability of the former and excessive recoil. Judging from the feedback from the author of this article, it is obviously aimed at hunting purposes.
From left to right: 6.5 PRC, 6.5 PRC, .308 Winchester , 6.5 Criedmore.
often has friends in the background leaving messages saying that through calculations, they think that a certain ammunition specification is the most ideal, and give ammunition specifications such as 7×51mm.For such comments, I can only say that I seem to have ignored the diameter and volume of the cartridge. This picture can well show the difference in cartridge diameters of different ammunitions. The 6.5 PRC cartridge is significantly thicker, and with the same cartridge length, more launching drugs will be contained. Therefore, the 6.5 PRC is called the "Magnum Edition" of 6.5 Creedmore. It should be noted that short and thick cartridges will affect the reliability of the supply of bullets.
Large-length-diameter projectile will squeeze the space for the ejection medicine.
In addition, there is another factor that needs to be considered, that is, the aspect ratio of the projectile. Now new types of ammunition generally adopt a larger aspect ratio to obtain a higher ballistic coefficient, thereby improving shooting accuracy, accuracy consistency, and supersonic flight distance. However, a projectile with a large aspect ratio means that when the entire projectile length remains unchanged, more internal space of the cartridge will be occupied by the projectile, which will affect the volume of the launcher. The reduction in the volume of the emitted drug cannot be simply solved by the high-energy emitted drug, because it also involves factors such as average chamber pressure, chamber pressure peak, gunpowder gas volume, which can be said to have a single wave to move the whole body. Therefore, ammunition design is definitely a very unpopular and complex field, which is also the secret to Hornady's success.
