Adam Scepaniak 01.07.25
Federal has announced a new cartridge: The 7mm Backcountry, which they claim is the most advanced 7mm cartridge on the planet. That is quite a bold claim, but does it hold water? For any new cartridge to have “staying power” in the industry it needs to have widespread adoption by rifle manufacturers, an abundance of affordable ammo, and the new said cartridge needs to solve a problem or deliver something new. With Federal’s 7mm Backcountry, they may have all of those ingredients.
Federal Coverage on OutdoorHub
7mm Backcountry — The New Cartridge on the Block
Currently, there are 83 SKUs of rifles available in 7mm Backcountry with that list growing daily. This includes such manufacturers as Savage Arms, Christensen Arms, Proof Research, Weatherby, and many more Custom Shop-esque names as well. This bodes well for Federal’s chances of making this cartridge last in the industry for a really long time.
The other strong reasons why Federal would like hunters and shooters alike to consider the 7mm Backcountry are because of its speed, ability to “play nicely with short barrels and silencers,” and the option to try bullets that are heavy for a given cartridge, which afford you high ballistic coefficients.
- The Fastest Cartridge: 7mm Backcountry utilizes a revolutionary high-strength case technology that results in the fastest production 7mm rifle cartridge on the planet.
- Short Barrels and Supressors:- This extreme speed allows for flat shooting while enabling the hunter to shoot a shorter barrel rifle to take advantage of a suppressor.
- Heavy Bullets with High BC: – The non-magnum-size cartridge retains magazine capacity and can be loaded with heavy bullets for greater ballistic coefficients and down-range performance.
Press Release Statement from Federal on the NEW 7mm Backcountry
Federal is excited to announce their new 7mm Backcountry round. It has been some time since they invented a new round (224 Valkyrie most recently and 338 Federal longer ago before that). They share their excitement and some additional information via their press release statement below:
“Federal’s 7mm Backcountry is an entirely new high-performance, all-range cartridge that reinvents ammunition as we know it. It not only provides superior ballistics and terminal performance, it does so through compact, shorter-barreled suppressed rifles.
The 7mm Backcountry cartridge achieves all of this through its patented Peak Alloy case. Built of an advanced steel alloy that’s totally unlike the steel used in low-cost range ammunition, the next-generation, one-piece case design allows higher velocities over modern brass case ammunition. And because the cartridge is dimensionally smaller than its closest brass-case counterparts, 7mm Backcountry achieves these ballistic advantages through smaller rifles and with an extra round in the magazine of most platforms.”
Final Thoughts
While the 7mm Backcountry round looks authentically promising, the other element that may catch your eye is the Peak Alloy Case Technology. This is something that could be applied to other cartridges across the entire industry. The ramifications of which could be tremendous. With Peak Alloy Case Technology from Federal, you are able to accomplish all of this desirable outcomes:
- Higher muzzle velocities
- More foot-pounds of energy at the muzzle & down range
- Less drop & wind drift
With 80+ guns currently being chambered for 7mm Backcountry, we will hopefully be able to shoot a few this year and get a better grasp for what the 7mm Backcountry is all about. As always, let us kn0w all of your thoughts about Federal Ammunition and their NEW 7mm Backcountry cartridge in the comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.
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