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Tested: Federal's New High-Performance 7mm Backcountry Cartridge

A screaming, fast, ultra-accurate caliber six years in the making, the all-new 7mm Backcountry from Federal is a ballistic win.

Tested: Federal's New High-Performance 7mm Backcountry Cartridge
Peak Alloy case technology lets Federal load a maximum chamber pressure of 80,000 pounds per square inch (psi) and achieve 3,000 fps velocities with 170-grain class bullets out of 20-inch barrels.

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I didn't think. That's one thing I'm very good at. Having the latest and greatest short-action, short-barrel caliber in my scabbard made me ride a little higher in the saddle. I'd read the specs and was thrilled with the caliber's sizzling speed. But, as I mentioned, I don't always think. The ballistic data branded on the bullet's box was from a 26-inch barrel. My saddle gun wore a 22-inch barrel. I failed to do a speed test, ring steel at long range, or do any serious ballistic testing.

The shot was 476 yards. Shot can be long out West, especially when chasing open-country whitetails. There was no chance to get closer. I missed that buck three times. The sight of his 160-plus-inch rack still haunts me.

This was early in my rifle hunting career, but I knew better. Longer barrels produce more speed and increase downrange accuracy. I didn't have a dial-to-the-yard turret but used a dope card I'd created gathered from the back of the ammo box data. Terrible idea!

A Western hunter with a willing-to-roam mindset, I still prefer a short-barreled, light, and maneuverable rifle when I go afield. I hunt from horseback often, and the shorter the gun, the better it rides in my scabbard. Plus, when I dismount and walkabout, I want a lightweight, maneuverable rifle that carries well over my shoulder or strapped to my backpack.

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The non-magnum size cartridge retains magazine capacity, and chambering is smooth as silk.

When Federal's all-new long-action ammo arrived at my doorstep, I flipped the box over and read the back data. Muzzle velocity from a 20-inch barrel showed 3,000 feet per second. Impressive. Even more impressive was that the bullets were 7mm/.284 heavy-for-caliber bullets. Enter The Federal 7mm Backcountry

Branded the 7mm Backcountry, Federal's shiny new cartridge, on paper, has much going for it. Each patented Peak Alloy case is from an advanced, high-strength steel alloy, providing a massive leap forward in case design. The one-piece case allows Patented Peak Alloy case technology to provide magnum performance in a non-magnum centerfire rifle cartridge. Increased speed comes from the improved steel and the one-piece case design, which, according to Federal's branding, allows hunters to get massive jumps in speed and downrange performance in 155 and 170-grain Terminal Ascent bullets from shorter-barreled rifles.

In addition to being a do-all big-game caliber, the 7mm Backcountry, if the hype around the fancy-to-do cartridge is legit, will create extreme speed and ultra-flat shooting. This allows hunters to add a suppressor to a short-barreled rifle to get even more speed and accuracy without carrying a telephone pole around the woods. Due to the heavy-for-caliber bullets, hunters can achieve more significant ballistic coefficients and ridiculous downrange accuracy.

I was excited to put Federal's 7mm Backcountry to the test!

Test: Speed — Result: Winning

I wanted to get right to it. Federal built the cartridge for speed, and I wanted to see how fast the new 7mm Backcountry was. The rifle on the bench was Horizon Firearms' Wombat. The barrel length was 16.5 inches with an attached 1-11/16-inch brake, bringing the total length to 18 3/16 inches.

The 7mm Backcountry cartridge resembles one of my all-time favorite big-game cartridges — the .280 Ackley Improved. It is a non-magnum cartridge; don't expect to open the box and find an anti-tank-sized cartridge. Remember, Federal obtained faster and improved ballistics via the one-piece case design and premium steel. More speed from a non-magnum caliber from shorter barrel rifles without increasing recoil.

Federal also went the non-magnum route to retain magazine capacity. The 7mm Backcountry sports the same neck length as the 7mm PRC, body taper and shoulder angles as the 6.5 Creedmoor, and a cartridge size similar to the .280 Ackley Improved. However, the design allows the case to accept heavy bullets with a long ogive to ensure less air resistance (lower drag) and a higher ballistic coefficient. From the outside looking in, Federal took designs from three of the most accurate non-magnum calibers ever and created a 7mm superstar.

Recommended


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Short barrel rifles are easy to maneuver and allow accurate shooting from multiple positions.

The rifle felt short and compact, and the forearm's flat bottom fell into the shooting bags on the bench. My first trigger pull, crisp and immediate, put a round 5 inches right and 6 inches low of the bull's eye. Bore-sighting was done. The recoil was extremely low, which made me smile; the action was smooth, and the bolt was fast.

The Kestrel measured wind speed between 1.62 and 3.0 miles per hour during FPS testing. I was shooting into the wind. The outside temperature was 31 degrees Fahrenheit, and the elevation was 4,129 feet above sea level.

I used Garmin's Xero C1 Pro Chronograph and Caldwell's Ballistic Precision Chronograph to capture bullet speed. Using the Xero C1 Pro Chronograph, the first three-shot group average was 2,876 fps. That's smoking fast from a less-than-20-inch barrel with a bullet weighing 170 grains. More impressive to me, though, was the tight fps variance. After three shots, the cold-bore fps and third-shot variance were only six feet per second different. Feet-per-second ratings go up as barrels heat up. However, I've tested many rifle ammo combinations that showed a 15-20 feet-per-second variance by the third shot. Results using Caldwell's Ballistic Precision Chronograph set 10 feet from the muzzle were similar—a tight fps variance and an average speed rating of 2,881 fps.

I realize 2,881 fps is not 3,000 fps. It's important to understand that these speed tests were conducted from an 18-3/16-inch barrel. Imagine adding a 5.5-inch suppressor like the Banish Backcountry from Silencer Central. The barrel length would be 23 11/16, south of the standard barrel norm of 24 inches. When you add a suppressor, you get boosted speed in a still-light, maneuverable rifle that's a joy to tote. If you don't add a suppressor, you can select your barrel length to meet your hunting needs, and even if you go super short, you still get ridiculously high speeds. Federal heralds the rifle caliber as the fastest production 7mm rifle cartridge on the planet. I can't write that I've tested every .284 cartridge on the planet, but I can pen that I've tested none faster from a less-than-20-inch barrel bolt-action than the 7mm Backcountry.

How Are These Speed Ratings Possible, and Are They Safe?

According to Federal's Brad Abramowski, Federal's Centerfire Rifle Ammunition Engineer, "The 7mm Backcountry results from 6 years of development. Driven by the U.S. military's need for improved performance ammunition, we tested many materials at high pressures to ensure rifle function out of a one-piece case configuration for manufacturing efficiency and design reliability. Peak Alloy delivers everything we dreamed it would. It can be loaded at a maximum chamber pressure of 80,000 pounds per square inch (psi) and achieve 3,000 fps velocities with its 170-grain class bullets out of 20-inch barrels."

bauserman-federal-7mm-extra

Federal Ammunition does nothing by chance. The manufacturer tests, tests, and then tests some more. Testing proved that brass cases loaded at pressures normal for bass cases created similar stress as high-strength steel alloy cases loaded at much higher chamber pressures. The one-piece, high-strength steel alloy case lets Federal increase chamber pressure to once-thought-ridiculous limits of brass case ammunition.

Okay, it's Fast, but is it Accurate?

When ammo manufacturers find the right primer, case, powder, and bullet combo, good things happen downrange. My test bullets were 170-grain Terminal Ascents. I've had great success with Terminal Ascent Bullets between 155 and 170 grains from my 7mm PRC and .280 Ackley Improved. After a barrel break-in period, a cleaning, and fouling of the barrel, I sent three 7mm Backcountry bullets from 100 yards. All three bullet holes touched.

bauserman-federal-7mm-accuracy100
This three-shot group was from 100 yards off a bench after bore-sighting and making windage and elevation turret adjustments.

After a short barrel cooling period — the thick, fluted, heavy barrel of the Wombat has an uncanny ability to resist heating up — I shot another 100-yard three-shot group. Again, all three bullets touched. There is no question Horizon Firearm's Wombat 7mm Backcountry with Federal 170-grain 7mm Backcountry ammo is a 1/2-inch MOA combo. I topped Horizon's bolt-action with Leupold's VX-6HD 3-18x44. There wasn't time to send the CDS Dial in so Leupold could craft a custom elevation turret, so I went old school, tested and tinkered, and created a dope card.

The drop at 300 yards was 11.3 inches, and my first group shot prone using a bipod that I attached to the forend Picatinny rail was a sub-2.5-inch group. This was in a Kestrel measured 12.23 mile per hour crosswind with an outside temperature of 39 degrees Fahrenheit at an elevation of 4,129 feet.

Using the ballistic data I'd gathered and Federal's on-box data, I punched some numbers into my go-to ballistic app. Cranking the dial, I settled the crosshairs in the center of the 8-inch steel plate at 800 yards and used the VX-6HD's windage turret to adjust to the wind call. The spotter's call was one inch high, but no windage adjustment was necessary. I quickly cycled the bolt and sent another. I heard the distinct ding of the orange plate, and because the recoil is ultra-manageable, I saw the plate swing upon contact. The spotter made the center-of-the-center hit call, and moving from the bench to BOG's DeathGrip Sherpa, I took a second 800-yard shot sitting on my butt. Again, the plate dinged, and though the impact was 3 inches high (right on the edge of the plate) and two inches left, it was still on the eight-inch plate and would've punched the lungs of almost any big-game animal.

bauserman-federal-7mm-accuracy300
This 300-yard group resulted from three shots taken in less than 30 seconds from BOG's DeathGrip Sherpa.

I did a head-to-head comparison bullet drop at 500 yards, shooting the 18-3/16-inch barrel Horizon Wombat and 168-grain Federal Berger Hybrid Hunter from my .280 Ackley Improved with a 24-inch barrel. Bullet drop at 500 yards with the 7mm Backcountry was 54.3 inches. Bullet drop with the Berger Hybrid Hunter chambered in .280 Ackley Improved was 50.2 inches. That's a drop difference of 4.1 inches between comparable calibers and bullet grain weights. The difference: One barrel measured a tick over 18 inches long, and one measured 24 inches long — just food for thought.

I spent three hours at the range shooting Federal's 7mm Backcountry 170-Grain Terminal Ascents. I fired off the bench, prone with a bipod, prone with a backpack, kneeling and sitting using a tripod, and just for grins, offhand. This is a fast precision cartridge that will meet the needs of any hunter and one I will add to my big-game arsenal.

The Advantage of Going Short

I realize this is an article about a new cartridge, but bear with me for a moment. I'm a hardcore archer, and I always preach I will take all the speed I can get from a compact, light, maneuverable bow that retains shootability. If shootability, etc. is compromised, I will go with a bow with more length between the axle pins.

bauserman-federal-7mm-heavy
Federal's new-for-2025 7mm Backcountry is a flamethrower in a heavy-for-caliber bullet.

The beauty of the 7mm Backcountry is that you get insane speed, thanks to the heavy-for-caliber bullets, a G1 BC of .586 and a G7 BC of .300. You don't get shoulder abuse, and should you so choose, you can add a suppressor without creating a rifle that's 30 inches long.

Mike Holm, Federal's Director of Centerfire Rifle Ammunition, said, "Shorter-barreled firearms make everything easier when traveling with UTVs or other vehicles, hiking in a thick forest setting, maneuvering in hunting blinds, and you name it. Innovation was needed to deliver the advantages of hunting with shorter barrels while maintaining high velocities for flatter shooting trajectory and projectile energy."

Federal Ammunition is extremely good at identifying problems and providing hunters with incredible solutions. The 7mm Backcountry is an accurate flamethrower, and the Terminal Ascent bullet promises short and long-range expansion. This cartridge will make hunting dreams come true in 2025 and beyond.




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