I was shooting a new 7mm PRC rifle at the range today, and I wondered what is the effective range of this cartridge for hunting and long-range precision shooting?
The Hornady 7mm PRC has a max effective range of 1,000 yards for hunting elk-sized game and over 1,500-yards for target shooting. It continues to group well out to 1,000 yards and is capable of ringing steel at one mile.
History of the 7mm PRC
Hornady knows how to design and promote new cartridges. They excel in finding the sweet spot for a particular caliber and optimizing case design to squeeze every last bit of consistent velocity from a new cartridge. And Hornady has hit another new sweet spot with the 7mm PRC (Precision Rifle Cartridge) that was officially announced to the world at the NASGW Expo October 26.
By all measurements, this new cartridge is just the latest non-belted magnum. The 7mm PRC shares quite a bit of territory with the 7mm Rem Mag, Gunwerks 7 LRM and 28 Nosler as an elk cartridge. This new PRC is intended to handle heavier, high-BC bullets than the 7mm Rem Mag. It might be thought of similarly to the comparison of the 300 Win Mag and the 300 WSM.
Effective range for hunting elk-sized game
The 7mm PRC is designed for long-range hunting owing to its ability to launch heavy-for-caliber, high ballistic coefficient bullets from a long-action centerfire rifle. Rifles firing 180-grain bullets at approximately 2,950 fps should prove to excel at hammering elk-sized game at longer ranges. For example, let’s use a somewhat arbitrary number of 1,500 ft-lbs as the energy needed to take an elk. The 7mm PRC just barely falls short of 1,500 ft-lbs at 1,000 yards.
Please note this is all hypothetical from looking only at the data. Taking a 1,000-yard shot on an elk is extremely far. While I would never recommend the average hunter try that, the ballistics show it is possible with the 7mm PRC. It all comes down to skill, game size, shot angle, and shot placement. Most hunters’ shots will be 500 yards or less, and at that range it is definitely a viable cartridge for elk.
Hornady has the cartridge rated as capable of handling medium to large game which translates to animals between 50 and 1500 pounds. This means the cartridge can be used on coyotes, feral hogs, white-tailed deer, elk, and everything in between. In fact, the Precision Hunter load is specifically designed to work well on a variety of game animals and predators. According to Hornady, it works well on game weighing up to 1500 pounds, which would include most moose. However, keep in mind that using it on smaller animals will cause significant damage. If you want to keep hides intact on coyotes or similar predators, it might be best to use a smaller cartridge.
Effective range for long range precision shooting
The 7mm PRC performs great at long-range work, grouping sub-MOA out to 1,000 yards and capable of ringing steel at one mile. The trajectory and ballistics are perhaps most impressive around 400 to 600 yards when compared to other magnum cartridges. For instance, a 7mm PRC bullet drops less than 20 inches at 400 yards. It also performs better than many other cartridges at 1,000 yards due to the high BC bullets’ flat trajectory and impressive resistance to wind deflection. However, the 300 PRC will outperform it at distances around one mile.
Finally, it’s worth noting that 7mm PRC is considered a medium recoil cartridge with more recoil than 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5 PRC, but considerably less than 300 PRC or 28 Nosler. For example, a 10-pound 7mm PRC rifle firing a 175-grain ELD-X generates 23.80 ft/lbs of recoil. By comparison, a 28 Nosler firing a 162-grain bullet will produce 29.84 ft/lbs of free recoil from that same 10-pound rifle. All of these characteristics of the 7mm PRC are important considerations for precision shooters.
7mm PRC Ballistics
The ballistics chart below is from Hornady’s website for the 180 grain ELD Match factory load.
Wrap-Up
The 7mm PRC is a very versatile cartridge. Although it shines at long-range use, such as for precision rifle shooting matches, it can be used for just about anything. This is a really good cartridge for target practice, hunting various sizes of game, and shooting out to one mile.
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