"Now it's my turn!" -Federal circa 2025

[thomas89]

Pretty thorough writeup on Outdoor Life.

“No one has shot more rounds than our guy here at Outdoor Life.”

250. He’s shot 250 rounds and is now having to wait for more ammunition.

If you can’t keep the writers and influencers stocked with ammo, not real confidence inducing to the rest of us. Unreal.

 

[mtnkid85]

Im excited. Not necessarily for this new chambering, but what it represents. More manufactures commercially producing casings capable of handling the 80k psi pressures.
Like others have eluded to once this process gets further refined, its going to open the door for measurable gains from all the cartridges us old fuds won't release from our cold dead hands!

 

[thomas89]

Im excited. Not necessarily for this new chambering, but what it represents. More manufactures commercially producing casings capable of handling the 80k psi pressures.
Like others have eluded to once this process gets further refined, its going to open the door for measurable gains from all the cartridges us old fuds won't release from our cold dead hands!

Represents a money grab is all.

The steel alloy cases are apparently very difficult to reload, and from what it was saying took something like 12 runs through a press just to reload. They say RCBS is currently working on a set of dies to handle it. Where do we think the cost for all this R&D is tacked on?

At least they were up front in saying that the the launch of the short mag chamberings were fraught with their own issues which led to their eventual downfall ... but somehow these are going to be different. Gotcha.

 

[BuzzH]

Every elk I’ve seen hit with 160gr ABs has died. Would I consider upgrading to 180s? Maybe.

I've witnessed the same with the 160's, oddly enough same with the 140 accubond, and even more strange, the 120 grain ballistic tip.

It's almost like shot placement and knowing how to hunt and shoot matter.

 

[wweaver79]

So that was my other thought. If this cartridge alloy is so good why not just market that and apply it to the great cartridges we already have? For example, could it be applied to a .30-06 and improve the performance of that?

This !! Why not make the cases for common rounds and make them awesome. Would sell like hotcakes also. Add 150/200 fps or more to already popular rounds. Sell a 30-06 round pushing a 180 @2900 elk hunters will crawl to the store to buy it.

 

[mtmuley]

This !! Why not make the cases for common rounds and make them awesome. Would sell like hotcakes also. Add 150/200 fps or more to already popular rounds. Sell a 30-06 round pushing a 180 @2900 elk hunters will crawl to the store to buy it.

@RealMuddyboots is doing some pretty impressive stuff with his .30-06. mtmuley

 

[Fire_9]

I like it. The lack of ability to reload is a downer, but I'm not a reloader (yet), so this checks the boxes for me. OL's article really does a fair job going through this: https://www.outdoorlife.com/guns/federal-7mm-backcountry-review/

I'm tired of whacking the end of my 300 win mag (28 inches including the brake) on every tree I walk by, and if I can save my hearing and shoulder a little with a suppressor but get that performance out of a short barrel in the mountains, well then that's just awesome.

Adjusting pressure seems like the final frontier in cartridge design right now.

Or you could just cut your 300 back and add a suppressor. Would save you a whole lot of heartache and money....

 

[Greyman]

This !! Why not make the cases for common rounds and make them awesome. Would sell like hotcakes also. Add 150/200 fps or more to already popular rounds. Sell a 30-06 round pushing a 180 @2900 elk hunters will crawl to the store to buy it.

The only reason I could think of why not would be SAAMI standards would need to be changed. Maybe a separate spec for the new steel cases.

 

[wweaver79]

The only reason I could think of why not would be SAAMI standards would need to be changed. Maybe a separate spec for the new steel cases.

True. You would not want 80k psi going off in your dad’s Remington 7400. Hornady superformance just had the disclaimer “ not for use in semi auto” I think.

 

[oxn939]

Sell a 30-06 round pushing a 180 @2900 elk hunters will crawl to the store to buy it.

My .30-06 load has a 168 grain TSX doing 2900 with nary a sign of pressure lol

Seems like there is a strong correlation between being impressed by stiff like this and congratulating the dude who shot that big elk in a neighborhood over bait on a fine kill

 

[FREAK]

I'm intrigued. 16" barrel, 2900fps, 170grain. Pretty wild.

 

[Beignet]

Not my cup of tea, but this cartridge checks a lot of boxes for what seems popular with rifle buyers these days: shooting heavy bullets fast and flat out of a short (likely very fluted), suppressed barrel. They’ll sell a boatload if they can keep the supply chain humming.

 

[MThuntr]

Has anyone heard a price on ammo for this ?

https://www.sportsmans.com/search?q=1923088+1923089+1923090+1923091+1923092%3Arelevance

 

[FREAK]

I just watched Ron Spomers initial video and according to him, in theory, this case material could be applied to legacy cartridges safely. Is it true? Who knows. Be interesting to see if that is ever attempted.

This makes sense to me as the material of the case is what allows for the increased pressures.

Cartridge sounds interesting, to those that mentioned 277 Fury, isn't that the next generation military round? I mean military rounds do tend to gain traction and stick around, 30-06, 308, 223 (5.56 NATO), I'm just saying.

Back to the 7MM Backcountry, I will wait and see and until then stick to my 30-06.

The fury is what came to mind for me as well. I think that entire project was focused around optimizing a round for armor piercing capabilities at extended ranges. I think the interesting thing about the 7mm backcountry, and the technology Federal has come up with is they are accomplishing the same concept with just one material for the case. In theory this should be easier to mass produce, where the fury has 3 materials/pieces being put together.

I wonder how that material will hold up to salt water and other environmental conditions. Maybe not a great application for the military (especially in maritime conditions) but probably fine for a 1 week hunting trip.

The concept of dealing with higher pressures by altering the case material seems so obvious after the fact. I'm not as much enthralled by this round, specifically. More interested to see where this technology goes.

Edit: The fury is also probably much lighter with the materials being used. This matters if you're carrying around a machine gun with a couple ammo cans. Not as big of a deal in a hunting situation.

 

[gemihur]

much ado ...

I suggest you keep your ears plugged
That's Fury!

 

[Bonasababy]

Someone needs to ask Federal how the 338 Federal with proprietary powder is doing. Anyone seen that ammo on the shelves--ever--since shortly after it was first introduced? Maybe its more common out west?

 

[Beignet]

much ado ...
View attachment 355959
I suggest you keep your ears plugged

Ha! While reading about the cartridge I thought “Can’t wait to get blasted with all that pressure from some ding dong at the range shooting these with a muzzle brake.”

 

[MThuntr]

Ha! While reading about the cartridge I thought “Can’t wait to get blasted with all that pressure from some ding dong at the range shooting these with a muzzle brake.”

Stubby rifle with a directional break...very nice

 

[Rie Bread]

I’ll stick with 30-06. Almost 3000fps has been killing good enough for 120 years.

 

[nhenry]

I’m not gonna go trade in my 280 AI for it, but I like this and hope it succeeds.