7-300 PRC Initial Results - Winner
- Thread starter flounderv2
- Start date
For a 24-26” hunting rifle, is this or the 7LRM worth the extra steps over the 7 PRC?
I guess that really comes down to what and where you're hunting. The 7prc is nice because you have factory ammo selection without diving down the rabbit hole. I built mine more for long range precision than hunting. I did work on a 7prc for my brother and found that I was having a hard time getting the velocities advertised. But still more than sufficient for what he was planning to use it for (elk hunting in Oregon). I will also add the caveat that I didn't do an extensive amount of load development for the 7 PRC as I didn't have it in my possession that long.
That being said I'm still very satisfied with my decision. I'm 1400 rounds in. I think I have 8 firings on most of my adg brass. I had some issues with my powder trickler last year and I stretched the primer pockets on 15 or 20 rounds. But everything else has held up well.
I don't feel like my barrel is showing any signs of beginning to open up at all as I just did 50 rounds last weekend and it's still performing great. But I have started planning for a new barrel purchase in the near future, and I'm set on sticking with 7-300 PRC.
This is all speaking out of the side of my neck because my actual data is (0) right now - But I have recently put together my own 7-300 PRC, and did a lot of reading on barrel life specifically across the interwebs.
The 28 Nosler guys are reporting 6-800 rounds, the 7-300 Win Mag guys are reporting around 800 - 1,200 (and I think that 1,200 is optimistic). I am playing it middle ground and have planned on about 800 rounds before I start to really look for velocity/accuracy issues to rear their head. If I make it 600, then I'll probably only run a second barrel. If I can get 1K, then I'll probably go through a few more barrels.
Obviously, how you run it will dictate a lot on life.
I'm at 1400 and groups are still tight. Krieger barrel, mixed bag of velocities and loads. From mild to way too hot. At 800 rounds I had a total of 46 thou throat erosion. I've been measuring every 2 hundred rounds or so. I think I'm currently at 60 thou throat erosion. I've backed my load down a bit and I'm running about 3150 and it's been holding up very well so far for me.
I've tested: H1000, Retumbo, Sta-Bal HD, N565, and N570. I have extensive data on all of them, but I've found N565 to be the best so far.
N570 was if I recall about 100 fps faster, but I measured the majority of my throat erosion happening using it.
I haven't tried N568 yet, or RL 26. The later because it was next to impossible for me to get.
N570 was if I recall about 100 fps faster, but I measured the majority of my throat erosion happening using it.
I haven't tried N568 yet, or RL 26. The later because it was next to impossible for me to get.
