In 2025, Federal Ammunition introduced one of the most innovative new cartridges in recent memory: the 7 mm Backcountry. Unlike other recent cartridge launches, the key to the 7 mm Backcountry wasn't just in the design of the cartridge but also the type of material used in its case construction. Watch our "American Rifleman Television: Rifleman Review" segment above to see the details of this new rifle round.
"Well, new cartridges in big-game hunting don't come along very often, so when they do, it's fairly big news. And this one, the 7 mm Backcountry by Federal is particularly interesting," American Rifleman's Brian Sheetz said. "Now Federal, along with some other companies, had worked with the military on some of their ammunition requirements and their interest in higher performance cartridges to develop cartridges that would be able to contain greater pressures and therefore exhibit better performance than traditional brass-cased cartridges."
Unlike traditional cartridges, which have operating pressures in the mid-60,000 p.s.i. range, the Federal 7 mm Backcountry has an operating pressure of 80,000 p.s.i. Despite these tremendous pressures, though, the Backcountry cartridge does not require a specialized firearm for use. Instead, the steel-cased cartridge acts as a pressure-containment vessel that works in conjunction with the firearm action, allowing both to withstand the heightened pressure.
"So the performance is in the neighborhood of 7 mm Mag., .300 Win. Mag., and some of those old magnum favorites, but it only requires a standard-length action to accommodate it," Sheetz said. "When we covered the 7 mm Backcountry in the magazine, we used the headline 'A Case For Strength,' and that was a play on words, but it truly got to the heart of the matter here, because what's happening between a high-performance case made of a steel used in nuclear applications and the like is different than what happens when a traditional brass case cartridge is fired."
At launch, Federal Ammunition offered five different loads in the 7 mm Backcountry chambering, ranging from a 155-grain Federal Terminal Ascent bullet to a 195-grain load topped by a Berger Elite Hunter projectile.The 155-grain Terminal Ascent load set a record for the fastest 7 mm cartridge currently on the market with a muzzle velocity of 3,300 fps out of a 24-inch barrel, and the 170-grain variant of the Terminal Ascent load still exceeds 3,000 fps out of a 20-inch barrel.
"What's the point of a new cartridge with a 7 mm bullet that is in the performance realm of, say, the 7 mm Mag. or .300 Win. Mag., if you will? It's simple. More and more hunting rifles are going farther and farther afield with guys who want to pack a gun that in some cases, is suppressed," Sheetz said. "With a cartridge like this with additional performance, you can have a firearm that has a 20-inch barrel or thereabouts, add a 10-inch-long suppressor, and you still have a fairly compact form factor in your rifle, but you've still got a cartridge that's sending a 155-195 grain projectile at 3,000 fps or better out of that 20-inch barrel."
To watch complete segments of past episodes of American Rifleman TV, go to americanrifleman.org/videos/artv. For all-new episodes of ARTV, tune in Wednesday nights to Outdoor Channel 8:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. EST.
