[SHOT 2025] A Closer Look At The 7mm Backcountry

Federal’s new 7mm Backcountry shook things up when it was announced a few weeks back. It uses a unique design and higher pressures to generate impressive velocities. However, the early marketing left some questions outstanding, and the team at Federal was kind enough to answer them for me.

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Rifle ammunition has been fairly constant for the last 100 years. A brass case contains smokeless powder, which is ignited with a primer, generating expanding gasses that push a bullet down the bore. Those brass cartridge cases have a maximum operating pressure of somewhere around 60,000 PSI. That pressure limit is a hard stop the performance, as any additional pressure can blow up the cartridge or the gun firing it.

Federal is pushing the envelope by changing the case material to a special type of steel they call Peak Alloy. It is a proprietary material, and it allows operating pressures in the 80,000 PSI range. That allows the 7mm Backcountry to reach 3,000 FPS with a 170-grain bullet in a 20-inch barrel. We have already covered the published info about the case so we won’t rehash too much of that here.

But with any new technology, there are a lot of questions. I headed over to Federa’s booth and had a very good discussion with their staff abotu the cartridge and my assorted questions. First off, the 7mm Backcountry is submitted to SAAMI for standardization. The staff at the booth stated that it has been approved, but I cannot find it published online. I wanted to know what the interplay was between the proprietary case material and the idea of a standardized, published design specification. Federal’s answer was that the SAAMI spec would list the pressure and dimension information, but other manufacturers would not have access to Peak Alloy. This leaves open the possibility of 7mm BC ammo loaded with conventional brass cases, or other competing materials.

Another question that has been on many minds is reloadability. Yes, these Peak Alloy cases are reloadable, at least mostly. The cases from the Federal Premium line are all plated both inside and outside and can be reloaded. The cases used in the Federal Fusion line are not plated and are not considered reloadable. Steel cases in general are not considered reloadable, but RCBS is developing carbide dies that can resize the new material. Peak Alloy expands differently than brass so the reloading die does not need to do much resizing of the case body, it primarily resizes the neck. Another difference is that loose primers are not a sign that these cases are wearing out, instead, splits in the neck are the thing to watch for.

Yet another question is what kind of barrel life is expected with the 7mm Backcountry. Fast calibers are traditionally associated with short barrel life, and that is even more the case for very powerful overbore cartridges. Federal’s data suggests that barrel life will exceed both the 7mm PRC and 28 Nosler cartridges thanks to the non-magnum case and use of a moderate load of standard powder.

We should be seeing a large number of 7mm BC guns hitting the market very soon, with 13 manufacturers currently producing over 80 models in the caliber. It is only a matter of time before we get our hands on one here at TFB to run our own testing, and I for one am excited to see what this new cartridge can do.

What questions do you still have about the 7mm Backcountry? Let us know in the comments below!