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or what a person can get hung up on when ordering a rifle, is the barrel length.
A longer barrel is typically going to give you higher speeds but a shorter barrel is going to be much handier in the field. This is magnified when you attach a six to nine inch suppressor on the end.
So how much speed do you lose per inch of shorter barrel? We set out to see if the 7mm PRC has a balance between performance and handiness.
We started this test at 26 inches and took off two inches at a time, all the way down to 16 inches. At each stage we recorded 3 shot velocity averages on not just factory box ammo, but three – what we feel – would be real world handloads.
For factory ammo we used the Hornady Precision Hunter 175gr ELDX.
For handloads we ran the 195gr Berger EOL Elite Hunter with Hodgdon Retumbo, the 175gr Berger Elite Hunter with H1000, and the Sierra 165gr Gamechanger TGK with H4831SC.
It is worth noting that this barrel had around 1400 rounds on it at the beginning of this test from an extensive bullet and powder data collection test we put into our 7mm PRC Cartridge Guide.
For our baseline numbers at 26 inches the 195gr EOL chronographed at 2900fps. The 175gr eldx factory load was running just shy of 3000fps, the 175gr elite hunter at 3025, and the 165gr TGK at 3150.
We then disassembled the rifle, took the barrel over to the lathe and cut 2″ off making it a 24″ barrel. The rifle was then reassembled and each load was shot and recorded again. Then it was back to assembly to pull the barrel, take another 2″ off, put it back together and so on and so forth until we ended at 16″.
So did we find an ideal barrel length for the 7mm PRC? I believe what matters most is what matters more to you. If the rifle being shorter matters more, go with the shorter barrel. If speed matters more, go with the longer barrel.
To help you make an informed decision, let’s take a look at the data.
I found it interesting how similar everything performed as far as velocity losses go. In fact, I really had to zoom in on this graph of overall velocity loss from 26″ down to 16″ as all the loads performed within 40fps of one another. In the next graph we found the average velocity loss per inch of barrel with the 7mm PRC was 32.7 to 36.6 feet per second.
Here you can see the performance of all 4 loads from 16 inches to 26 inches. Everything seems pretty linear! For the handloader, tweaking the load or switching powders with shorter barrel lengths may gain you back some losses, but for the sake of testing all loads were kept the same throughout.
I don’t believe we found, or that there is an ideal barrel length for the 7mm PRC. With that said, the most popular finish lengths ordered are 20-22″ for our builds. People planning to just run a brake tend to go with a longer barrel whereas the shorter barrel orders typically plan to shoot suppressed. Whatever your plans are, I hope this information helps with your decision on what barrel length to put on your 7mm PRC!
Josh Rittel – Production Manager at TS Customs.
