And here’s what I was alluding to in the above post. It’s all very well to go all gooey-eyed over some new whizz-bang cartridge that does x and y better than the older cartridges did x and y.
But I have to ask myself: how much better, and at what cost?
I have no doubt that the 7mm Backcountry (what will its abbreviation be, I wonder? 7mm BC? 7mm Back? 7mm BCKTRY?) will perform as advertised: astounding velocity, greater penetration, less recoil, etc. etc.
But if you’re going to drop a premium-priced new product on the market, couldn’t you just get a proven rifle and cartridge to do almost the same thing — bearing in mind that your quarry is highly unlikely to differentiate a boolet arriving at 1,300 foot-pounder from another arriving at 1,100 ft-lbs.
Even better, you could get an old, reliable rifle (such as a pre-’64 Winchester 70) in traditional garb instead of a show-off “operator” rifle of unproven value. A rifle such as this custom Model 70, in 9.3x62mm:
…or, if we stick to a 7mm bullet, this Wiebe/Kaye Mauser in 7mm Rem Mag:
…and the latter’s barrel, with no iron sights, can easily be shortened, and threaded to take a suppressor. (I know, they’re as expensive as hell, at well over seven grand each; but that’s what you get when you start playing with one-of-a-kind custom rifles.)
Let me tell you, I’d take either one of the above out into the field, and not feel hard done by or undergunned.
And still talking about hunting: I’ve never been that seriously affected by recoil when hunting (except possibly that time with a .458 Win Mag rifle shooting juiced-up handloads — ow, my shoulder just gave me a twinge at the memory); and in any event, recoil is most keenly felt when firing lots of rounds on the trot, which doesn’t happen when hunting.
It does matter if you’re doing target shooting, of course, where you will be firing lots either in practice or during the event itself. And this might be where the 7mm Backcountry round will shine — but will it outshine the target-specific cartridges like 7mm BR or .280 Ackley? I’m not so sure, and nobody will be until we see actual comparisons.
All I can say is that the newbie is going to have to work hard to beat the established players.
