The Remington XCR II and the Pharonic 7 Part II

The 7mm Remington Ultra Mag is currently the largest production 7mm magnum, surpassing in capacity even the 7mm Shooting Times Western that is based on a full length .375 H&H case and the popular 7mm-300 Weatherby wildcat. However, for those familiar with the feel of shooting the original belted case 7mm Remington Magnum, or a 7mm WSM, the 7mm Remington Ultra Mag presents no greater challenge.

Handloading the big seven requires no special tools, no special techniques, just a lot of smokeless powder. In this case a $28 set of full length resizing dies work did the job, however, because the 7mm RUM us used in so many applications, there are lots of die types available to finesse handloading the cartridge. Prices run from the referenced $28 to a $250 Redding Competition Bushing 3-Die Set. Chances are that the case will not fit an inertial bullet puller, so a collet puller may be helpful if the need arises.

Components

There are lots of 7mm bullets to choose from, however, design intended impact velocity spec becomes important. Very fragile construction, at the elevated velocity levels the 7mm RUN produces, would not be appropriate. Any bullet supplier will provide this information, so there is not need to explode jackrabbits to make this determination.

The only company currently producing brass is Remington. Since the quality of Remington brass is very good, this sole source isn’t a penalty and prices for brass, with a little shopping, are reasonable at eighty-eight cents per case.

Optimal smokeless powder choices are narrow, although a good number of powder types are workable. Coming off of a 375 Remington Ultra Mag project where almost anything that will work with a 30-06 Springfield works well, the 7mm RUM is more selective.

Results… This was fun

I always try for a case full of powder as it seems to make for greater accuracy and velocity with 26″ barrel guns. I was only able to come close a few times with my old H870 powder and a couple of the H50BMG loads. Retumbo did really well, although none were case full loads.

Next time, I’ll pick up some 180 grain 7mm Berger bullets… say that three times fast. The 7 RUM, unlike most cartridges that post their highest kinetic energy levels with mid range and upper mid range bullets, continues to increase with bullet weight right on up through the heaviest 175 grain. I think this is often the real benefits of a magnum cartridges; not so much to fry bullets as to flatten the trajectory of heavy for bore bullets. I also believe Swift A Frame, Nosler Partition or Speer grand Slam would be additions to the 175 grain selection.

I think this is one of the few cartridges I’ve encountered lately where owning one is desirable, even though I already own a well seasoned 7mm Remington Magnum BDL. I’d make the decision based on the XCR II’s light weight and weather resistant finish and for the very significant boost in performance over other 7mm magnums.  The cartridge is not over the top, as I thought it would be, but rather a pretty flexible round with incredibly long reach and excellent accuracy. This leaves me with one left in the Ultra Mag series, the .338 RUM, to incorporate into an active project.

The XCR II was pleasant to shoot. Recoil wasn’t a big deal, although in the upper bullet weight range I believe I would label it “attention getting”. As a person who frequently shoots a Sendero SF II chambered for the 300 Remington Ultra Mag, I’d suspect the same model in a 7mm version would be an exceptional shooter. For the walnut fans… I am one of them, there is also the Model 700 CDL which is just about the price of the XCR II, but it would not have the outdoor use resilience.

The Remington XCR II and the Pharonic 7 Part I
The Remington XCR II and the Pharonic 7 Part II