Hornady used the same design conventions from its 6.5 PRC round to update the 7mm Remington Magnum class of cartridges with a new round named the 7 PRC. We wanted to test the new 7 PRC to find out if it was the latest, greatest thing or an incremental improvement on an already very good round.
Remington 700 Long Range R84158 7 PRC, $1000
Once one of the leaders in the American rifle market with their Model 700 brand, Remington firearms fell on some hard times. Filing for reorganization in 2018 and bankruptcy in 2020, the famous company was parceled out at bargain sale prices. Ruger bought the Marlin brand, once owned by Remington, and the gun world applauded. A number of investors, known as the Roundhill Group LLC, purchased the non-Marlin firearms production. Wondering if this wasn’t more of the same thing that got Remington into trouble in the first place, we were relieved to learn that the Roundhill Group consisted of investors and experienced shooters.
While we have yet to see a RemArms presence at major industry events such as the SHOT Show or the NRA Annual Meetings, we have received notifications that newly produced versions of the Model 700 rifle were once again on the market. We had no idea of the quality of their new rifles, so we jumped on a long-range version that showed up at one of our distributors.
Our rifle reminded us of the Sendero models produced in years past. One of our testers has a Sendero rifle chambered in 7mm Remington Magnum, so we were able to compare them head-to-head throughout this review. Both have a 26-inch varmint-profile barrels. That puts a great deal of weight out front, making things muzzle heavy. It also serves to add enough weight to mitigate recoil a bit on these cartridges. Our new version comes with a 1:8-inch twist, where the old had a 1:9.25 twist. Our early load developments with the Sendero rifle showed that we could stabilize 175-grain bullets with the slower twist, but only if they were the short, blunt styles of bullets. The Long Range 7 PRC rifle stabilizes long 175- and 180-grain high-ballistic-coefficient bullets with no problem. Berger makes a 190-grain bullet that we want to try as well. The muzzle is not threaded for brakes or suppressors, an oversight we would like to see RemArms correct quickly.
Other features that the user will recognize as vintage Remington design remain on this new model as well. They still use a cylindrical action that sandwiches the recoil lug between the action and the barrel. The surface of the blued bolt had been touched up enough to make it look lightly jeweled. The bolt handle was a standard knob that caught us by surprise. So many of the rifles we test these days have oversized knobs. This Remington did not, and we noticed our hands running into the scope body as we cycled the bolt. The bolt head looks like it has for a generation with a single plunger ejector working with an extractor that is a hook clipped inside the bolt face. The Remington 700 still uses the “3 Rings of Steel” bolt face to encompass the case head.
The two-position rocker-style safety on the right side is still there, and so is the X-Mark Pro trigger. That piece is our primary bone of contention with this rifle. We know about Remington, the litigation history of their triggers, and the resulting switch to the X-Mark Pro device. We found this particular trigger to be fairly representative of what we had shot before. The trigger face is very smooth and almost slick to the feel. There was some definite creep in the unit, and we could feel a step in the movement as we applied pressure. Required compression was more than 4 pounds initially. We used the adjustment screw in the face of the trigger to lighten that up some. The best we could get was 3.7 pounds, and that left the adjustment screw protruding above the face of the trigger, hitting our finger. There are too many good, safe triggers out there to stick with this trigger. So we were gratified to hear that Timney Triggers announced in July 2023 that they would be equipping future Remington 700 rifles with their base level Impact trigger as standard equipment on new production, thereby solving one of our primary complaints about this rifle. Exceptions will be the Alpha 1 and Police models, which will also sport Timney triggers featuring additional upgrades.
Going back to the Long Range 7 PRC, its bottom metal actually is metal. The floor plate for the internal three-round magazine releases with a push on the tab inside the trigger guard, as is the bolt release. The stock is from HS Precision, and this choice earns RemArms a “well done” from us. The dark-gray composite shows a black-and-white spiderweb texture to the paint. The pistol grip is vertical and perfect for the long-range role. The buttstock had a high comb that we liked, though we would have preferred an adjustable piece, and a flat bottom looking somewhat like a wedge. Everything ends in a nice, soft rubber recoil pad. The middle of the stock is trim around the receiver to make it easy to carry. The fore end flares to create a beavertail type front that rests well on bags. The fore end also provides two sling-swivel studs, allowing the use of a Harris-type bipod on the front as well as a sling. The stock is laid up around an alloy cradle which, along with the embedded pillars, does a great job of securing the stock to the action.
Our Team Said: The Remington fed and shot both of our ammo choices well. It averaged 0.60 inch for three-shot groups using the Hornady 180 ELD-M, with a best group of 0.317 center to center. The 175-grain ELD-M wasn’t far behind, averaging 0.69 inch with a best group of 0.50 inch. There are a couple of things we think Remington could and should do to bring their rifle up to current expectations, including replacing the trigger. That said, we think they have done a good job here of bringing a nice rifle back to market.
