[SHOT 2025] Savage Arms Gets Serious About 7mm Backcountry

Long-range hunting is hot business, and Savage Arms knows it. This week at SHOT, they’ve announced they’re jumping on the new 7mm Backcountry cartridge, with several bolt-action rifles chambered in the innovative round from Federal.

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Seven-Mil-BC Backstory

The 7mm Backcountry (aka 7mm BC) is new, very, very new. Federal only introduced the new cartridge in early January (see Adam’s initial write-up here, explaining the innovative features), and you might think it would take a while for it to trickle down to the market. As it turns out, the crew at Savage was ready with rifles in this chambering for SHOT Show, showing off the new cartridge at Range Day.

The TL/DR on that range visit is that yes, it offers potent firepower, and Federal’s patented Peak Alloy case appears to do what they claim—allow the shooter to achieve blazing speeds (3,300 fps in longer barrels, 3,000 fps in shorter, suppressed barrels) while still staying safe. Savage representatives say to expect similar barrel life to other high-powered rifle cartridges, in the 1,500-2,000 round range, as the Peak Alloy case is supposed to take the brunt of the pressure, with the barrel experiencing similar pressures to other high-velocity cartridges.

Savage’s Updated Offerings

Savage has five of its existing rifles available in the new cartridge, all on display at SHOT. This includes the 110 Trail Hunter Lite, 110 Timberline, 110 Ultralite, 110 PPR and 110 Ultralite Elite. Prices range from $669 for the Trail Hunter Lite all the way to $3,299 for the Ultralite Elite. The rifle at Range Day was the Ultralite Elite, and it did have noticeable recoil in that lightweight package (between five and six pounds, depending on configuration, optic weight, etc.). That’s to be expected in that configuration, though, and a rifle like the 8-8.5 pound 110 Timberline will do a much better job of soaking up that recoil.

These are all based off Savage’s 110 action, which means Savage could theoretically easily make other 110-series rifles available in 7mm BC, or even build a model to purposefully take advantage of the round’s capability to get hard-hitting power from a short barrel, making it easier for hunters who want to attach a suppressor but still get high-velocity performance downrange.

Savage reps figure the 7mm BC chambering will eventually be available in the straight-pull Impulse range as well. The recently-updated Axis lineup is not currently available in magnum chamberings, and at this point, it seems unlikely to expect a 7mm BC rifle in that action.