The 7mm BR Remington / 7.2x38mm, commonly called the 7mm BR or the 7mm Benchrest Remington in long form, was an intermediate cartridge developed by Remington for the Remington XP-100 single-shot bolt-action handgun. The cartridge was developed for the Unlimited Class in the sport of Metallic silhouette shooting. Later it was introduced in the Remington Model XB-40 single-shot bolt-action rifle, which was specifically designed for the benchrest shooting community.[1]

7 mm BR Remington
TypeRifle
Place of originUnited States
Production history
DesignerMike Walker
Designed1978
ManufacturerRemington
Produced1978–1998
Specifications
Parent case6mm BR Remington
Case typeRimless, Bottleneck
Bullet diameter0.284 in (7.2 mm)
Neck diameter0.315 in (8.0 mm)
Shoulder diameter.4598 in (11.68 mm)
Base diameter.473 in (12.0 mm)
Case length1.520 in (38.6 mm)
Primer typesmall rifle
Maximum CUP52,000 CUP

The 7mm BR is based on previous Remington benchrest cartridges 6mm BR Remington and the .22 BR Remington cartridges. These cartridges in turn trace their origin to .308 Winchester via the .308×1.5-inch Barnes cartridge. The 7mm BR was designed by merely necking up the pre-existing 6mm BR Remington to accept a .28 caliber (7 mm) bullet. The cartridge is capable of developing 2,200 ft/s (670 m/s) with a 139 gr (9.0 g) bullet or 2,100 ft/s (640 m/s) with a 154 gr (10.0 g) bullet in a 15 in (380 mm) barrel.[1]

As a hunting cartridge it is adequate for smaller deer species and ranges under 150 yd (140 m).[2] With lighter bullets, this cartridge makes an excellent varmint or predator cartridge. The 7mm BR Remington, however, was conceived as a competitive handgun cartridge for Metallic Shooting.[1] It has enough energy and momentum to knock down targets out to 200 yd (180 m) and has had some success in that particular shooting discipline. Later it was also adopted in Benchrest shooting by Remington who introduced the X-40 rifle in that chambering.[3][4]

At one time Remington produced ammunition and cases for this cartridge. They continued to supply the 7mm BR Remington case through to the early 1990s. Today the cartridge is considered obsolete and no one produces loaded ammunition and Remington no longer manufactures firearms chambered for this cartridge. In April 2020 Peterson's began producing properly headstamped brass.[5]

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ a b c Georgi, Todd, ed. (1991). Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading 4th Edition Vol I. Grand Island, Nebraska: Hornady Manufacturing Company. p. 648.
  2. ^ Simpson, Layne (24 February 2005). Layne Simpson's Shooter's Handbook: 600 Questions Answered. Iola, Wisconsin: Krause Publications. p. 59. ISBN 0-87349-939-5.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Marcot, Roy (1 June 2005). History of Remington Firearms: The History Of One Of The World's Most Famous Gun Makers. New York: Lyons Press. pp. 40–42. ISBN 978-1-4617-4989-9.
  4. ^ Fjestad, S. P. (10 April 2017). Blue Book of Gun Values. Blue Book Publications, Incorporated. p. 1295. ISBN 978-1-936120-90-1.
  5. ^ Woodard, W. Todd (24 October 2016). Cartridges of the World: A Complete and Illustrated Reference for Over 1500 Cartridges. Iola, Wisconsin: F+W Media. p. 424. ISBN 978-1-4402-4648-7.[permanent dead link]