Oh Bill...I don't know how much more of this Ham'r porn I can stand before I just have to go out and kill something!

Would you mind sharing the name of the outfitter you use in SA?

Was it more difficult to bring AR rifles into South Africa as compared to bolt guns, or were all your rifles treated the same?

Milky Creek Safaris, Martin Booysen. We've been hunting with him since 2005 and he runs our Khumba Bush Camp (photos on his website) where you would be staying if you hunt with him. Ck out some of the REALLY BIG Warthogs I've shot with 300 HAM'R. Can't recommend them enough, great people, great hunting and AWESOME food.
milkycreek@gmail.com
http://www.milkycreeksafaris.com/

No issues at all taking in ARs and/or suppressors. I put a block in the magazine well and list the rifle as a single shot and it's never been questioned. I've took ARs 4 times now. We have always used Gracy Travel in San Antonio to book flights and their $300. service to get your gun licenses in advance and clear you through customs is worth every penny it costs!

Thanks for the tips! This is on my ever growing bucket list!

Alright...finished up the barrel this weekend and it's out of the lathe. I'll assemble it this week and get it to the laser guy to put chamber markings and twist stuff on it. I'll post pictures before it goes but wanted to ask about the magazines again.

Looks like Black Collar is making a 15 rounder that I'll order to try...they appear new and getting ready to release these. Are y'all with Ruger's just using the Ruger AICS 10 round mags? Anyone tried the PMag 223/556? It says not for 300bo but I figured someone just had to try it. My AR15 223/556 Pmags work perfect. I've also read some folks with the blackout having nose diving issues and having a follower that tilts up sort of like the Sig Cross helps.

What says y'all?

For now, it's an expensive single shot

It took some doing, but I managed to read all 137 pages and it was very educational. My thanks to everyone that has shared information here as this is one of the few places that I have found people discussing the 300 HAM'R cartridge and rifles. I never took to the 300 Blackout but when I saw the 300 HAM'R and how WC was supporting it with barrels, bullets, brass, and dies I knew I had found something I just had to try so I immediately ordered the die set a few months ago and have slowly been acquiring what is needed. I'm about ready to order the remaining parts thanks to the sale that WC is running.



It was the late Glen Zediker that turned me on to Wilson Combat as a quality barrel supplier in his last book "The Practical AR15". In fact, all throughout the book he uses and recommends all sorts of WC parts from springs to handguards. It is in this same book that I first learned of 300 HAM'R, though it was just a comment about an alternate chambering that was in the works.

Glen Zediker mentioned that he likes 0.003" of neck tension and that David Tubb likes 0.004" of neck tension. On page 86 of this thread Mr Wilson mentions liking to have an expander of around 0.305" diameter which works out to about 0.004" of neck tension. So I have already taken my die expander down from 0.3065" to 0.3055" and will go from there.

Throughout this thread there is information about how various bullets build pressures slower or faster than others. This information proved useful last night when reviewing my load data for plated bullets in pistols as I once again found myself at a max powder charge and was 100-150 FPS below where I wanted to be. It dawned on my that these softer plated bullets were generating less pressure and thus less velocity. I was able to confirm this by finding Speer and Hodgdon load data for plated bullets where their reported velocities matched what I was getting with the same or similar powder charges. Basically a max load for an FMJ is just about a starting load for a plated bullet in handguns. It just goes to show how much there is to learn and how helpful this thread has been.

I'm located in the rain forest of Oregon so a shot on deer past 100 yards is rare which makes 300 HAM'R a perfectly adequate deer cartridge in these parts. I haven't hunted in several years, so I think of the 300 HAM'R has being a viable alternative for 223 Wylde for militia use as defined by the US Constitution.

It's probably too late but I have a chassis made by a manufacturer called Indian Creek for my Ruger American grendel. this chassis takes AR mags, just FYI.

Not to late...I've got a KRG Bravo I had planned to put it in but that can always be used for something else. That's not an avenue I had thought about going down but makes good sense since the AR15 mags are cheap and we know they work. Might have to look into that. Thanks KR.

no worries. the pursuit for a bolt action grendel a few years made me look far and wide for things. I was highly considering get a Ruger 300 ham'r and dual purposing the chassis. Ended up just getting Wilson parts and building an upper only. Haven't shot it yet though.

Welp as promised, here she is…I am typically not a chassis guy but thought I would try one. This one I’ve had my 6.5 saum in it until I could find time to bed the stock, it didn’t shoot bad but it never shot like it did when it was in my eh2. Well, I now know why…bolt hits this chassis. That’s a big no-no so I’m either going to have to find a different option or hack on the chassis.

So might look for something that holds a r700 and utilizes ar15 mags. Decisions, decisions…

Is load data with or without a crimp?

Light taper crimp

This post from 01/27/2023 is a very interesting velocity comparison between the 16.2" and 11.3" barrels. Looking at the 130 grain HAM'R HOT-CORE, you lose approximately 150 fps going from the 16.2" barrel to the 11.3" barrel.

So... how much are you really giving up with a loss of 150 fps for a hog hunting rifle? How effective do you think an 11.3" suppressed SBR is with 130gr HHC at 2322 fps? Is that giving up too much velocity to still be a potent hog rifle?

I'd be very interested to hear folks' thoughts on this.

Having killed a couple pigs with a .357 I think that would be plenty of gun and I have one hanging on my wall taken with bow and arrow. From what I've observed pigs aren't all that hard to kill and shot placement is more important than power.

I've got both and before the stupidity of the brace stuff, I rarely carried my 16" hog hunting...the 11" is legit and my numbers pretty much mirror those. So it's plenty effective...

My neighbor and I had the opportunity to try my HAM'R on a couple of moose. Used the Speer 2022 BTSP again, as with the grizzly earlier this summer.

There's not a lot of time to do detailed autopsies when it's getting late, you've got to find your way back out, probably in the dark, and you’re cutting up a moose in grizzly infested country, but I got what I could. No bullet from the first bull, may have been a pass through. Found the bullet on the second moose in the offside hide. Weighed 133.4 grains, 89% weight retention. Measured 49x65 caliber. Hole through lungs looked similar. A bullet that sheds more weight might work better as far as killing speed, but for an animal this size, I was leaning toward more penetration.

Kills seemed a little slower, on average, than when using my 308 or 30-06, which would be expected. OTOH, I've had them take longer to die and run a lot further with both of those as well. Just can't get as much data on performance as you guys with all the hogs... but, the little HAM'R got the job done very well, either way. BTW, that rifle really is little. It weighs about 3# 5oz bare. Carrying it around in the mountains is ridiculously easy.

The HAM'R getting it done on moose. Outstanding.

Theg_man, way to go and congrats. Now we have Moose added to the list of large game taken with the HAM'R (Black Bear, Elk, Hartebeest, Kudu, Nilgai, Waterbuck, Wildebeest, Zebra)

How about some basic spec on the rifle?

Thanks for sharing! Where did you harvest the moose?

Don't forget to add Grizzly to your list!

This 300 HAM'R is your Ultralight barrel (still hoping for a 13 twist in that one) a TN Arms lower, Solo 300 straight pull upper (bolt AR, not a gasser), CF PCC handguard and whatever other lightweight suff I could use. I've been hunting with bolt rifles all my life so don't find the lack of gas system an issue at all for the kind of hunting I do, and it does simplify things somewhat, especially recovering my brass. Been using the basic setup for a year now and like it.

I'll attach a picture of the rifle when it had a 30HRT barrel on it. The 30HRT case doesn't seem to extract well in a straight pull with no real primary extraction. The 300 HAM'R OTOH works great in this configuration, it practically falls out of the chamber.

ARtexas, I'm hunting in Alaska, GMU13.

A little more bullet performance data:

Found a bullet from the first moose. It was found in a game bag, so don't have a lot of information on penetration, etc. just expansion and weight retention. It's on the left, the previous bullet is on the right. This again is the Speer 2022. It measures about 50x65 caliber and weighs 144.4 grains. 96% weight retention. The 2022 seems like a really tough bullet at 300 HAM'R velocities. Both expanded well, but neither shed much weight. This might be part of the reason for the slower killing observed. Probably a good bullet for maximum penetration, but not necessarily maximum tissue destruction. I would think it would work great on tough hog shoulders and probably expand more(?).

Congratulations! Love hunting moose myself. At what distance were these fine animals shot?

Thanks.

Neither were ranged, but the first was around 40-50 yards. I'd I guess the second to have been 80 or so from what I observed. Where we hunt it's pretty forested, so shots are rarely (none that I can recall) over 100 yards for the last 40 or so moose between us over the last 20+ years.

Theg_man, congratulations on the Moose. :grin

I envy those of you that have such an array of game. My only choice for "big game" around my land is whitetails and black bear. (I have been able to make a couple of trips out to TX for a few hogs and I'm still hoping for a unicorn or bigfoot to show up here around home!) As for distance, 200 yards is a rare LONG shot and the majority are under 100 yards.
The other day I was thinking of picking up another .308 Win., but then I thought WHY?