Would love to have a SIG MCX 300 ham'r barrel option

My wife took her first bear ever with the 300 HAMR last week, using the Lehigh 125 cc. I was originally sceptical of the performance of Lehigh bullets until I started testing them. Over several months of testing we could not get them to fail to do what they claim. You simply can't deny the results. First shot dropped the bear right where it stood, like a lightning bolt struck through it.

Someone on this forum once referred to this as "the little engine that could" ...and now I believe truer words were never spoken.

Nice one. Is that the bear's heart slightly disassembled?

Last bullet I have loaded is the 135gr Hornady FTX. It clocked 2367fps.

Bill,

Given that you have done more testing with 300 ham'r bullets than anyone else, how would you compare the hunting effectiveness and the way game react to the new TCC and TXC bullets vs say the 135 bonded or 135 ftx given that they are slightly heavier (or any other lead/copper bullet you would like to use as a basis of comparison - maybe even the 150 bonded) ?

I know that you are somewhat prejudiced given that it is your company :-), but do you feel the Lehigh's are the be all end all for game that you have tested and if so why?

Thanks!

First off as I've posted here and written in an article I did for the OUTDOOR SPORTSMAN'S GROUP, for non-dangerous game (Brown bear, Cape Buff, Elephant, etc.) I'm a fan of bullets that fracture losing up to 50% of their original weight. Bonded and copper bullets designed to retain 100% of their original weight simply don't kill game as quickly as a bullet that fractures and send pieces flying inside the animal. Since I started keeping records in 2019 I've killed 2617 hogs and 99% of these since 2020 have been with Lehigh bullets. Overall a hog is tougher than a whitetail deer so they make a good test bed for bullet performance.

Here are my "honest" observations of some of the bullets suitable for the 300 HAM'R that will fit in an AR mag (2.260" max OAL).

110gr Hornady SP: Accurate, consistent terminal performance, doesn't build pressure quickly so can be loaded pretty fast, overall a very good bullet
110gr Hornady V-MAX: Accurate, inconsistent terminal performance past 150yds, builds pressure faster than the 110gr SP
110gr Speer SP: Accurate, tougher than the Hornady 110gr SP, good deer bullet
110gr Lehigh CC: Accurate, explosive performance, great coyote bullet
110gr Lehigh TCC: Extremely accurate, explosive performance, great coyote or whitetail deer bullet
115gr Lehigh TME: Accurate, 100% weight retention
115gr Lehigh TXC: Accurate, outstanding terminal performance, one of the two best HAM'R bullets Lehigh makes
125gr Sierra SPB PH: Extremely accurate, orignal bullets killed well, new production won't expand under 2200fps impact velocity, target use ONLY
125gr Speer TNT: Accurate, inconsistent terminal performance past 150yds, can be loaded pretty fast at safe pressure
125gr Lehigh CC: Accurate, consistent terminal performance, solid all around performer (I've killed more hogs with this bullet than any other)
125gr Lehigh TCC: Extremely accurate, outstanding terminal performance, one of the two best HAM'R bullets Lehigh makes
130gr Speer Hot-Core: Accurate, consistent terminal performance, solid all around performer (prior to buying Lehigh I killed more hogs with this bullet than any other)
135gr Hornady FTX: Accurate, consistent terminal performance, would be my GO TO bullet if I didn't own Lehigh
135gr Sierra HP-V: Extremely accurate, explosive terminal performance but still kills well, builds pressure VERY quickly so can't load to high velocity
150gr Speer Bonded: Accurate, 100% weight retention, excellent choice for larger game
150gr Speer Gold Dot (Blackout variant): Great high weight retention bullet and an excellent choice for larger game
150gr Speer BTHP: Accurate, 100% weight retention, doesn't expand reliably under 2000fps impact velocity
150gr Hornady SST (Savage variant): Accurate, consistent terminal performance, solid all around performer (I've killed Elk and several large African animals with this bullet)

Bullets for long mag box bolt rifles (2.410" max OAL)
Accuracy can be improved and velocity increased when loading .005-010" off the lands on most of the above non-Lehigh bullets
125gr Nosler BT: Super accurate and good terminal performance
125gr Nosler AB: Super accurate high weight retention bullet
125gr Hornady SST: Super accurate and good terminal performance
130gr Lehigh TXC-SPB: FANTASTIC bullet overall
135gr Lehigh TCC-SPB: Extremely accurate and FANTASTIC bullet overall
140gr Lehigh CC-SPB: Extremely accurate and the best bullet the can be fired out of the HAM'R for large game

NOTE: SPB stands for Special Purpose Bullet and none of these are available for sale at this time

Bottom line: Obviously I'm biased, but the Lehigh TCC and TXC bullets have the best overall terminal performance of any bullets I've killed game with! The basic difference between them is the TCC normally sheds 5 curled petals and the base penetrates very deeply and the TXC always sheds 4 fairly straight petals, the base expands to .350"-.400" and doesn't penetrate as deeply as the TCC. Both designs will RELIABLY perform as designed down to an impact velocity of 1800fps.

Are the loaded 125gr Sierra SPB PH on clearance the original bullets or the new unreliable version?

All things considered that's high praise for the Hornady SST. It's been my go to killer for a very long time and it works. Thanks for the unbiased endorsements.

New production, that change was made a couple years ago due to the original spec bullet shaving copper rings in new barrels. They still make a great range bullet, super accurate in every barrel I've shot them in

How would you rate the 135 bonded?

Sorry, I missed that one.... It's a great bullet, accurate and good high weight retention bullet that performs very consistently

Mr. Wilson,
If you were to use a Sprinco recoil spring which one would you use for 300 Ham’r?

Finally got my Dillon 550 set-up to reload 300 Ham'r cartridges. I setup the seating down and quickly ran out of Speer B300HMR-130-HHC-BLK bullets, part number 20071125WC I bought from Wilson Combat. No worries, I had already picked up another 1,000 bullets. However, I also had a couple boxes of Speer 130 hot-Cor bullets part number 2007. I soon discovered these bullets are not the same. Wilson Combat loaded 300 Ham'r cartridges use the Speer Wilsom Combat pn: 20071125WC bullets. At least the boxes I bought do. Lucky for me I only completed two rounds with the different bullet before noticing the change. Since I have 498 more bullets, I'll get around to working up a load and testing the different bullet one day. I'm glad I check my completed cartridges when any component changes. I was planning on just loading up 5 rounds from this new lot number of bullet before assembling the rest.

The cannelure is located correctly for the Ham'r on the ones sold by WC, the exposed lead is a little more rounded vs being flat and from the pictures I've seen, the ogive curve seems a little different.

Is that what you're seeing?

This is correct

I'd probably go with the #25203 or #25007, but I don't have any personal experience with Springco springs

I use our 17-7 Stainless round wire #TR-EBS15-SS $5.95 that's 5% heavier than a music wire Mil-Spec spring or our chrome silicon flatwire #TR-FWBS37 $16.95

Yes, the cannelure is in the correct position for the listed seating depth. The ogive is at .414 on the Speer/WC bullets. The Speer ogive is all over the place anywhere from .408 to .412. The Speer/WC bullets are more rounded as you observed. I'm sure the Speer Hot-Cor bullets will still work. May not look as good and shoot slightly different. I'm shooting pigs at night with a thermal anywhere from 50-200 yards. I'd say they'd still be "pig accurate"


I really like the Wilson Combat chrome silicon flatwire #TR-FWBS37 spring. Eliminates the "twang" when the bolt slams home on my AR. I notice the difference while shooting as well.

I have shot both the WC 130gr Speer bullet and the regular 130gr Speer bullet. All things being equal I'll always take a cannelure in the right place when shooting an AR. Yet the regular 130gr bullet has worked 100% with a Lee Factory Crimp application. My favorite bullet for the Ham'r (150gr btsp) has no cannelure at all. In well over 1000 rounds fired there are no problems and the loads are accurate. Hogs don't care much for them though.

The 135 Ham'r Bonded doesn't have a cannelure either and the Hornady 135 FTX cannelure is in the wrong place if you don't cut the rubber tip off with a razor knife so you can seat it out further. I've been using the Redding 300 BLK taper crimp die that Mr Wilson recommended earlier in this thread.

Slightly disassembled is an understatement, the bear had 5 inches of fat I think the controlled chaos started to come apart in the fat the entrance hole in the ribcage was the size of a quarter. We found most of the fragments on the off side ribcage

Apparently hitting game on the run isn't a skill I possess. I need them to slow down.

Nice hog Bill!!

This trip was a lot of fun and the old non-tipped 125cc produced one shot stops.

Well, I guess that explains all the discussion regarding the increased rarity of hogs in some locales over the past few years.


So, Bill, if you had to say all that about bullet performance but in 30 words or less would you simply state that varmint bullets are a poor choice and monos work but don't kill as quickly? Or would you state that differently?

RiverRider says:
So, Bill, if you had to say all that about bullet performance but in 30 words or less would you simply state that varmint bullets are a poor choice and monos work but don't kill as quickly? Or would you state that differently?

Here's my condensed version:

Varmint bullets are a poor choice for hunting deer/hog size game due to lack of penetration. Irregardless of their construction bullets that shed 30-50% of their original weight simply kill game quicker that high weight retention bullets.

Opps, that's 37 words

Good job