I'm not sure what you mean by "shoulder setback or jump" ?

I size case to min headspace, flush with the case gage body. Like most people in the industry we set the headspace on our barrels at min +.002 and typically after a few hundred rounds this goes to +.003 so a min headspace case will chamber just fine. Also I don't do anything different for suppressed or non-suppressed, I just clean my chamber frequently.

Congrats on your Turkey, mine happens to be a "Butterball", while I might be tempted to "hammer it" in the name of science, my little rifle is all nice and clean with only 5 happy rounds of Hornady 110SP through it like hot butter! So I decided to quit while I was ahead and put the "Dirty Little Thirty" back in the case before it started raining...

In my youth, I had NO interest in any AR beyond just a passing interest, I'm still a 98 Mauser man. Then I shot my BIL's little Armalite AR15T, it was loud, accurate, and obnoxious, but my only real interest was in Smith and Wesson N frames and Colt and Springer 1911's, with a Browning High Power thrown in for the love of beauty!

I traded a nice old 45 Colt New Frontier off on my first Rock River National Match, which I had Rock River build with a tube handguard, (yeah dumb I know), it was a drill, but I really couldn't use those little bitty national match sights very well, so I sold it off in the early Obama years. Later I sold another really nice Colt New Frontier in 45 Colt, with an ACP cylinder, for another Rock River Predator Pursuit with a 16" barrel, not their best work, so Rhonda at "Hill Top Gun Shop" swapped me an 18" upper, and it was at least attractive, and a couple of years ago I got all my rifles out and ended their "safe queen" status.. my little Husky 4100 lite weight in 30-06 now kicked the krap out of me, I've lost about 40lbs in my OLD AGE! My 1951 FN 270 is gorgeous, and a drill, but need new glass, so I had to find and pay for some Hi mounts off a Weatherby to fit that rascal Maynard's beautiful, but somewhat treacherous, Buehler bases and mounts.

I started to enjoy the AR most of all, but didn't like those itty bitty holes in cardboard, so I started lusting full time for a 308 AR, and came upon the 308ar. forum, and lots of bad influences,,, so they tried to steer me to all their pet rifles, PSA's, Mega, Noveske's, on and on, some very nice guns, but I had fallen in love with with Mr. Bill Wilson's BILLet receiver some time ago, a frustrating, and ultimately very expensive pursuit began. I missed an "Ultralite Hunter" on the gunsmoker by 25 bucks and 30 minutes, I went to the farm and got on my phone to close the deal, it turned out the auction ended on "Eastern Time", I clicked on it, and it was "SOLD".. daggumit!

Mr. Bill,

Thank you for taking the time to reply. I was referring to something I've often seen sited stating that resizing cases such that the shoulder is "bumped" back .002-.004 from the should datum to cartridge head of a fired case(depending on bolt gun or semi-auto) is the proper way to size brass to minimize the amount it is worked in sizing and firing.

Please forgive my ignorance, I don't quite understand . Are you referring to the shorter side of the case gauge?

Hope you and everyone has a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas Gent's, sorry for the above novel, it does have a happy ending, at least I think it does. Blessings to you all!

The case rim of the gage will have two levels, flush with the gage is max case length (min headspace) and flush with the lower level is min case length (max headspace). A case sized anywhere between is within SAAMI headspace for the cartridge.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all

This piglet explained after being hit with a135 FTX round. It sounded pretty cool from a suppressed rifle.

Head shot dropped this hog at 120 yards. 135 FTX!

Today is day 2 of cold, wind and RAIN and the company has been closed from Dec 23-Jan 3, I'm caught up on work and just finished loading 1600rds of 150gr SST loads and bored. So I decided to do some load comparison with the Hornady ballistic calculator..........

It's interesting how comparable the trajectory is on my 4 favorite loads, however 300yd velocity and energy #s did surprise me some. I guess starting out fast isn't all that important if you have mass and BC in your favor! As my bullet engineer buddy Joel at Speer told me once "there is no substitute for mass when it comes to terminal bullet performance".

Range/Velocity/Energy/Trajectory

130gr HHC at 2500fps MV
100yds/2164/1351/+1"
150yds/2006/1161/zero
200yds/1855/994/-3.1"
250yds/1713/847/-8.7"
300yds/1579/719/-17.3"

135gr FTX at 2400fps MV
100yds/2101/1324/+1.1"
150yds/1961/1152/zero
200yds/1826/1000/-3.3"
250yds/1698/864/-9.2"
300yds/1578/746/18.2"

135gr HAM'R Bonded at 2450fps MV
100yds/2168/1409/+1"
150yds/2034/1240/zero
200yds/1905/1088/-3.1"
250yds/1782/952/-8.5"
300yds/1665/831/-16.7"

150gr SST at 2330fps MV
100yds/2111/1484/+1.1"
150yds/2006/1340/zero
200yds/1904/1207/-3.2"
250yds/1805/1086/-8.8"
300yds/1711/975/-17.1"

Bill, are any of the 300 yd energy readings below what it takes to kill a hog or a wt? I assume these readings are from a 16" barrel & a 18" barrel would give some additional velocity & energy.

These are the velocities I load my personal ammo to out of a 16.2" barrel.

I'm not big on energy #s, bullet construction and terminal performance is what really counts. Having enough retained velocity to make the bullet perform consistently is a more important # to look at than energy. Based on info provided by the mfg, the 130HHC, 135Bonded and 150SST need about 1600fps to reliably expand and since the 135FTX was designed for the Blackout it only requires around 1400fps.

Of the loads listed above I've only shot game past 300yds with the 150SST and the two deer shot in the 320yd range both showed expanded bullet performance. Joyce and I both shot deer this year at 280yds with the 135FTX and the bullets performed perfectly.

Living where I do, 100-150 yards is considered a long shot, and 200 yards is really rare. There is an inner comfort in knowing my skill level is the controlling factor instead of the rifle's performance. There is also an actual comfort being able to use a compact, lightweight rifle with no real recoil when I'm going up and down those mountain sides.

But as I write this I'm thinking about our deer season that just ended and I'm laughing at myself. I practice weekly, I have a rifle that shoots sub-MOA, a load that never fails, what could go wrong? I'm sitting in a stand on a ridge line with a flat in front of me when I hear a deer to my right coming out of a steep gully. I watch it come up and wait for the perfect shot! When it reaches an old logging trail at the crest of the ridge line it stops and gives me a broadside shot at about 80 yards. My shot placement was ideal and it dropped dead in its tracks!

Then, my dead deer rolls all the way back down to the bottom of the gully! Even with my hunting partner coming over to help, and with a rope, pulley, and a 4-wheeler, it still took us over two hours to get the deer out. The 300 HAM'R performed exactly how it should, but I earned that deer!

I had not ran the numbers but your numbers make a strong case for the 150sst’s. I figured in the limited window you can use these speed would trump mass, not so in this case.

You bring this to light when bullets are unobtainable

Thanks Bill, interesting.

DALLER - general rule of thumb for a medium sized game is 1,000 ft/lbs.

Ok. I’ve had my new upper a few weeks and I’ve had a couple hiccups I cannot figure out. I am not a super ar dude who knows a lot. So I’ll preface this with that statement. The upper is a complete upper from Shaw with their provided bcg. 16” bbl I put my own lower together. It’s run of the mill Anderson flavor Magpul UBR stock and here what may be the kicker (and I don’t understand why). I chose to use an armaspec silent capture spring system instead of the traditional spring and buffer. But hear me out I received two kinds of loaded ammo from Wilson 130s hot cor and 135 ftx. When I shoot them what happens is normal function until last round out the door. The bolt locks on either the mag follower or the bolt catch. But not on the bolt face of that makes any sense. I thought hmmm H was too heavy maybe so I got same system. Just in carbine equivalent. Same results. Brass by the way ejecting at roughly 4 o clock. I disassembled gun and cleaned the thing good as I had not done that after receiving it from Shaw.

Today. I go back out after receiving some Wilson ammo 125 pros this time. Five shot group perfect. Functions perfectly. Lock back. Perfect in thought just needed cleaned. Tried the other ammo 130 and 135. Back to locking back funny Took my lower off the Grendel. Which has traditional spring and buffer system. Functions just fine with the three types of ammo

??? Only thing I haven’t tried is a different mag. But now I’m very perplexed that the pros ran 20 rounds today perfectly and the other won’t

My call is that you have a marginal gas port size. The less powder volume irregardless of bullet weight is the main factor for the amount of energy to function the gun. We always test our guns/uppers with a light 150gr load of around 2250fps and have found that if this load runs all other will also. The 125gr load has a larger powder charge than the 130gr or 135gr loads.

If you can slowly retract the BCG on an empty gun with the mag in place and it goes to positive bolt stop the mag will not be your issue with lock open after the last shot.

My recommendation is to use a standard MilSpec buffer and spring!!!

It was a little confusing trying to follow along with what you have tried, but by the comment above, it sounds as if you have already found your problem.

Thanks to both!! I’m going to drop my spring and buffer from the Grendel into my hamr and see if it functions right. I called Shaw last week and they’re happy to have a look he said. Will do that as last resort It shoots really well. All of those loads above are hanging right at or below and inch at 100. I have two hundred hand loaded ftx and 125 pros to try when the weather cooperates.

I wish this forum had a like button!

The Ham’r knocked down 2 more bucks yesterday. Both with 130 HHC’s. One at 130yds, one at 100. No tracking required. This brings the tally to 4 bucks, 2 does with zero follow-ups required. Love this gun.

I’m new to this forum but have read many of your posts. I’m amazed at Mr. Wilson’s contributions and passion. My compliments to him and everyone else who has contributed with such knowledge and helpfulness.

I have many rifles, but am a newbie to the AR style for hunting. I just ordered a Wilson Combat Tactical Hunter with an 18” barrel, in 300 ham’r. Mainly I deer hunt at my farm. There are a few pigs, but not many. My question is, shooting supersonic loads in this rifle, is a suppressor worth the trouble and cost, and the weight/ balance change, for hunting? I’ve never shot a suppressed weapon but know the noise reduction is not “Hollywood” effective.

My question for Mr. Wilson (if he’s so kind to respond) is his opinion on suppressors for deer hunting and if so, which suppressor.

I hope ammo is soon to be available from Wilson. I ordered a quantity from them and hope it will be available when my rifle is built in a few months. Thanks all.

Tks for the kind words, that kinda rare on some forums.......

As to suppressors, I always have my two dogs with me in the Kawasaki Mule or Jeep and often shoot raccoons, coyotes and hogs from the vehicle or close to it and I don't want my dogs to go deaf like my old departed Lab did from hanging around the range and me shooting non-suppressed when hunting with her. I'd also like to preserve what hearing I have left too!!!

Granted I shoot a lot more ammo hunting that most (approx 800rds last year) so this is a bigger issue for me.

The above being said, I VERY rarely hunt with a non-suppressed rifle anymore. Your right a suppressor isn't "Hollywood" quiet, but a good quality suppressor does mitigate the sound quite effectively. I use WC Quell Ti suppressors and the best comparison I can give you is that shooting the 300 HAM'R the muzzle blast/action noise is very comparable to shooting a non-suppressed Ruger 10/22 with high velocity ammo. For non-WC suppressors I've used and like the Thunder Beast Ultra 7 which has a comparable efficiency, size and weight. I'm sure there are other good ones on the market, but I don't have any personal experience with them.

Regarding 300 HAM'R ammo availability, we're loading it 5 days a week and filling orders as fast as we can. We're in good shape on cases, powder and primers. But some bullets are in short supply so some loads my be out of stock from time to time because of this. We've been promised a LARGE shipment of the Speer 130gr HHC bullets in early February, enough that we will also be able to sell them for handloading too.

I’m in similar situation, this forum has been a great help. Appreciate everyone’s advice and guidance esp Bill Wilson & SwatDude1.

I’m putting together two WC complete Uppers. Suppressors are illegal here in Socialist State of NJ. Flash Hiders on AR count as Evil attachments and you’re only allowed one Evil attachment (pistol grip) on your AR. So I’m researching now to determine if NJ considers WC Q-Comp a Flash Hider. The complete WC Upper for my “Troy Other” lower should be ok with Q-Comp as it is not considered an AR nor a pistol. It’s an “Other”. As far as my future Ranger or Tactical Hunter complete Upper, that would be for my AR. If I’m not allowed Q-Comp will have to go with Muzzle Break.

I hope to hunt hogs in future. Novice question, how would hunting hogs with Hamr & Muzzle Break be as far as sequential shots?

Thanks in advance.
Happy New Year
Tom

Shot 150 hand loads today. Every single round functioned perfectly..... using my car bind buffer and spring from another AR. Ordered a flat coil spring from Wilson. Just because. These pro hunters Like another guy said back a few pages. Laser beams. I’ve never shot a rifle that grouped like
This. I’m very excited now. I bought two braces last week. And I was debating on either a hamr pistol build or a Grendel. I have decided. Hammer time baby! I don’t see complete uppers on the website. But may call next week and see what’s shakin in the state below me...(AR) I’ll post a few pictures of groups and chrono info later today.


I have a dead air nomad Ti in process

This is round one of two I think I’m going to focus on 27.6 and 27.9 or just pick one and roll 16” Shaw barrel bag was 2351 and 2414 respectively. The sd on 27.9 this round was only 15

I can’t get the other picture to load. Too big I guess. 27.9 is the target and it went five shots 1.20” I think I and it can do better.

I've used them on 2 hogs with a 308 and they are a nasty little bullet. They will rip right through a hog. I'm sure they would be awesome in the HAM'R. The led pretty much explodes and the copper penetrator exits.