I looked at your load data for the 125CC and found it interesting that you have data for SW Blackout but not SOCOM. Is that because of your aforementioned powder availability issues or is there another reason?

Yes, we're loading ammo now

I don't normally use SOCOM for 125gr or heavier bullet loads, pressure spikes too fast for me with the heavier bullets

That's good to know. I still need to chrono my 110 Lehigh and 135gr Hp's.

Question and I hope this is not off topic for this thread, I will delete if it is. Is there anywhere in the Dallas/East Texas area that you all are able to buy ham'r ammo in a shop/store? I have no issue ordering but I would love the ability to just go get some when I need it. I am in Hunt county and have not found a local shop that carries it.

I recently obtained up a Bill Wilson ranch rifle and love shooting the thing so ammo is not seeming to stick around long :P

Could you explain the difference between the Cartridge Gauge and the Bullet Seat Gauge?

The case gauge just allows you to determine if the case is properly sized, correct headspace of your sized case (sizing die adjustment) and case length (need for trimming or not), the bullet seating gauge also has the lead/throat area of the chamber so you can adjust bullet seating depth for the amount of clearance you want before the bullet actually touches the lands in addition to what the cartridge gauge does. Get the bullet seating gauge and your covered.

Anybody try out H110 and 110gr bullets in a short barrel? Looking for a good starting point.

I have shot H-110 for decades in magnum pistols and for 6-7 years with the 300 BLK. It is very much my favorite 300 BLK super powder. Wilson Combat and Hodgdon do not list H-110 or any other powder close to that burning rate. in 300 Ham'r. So my guess is the cartridge will go over pressure before filling it up with H-110. Seems like a 1680 speed powder is about the fastest used.

If things every get really boring around here I might try 4227 with a lighter bullet. So far I have only used CFE BLK with 125-150 gr bullets and it is an ideal powder.

H110/W296 are on the fast side for the HAM'R and spike pressure really quickly, also this powder and 11FS which is similar won't reliably cycle my guns.

I think you will find 4227 is too bulky and you run out of room long before you get decent velocity.

I did some testing, and much like people have said, H110 is too fast. I can easily do some of the spicier blackout loads, but you basically only get blackout velocities and you lose being able to use some of the best blackout bullets since they are so long (such as the 110 Tac-Tx). Compared to using CFE BLK it felt anemic as CFE BLK gave much more velocity even in the lightweight bullets over H110.

I also did a bit of "how far can I push this" testing with CFE BLK, and with a ridiculously over compressed load of 29.1gn I was getting 2650 out of my 18"bbl with the 135 Varminter HP before it started having accuracy/consistency issues. Not really a load I would want to run, but its an interesting data point.

For the love of Pete DJones, can you just take me to one of those Ag field shootin galleries you got before I burst my heart trying to run these things down one by one! You know you’ll feel bad if I die doing that.

[110gr CC, several different mixed loads in the mags because I’m running low and most of my encounters are pretty close so it doesn’t matter a lot of the zero is a bit off]

The ginger took one head on right under the eye. I was a little jumpy on the trigger after that second shot. It’s always fun being by yourself and “drop” one close only to have it out of the view finder get up and try to finish you off like a 7-10 split before he realizes he’s already dead.

Your DAMN LUCKY you didn't blow your gun up!!! The Sierra 135gr HP is the one bullet that spikes pressure very quickly and can't be loaded much over 2400fps within the 57,500psi max. out of a 16" barrel. Personally I don't load this bullet over 2380fps.

I know your pain! I'm sitting here looking at my last 2 boxes of small rifle primers and can't decide what bullet to use them on. I'm going to have to see what POI change there will be between the 110 & 125gr. CC.
Like Isopher, I did push different powders to their limits with several bullets, but I keep going right back to CFE-BLK using the 125-135 gr bullets. I've yet to see the coyote, hog, deer, or black bear that disagrees with my choice. At the same time, I've found that the loads that gave me the best velocity versus accuracy combination actually fell in the range of the loads listed on the WC website. But it was fun playing with the combinations.

Actually I shot the 110gr CC and 125gr CC last Sun for POI and they were both within 1/2" out of the rifle I was shooting. The 110gr was loaded with A1680 to 2640fps and the 125gr with CFEBLK to 2420fps. I've tried SOCOM, A1680 and CFEBLK with the 110gr and I get the best accuracy and highest velocity with A1680.

Interesting you say that about the 135 HP. My primers where still round with no marks on the back of the brass or chewed up rims after firing. I was using brass that had been fire formed to my chamber and re-sized several times but I wouldn't expect to be that far above your load without seeing pressure if yours are on virgin brass. Maybe the lot of CFE BLK I was using (17), or the altitude/humidity difference (very dry over 7000 ft) has something to do with it.

I do have another lot of CFE BLK, so ill start a new ladder with that and see if the lot I was playing with is particularly slow to burn or ignite. I need to do that anyway so I can adjust known loads.

Pressure test results from last Jan and actually I misspoke above, 2350-2375fps is probably full MAX. Powder lots do vary quite a bit, but in general velocity = pressure.

Sierra 135gr HP-V, 2.250”
27gr CFEBLK, lot #8
Sig nickel case (new), lot #865 mfg 10-June-21
2408FPS, 21ES, 8SD, Bill LR 16” IG
63,357PSI average, 6404PSI ES 10 shots

Trying to reply without writing a physics dissertation again is hard for the engineer in me.



While I agree that pressure and velocity are related, that doesn't tell the whole story. Area under the pressure curve is more influential than peak pressure. Its why I prefer SW Blackout to SW SOCOM for my heavy supersonic blackout loads. The pressure peaks slower but maintains pressure longer resulting in a faster bullet out of the muzzle at the cost of more powder burned - provided the barrel is long enough. I dont have the equipment to measure the chamber pressure directly, but now im super curious as to the characteristics of CFE BLK.

My friend loads 6.5CM with Superformance and had some interesting loads in that one too as it is a pressure sensitive powder that changes it's burn characteristics based on how much pressure it is under, so much so that it can have secondary ignitions under the right conditions causing very frustrating days of load development. I wonder if CFE BLK has similar quirks.

Hi All, I'm new to the Forum / Thread. I have the 300 HAM'R Tactical Hunter. From my reading, I suspect it will live up to the hype. The issue I have is not enough $$$ to buy tons of ammo. So, I have to be selective. I am currently preparing to order my Leupold CDS for my scope. My hunts are primarily for Black Tail / Mule Deer & Elk (still ain't seen one, but... here's hoping). and I plan on expanding to hogs in Cali and Bear in my area. Of course, the Tactical Hunter....will be my primary. With all that said, I am leaning towards having the Leupold CDS set for the A300HMR-135-FTX | 135GR, HORNADY FTX. Any thoughts about Hornady 135gr FTX as the all purpose bullet / cartridge for my hunts? Does anyone out there have a Leupold scope with CDS setup for their HAM'R? Curious as to how well they serve your hunts.

Welcome to the forum

The 135gr FTX would be a good all around choice, it typically shoots well in all barrels and it kills well. I've successfully shot game as big as Waterbuck with it as well as lots of hogs and whitetail deer. However for Elk I'd probably switch to either the 150gr SST or 150gr Bonded bullet.

i keep telling you im out of hogs

DJones - How big is your freezer?! It can't be easy to store all those pigs just to periodically drag them back out for another group photo.... That is a lot of work just to tease Dzhitshard !!! HAHAHA

You're doing good work... enjoy the cool night weather while we still have it. Its a bear when summer heat hits and its still 90F at midnight.

How much do I give up performance wise with a Ham’r with a 8” barrel? I have one with a suppressor that I keep by the bed for a home defense weapon as I am sure it will do the job at those distances.

I really like the compactness of the gun and have thought about sticking a thermal on it and using it for my night time hog gun and using something else for home defense. I have a surpressed CZ scorpion which would fit the bill nicely. Currently my thermal is mounted on a 308 AR-10 and while it does the job it is a heavy huge beast especially with a suppressor.

Anyway back to my question what kind of performance losses am I going to suffer with the short barrel? 90% of my shots would be 100 yards or less.

You normally loose approx 10-15fps per inch on average with more for the lighter 95-110gr bullets and less for 150gr..