Greetings, everyone!

I wanted to reach out and make everyone aware of a new lead-free, lathe-turned, bullet company right here in Texas, Apex Outdoors. We just launched our first line of bullets, the Haymaker series. It is debuting with the .308 161gr specifically tuned for hunting in the 300 AAC Blackout both in rifle and pistol platforms.

We are very excited about this particular bullet, and initial testing has proven devastating in ballistic gel. Impacts ranged from 1050 - 2150 fps with identical terminal response, with the higher velocity having more trauma and deeper penetration, of course. In all cases, the entire front fractured off into four large petals over 20gr each bursting outward (at 2150 fps the petals exited the sides of the gel after about 12"), and the base penetrated straight for 17-20". We think this is the ultimate Texas-style pig and deer stand bullet stoked in the 300 Blackout and other similar low velocity 30 cals. It would serve well in reduced loads for the 308 Win or 30/06.

Please come and check it out! We have a small initial production batch available with more to come in the next few weeks!

https://www.apex-outdoors.com/product-page/haymaker-308-161-gr

Looks like a great bullet!

Interesting, might have to give these a try in the bolt action 30-30.

These would work great in your bolt action 30-30, provided your magazine clearance can handle the long nose on these, or they can be shot single shot if not and your action is a push feed design. The front projection is .884", quite a bit more than the .5205" nominal SAAMI length for the 30-30, but perfect for the Blackout. In the 30-30, I'd expect around 2400 fps possible, and is about the max we'd like to see this bullet launched out at for perfect terminal performance.


Thanks! We have a strong passion for this and try to achieve what we feel is the perfect combination of attributes for all the different bullets we release. If you spend much time on our site, you will see it littered with our flagship Afterburner bullet line. Due to many various reasons, we've been a bit delayed with that launch, but are close on the release of those as well. Please bear with us with all our releases as initial inventory will be a bit lumpy due to supply chain issues that plague everyone in this space, especially the small fish like us.

I am thinking I might have to trim the neck shorter and loose a little case volume to get it to fit, much like Hornady does with their factory loaded straight walled cases for the Leverevolution loads. How long is the bullet base to crimp ring? The rifle Remington 788 I think has a twist rate of 1:10 but will check that first. Next check mag length doing the math in my head I think it might work trimming the neck so there is a caliber long neck. Lots to think about to make this work if the twist rate is fast enough check that first.

OAL is 1.401", so to the crimp location from the base is .517", which is actually ahead of the cut groove just a tad. My only concern would be if you trimmed back a lot, the freebore where the case neck relief is would be very long. This diameter is very large, .3307" or greater. All of our bullets feature our patent pending bearing surface which reduces friction and fouling, increases muzzle velocity, and elicits very high accuracy even in long freebore scenarios, but the freebore we plan for in the design is throat freebore, something that would be a much smaller diameter than that designed to house the case.

What is your magazine length? I don't recall the 788 off the top of my head. It may work unaltered, assuming it's a 1:10". There's probably a good chance it may be a 1:12" though.

Is your 6.5mm afterburner going to be for the Grendel or Creedmoor ?

I’m aware it could serve both but what was the design intentions ? (Creedmoor velocity or grendel velocity)

Coming soon….. next 90 days or more ?

mcdil, the bullet looks great! I'm a huge fan of the 300 blk out. I hunt with several rifles in this caliber. 300 blk out is also one of my top selling ammo calibers. Do you provide any reloading data for this bullet? Reading the info on your "Loading Procedures", it mentions using Barnes TTSX and LRX data for the Afterburner bullets. Barnes load data on the blk out only goes up to 120 grains. Also some of your info mentions less bearing surface which will allow you higher powder charges and faster speeds. If you could provide load data, this will greatly help shooters feel confident in loading these bullets without the guess work. I can easily use some 165/168 grain load data, but it helps to have known info when testing or loading ammo. Any load data would be great!
Thank you!

Chad

Pig_Popper,
The popularity of the Creedmoor and it's 1:8" twist, made it our first .264" cal offering, so for that reason, it was number one on the list, but certainly wasn't our only focus.

One consideration was the short neck on the 260 Rem. The case engagement length couldn't exceed that. The design has a front and rear case contact boss, and it will work perfectly in the 260 Rem with a fast enough twist.

Secondly, the Grendel, by SAAMI standards, has the shortest front nose projection out the front of the case and the least velocity potential. We wanted to ensure we didn't exceed its nose length value while also ensuring the bullet stabilized out of the muzzle with a 1:8" twist at Grendel velocities.

In summary, we intend to launch it as one of the original Afterburners due to the Creed's popularity, but it will work very well in anything factory or custom sporting a 1:8" twist or faster. Out of the 6.5 PRC, 6.5 WBY RPM, and newer 260 Noslers (1:8s), this thing will smoke!

You cannot drive an Afterburner too fast. We expect tremendous shock and penetration at 4000+ fps impacts. We don't have the means to take anything there yet, but have witnessed ~ 3500 fps impacts with the 153gr Afterburner out of a 300 RUM in 10% gel (a relatively mild load too). The first block was almost blown in half from the shrapnel, and the base penetrated perfectly straight for 40.5" through a multitude of lined up gel blocks. We would take our 153gr Afterburner head to head against any and all 30 cal premium bullets for up close and personal, heavy-bodied animals to include the big 200-220gr lead-based, controlled expansion designs.

Yet, at the same time, it will perform aerodynamically like a heavier streamlined bullet designed for longer range shooting while providing a much higher muzzle velocity due to the lighter weight and low bore friction. While we wouldn't consider the Afterburner a specialized, extreme long range bullet, it's a "no weaknesses" bullet that ranks really high in any category a hunting bullet can possibly be ranked and low or average in none.

Chad,
Thanks for the suggestion, and fantastic website and business, by the way! You look to really go above and beyond for the factory load option for those that don't hand load. I love it!

Working on that reloading data now, and I'll repost here when I get a bit of compiled info put together. It will be a bit sparce at the moment, but will grow fairly quickly. We don't have a Blackout at Apex, at least at the moment, so our data is a bit third party. The beauty in that, is that testing evaluation is pretty darn raw and unbiased. Based on length of the bullet protruding into the case and the low friction behavior of all of our bullets, I would focus on what I see in Western Powders listed loads with the 155 Sierra HPBT MK. They have the bullet seated fairly deep, and it's pointy enough, that I think the behavior and case capacity would be similar enough to use starting loads for it and go from there. I would expect top end velocities to be around 2000 fps in a 16" barrel. I was going to attach a snap shot of Western Powders loading info for that bullet, but it's been so long since I've done that on this site, I don't recall how to do it now, lol. I don't use Dropbox anymore, and I feel that was the only way to do it, if I recall. Now that Hodgdon acquired Western, it shows up on their site as well. Again, once I have some info on ours, we will post what we have here.

As promised, I wanted to get back with everyone on some reloading data for the 300 Blackout. We don't have everything we'd like to have at the moment, as a full work up has not been completed, but this will help immensely for those trying to understand where to start. The below loads are not bottom end loads, but they are good starting loads.

Here are the parameters for both powders tested:
16.25" barrel 1-7" twist (TC Encore)
Lake City brass, trimmed and formed
161 Haymaker
CCI 41 primer
2.230" COAL

Results:

Ramshot Enforcer - 15.2gr
Avg mv - 1828 fps
SD - 9.3 fps
5 shot grouping @ 100 yards - .9"
Notes: One shot was pulled left, otherwise the group was .5". This is proving to be a great powder for this bullet. An estimate for top end with this powder is 1900-1950 fps with the 16.25" barrel.

H110 - 15.8gr
Avg mv - 1792 fps
SD - 36 fps
5 shot grouping @ 100 yards - 2.4"
Notes: Poor SD and grouping overall. This may tighten up as charge weight is increased, or a primer switch may solve the issue. The shooter is pursuing working up with Enforcer above instead.

While the 161gr Haymaker was designed to be pushed at these faster speeds, based on our low velocity testing, we do believe they will work well loaded subsonic as well. Below is a picture of a 10% gel impact test at 1050 fps. Four large petals burst outward, penetrating roughly 12", while the base continued straight for 17", stopping in the adjacent 20% ballistic gel block. Other than the level of trauma imparted, the expansion characteristics were identical at 1050 fps and 2150 fps.

Are y'all planning on offering .358 bullet for 358 Winchester, 35 Whelen and/or 358 Norma?

We will eventually get there, but it won't be in the first stages. The 35 Whelen is one of our favorites, so rest assured, we will ensure a high performance offering for it. Our plan for .358" caliber will be in the Afterburner and dangerous game (FPF) line. Speeds will be above the threshold for the Haymaker line, even in the 358 Win.

Having said that, we already have the Haymaker designed for the 350 Legend, none built as of this moment, so we won't go into too much more detail about it at this time. The operating window for that looks very promising. It will be the next Haymaker we release.

Will be waiting patiently…

More updates on the Haymaker load data from the most recent firing session........

Here are the parameters as a recap:
16.25" barrel 1-7" twist (a Ruger All American, not a TC Encore, I was mistaken)
Lake City brass, trimmed and formed
161 Haymaker
Ramshot Enforcer Powder
CCI 41 primer
2.230" COAL
3 shots for each load

15.2gr - 1820 fps - SD 10.1 fps (previously shooting conditions averaged 1828 fps)
15.5gr - 1849 fps - SD 13.0 fps
15.8gr - 1876 fps - SD 8.7 fps
16.2gr - 1909 fps - SD 1.0 fps

While the bolt gun has more potential as no pressure signs were present, Enforcer is heavily compressed at this point. It performs very well like this but getting more out of it could prove challenging while providing little additional benefit. As previously thought, the results are lining up well with load data for the 155gr HPBT MK.

We've also had the opportunity to put the radar on the Haymaker for BC. We have updated our literature to reflect a G1 BC of .310, plenty good for the intended purpose with this large, open, hollow pointed bullet in the Blackout and similar low power 30 cals.

A little eye candy from a customer in Alaska making us all jealous and preparing for a moose hunt with the Haymaker this fall. The outdoor picture is during a fireforming session, blowing out factory 30-30 ammo for the 30-30 AI. We are watching this one with high interest.