It looks like your bbl may just not like the Speer TNT at all, my suggestion would be to try a few loads up and down from the 27.4 charge in .2 increments, if this doesn't work give up on that bullet. The Hornady 135gr FTX and Sierra 135gr HP-V are both very accurate in most bbls, you might give them a try. But be cautious on going to max loads, these two bullets build pressure rapidly.

The Speer TNT is one I have never had any luck with in my rifles. But a lot of shooters love it. At the same time I have had rather good luck with the 130 HC, the 135 Sierra, and the Lehigh 110 gr.
On all of my reloads, I vary the charge by one tenth of a grain to find just the right combination. A couple of my rifles shot great right out of the box, but most of the time I get my best results after firing 50 to 100 rounds to "smooth out" the barrels.
I have also found that my loads like a light crimp for the best results. Once I find a good load it will normally work in all of my rifles.
Working up 1/10 at a time may be a process but it is worth the trouble.

I almost forgot, give your rifle a good cleaning before going from one bullet to the next. Especially if you are going from a "cup & core" bullet to a Lehigh solid.

... and here is the rest of the story. In summary, these 50 Starline cases were loaded and fired 3 times with the 25.6gr load above. Loading numbers 4 thru 8 had the more accurate 25.2 gr load. There was no neck separation with any of the 25.2gr loads. Primer pockets are still tight. Case stretch has always been minimal. No case necks split. The pics attached are from after the 8th firing. You can see some incipient case head separation starting. They were shot about equally from an 18" and an 11.3" barrel.

The 25.6gr load is about matches factory ammo and is worth it for a hunt. Yet the 25.2 gr load is a very easy going load with minimal loss in velocity.

I have had 2 rounds do that but I was using the 130 gr Speer HC with 28.1 of CFEBLK. Has not happened again and I didn't do anything.

yall shud consider urselves lucky. i bet 90% of my shots dont even hit the intended target
.

Question,

I have had several instances of late where employing a semi-auto rather than a bolt gun would have been the ticket.

I recently had my son build an AR upper with a 16" 1-15 twist Wilson Barrel chambered for the 300 HAM'R

I have both RCBS and Lee Dies for that.

The Lee die set includes a "Factory Crimp Die".

Is crimping loaded rounds for the 300 HAM"R something to be encouraged or avoided?

Thanx in advance,

GWB

I like a light crimp on mine and use a Redding .300BLK taper crimp die

Wow,

That was Quick!



Just for Giggles N' Grins

Armalite AR-10 lower, Wilson Combat barreled upper, 338 Federal.
It's a Thumper!

ya!

GWB

338 Federal is a thumper

If anyone is interested in an 11.3" upper let me know. I'm going to build a new 16" upper instead.

Has anybody ever tried these primers in your Ham’r? I was able to acquire some at a very good price and couldn’t turn them down. The other primerI need to ask about are CCI BR4’s.

I haven't but they should work fine

Thank you Bill

A friend shot this boar with my Ham’r.
He was aiming farther back by that rub/scar, but the critter moved.

125gr LeHigh Controlled Chaos
26.2 gr of A1680
CCI 400 primers
Wilson Combat cases
2.225” OAL

(26.0gr of A1680 was running 2475fps out of the 1/13 twist 16” barrel)

@NM13

This is where I got this idea from: Defensive Edge +P Throating

I decided I wanted a Bolt HAM'R this time last year.. I found a Remington 783 .243 WIN Brand New on Armslist in Waukesha, WI. I spent $340 total with the transfer for it.. I didn't get around to ordering the barrel, chassis, and other parts until Thanksgiving weekend (sales). I went with a custom throated (.100" over SAAMI) McGowen Stainless 24" 1:11"Twist. I also had it sent out to Cryo-treatment after it was completed. I sent in 3 dummy cartridges to have the throat cut to use Speer 2034 165gr BTSP and Berger 155gr Hybrids.. MDT makes a Short Action (.308) poly lined metal mag that holds 10 - .223 cases. It allows for 2.530" COL.


My total build cost with Optic,Cerakote, and 2 mags was $2,723.91
Wilson Combat $2,297.68 to $2,815.00 (w/tax & shipping 16" ARs)

Sorry for the bad lighting.. It's the one on the Left, the one on the right is a Savage 110 31" 35 Whelen! (250gr @ 3,000fps!)


It's only my second bolt gun build.. I have something like 10 - 15's and 5 -10's.. I went with a Remington 783 for several reasons, mainly because it was the cheapest route.. But Timney makes a nice trigger, Pacific Tool & Gauge makes .223 bolt heads, MDT makes an ORYX inletted chassis for it, and the barrel swap uses the same sort of Savage nut system. However, it has been a headache as far is getting it to ignite the CCI #450's 100% of the time.. I've tinkered with it for the last month, I ordered a Remington 700 (same size as the 783's) 32lb. firing pin spring from Wolff. They took my money, gave me some supply chain excuse, and backordered me. I threw a 28lb. spring in, it has helped a lot.. But there's something weird going on with the bolt shroud potentially dragging on the firing pin sear causing the light strikes. It seems to be working itself out with time and once I get the other spring I'm positive it will be 100%. I put a 32lb. in my Savage from the get go because it was an old 80's hunting rifle..

I did an initial break in with 50rd of 147gr FMJ Pulldowns (1.125") Touch at 2.395" I then super cleaned my barrel and HBN Coated it. I will also be feeding the rifle HBN coated bullets exclusively. Between the barrel being SS, Cryo-treated, and HBN coated it will help prolong barrel life, ease in cleaning, and help eek out every little bit of performance from this little cartridge.
50rd of Speer 2034 165gr BTSP (1.19") Touch at 2.475"
50rd Nosler 155gr Custom Competition 1.154") Touch at 2.430"
I loaded 100rd of Berger 155gr Hybrids (1.255") 2.515" and shot 30 today..





I'm still a New to the LabRadar.. I'm not sure if the crazy winds today caused a few miss-reads or if my tripod was at some point touching the shooting bench (full size on the ground) and caused it to miss some readings..? But here are some numbers.






It would be pointless to mention my charge weights or seating depths.. All of the Berger's were same charge & Same COL. Nosler Velocity above is for the 3rd group in the bottom right.
It was a cold and really windy day. I've been working too much to get out much.. So the target posted here is only @60yd (to be sure to get 50yd readings to verify BC with JBM's calculator). My club has a private area with pistol-ish length bays and then a public rifle range that goes to 1,000yd. After I get all of the kinks worked out, I'll be slinging some HAM'R +P at the 1,000yd steel!

[img]https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/pics/userpics/2023/02/full-68705-381632-20230219_193138.jpg[/img]

I'm excited for it to warm up (gonna have to rework loads) and hopefully have more time to shoot. The NRL Hunter series requires a PF of 380,000 (weight x velocity) 155's = 2,451fps 165's = 2,303fps..
No Ragrets on the build! But I'm pretty sure, I'd just build a 25 Creedmoor now. Berger and Hornady have some slick new bullets, since BJ went TU..

HAM'R ON!

IRUAK88, Thanks. Makes me hopeful that it's possible to get the kind of performance you did, but with 140-150 grain copper bullets in the mini bolt guns. I haven't given up but will admit to looking at some other options like 30 Grendel that have a little more capacity and maybe could use a little longer bullet. But I like the idea of sticking with a .223 case. Taking the leap to a custom chamber with a near custom cartridge seems a little risky but might be worth it.

One of the Big selling points on the 300 HAM'R for me originally was the cost and simplicity of an AR setup. I'm glad there's now 3 die sets available and at least 6 reputable barrel manufactures that chamber it.. Slowly but surely, it's getting the recognition it deserves.

I was justifying the reloading merits of the cartridge just the other day..

-Brass = Free and plentiful from any range in America or Starline, Sig, and hopefully others soon!
-Primers = CCI #450 have been some of the most plentiful throughout these messy last few years. Even as of lately $85/1,000 hasn't been hard to find
-Powder = Hodgdon CFE BLK, once again has been around and can be had for roughly $35lb.
-Bullets = Can't hate the .308! The choices, availability, and cost! I paid 11¢ for those FMJ pulldowns and 21¢ for the Speer 165gr BTSP.. Sure, fancy Berger's cost more.

Basically what it all means is that you can load some killer ammo for 30-60¢ a round.
You can hardly find a single piece of brass for another cartridge, that can compete with it for the price of a loaded HAM'R! (6.5 Grendel, 6 ARC, 6 Dasher haha)
Other caliber bullets have been in short supply, with high demand. While also simply costing more.
Sure you can step up to a bigger cartridge, hell even a .308 Win.
Seen any Large Rifle primers for $120/1,000 lately? How about some good rifle powder at $50lb, and what? About 45gr of it per shot? I've been gathering range brass for almost a year since I moved. I've gotten about 10,000 pieces of .223/5.56 to 56 pieces of .308! Even people that don't reload tend to hold onto the ones they fire.
I'm pretty sure the only rifle cartridges that can beat it are the .223 (those 77gr SMK's aren't cheap) and the 300blk (by a very slim margin)
Another thing worth mentioning is barrel life, If you're going to save money reloading it.. and it doesn't beat you up.. you're going to be shooting a lot more of it. It's a very efficient, damn near straight wall cartridge. Throat and barrel erosion is going to be much less than that of a 6mm bullet stuffed on top of 35gr in a fat case. Especially long if it's stainless, cryo-treated, and HBN coated

My build has an Arken EP5 5-25X56mm FFP MOA VPR Reticle, I'm not too impressed with it. Athlon makes much better looking glass. It has 110 MOA of adjustment. It's sitting on a 20 MOA rail, in a 20 MOA mount..
I know I can safely go up another .2gr on the Bergers, plus the barrel should speed up a bit more.
Here's what I'm thinking ballistics will look like in avg. fall temps and hunting elevations up here in Washington. BC based off LabRadar 0-50yd 30rd JBM calculations and Applied Ballistics Legacy Bullets Radar Print up on Science of Accuracy.


Here's some velocities on the last set of FMJ's I had loaded. I might be able to safely get them to 2,600.


Also here is some comparison info on the +P throat

This is based on a H2O case capacity of 30.4gr @ 1.603"
Berger 155 Hybrid in Wilson Bullet seating gauge 2.410"
COL 2.26 (Standard AR MAG) = 19.64gr Useable Case Capacity
COL 2.4" (Mag Well Length/Open Faced 10rd SS Mag) = 22.276gr Useable Case Capacity
+P Throat 2.505" = 24.253gr Useable Case Capacity
+P Throat Gains 23.48% over AR Mag Length, 8.87% over AR Magwell Length

I've always run my AR HAM'R brass at 1.603". The chambers actually cut to 1.615". I'm not worried about a .012" temporary stretch! I might even start running it at ~1.610" for the bolt gun. Just to give the longer seated bullets a little more support.. Although my Sinclair gauge was telling me all of the loads were damn near perfectly concentric.. and you don't have to worry about "bullet setback" or jarring from a semi-violent gas operated system. It's still probably best to do up some test loads and watch velocities/pressure signs for "Fire Crimping".

Mr. Wilson, I know this isn't exactly what you had in mind for the cartridge. Again, I'd like to thank you for all of yours & your team's efforts! I'll make sure to get the Spotter LR out for some 1,000yd impacts.

My stuffs came in. Im pretty excited to get some loads going.

Is there a trimming pilot made for the hammer yet? I use the handheld (ball) ones with a drill for now since idont trim 1000s of rounds at once. I think i saw lil crow has one WFT, i may have to just buy this one. https://www.littlecrowgunworks.com/...-Wilson-Tactical-Case-Trimmer-p117204250

It's a little more expensive initially but the pilots are cheap so you're not spending $75 for every different caliber.

https://www.forsterproducts.com/product/original-case-trimmer/

So im gonna try these out just to see what happens. I like the idea. I ended up buying the WCT for the lols and this 3d printed one with a carbide cutter. If i dont like em i actually not out too much. Ive been using the lee (ball) style cutter with pilot pins and its been fine for what i do.

MrBWilson.

Have you consider building a traditional semiauto rifle in .300Hamr? Something along the lines of m1a, browning bar with magazine?

I’m have an AR already, would like to own a different one. Not a fan of bolt action.

Eugene

That's funny, I have both of them and they're awesome! The 3d printed one from a Canadian fella is very well made, I specifically got it to do 35 Whelen because of the size.. But his inserts are a breeze to swap out for variouscartridges. Both of the cutters will give you great results consistency wise. Just make sure you use a case That's .005" over your desired trim length when setting them up to trim. The Hollub Machune & Repair's WCT lock screw can easily be stripped if you sit there and crank on it. I use mine in a bench mount drill press and can rip through 1,000 an hour no problem. They also cut clean enough you don't really need to debur, maybe just a slight chamfer.. For HAM'R and other high volume cases I'd just Wet tumble with SSM afterwards to knock down the edges. I've got an RT1500 on the XL750 now, so the drill press cutters will be left to cartridges I don't have a trim die for.

Happy and Safe Trimming!

Now that we're at the high round count testing stage on a completely new pistol design all my engineering resources are focused on the NULA bolt rifles which we hope to have on the market by August with several improvements over the original rifles.