The 125gr Sierra SP is a very accurate bullet, but the 130gr HHC is a MUCH more effective hunting bullet! Personally I only use the Sierra for accuracy testing.

I picked up 2 boxes from an online auction for what was basically half price. Too good a price not to try them out.

I am planning a trip to the range to get a little trigger time with the remaining rounds. Brass willl get used for reloads.

We are completely out of Starline cases and I'm awaiting a response on when Starline will ship us more. We have 650k+ of Sig mfg in stock if those will work?

The 125 gr. Sierra was my go-to bullet for the 7.62x40WT and I still use it in that same rifle. I never had a problem with it. Good accuracy and every animal shot died quickly.
Now with that said, I think the Speer 130gr HC seems to give me slightly better results while hunting, but the Sierra 125 ProHunter is still has a slight edge in accuracy. (However, was does 1/4 to 1/2" in a five-shot group matter in the field?)

My biggest problem with the 125gr ProHunter is the supply and the cost increase from when I first started using it.

The current production 125gr (post Sig loading them) is not the same bullet as the original 2120 you probably have used. Sig had Sierra start using a thicker jacket to eliminate the "copper ringing" issue that occasionally happened with the original bullet. The original bullet would expand nicely at HAM'R velocities, but the newer bullets need more velocity than we can achieve in the HAM'R to expand reliably based on my testing. For OEM customers Sierra changed the SKU #, but for some reason hasn't on the 100ct boxed bullets???

Just purchased a WC 11.3” barrel from a THF member. It is a 1-13 twist, and I am wondering if I need to shoot 150 grain bullets in it. I have several cases of Wilson 130 grain HHC ammo, along with enough components to load 500 more. My two other Ham’r rifles have 1-15 twist and shoot the 130’s great, so hoping the 1-13 twist will as well.

The 1-13 should shoot the 130gr just fine. My experience has been that the 1-13 shoots 130-150gr the best and the 1-15 shoots 95-130gr the best. The 130gr HHC and 135gr Bonded and 135gr FTX seem to shoot well in either twist.

Keep in mind, I'm talking accuracy differences of 3/4" or less. A load the bbl likes should shoot sub 1" and a load it doesn't should still shoot sub 1 3/4". The only time you "really need" the 1-13 twist is with a short bbl or shooting 150gr in sub 30 degree temps with a 16-18" otherwise the 1-15 will stabilize all suitable bullets.

Back in October I put a 15X target scope on my 18" 300 Ham'r. The only load tested is the Speer 150gr btsp loaded down to 2,176 fps. It is a 1-15 barrel and you can see from the picture it still shot only a bit over 1 moa at 600 yards with practice loads. You can see the beginnings of bullet yaw but it was still quite accurate. There was no bullet yaw at 500 yards. This load has been shot down to about 30 degrees a few times with no apparent loss of accuracy. The rifle has always shot the 150gr btsp bullet more accurately than the 130gr HC. Not by much but there is always a measurable difference. The 150gr bullet puts hogs down just fine though I only hunt with factory ammo.

A few weeks ago I went on a pointless lark of comparing the 300 BLK 150gr btsp and 125gr TNT bullets at 200 yards while using a 1X prism scope and a 7.5" barrel. They are sighted in for 100 yards. The big target was intended to compare both accuracy and bullet drop. None of the bullets hit the big blue square so the 11.3 Ham'r" upper came out. With a 3X prism scope lined up for drop, the 150gr btsp practice load (2105 fps mv) gave a quick effortless 3 3/4" 5 shot group. It has a 1/13" twist.

What I am suggesting is all the fretting between 1-13" and 1-15" twist rates is mostly just people focusing on minutia. Maybe there is a measurable difference at 0 deg F but still am now aware of anyone actually having a problem in such cold. I gave up freezing my butt off a long time ago.

Big Sam: "What I am suggesting is all the fretting between 1-13" and 1-15" twist rates is mostly just people focusing on minutia. Maybe there is a measurable difference at 0 deg F but still am now aware of anyone actually having a problem in such cold. I gave up freezing my butt off a long time ago."

+1

Thanks for the feedback. Looking forward to getting the shorty built and to the range.

CORRECTION...........

I posted this yesterday,
A few weeks ago I went on a pointless lark of comparing the 300 BLK 150gr btsp and 125gr TNT bullets at 200 yards while using a 1X prism scope and a 7.5" barrel. They are sighted in for 100 yards. The big target was intended to compare both accuracy and bullet drop. None of the bullets hit the big blue square so the 11.3 Ham'r" upper came out. With a 3X prism scope lined up for drop, the 150gr btsp practice load (2105 fps mv) gave a quick effortless 3 3/4" 5 shot group. It has a 1/13" twist.
....................

I printed out the factory load velocity for this bullet. 2,105 fps is an awesome velocity but it is not what I practice with. My practice load with the 150gr btsp does 2,020 fps out of the 11.3" barrel. It is of note that the brass was on its 7th firing without issue or special preparation beyond allowing .003-.005" of headspace.

Bill I see you use rings instead of cantilever mounts on some of your guns from the pictures I have seen. I have one of your 308’s and I am wondering what height rings you use.

I was using them until we started making lightweight mounts. They are the Warne extra high Mountain Tech, but I now use our Omni V mounts which only weigh 1oz more.

Man I just bought an aero precision mount for my 300 ham'r. I would have gotten a WC version just for the cool factor of matching. I am now seeing a great price for another mount.
Question: is the ACCU-RIZER, AR PLATFORM mount good a holding zero when it is taken on and off?

Yes, they hold zero very well

Thanks for the info on determining Lot # TXPigKiller .

JWLaxton, I found the rectangle I think you are talking about. It reads: 8040623 and 28 below it. I am thinking that is 8 lb, April 6th 2023 and the number below it is lot#28. Have tried to contact Hodgdon thru internet but no reply. Will have to call to be certain. Thanks

Bill, I am ready to buy brass, bullets and dies but I have questions. I have read that Nickle plated brass will not grip the chamber enough and will cause excessive bolt thrust. Please, your thoughts on this topic. Also are the RCBS dies better than the Lee dies and why that is, if so. Might want to form brass from my large stash of LC brass in the future. Thanks

I've not noticed any functioning difference between brass and nickel and I shoot a lot of nickel in my suppressed guns. You do need to size the nickel cases before loading to get a tight bullet/neck fit.

I've been a big fan of RCBS ever since I started loading back in the late 60s and have more dies of that brand than any other. My ONLY complaint with RCBS dies is they seem to usually have large (only .002" below bullet diameter) expander buttons. I will typically turn them down to .004" below bullet diameter and then I get a good tight grip on the bullet. This said Lee makes some really good dies for the money, but I don't like the seating die not being able to be locked down when set for the proper OAL. It just relies on friction with a O ring. Hornady also makes HAM'R dies, but I've never been a fan of their "floating" bullet seating punch. I've got and use all 3, but prefer the RCBS. I also use a Dillon or Redding 300 Blackout taper crimp die, both are good, but the Dillon costs less.

On my way to my place on I45 I saw a girl driving on a very low tire and my friend pointed it out to her. Poor girl took a risk pulling over with 2 unknowns but I intended to change her flat. The truck had wheel lock lugs and she had no key so I told her to call a tow service because they usually here the tools. Took my Accuriser off so I could glass the exit sign in the distance so she could tell them where she was. 3 hours later I put a hole in a hog exactly where I'd aimed. The Accuriser works as advertised.

Thank you Bill. Order coming soon

I think you're right. After reconsidering it my CFE-BLK tag number is 803262113 and I would read it as 8lb made 03/26 2021 lot 13. But that's a guess so if anyone ever finds out for sure please post.

Good morning. New member here, joined up for the Ham'r discussion. I've read all 143 pages over a couple months. Lots of good info here. I do not have my rifle yet, it's a box of parts at the moment. Waiting for a Stag lefty upper. After a long reloading hiatus, I got set up again. I was looking at bullet selection and one that stood out but hasn't gotten any attention is the 90gr Hornady XTP that is marketed for the 7.62x25 Tokarev. It's designed to expand at 14-1500fps, so in the ham'r at 2600, it should act like a true varmint bullet, IF it will shoot accurately and cycle. I questioned whether it would feed so I made up a dummy load and it did feed in a buddy's ham'r when manually cycled, so there's that. Being a stumpy pistol bullet, I don't expect long range accuracy, maybe 75-100yds, but time will tell. What do you guys think?? Edit.. added pic. L-R 90gr xtp, 130HC, 135 FTX

Ian

Welcome to the forum HaywireHaywood, you will find there are a lot of great contributors here unlike most other gun/hunting forums

My question is WHY??? The 95gr CC, 110gr V-Max, 110gr Hornady SP, 125gr TNT and 130gr Speer HP are all good varmint bullets that perform down to pretty low velocity.