The extra length of a full length 15" handguard means more options for supporting, balancing, and attaching gear. If you want to mount a low-profile flashlight on side of rail or battery pack to run the night optic, etc. I came to this conclussion after trying to use a SBR on a night hunting. I quickly realized that I wanted / needed a 16" barrel or should I say I wanted / needed a 15" handguard. The SBR's short handguard makes it extremely difficult to rest your gun on the blind's window seal or on any type of support. I had to do some serious yoga to get myself chose enough to front wall of blind so that I could rest the rifle on window seal.... think "doing the splits". The same issue with using short handguard on a bipod or tripod... defeats the purpose. Nope... next morning when I got home I put in my order to build out a 16" Upper. I would have done it in the blind during the night but no satellite service out in the woods.

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125gr TNT is my favorite plinking bullet. Accurate, inexpensive, and easy to load for both 300BO and 300HAMR. The TNT was not designed for hunting... it doesn't have a hollow cavity to promote expansion / "mushrooming". Yes, the right shot placement or ability to take additional follow-up shots make any bullet lethal. DJ does a bang up job with the TNT. He is shooting volume (cost becomes important in equation) and he is doing pest control. You should ask yourself how many hogs will you plan to shoot in a year and what do you plan to do with them. I hunted in deep thicket where follow-up shots were extremely limited and I planned to harvest/eat the pigs. Paying $1.00-$1.50 per bullet that then killed a pig seemed cheap, and I would pay more to avoid having to track down wounded game. Killing 50 pigs a year (1 box of specialty bullets) is a lot of shooting for any recreational hunters, which is less than the cost of gas that I spend just to get to the woods for one hunt.

Shoot what you are comfortable with. Happy Hunting.

stayed out wayyyy too late killing these. wish i could afford to retire. i'm utterly delirious this morning
i think you give me too much credit calling it pest control. i'm just having fun.

This Little Piggy went to the market, this Little Piggy styed home, this little Piggy got shot by Dj and so did that one over there, and that Little Piggy way out there DJ shot a couple of times....

DJ + TNT = making Texas just a little safer at night!

You forgot about the one that went Wee Wee Wee all the way to the bone pile.... LOL

dj strikes again

That's a bunch of hogs.....

DJ, I see the population has finally come back from the big freeze 3 or so years ago that nearly wiped them out. I'm seeing a lot here in NE TX now too. 18 down the first 4 days of 2025

between freezes, droughts and the hamr, it's hard for a pig to make a living these days

taking the night off. im getting tired

DJ is the MJ of killing pigs. Legend

I didn't know there was a Michael Jackson of pig whacking.. is there a sequined glove involved?

really?? ok everyone else can watch this vid cept haywire.

moon too bright to sneak up on foot. had to rodeo most of them. not me shooting, lol.



ps-that was a 223. hes ordering a hamr monday

I'm bad I'm bad, you know it....

I finally got my parts in no thanks to Mr. Freeze. I'm gonna love this rifle. I loaded the 130gr Hot Core in mixed 5.56 brass that I formed myself over a max charge of CFEBLK and held a 2.5 inch 10 round group. Perfect for minute of hog. The group will tighten up as the barrel breaks in and if I show more care in selecting brass but I wanted to see how it shot with whatever I threw in it and it did well in my opinion. I'm using the lightweight barrel and shooting through a B&T 3D printed suppressor. That group would likely be better with anyone else shooting. I detached my left arm once upon a time and can't feel my left hand. I shot much better prior to the injury.

Found a new WC Protector 300 HAMR local and bought it at a steal of a price, love the gun.

Figuring out a ammo order and the 130 hot-core is definitely on the list.

Are the 125 gr Sierra pro hunters not good to hunt with anymore?
I know they have been in and out of stock but not sure.
They are priced pretty good at WC also.

Thanks for any help

Mr Wilson says that the new pro hunters are harder than they used to be and don't expand properly at Ham'r velocities.

Thanks, what a shame, the PH's have always been a good bullet.

They will do ok out to 100yds or so out of 16" or longer barrels, other than that they are great target bullets for accuracy.

It is time to mix in a little venison with all of the pork being shown. First dear with the NULA!




Lehigh 125gr CC3 at about 25 yards. My not be the biggest deer by "Texas Standards" but just fine for Western NC.

This was posted on the SHOOTING WIRE by Remington today:

"New for Centerfire Rifle, the Core-Lokt Tipped Lever Gun product line is engineered to maximize performance in lever-action rifles and is available in six cartridge options. With it, lever-gun enthusiasts now have the advantages associated with a polymer tip bullet. In addition, Core-Lokt Tipped will now be loaded in 300 Rem. Ultra Magnum, and the tried-and-true Core-Lokt will now be loaded in 300 Ham’r and 400 Legend. Core-Lokt’s tapered copper jacket is locked to a lead core that delivers maximum weight retention and penetration on game.

These all-new products will be showcased and on display at the 2025 SHOT Show, January 21–24 at the Venetian Expo and Caesars Forum in Las Vegas, Nevada. Attendees of the show are encouraged to stop by Booth No. 11838 for a first-hand look at these new products and more."

Looks like there is a "new" 100gr .30cal bullet coming to market from Lapua. It was announced mid-2024, but there doesn't seem to be many around. Interested to see its accuracy out of the 300HAM'R. Definitely better looking than a TNT, but most likely at 2x-3x the price.

Lapua 30cal 100gr Open Point Bullet

Looks like it's designed for those electronic targets they have over there.

The 11.3" with Rugged Micro 30 suppressor is the money. I'm getting 2333 fps with factory 135gr HAM'R Bonded. It has a 5" drop at 200yd and over 1000 ft-lbs at 1886 fps. I think Bill said at one point the 135gr will expand down to 1600 fps or so, which would make this round effective to 300 yards.

I think I remember the Hornady 135gr FTX expanding at that velocity. I can't remember what was said about the bonded. I seem to remember him saying that he thought the FTX was too soft for hogs but ideal for whitetail.

I killed several hogs with both the 135gr FTX and HB before I bought Lehigh, both worked fine. I had a client here hunting last week and he killed 2 big hogs DRT with the 135gr HB.

I think all the expanding and/or fracturing bullets we load will expand/fracture down to 1800fps, with some down close to 1600fps except the Sierra 125gr PH which needs about 2200fps impact velocity. The Lehigh 125gr Tipped Controlled Chaos seems to have the lowest impact velocity for reliable performance. The twist rate also has a substantial effect too, bullets shot out of a 1-13 twist will perform at a lower impact velocity than ones shot out of a 1-15 twist.

Personally my #1 choice for hog hunting is the Lehigh 115gr Tipped Xtreme Chaos. Most my kills are DRT with runners usually going less than 20yds. I've killed 56 since Jan 1 with this bullet.