Ultralight Ultralight Rifles

[Hardly_Hangin]

I held a BCA 18" 6ARC barrel with the side charge upper today at a gun show and it was pretty heavy. The handrail was full metal.

 

[Good Stuff]

Took the .223 Wylde with Faxon barrel to the range today trying to find a load. Things stared out great with the first three loads and the fourth was off the paper. Every load after was the same.
Shooting a Sierra 77 gr TMK with Varget powder. I don't understand what would cause the sudden shift.
Any ideas?

 

[robtattoo]

Took the .223 Wylde with Faxon barrel to the range today trying to find a load. Things stared out great with the first three loads and the fourth was off the paper. Every load after was the same.
Shooting a Sierra 77 gr TMK with Varget powder. I don't understand what would cause the sudden shift.
Any ideas?

Up? Down? Left? Right? Everywhere all at once?

 

[Good Stuff]

Couldn't tell. Wasn't even on the paper anymore. Went from grouping 1.5 MOA at 100 to off the paper.

 

[robtattoo]

Couldn't tell. Wasn't even on the paper anymore. Went from grouping 1.5 MOA at 100 to off the paper.

Unless your barrel fell off, it ain't that.

That sounds like something came loose. Hard money would be on the scope, or mounting.

 

[Good Stuff]

I thought the same. I'll dive into it tomorrow.

 

[JBradley500]

Yeah id look at optic mounting/breakage or bullet contact with anything screwed to the muzzle.

 

[goalie]

Took the .223 Wylde with Faxon barrel to the range today trying to find a load. Things stared out great with the first three loads and the fourth was off the paper. Every load after was the same.
Shooting a Sierra 77 gr TMK with Varget powder. I don't understand what would cause the sudden shift.
Any ideas?

Already said, but that sounds like a loose optic mount or messed up scope

 

[Thegman]

Good news is if it's the scope, at least you probably have a decent shooting barrel. Most Faxons seem to be pretty good.

Not just UL-UL related, but the 300 HAM’R and the 125 BT do a great job. Third Sitka blacktail with the HAM'R. Two other guys used their UL-ULs to take 4 bucks today. Two with 77TMKs two with 73ELD-M.

125 Entrance


125 Exit


125 BT do plenty of damage with better exits. 77 TMks and 73 ELD-Ms did more internal damage with smaller exits. Nothing really surprising there I guess...

 

[JBradley500]

My Faxon absolutely hammers. Unfortunately it's a couple oz heavier than I'd like, but accuracy is exceptional.

 

[Hardly_Hangin]

Good news is if it's the scope, at least you probably have a decent shooting barrel. Most Faxons seem to be pretty good.

Not just UL-UL related, but the 300 HAM’R and the 125 BT do a great job. Third Sitka blacktail with the HAM'R. Two other guys used their UL-ULs to take 4 bucks today. Two with 77TMKs two with 73ELD-M.

125 Entrance
View attachment 959650

125 Exit
View attachment 959651

125 BT do plenty of damage with better exits. 77 TMks and 73 ELD-Ms did more internal damage with smaller exits. Nothing really surprising there I guess...

Have you tried any of the .308 caliber TMK bullets loaded in the 300 ham'r? Looks like they have several different options between 125gr and 195gr.

Is the 125 BT the most internally damaging 300 ham'r you've tried?

 

[robtattoo]

Have you tried any of the .308 caliber TMK bullets loaded in the 300 ham'r? Looks like they have several different options between 125gr and 195gr.

Is the 125 BT the most internally damaging 300 ham'r you've tried?

I've tried the 125 TMK. It's far too long in the ogive to work.
The Ham'r is designed with a really tight throat so short, less aerodynamic bullets work best. Even in a 350 legend mag, you can't load the TMKs long enough to not have the ogive in the case mouth, giving a huge jump into the lands. If you clip the tip off, you can load them to 2.355" but they still have a lot of travel before they clear the leade into the rifling. Accuracy with the clipped tips was ok, but the 125BTs & 130 Hot Cor was much more accurate.

125 TMK vs 130 Hot Cor......


De-tipped TMK vs unadulterated loaded at 2.355.....


Clipped TMK (2.260) vs 125 BT (2.355) vs 130 Hot Core (2.260)


If you compare all there ogive shapes, you can see how much closer to the lands the BT & HC are going to sit, at the same OAL.
In my gun, the Hot Core beats the other 2, accuracy wise, by enough of a margin that that's what I'll be shooting this year. The BTs generally shot under 2.5" for 10 rounds at 100yds, which is fine for a <300yd gun. The clipped TMKs were a hair worse, but still acceptable to me. The 130s routinely knock an inch off that & print between 1.25 & 1.75" for 10 shots.

Like I say, not a huge difference in reality & probably not enough to guarantee any first-round-hit probability difference, but enough to boost my own confidence.

I'm sure the TMKs & BTs show better terminal performance, but the Hot Cor works well enough, by all accounts (from the mouth of Bill Wilson)

 

[Thegman]

Have you tried any of the .308 caliber TMK bullets loaded in the 300 ham'r? Looks like they have several different options between 125gr and 195gr.

Is the 125 BT the most internally damaging 300 ham'r you've tried?

I haven't tried any TMKs in the HAM’R. Like @robtattoo said, they're too long in front to work in the HAM’R. I have some I might try in a Blackout.

If the HAM’R had been a 7.62x38 instead of a 7.62x40 they would work in a 350 Legend magazine. Bill Wilson's goal though was 30-30 performance with better BC bullets and it does seem to do that.

The only bullet I've used in the HAM’R for animals is the 125BT (edit to add that I forgot that I used 3 150 Speer BTSPs as well) so I can't really compare, but it has worked really well on about 9 deer, a black bear and small moose off the top of my head. A great balance of internal damage and penetration IMO.

I do have some 125 SSTs, 125 Accubonds and 110 V-Max loaded that I'll try at some point, but I'm guessing for the HAM’R, the 125BT @ 2.325" OAL is probably about the best all-around for BC / expansion at distance (?). My 125BT load stays above 1,800 to about 340 yards.

 

[Taudisio]

If the HAM’R had been a 7.62x38 instead of a 7.62x40 they would work in a 350 Legend magazine. Bill Wilson's goal though was 30-30 performance with better BC bullets and it does seem to do that.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried the Hornady 160gr 30-30 bullet, or the Winchester deer season xp 30-30 bullet?

I wouldn’t even think about shooting at something at/over 300 yards with my 30-30.

 

[Hardly_Hangin]

Gotcha. Anyone have experience with 95tmks in a 6x45 or 6arc builds?

 

[Thegman]

Just out of curiosity, have you tried the Hornady 160gr 30-30 bullet, or the Winchester deer season xp 30-30 bullet?

I wouldn’t even think about shooting at something at/over 300 yards with my 30-30.

No, the only 150s I've used are the 150 Speer BTSP on a couple of moose and a grizzly. They seemed maybe a little too tough for HAM’R velocities but worked fine. Supposedly the 300 Savage version of the150 Hornady SST works well too. I've thought that that Hornady 160 FTX would probably be good for closer ranges with the HAM'R (??). I don't know much about the 150 Deer Season 30-30 bullet, but I guess it would be good as well.

 

[KyleR1985]

Quietest suppressor for a sbr 300bo subsonic ULUL? Lightweight not as important, this is a yard deer application

 

[goalie]

Quietest suppressor for a sbr 300bo subsonic ULUL? Lightweight not as important, this is a yard deer application

My Griffin Optimus is really quiet with 300bo subs. It's also big.

But for really quiet, a CVA single shot or Handi rifle is inexpensive and quiet too.