It was originally called the .30-30AR. That’s because Bill Wilson of Wilson Combat appreciates the terminal effect of the old .30-30 Winchester, but also enjoys the popular AR-15. So, he set out to make a round that would duplicate the old workhorse .30-30 in an AR-15 platform rifle. He’s certainly not the first person to try.
With the new 300 Ham’r, he may very well be the first to actually get it right.
The .30-30 Winchester is wonderful cartridge. It has likely killed more deer in North America than any other caliber. Millions of hunters have counted on it to bring down game for over a century, mostly in lever-action rifles. I’ve personally killed well over 100 game animals with Winchester, Henry, and Marlin .30-30s.
It is therefore understandable that more modern firearm designers would look to the .30-30 as a model for effective ballistic performance. It’s simple. If you can make an AK or an AR match the round-for-round capability of the Winchester 1894 in .30-30, you’ve got millions of game animals harvested to attest to the power of the cartridge’s design.
Several cartridges have attempted to do just that. Among the most popular have been loads for the AK/AKM47 chambered in 7.62×39 and the AR-15 chambered in 300 AAC Blackout. A lot of folks, like me, have used the ballistics of the .30-30 to justify hunting with the 300 Blackout or the 7.62×39. After all, the 7.62×39 delivers a .30 caliber bullet with almost the same energy as the time-proven .30-30 Winchester’s. So does the 300 Blackout (practically).
But that’s only true for some loads with some bullet weights, and even then, just “practically.” Indeed, those cartridges do come close to the .30-30 Win, and for that reason I’ve felt completely comfortable taking the deer and pigs in my area with both of those cartridges.
If a competent marksman can get a 120 lb. deer or pig under 200 yards, there’s no reason he or she should feel under-gunned with the .300BLK or 7.62×39. Under those conditions, and with the right bullet, they will get the job done.
If you can get close enough, and if it’s not too heavy an animal. The same shot with an AK I’d take on a Hill Country White Tail, I wouldn’t take on a 200 lb. Mule Deer in the Midwest. I’d leave it, as well as my AKs or my AR-15s, at home on any elk hunt anywhere. Maybe not so with the 300 Ham’r.
Earlier this summer, Bill Wilson invited several gun writers and me to his place to shoot and hunt with new Wilson Combat products, the 300 Ham’r among them. We all had free reign to shoot as much as we wanted, pull apart the guns, and pick the brains of Bill and several members of the Wilson Combat team.
The 300 Ham’r cartridge is over 10 years in the making. The extremely short history of that making is Bill Wilson took the 7.62×40 case developed by Kurt Buchert, lengthened it by .040″ and stuffed it full of Hogdon’s new CFEBLK powder.
He then pushed rounds from 110gr to 150gr through a 1:15″ twist barrel. The results were, at least on paper, very impressive. The velocity gains claimed over the 300BLK, and the corresponding energy delivered, were significant enough to justify the caliber.
Those are the claims, but what do they look like in real life? As I was not the only incredulous writer on hand to review the new chambering and the guns that fire it, Bill offered an impromptu demonstration.
Bill set up a chronograph and sent three factory 300 Blackout Remington Premier Match 125gr OTM rounds down range. He then shot 3 of the 125gr SBT 300 Ham’r rounds. The 300 Ham’r rounds were moving an average of 248fps faster. That’s a real difference.
Not only is that considerably less drop at distance, but those 300 Ham’r rounds are producing 337ft/lbs more energy at the muzzle than the 300BLK under exactly the same conditions. And both in Wilson Combat guns.
That settled that. When it comes to a comparison between the 300 Blackout and the 300 Ham’r, there really isn’t one. The 300 Ham’r wins handily. But only when we’re talking supersonic ammunition.
The 300 Ham’r wasn’t designed to fire a subsonic round. If you want to fire a subsonic .30 caliber round from an AR-pattern rifle, the 300 Blackout is infinitely superior. That’s because Wilson Combat recommends bullets weights from 110gr to 150grs for the 300 Ham’r, so subsonic isn’t recommended at all. If you want a Wilson Combat in 300BLK, they offer several models, and it’s one of their best selling chamberings.
So the 300 Ham’r beats the 300BLK’s supersonic performance, as well as the 7.62×39 and even the 7.62x40WT. But the claim was that it was equal to true modern .30-30 ballistics. Based on the evidence I saw, as well as Wilson’s published load data, which is out there for anyone to reproduce, I compared that to the loading data in my manuals from Speer, Hornady, Nosler, and Barnes, as well as commercial loading advertised by them online.
I can only find one factory .30-30Win load that outperforms the 300 Ham’r, and that’s the Hornady 160gr FTX LeveRevolution round. But note that’s out of a 24″ barrel, which is 4″ longer than any of my lever action .30-30s.
Hornady’s 10th Edition loading manual has no data that can achieve within 100fps of that load, even with a 24″ barrel. With most other loadings, the 300 Hamr’ doesn’t just match, but exceeds the .30-30’s performance. It moves the bullet faster for any particular bullet weight, and with less powder. It is simply a more efficient cartridge.
Wilson Combat has always prided itself on accurate weapons, and I know from previous conversations that Bill is, in his words, “uninterested in inaccurate guns.” Already knowing the 300 Ham’r is powerful, it was time to see what groups it could produce at distance, so we spent an afternoon on the 1,200 yard range.
We had steel every 100 yards, and two benches as well as prone positions to shoot from. Using the 125gr Sierra SBT and Speer 130gr FNHC rounds available from Wilson Combat, I was able to shoot a series of five-round groups at the 100 yard target. As I had no desire to be shot by the other folks on the line, or to stop the shooting, I wasn’t able to precisely measure my groups at those ranges. I hope to get the rifle in for more precise accuracy measurements at a later date.
I can, however, report that no five-round group I shot with either round printed groups outside of its own lead splash on the target. In other words, if it was paper, almost every single hole would be touching. So both rounds printed multiple five-round groups under 1″, I just can’t verify how far under 1″ at this time.
I was able to consistently ring the eight-inch plate at 400 yards with the Bill Wilson Ranch Rifle from a few different positions. With a 130gr round, drop was significant, a little over 40″. Still, that load would generate almost 700ft/lbs of energy at that range. That’s plenty for any Mule Deer, White Tail deer, or any pig, anywhere.
That same round is generating over 1,000ft/lbs at 250 yards, and a mediocre marksman will be able to put rounds inside a 4″ circle at that range under hunting conditions. With the 150gr SST loading, a 200 yard broadside shot on even elk is certain to reach the vitals. That’s from a lightweight semi-auto AR-15. I’m still wrapping my head around real mountain elk hunting with an AR-15. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but in this case, it’s completely reasonable.
On paper, on target, and on the chrono, the 300 Ham’r performs just as well if not better than the .30-30. But what about on game (and not just thin skinned deer)? How does the rifle and round perform on larger game, something like a big pig, in the really real world?
Bill’s East Texas ranch is usually packed full of hogs, and a few of them are worthy of putting the round to the test. All of them are worthy of shooting.
Anyone who’s ever had a wild hog problem can tell you, fencing pigs, in or out, is a temporary situation at best. If you have several thousand acres, as the ranch we were hunting did, the pigs are getting through somewhere.
It was also over 100 degrees, only cooling to the mid 80s at night. The pigs stay still when it’s that hot. To make matters worse, the neighboring property was flush with corn and the pigs were spending most of their time in the shade and plentiful food supply of the corn fields.
Bill warned us that pickings would probably be slim, but he guessed he had a couple dozen big boars in the area. If you don’t hunt pigs, you don’t shoot pigs, so I headed out to a particularly wooded area the very first night I was there, knowing it would likely take several mornings and evenings of hunting to be successful.
You know what they say, the harder you work, the luckier you’ll get. I could hear boars fighting and squealing in the brush even before I got to the blind. I could also see why Bill had told me that, if I saw a pig, shoot it in the neck and then follow up with a shoulder shot.
I usually just pin them through the shoulders, but when I saw the terrain, I understood why. Given how thick the brush was, and the fact that night was coming on, even if the pig only ran 30 yards, he’d be hard to find and really hard to recover. A bullet to the spine usually drops a pig in its tracks.
I moved slowly and as quietly to the blind as possible, guessing the fighting boars were probably not more than 150 yards away in the thick brush. I had barely gotten into the blind and hadn’t even closed the door behind me before the pigs I heard in the woods came out, pushing at and racing each other to get to the deer feeder. One of them never made it.
The 150gr SST bullet punched right though the 250lb boar’s spine and kept on going. The pig didn’t take a another step. As instructed, I put another round into his shoulder while he was down. Opening my pig up, a well as one another hunter had shot, I found the wound channels to be exactly what you would expect. Devastating.
This is the shoulder of a boar weighing 300lbs, shot by another hunter using the Speer 130gr FNHC, at about 100 yards away. Note not only the significant wound channel, but that a big chunk of his shoulder bone is smashed through as well. Even after this, it was a complete pass-through of both lungs, exiting just behind the opposite shoulder. Impressive and effective.
It’s accurate. It’s effective. What about reliable?
Over the course of three days, we shot the hell out of several Wilson Combat guns chambered in the new cartridge. I never saw one cleaned or lubed in any way, and we stayed there on the property. I also witnessed box after box fired through the same gun with multiple shooters.
We had to set them down on a couple of occasions because the hand guards got too hot to hold. The fact that we were already shooting in 100-degree heat probably didn’t help that much.
Once I thought I saw a failure to feed. I had my camera out and ready to catch it. It turned out that the shooter — Bill actually — just hadn’t pressed the bolt release upon inserting a new mag while sighting in a rifle. Drat!
Suffice it to say, that I never saw a single 300 Ham’r have any issue with reliability in any way. Considering this was over thousands of rounds with multiple shooters over multiple days with several different projectiles in 100 degree heat, I’d say the rifle passes the reliability test.
When the 300 Ham’r was first announced, I assumed it was on the same “AR-12” proprietary frame as the 458 Ham’r. It is not. The 300 Ham’r is built in the traditional AR-15 footprint, and uses the AR-15 bolt carrier group and 5.55NATO/.223Rem bolt.
This is not a heavyweight rifle. It is light and extremely well balanced.
The Bill Wilson Ranch Rifle package that I hunted with weighs in at only 6lbs 2oz, empty. That’s with an 18″ barrel, making this a semi-auto rifle that is more accurate, just as powerful, and actually weighs less than my Winchester 1894 lever guns.
The light weight and generally handiness of the rifle was commented on by all of the shooters. Wilson Combat has a line of ARs chambered in the new 300 Ham’r, with a variety of different features and furniture. I spent most of my time with the Bill Wilson Ranch Rifle. This is the stripped-down, lightweight hunting rig that Bill keeps strapped to his Kawasaki Mule or in his vehicle when he’s around the ranch for hog eradication.
One of the distinctive features found on this model is fixed carbon fiber wrapped stock, the same kind used I used during my Nilgai hunt with his friggin awesome 458 Ham’r. I’m still surprised at how much I like this stock. It’s not what I would want to lay prone behind all day, but it’s light weight, shoulders solid and very quickly, and establishes a good cheek-stock-weld for me. Do note, I prefer a low comb height, so those of you needing a high cheek piece might do better using something with a higher comb.
The rest of the rifle is the same exceptional quality as I’ve seen before on their 458 Ham’r and their AR-10 in 6.5Creedmoor I’ve previously reviewed. There is a wide variety of models available on the website. The user has many finish options available, as well as barrel lengths and styles.
The Bill Wilson Ranch rifle is sold as Bill carries it, and as I hunted with it, including the optics and rings. The included Trijicon Accupoint 3-9×40 comes mounted and zeroed for the rifle. All of the models come with the Wilson Combat Tactical Trigger Unit set at 4lbs.
Although I’ve found Wilson Combat’s guns to be worth every penny, they do cost more than a few pennies. If you would like to save a whole lot of pennies, you can find the 300 Ham’r upper receivers ready for purchase on the Wilson Combat website. They list both forged and billet upper receivers in several different barrel lengths, ready to ship.
There are eight loads of 300 Ham’r ammunition currently available from Wilson Combat, and more will soon be offered by HSM ammunition. That’s a lot of variety for a round so young in its commercial life. But at this time it’s still a reloader’s cartridge.
It is greatly appreciated that Wilson Combat has published multiple recipes on their website, along with the sources for all parts needed to reproduce these loads at home. Wilson Combat sells 300 Ham’r brass, but it can be made from 5.56NATO cases. Reloading information, taken from the Wilson Combat website, is also included at the end of this article.
Lancer, Magpul, and D&H Tactical all make 300BLK magazines. Using these, you’ll have no issues with capacity or feeding. If you use a standard 5.56 mag, you’ll reduce the capacity somewhat. That amount depends on the magazine and its design.
The last time I checked, I have AR uppers in seven different calibers. The vast majority of those builds were purely to see if I would like the caliber. For most of them, the answer was no. It’s just really hard to provide any significant improvement over the current offerings. Bill Wilson has done exactly that.
He’s developed an accurate cartridge for the AR15 that equals or exceeds the ballistics of one of the most proven cartridges ever used in North America. That it took this long, and this many iterations, says good things about the old 30-30Win, and good things about Wilson Combat as well.
Specifications: Bill Wilson Ranch Rifle Package (Multiple Other Models Available)
Caliber: .300 HAM’R
Barrel Length: 18” (TR-300HBWRIG18RT15)
Overall Length: 35.5”
Weight Empty: 6 lbs 2 oz (without optic)
Magazine Capacity: 5/10/20/30 Rounds
Billet Upper (Flat Top) and Billet Lower Receiver
Round Threaded Match Grade Barrel with Circle WC Ranch Logo
Threaded Muzzle (5/8×24) with Thread Protector
Wilson Combat 12” M-LOK Rail with Three Wilson Combat Rail Covers, Green
Ergo Ladder Top Rail Cover, 18 Slot, Black
Smoke Composite Carbon Fiber Closed Shoulder Buttstock
Wilson Combat TTU (Tactical Trigger Unit) M2, 4#
Mil-Spec Bolt and Bolt Carrier, MP Inspected, NP3
Wilson Combat/BCM Starburst Gunfighter Grip, Black
Armor-Tuff® Finish applied over Mil-Spec Hard Anodized Upper/Lower Receivers (Green/Black Standard – Forest Camo Optional)
Wilson Combat Lightweight Scope Rings
Trijicon Accupoint 3-9×40 Green Dot Riflescope Mounted and Zeroed
MSRP: $3,650
Ratings (out of five stars):
Style and Appearance * * * * *
Like every Wilson Combat gun I’ve reviewed, all of the rifles chambered for 300 Ham’r I shot exhibited excellent fit and finish. The Armor-Tuff finish is applied thoroughly and evenly over an anodized receiver set. There are no visible tool marks inside or outside of the gun. The receiver sets and furniture all share a theme, and flow well together. Multiple finishes are available.
Reliability * * * * *
Multiple shooters over several days and thousands of rounds. Zero issues. I’d bet my life or my hunt on these guns.
Accuracy * * * * *
A lightweight AR-15 delivering sub MOA accuracy gets 5 stars. I hope to let you know at a later date how sub-MOA that really is.
Overall * * * * *
Wilson Combat has achieved what many before them have tried. They have successfully matched the full capability of the venerable .30-30 Winchester with a lightweight AR-15 rifle. Congratulations to Bill and his team there. What’s even better is that they’ve been able to do this in a good-looking, extremely handy rifle, capable of being carried all day, anywhere you may want to hunt in North America. It’s accurate, reliable, and effective. My regular readers know I look for ways to keep guns out of the five star category, but considering the ballistic feat achieved here, this one probably deserves six.
Ammunition Available from the Wilson Combat Website
110gr Sierra HP-V
2600 FPS
#A300HMR-110-HPV
110gr Lehigh Controlled Chaos
2600FPS
#A300HMR-110-CC
125gr Sierra SBT PH
2540FPS
#A300HMR-125-PH
125gr Speer TNT
2525FPS
#A300HMR-125-TNT
130gr Speer HP
2420FPS
#A300HMR-130-HP
130gr Speer FN HC
2510FPS
#A300HMR-130-HC
135gr Sierra HP-V
2420fps
#NW660
150gr Hornady SST
2280FPS
#A300HMR-150-SST
150gr Speer FN HC
2260FPS
#A300HMR-150-HC
150gr Sierra FN PH
2260FPS
#NW662
Loading data from the Wilson Combat Website:
Sierra 110gr HP-V #2110, 2.160” OAL
WC 300 HAM’R case
Start load: 25.5gr A1680 or 26.0gr H CFEBLK
Max load: 27.5gr A1680 or 28.0gr H CFEBLK
CCI450
Velocity range 2500 – 2600FPS
Lehigh 110gr CC #05-308-110-CUSP, 2.245” OAL
WC 300 HAM’R case
Start load: 25.5gr A1680 or 26.0gr H CFEBLK
Max load: 27.5gr A1680 or 28gr H CFEBLK
CCI450
Velocity range 2500 – 2600FPS
Sierra 125gr SBT PH #2120, 2.245” OAL
WC 300 HAM’R case
Start load: 25.0gr A1680 or 26.0gr H CFEBLK
Max load: 26.5gr A1680 or 27.8gr H CFEBLK
CCI450
Velocity range 2450 – 2500FPS
Speer 125gr TNT #1986/#3725, 2.245” OAL
WC 300 HAM’R case
Start load: 25.0gr A1680 or 26.0gr H CFEBLK
Max load: 26.0gr A1680 or 27.2gr H CFEBLK
CCI450
Velocity range 2450 – 2500FPS
Speer 130gr FPHC #2007, 2.175” OAL
WC 300 HAM’R case
Start load: 25.0gr A1680 or 26.0gr H CFEBLK
Max load: 26.5gr A1680 or 27.8gr H CFEBLK
CCI450
Velocity range 2450 – 2500FPS
Hornady 150gr SST #30303, 2.245” OAL
WC 300 HAM’R case
Start load: 23.8gr H CFEBLK
Max load: 24.8gr H CFEBLK
CCI450
Velocity range 2190 – 2250FPS
Speer 150gr FNHC #2011, 2.145” OAL
WC 300 HAM’R case
Start load: 23.6gr H CFEBLK
Max load: 24.8gr H CFEBLK
CCI450
Velocity range 2180 – 2240FPS
All loads were produced with WC 300 HAM’R cases, reduce the above charge weights by 5% if using cases made from .223/5.56 brass.
WARNING: Due to barrel bore dimension variations and powder lot differences WILSON COMBAT strongly recommends the use of a chronograph to work up loads in excess of the starting loads. Do not exceed the highest velocity listed for any load and do not substitute any other component for those listed.
Velocities were recorded using a Wilson Combat 18” barrel with Labradar in 90-100 degree temperature. Reduce or add 12FPS per inch for shorter or longer barrels.
NOTE: The 300 HAM’R is designed to use 110-150gr bullets at supersonic velocity and is NOT suitable for heavy bullet sub-sonic use.
WARNING: The above loading data has proven safe in Wilson Combat firearms when used properly, but because Wilson’s Gun Shop, Inc., dba Wilson Combat has no control over the components used or individual handloading practices we assume no liability (either expressed or implied) for the use of this load data information.
NUMEROUS BULLETS ARE SUITABLE FOR THE 300 HAM’R AND COVER A WIDE VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS
Bullet Choices Suitable for the 300 HAM’R
110gr Sierra HP Varminter #2110 (extremely accurate)
110gr Hornady V-MAX #23010
110gr Barnes TSX #30835
110gr Lehigh CC #05-308-110-CUSP (our partners at Lehigh Defense designed this bullet specifically for the 300 HAM’R to provide extreme accuracy and deadly terminal performance)
125gr Sierra SBT PH #2120 (the all around choice, achieves maximum velocity, accurate and deadly)
125gr Sierra FNHP #2020
125gr Speer TNT #1986
130gr Speer FNHC #2007 (OPTIMUM hunting bullet for terminal performance)
130gr Speer HP #2005 (inexpensive and super accurate)
135gr Sierra HP Varminter #2124 (extremely accurate, great choice for predator hunting)
135gr Sierra HPBT MK #2123
150gr Hornady SST #30303 (for the largest game the cartridge is suitable for)
150gr Hornady RN IL #3035
150gr Sierra FN PH #2000 (for the largest game the cartridge is suitable for)
150gr Sierra RN PH #2135
150gr Speer FNHC #2011 (for the largest game the cartridge is suitable for)
160gr Hornady FTX #30395