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New From Wilson Combat: .458 HAM’R Caliber and Rifles

Jeremy S. - comments No comments

By creating a hybrid AR-10/AR-15 rifle, Wilson Combat has been able to up the pressure of .458 SOCOM by over 31% and slightly lengthen the case. The end result is the .458 HAM’R caliber and the HAM’R rifles. If 3,000 ft-lbs of energy from an AR-15-ish-sized rifle sounds like your jam, read on for Wilson Combat’s brief press release plus photos and a video . . .

 

The HAM’R is designed from concept to completion to be the hardest hitting, most powerful (practical size) AR platform carbine ever produced, exceeding the ballistics of the .450 Bushmaster, .458 SOCOM and .500 Beowulf. By using an AR10 size bolt and barrel extension, this new cartridge is capable of handling maximum pressures of 46,000 PSI while enabling it to exceed 3,000 foot pounds of energy from a short 18” barrel. The .458 HAM’R is more than capable of cleanly killing any animal in North America, stopping a vehicle or blasting through a brick wall. Using purpose designed “hybrid” length receivers, BCGs that are ¾” shorter than a standard AR10 and feeding from a Lancer AR15 magazine, Bill Wilson and the Wilson Combat engineering team have produced the ultimate heavy hitting semi-auto carbine.

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Jeremy S.

Jeremy is TTAG's Deputy Editor, working mostly behind the scenes but, when he attempts to write, he focuses on comprehensive gun & gear reviews. Jeremy strives to collect objective data whenever possible, and looks to write accurate reviews that reflect the true user experience. He lives outside of Austin, TX.

0 thoughts on “New From Wilson Combat: .458 HAM’R Caliber and Rifles”

  1. Hmmm, CMMG did the Hybrid ANVIL in 458 SOCOM and now the HAM’R Hybrid and beefier cartridge…seems like a direct challenge and a comparison is in order.

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  2. I don’t understand, why would they lengthen the receiver if the cartridge was small enough to feed from a standard magazine? If it’s small enough to feed from an AR-15 magazine, wouldn’t that imply that it would fit into a standard receiver set as well? Am I missing something?

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  3. Let’s do a bit of mind game. First, we accept that the US population is ~325 million. Then, we accept the number of gun owners at about 100 million (simple numbers, here). From these two data points, we conclude that 1/3 of the total US population owns a gun (or more, but let’s say it is just one). And this is where all the numbers get hinky.

    To begin at the beginning, the population figure is not as clear, or meaningful, as it seems. Not the ~325 million, but the segmentation of the total population. How many of the ~325 million are adults (age eligible to purchase a firearm)? How many of the ~325 million are minors (age ineligible to purchase a firearm)? Simply put, just how large is the potential gun-buying demographic?

    Next to consider is whether the rate of change between non-adult and adult is sufficient to produce a growing market. Is that demographic arguing against the growth of potential customers for any item for sale? I.E. is the population of consumers expanding or contracting on the whole? If it is contracting, even the smart phone manufacturers are facing a purchasing wall.

    So, what can we conclude about the potential market for new gun purchases? With the data presented in the article/posting, not much. But to conclude that 2/3ds of the population (or even one additional third) is an untapped market seems a bit fanciful. To make anything of the consumer market for guns, we must know with near certainty precisely how many purchase-eligible persons make up the buying pool. At the moment, we do not have sufficient information to really say whether or not the gun manufacturers (while ignoring international sellers) are “aiming in the wrong direction”. This sets up POTG for gross misjudgement about the mechanics and politics of gun ownership.

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  4. The shopping portion of the WC website says 300 grains 2000 FPS. Don’t know why they were focused on energy and pressure in their announcement. Most cartridges are compared by weight and speed.

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  5. You Aussies are fookin plain stupid. Next you will ban toast cut into the shape of a gun or drawings from a child. Have a nice day….

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  6. “The .458 HAM’R is more than capable of cleanly killing any animal in North America, stopping a vehicle or blasting through a brick wall.”

    But can it kill a grizzly driving a Buick behind a brick wall?

    No?

    Then who needs it?

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  7. Thinking of the NRA, it’s time to write letters once again calling for LaPierre’s salary to be reduced by half a million and that money put to helping the budget-challenged to buy their first firearm. Even at $500/gun, that would be a thousand new owners.

    Better yet, make it a challenge, using the $500k as matching funds and ask people to donate, and make it two thousand new owners a year.

    If they wanted to be creative, the program could focus on people in the three cities at the top of the violent crime list.

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  8. Guns in McDonald’s happy meals instead of a toy! Seriously, price and ease of purchase. If a gun could be bought on Amazon or thrown in a shopping cart at Home Depot and u could get one for $100 or less, you would have slot more gun owners. Most consumer purchases are spontaneous, and guns are expensive for a spontaneous purchase.

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  9. Honestly, I’d just like the firearms industry to bring back high quality products. There’s a reason pre-64 Winchesters and pinned and recessed S&W’s fetch such a hefty price compared with modern crappola. It’s the difference between truly great and good enough. I have a crescent wrench made in Jamestown, New York circa 1937, and I also have a Winchester 97 made in 1941. They just don’t make ’em like that anymore. Just as I put my wrench over anything currently sold at Home Depot, I’d take my 97 over any modern 870 or 590. Space age polymers and alloys have nothing on good old fashioned American steel.

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  10. I think a big problem you got is that most advertised guns outside of mundane shotguns, hunting rifles, 22’s, and pocket guns are edge pushers against different states AWB laws. As a result you get a lot news stories about how guns owners have to keep modding thier guns to keep up with the encroach of gun law for a new gun owner that prospect is intimidating and discouraging. And to make matters worse most rifles that don’t run the edge seem to sell for a premium due to thier unpopularity with main stream gun culture which wants as much as they can get. The solution? Stop pushing the edge make more offerings that are well inside the terms of existing gun law.

    Think about it a sub $400 featureless, fixed mag, clip fed, 5.56, self loader would be a gateway out of the mundane handguns and shotguns without owners haveing to sweat constantly tracking the laws and suddenly you have a lot more rifle owners who might care when the goal posts start shifting again

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  11. I bought one for my wife for Christmas; she loves it! We fight over who gets to shoot it. She weighs 125# and has no trouble controlling it or shooting it accurately from the waist at home defense range. I put a Streamlight TLR4 laser & flashlight on it… 8 + 1 mini shells with 11 pellets of buckshot at about 1300 fps. (four #1 + seven #4.) I can hit 3 targets with it faster than I can with my P245. No need for a double tap LOL. Anyone who doesn’t think this is a serious home defense weapon is wrong. Just saying… If something goes bump in the night I’ll grab the shockwave over my .45.

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  12. try to find ammo for the 223 WSSM, 25 WSSM, 270wsm,7mm WSM, 300 RSUM, 270 weatherby mag, 6mm PCU, 30 TC, 356 Winchester, 307 Winchester , or the 8mm Remington magnum before buy one of these. This list is just off the top of my head. there are many more cartridges introduced in the last few years that are complete orphans , with no ammo or components available . better buy a few cases of ammo and some dies if you get one of these.

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  13. You can improve your reloading skills with speed strips by practicing regularly at home…just like anything else. Is it ever going to be as quick as changing a mag? No, but if you carry a revolver, speed strips are a non bulky way of carrying extra rounds so you might as well make the best of it.

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  14. Wow…so for nearly twice as much as I paid for my SCCY (10+1), with a model specific laser, I can buy a gun that’s virtually the same size, same capacity and 2 oz. heavier. No thanks. I didn’t see whether the Sig is DAO, like the SCCY, but I’m guessing it is. My CPX-1 has over 300 rounds of six brands of FMJ & JHP ammo that I used to break it in and not one hiccup. I realize SCCY’s can fail, but so can a Sig, or any firearm for that matter. I’m sure it’s a nice pistol, but Sig has broken no new ground here, except for the Sig faithful.

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  15. Love it.

    But pretty sure I can keep my credit card secure at $3k starting price.

    If the law stated I could only own ONE rifle, maybe.

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  16. Where do all home invasions occur? Home carry. Even if you live in a ‘safe community’.

    Because there is no such thing as a safe community. Period.

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  17. If he’s terrified by the thought of one g un for every American, perhaps he should come over to my house and see my modest collection. Perhaps he’d shit his pants and go running back to Belfast, never to return. It would almost be worth the stench and having to get the carpet cleaned if it worked.

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  18. My high school year book from 1980 has a picture of a Chihuahua being held hostage with a revolver being held on it with the caption “Get this yearbook or else….”.

    I wonder how well that would float now.

    Reply

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