Wilson Combat 300 HAM R 135gr Bonded Speer Soft Point – Superb 20 Round Box

Description

Hogs are the reason bonded bullets exist in this cartridge. A mature boar carries a shield of cartilage over the shoulder that stops conventional cup-and-core bullets cold, and the Wilson Combat 300 HAM R 135gr Bonded is Wilson Combat answer to that specific problem.

• What Bonding Buys You on Heavy Game
• Wilson Combat 300 HAM R 135gr Bonded Specifications
• Honest Notes on This Load

What Bonding Buys You on Heavy Game

A bonded bullet has its lead core chemically fused to the copper jacket rather than merely pressed inside it. When the bullet strikes bone or heavy tissue, the core and jacket stay together instead of separating, and the projectile keeps driving forward as a single mass. Weight retention on bonded bullets typically runs 85 to 95 percent, against 50 to 70 percent for a good conventional soft point.

That difference decides outcomes on animals with structure. The Wilson Combat 300 HAM R 135gr Bonded will punch through a hog shoulder shield and reach the far lung, where a lighter-constructed bullet at the same velocity may expand violently on the shield and stop. Since a wounded boar is both a lost animal and a genuine safety problem, this is not an academic distinction.

Wilson Combat loads this in Berryville, Arkansas. Velocity is published at roughly 2450 feet per second from an 18 inch barrel, which is the barrel length most 300 HAM R uppers actually wear, and muzzle energy works out to about 1727 foot-pounds.

Wilson Combat 300 HAM R 135gr Bonded Specifications

The tradeoff for that toughness is a narrower wound channel. A bonded bullet expands to a controlled diameter and holds it, so it does not produce the dramatic tissue disruption of a rapid-expansion bullet. On a thin-skinned whitetail at 200 yards, an FTX or a conventional soft point will often drop the animal faster. Choose the Wilson Combat 300 HAM R 135gr Bonded when penetration matters more than immediate shock.

Ballistically this load sits between the 130 grain Hot-Core and the 135 grain FTX. The extra bullet weight costs a little velocity, and the soft point profile costs a little in ballistic coefficient against the polymer-tipped FTX. Inside 250 yards none of that changes your hold; past 300 the FTX is the flatter option.

Cases are boxer-primed reloadable brass, which matters because 300 HAM R brass is not something you find at every counter. Save it.

• Cartridge: 300 HAM R
• Bullet weight: 135 grain
• Bullet type: Speer bonded jacketed soft point
• Muzzle velocity: approximately 2450 feet per second from an 18 inch barrel
• Muzzle energy: approximately 1727 foot-pounds
• Case: brass, boxer primed, reloadable
• Platform: AR-15 with 300 HAM R barrel and bolt
• Rounds per box: 20
• Boxes per case: 10
• Manufacturer part number: A300HMR-135-HB
• UPC: 810025503567

Honest Notes on This Load

Buy the Wilson Combat 300 HAM R 135gr Bonded if you hunt hogs, and particularly if you hunt mature boars where a shoulder shot may be the only shot offered. This is the load in the 300 HAM R lineup built for that job.

Skip it if you hunt only whitetail at moderate range. You are paying for penetration you will not use, and a rapid-expansion bullet will put deer down faster.

Skip it also if you expect a bonded bullet to fix bad shot placement. It penetrates further, which buys margin on a quartering angle, but nothing in a box of ammunition substitutes for knowing where the vitals are.

Picking a HAM R load? The 300 HAM R 135gr Hornady FTX expands more readily on deer, and the 300 HAM R 130gr Speer Hot-Core is the faster general-purpose option. Speer explains its bonded bullet construction on its own site.

MAG5 Firearms stocks the full 300 HAM R range plus barrels and bolts. If you are hunting hogs specifically, say so when you call and we will steer you to the right load.