Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hammer Bullets

I am tempted to order a package of .277 Hammer Hunter bullet product for a standard 1/10 twist .270 wcf.
I know they are costly, I have previously used the Cutting Edge MTH bullet with some success.
I like the drive band design but found the h.p. on the mth so tiny it is easily bumped partially closing this tiny hole.
I just realized that the Hammer Bullet company is in Kalispell Montana, this is nearly local. Many Canadian's routinely go there from around here. It is 2 1/2 hours from the farm.
The Cutting Edge mth is designed to fracture it's petals, so is the Hammer Hunter. The later has several drive bands and understand bullet seating is more flexible.
( I am also surprised that we can mail order them directly. Previously we could not bring any firearm related item through U.S. Customs. The result of 9/11.)
The Nosler Partition also sheds frontal material and is my favorite Game bullet, this is a similar approach, imo
So my question to all of you.
Have you used Hammer, Cutting Edge, GS Custom etc drive band bullets? What do you think?
Old Guy here, I shoot Game broadside at reasonable ranges, I don't dial , measure crosswind or factor in the rotation of the Earth in hunting conditions.
Thanks for reading this...Cheers

Same boat as you, just ordered some 124's for my 270. I have shot some in my 300 RUM and 35 Whelen along with a few others who I trust say they are really easy to tune.

Another fella on here just tried some 172's in the Mashburn Super and his first go around with two powders netted him sub inch groups and pretty decent speeds. I am fairly excited to give them an honest whirl.

Thankyou.
That must of cost a bundle!
A little rocket fuel( Reloder 16 , me thinks) would work for those 124's
I looked at the load data, I have quite alot of Imr 4350, Reloder 16 & 19 on hand.
Let me know how it works out

I am going to give RL26 a try as well. I have 16 as well. I'd bet either will do something.

I have been kicking the idea of trying them in my 308. I have a really accurate load for the 130 gr Barnes TTSX and am curious about how these compare to that

I have been playing with the .458 404 grain Shock Hammer. No kills with it, other than paper. But, it works as advertised, as others have demonstrated. The same can be said for the .416 325 gr Shock Hammer. I have it hand loaded, but waiting on warmer weather for range time.

The .416, I also have the 325 grain CEB Maximus loaded. It has a bit higher estimated bc than the Shock Hammer. The chronograph and target will tell the story, but I do like the looks of the Maximus. I expect on game performance to be very similar.

Of course these larger calibers have a substantial hollow point diameter. And, they differ from the high bc types. I also have some of the 203 grain Shock Hammers for 358 Winchester use.

As to customer service, my experience is both Hammer and CEB have been top notch.
I have been and still am a Barnes TSX/TTSX/LRX fan. But, Hammer & CEB offer some available and different options, particularly in the larger bores.

Just put these together Saturday but didn't make it to the range yet. Give Steve Davis at Hammer a call and pick his brain. Nice guy and willing to talk.
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I would stick with Barnes bullets. While they don't have as great a B.C. or are not as accurate as some of the Hammer Bullets, I have had poor on-game terminal performance with Hammer Bullets and Steve promissed to look into a, "...bad batch of bar stock" that he had made his bullets with and to get back to me with a refund and he never followed through. This was in 2022....

I’ve shot their 124gr HHs in my 270, has 10 twist barrel. First 3 loads were all sub 1” and 3150 fps. Used H4350 which was best group, H4831 and StaBall 6.5
Used the 7mm 169gr HH this past fall on 2 deer, one from 557yds and the other from 50yds. Both animals showed extreme internal damage. I love Barnes too but these are a great bullet as well.

[quote=CanadianLefty]I would stick with Barnes bullets. While they don't have as great a B.C. or are not as accurate as some of the Hammer Bullets, I have had poor on-game terminal performance with Hammer Bullets and Steve promissed to look into a, "...bad batch of bar stock" that he had made his bullets with and to get back to me with a refund and he never followed through. This was in 2022....
Can you explain?

Those look demonly!

CanadianLefty,
Can you explain what kind of Hammer Bullet failure you experienced?
I would like to know what Rifle/ chambering, what Game animal and conditions?
I also like the Barnes LRX bullet, the defunk GMX and the Cutting Edge MTH, but all have strengths and weaknesses in my opinion.
I should try the C.E. Maximus and probably will.
I am no great expert on much, especially navigating social media.
I think most Engineers should drive a train. Hands on ,Nuts and Bolts experience matters( imo)

Check this thread: https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...re-hammer-bullet-experience#Post18336471

Thanks Whttail, I read this.
What stands out to me-why would you shoot at the second Black Bear before you knew what happened to the first?

I have taken 4 animals with a 200 grn hammer in my 35 whelen. Zebra last summer frontal chest shot at about 150, down, dead in 3 steps, hyaena at 100 yards I did not see the results of these shots.
This deer season I head shot a pig but I also took a 200 lb whitetail buck with a behind the shoulder chest shot, down dead in 30 yards. The damage to the chest cavity was to me unbelievable, the lungs were just liquified.
I have taken God knows how many animals with every kind of bullet imaginable, I am a big Barnes X user but the damage done by the Hammer far exceeded anything I have seen.

Because the first black bear was lying dead on the slope and, like you, had heard good things about Hammer Bullets, they had shot very accurately and had unfortunately, trusted their quality control.

Let's face it, most guys end up liking a bullet because it shoots accurately but have no real world experience on big game animals or when they do, most are shooting smaller White-tailed deer and not anything larger.

I have shot Dall Sheep, Moose, Kudu, Zebra, Gemsbok, black bear, elk etc. with Barnes TTSX and TSX and while anything can happen to a bullet, I don't need excuses from an owner, poor QC or bad batches of bar stock metals to get in the way of my hunts.

I would also use the LRX as John Barness and many others have had real world positive experience with them too. Reagan was right, Trust but verify.

I gave also found that the GMX bullets in .277 cal did not always open. I was on a guided Wild Boar hunt in California and on two boars we had almost no blood trail on great shots.

I've used the 143 Hunters in my 28 Nosler at 3500 fps MV. Killed maybe 7 or 8 Bull Elk between myself and loaning it out to clients, distances range from 100 to 600 yards. All the Bulls are dead, nine went more than 30 ish yards.

Super easy load development, just pick a charge close to max and rock on.

This all good feedback, much appreciated.
I rewatched the Spomer interview with Hammer.
Interestingly, Hammer wanted the bullet to shear off, flat, I visualized a wadcutter and the frontal portion breaks off and patterns( in small fragments) around the main wound channel. The squared off , rear portion is expected to travel straight, likely exiting.
Mature Bull Elk are focus around here and I have not used Hammer Bullets but many, many Nosler Partitions with great sucess.
Did any of you see evidence of this?
Cheers

Where do you find reloading data for Hammer bullets? Their offerings look interesting but no data out there?