Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Hammer Hunter .308 caliber bullets....

Has anyone used the Hammer Hunter .308 caliber bullets on elk, particularly the 214 grainers? If so, how did it perform for you? TIA.

https://hammerbullets.com/product/308-cal-214g-hammer-hunter/

Tag.

Not the 214, but a buddy of mine is shooting the 180 HH out of a 300 WM - shot a cow elk this season at 612 yds and was very happy with the performance - literally dropped on the spot. He's been raving about the accuracy of these bullets and based on his report, I bought a box of .277/140 HH to try in my 1:9 270 Fieldcraft but haven't loaded any yet. They seem to have decent BC's for their weight - their .277/140 needs a 1:9 to stabilize in a 270 as compared to Nosler's .277/165 Accubond LR also needing a 1:9.

In .277, L to R is 140 Accubond, 140 TSX, 140 HH, 150 and 165 Accubond LR:



The 140 HH looks to be similar in length/shape to the 150 Accubond LR...

Curious if anyone is running 137HH bullets in a 30-06?

If it kills them any deader than a 168 gr TTSX , I’m all for it.

I've killed 3 elk with the 199 Hammer Hunter out of a .300 Norma Improved. Just killed a bull moose in November with the same bullet. I try to run Hammers in all of my hunting rifles now. They are extremely accurate and I've had excellent results with them. I'm heading to Sonora next week with the 156's in my 6.8 Western.

I’ve used the 162 ah on two animals, 1 whitetail doe and 1 bull elk. Not much to go on but worth noting. Both were shot from my 308 win at a starting velocity of 3025 FPS avg., 100 yds and 400 yds respectively. Terminal results were as follows. Golf ball size exit hole on deer from broadside hit , both lungs center punched. She ran 110 yds or so with good blood trail. The elk was hit twice on broadside shots to the shoulder, shattering the shoulder bone. Elk dropped but was still alive an hour later when I got to it requiring another shot to the base of the skull to dispatch. Both lungs were hit with both broadside shots. Both bullets from the elk shoulder hits were recovered from under the skin on the off side, one didn’t expand at all and the other had one pedal attached to the shank. The bullets shot fantastic from my gun at 800 ‘ elevation in the east and at 7500’ in CO when I checked the rifles zero before the hunt. They shot well at 400+ yds at the CO range as well as I practiced on the steel gong at the range.

After discussing these things with Steve at hammer he determined that even though the bullet shot well from my gun near and far and was within the velocity envelope for proper expansion at impact(elk), the bullet was understabilzed for proper terminal performance. He suggested a minimum of a 10 twist for that bullet and my gun has a 12 twist. I love the way the bullets shoot but will go back to the 168ttsx for elk in this gun as it has performed excellent for me in the past on many elk near and far. Im not yet about to test terminal performance with these on elk size game until I gain more knowledge and experience with them on smaller game. I’m not at all knocking Hammers, just be sure to twist them fast enough for good terminal performance. Hope this helps. Great guys to deal with at Hammer and I think their bullets are as well when used within their stated parameters.

Great information

For whatever reason hammer bullets are rarely discussed on the campfire

I'm heading to Sonora next week also who are you hunting with ?

How did you get your velocity from a .308? What load? That is amazing. I might consider a .308 now. I wonder what a 30-06 will do. Hammers have turned my .257 Rob into a 1" gun from a 2" gun, but I haven't shot anything with them yet.

"I’ve used the 162 ah on two animals, 1 whitetail doe and 1 bull elk. Not much to go on but worth noting. Both were shot from my 308 win at a starting velocity of 3025 FPS avg.,"

Haven't used any, but yesterday called both numbers on the site, talked to a guy using the second number about bullets for:

10 twist .243
9 twist .264
8 twist .284
10 twist .308

Ran JBM ballistics on the 121gr Heavy Hammers for my old 9 twist pre-64 264 Win Mag at 3400 fps with a G7 of .216.

+3 at 100 zeros at 325 and 18 down at 500 with iirc 2350 fps left at 500 yards, a bullet i will load in that old rifle if i cant get the 160gr Woodleigh PP's anymore.

The first guy i tried to call returned my call a few moments later, they're definitely a company going places, both guys very nice and helpful.

I ordered the 160 Grain HH .308 bullets today.

My 30-06 Mauser M12 has a 1:11 twist, and this bullet is made for that exact twist. G7 of .219

should be a great all-around bullet

I will probably try the 137 HH .308 bullets in Mauser M12 .308 Win. Also 1:11 twist barrel

^^^^^^^^^^I think you'll be happy CF, the guy at Hammer told me yesterday about a girl taking a 257 WBY and 116gr Hammer bullet and flattening a bull Eland in Africa with one shot, that took care of any concerns i had about bullets designed to blow off the petals shortly after impact, he said the shank remains a flat nosed solid with enough weight to plow on through.

I am too lazy today ,,,,,

What’s all the hub bub about theses bullets?

Is hard to imagine anything better than a tsx.

Simply stated; it sheds petals

Yet when other monometals do that, they're complete and utter failures. Or so I've read. I've recovered bullets from a competitor that did the same thing. Like viking, I too am trying to figure out what these do so much better than alternatives. They may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but there must be more to it than just shedding petals. Please expound.

Overall, the Hammers are easy to work up an accurate load for. They produce less pressure than most other mono-metal bullets. The petals are designed to break off and diverge out at a 30-40 deg angle while the blunt nosed remaining shank penetrates out the other side of the animal. On smaller game like whitetails, the petals may also exit creating 4 exit wounds.

I took a bull elk in Utah with a 180gr Hammer bullet fired from a 30Nosler. Distance was just over 300yds. Bullet impact was high lung as the bull presented itself broadside. The bull literally dropped in 10 seconds and laid still in another 10 seconds.

I shot a bull moose at 125yds using a 402gr Hammer bullet fired from a Marlin 45-70. The bullet took a few steps after the initial hit so I gave him another one. The big bull just dropped and never moved again. The bullets exited.

I took a few NC whitetails with a 124 Hammer bullet from a 6.5PRC. Terminal performance was impressive even though any bullet will easily kill a whitetail if the shot placement is good.

I really like the Hammer bullets but I still use and hunt with other bullets like Berger, Barnes, Hornady & Nosler.

So as not to tire yourself, im going with """In stock and ready to ship!"""

After you're rested you may look into:

2, may be more accurate.
3, higher bc's.
4, less bullet weight, less recoil.
5, supporting and young company on the move working their asses off to get bullets to us that actually answer the damn telephone!

You asked "Like viking, I too am trying to figure out what these do so much better than alternatives. They may be the greatest thing since sliced bread, but there must be more to it than just shedding petals. Please expound."


First, I'm shooting the 220 grain Hammer Hunter in my 35 Whelen and averaging 2911 FPS. Getting this velocity is impressive even in my 28" barrel. Second once you settle on a load these bullets shoot very accurately, 1/2 MOA or better with no tweaking. 3rd in my experience (3 deer🦌 and 1 hog) they create large wound channels.

I'm excited to try them