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For those that use or have used Hammer bullets what are your thoughts on performance, accuracy and load work up?

I've only loaded them in the 6.5/.264 caliber. They are twist-specific. I found them easy to develop load for, and they are the most accurate bullet I've ever shot. I have not yet used them on game. Cooper Firearms and Weatherby seem to like them, as Cooper uses them for their test targets, and Weatherby sells factory ammo loaded with them.

I have only used the Hammer offerings in 6mm ARC. Starting off developing a load can be a bit intimidating initially. understanding pressure limits & preferred powders can be rather challenging. Accuracy tends to be easier than I expected. Terminal performance did very well on the two white tail does I took. One of the does only offered a head & neck shot. The accuracy level allowed me to have confidence in pulling off that shot in a prone position. Very effective.

In hind sight I was a bit fearful to experiment with the bullets as I felt to be on my own with more expensive bullets than I was accustomed to using. Accuracy was generally good to great with all loads I tried.

I used the .308 154 gr. HHT’s this past deer season in my 308. Load development was easy. I loaded up 14 rounds and had a .179” MOA 3 shot group before I shot them all. I watched 19 deer and 3 coyotes die this past deer season. Terminal performance was very impressive. Most were DRT and the ones that did run ran less than 35 yards with excellent blood trails. I live in the southeast so most of my shots are under 300 yards so I have no experience shooting them long range. I just ordered some HHT’s for my 6.5 CM to try next season.

Easiest bullets to work up a load with and always in stock.

I have tried hammers in few cartrdges (6.5 cm, 270, 300 wm). I have not found them to be any easier to work with than other less finicky bullets like ballistic tips, accubonds, tsxs, etc…. Please note this is a compliment - they are easy to work up load just not a miracle. As for on game performance, they do what they are designed to do. Again, work well, but nothing miraculous compared to alternates. I would put in similar category as partition or accubond and other premium bullets. Which again is a compliment;). They are however more expensive and Im not sure worth the price differential based on performance. That being said, what they have been is available even during the times when nothing else really was and in my opinion more dedicated to the hunting crowd vs the big manufacturers which seem to get tied up with law enforcement or military contracts for extended periods of time.

Lou

How far off the lands do you typically load these bullets?

I was super impressed with the accuracy of them in my Mauser m12 30-06.

I have not tried the tipped ones yet.

I have used the 117 and 110 in my 260 rem, and the 178 in my 358 Winchester. Like others said, easy to work up loads, accurate, and the terminal performance that I have seen is really good.

I am giving them a shot in a few of my favorites this year.



I have worked with the .308 181's and .358 220's in the past, and got easy accuracy pretty quick, but I never really finished the loads. I decided if they shoot, I wanna try them out on elk and deer this year to see how they work.

I’ve found they were not too ticky about seating depth. I generally seat to the top ring, which puts it about at the customary max coal for the round.

I’ve found that I could not get reliable ballistic info on drops at certain yardage as reliably as I could with other conventional bullets, using the bc given by Hammer. I’m not one of the thousand yard long range tv shooter guys but 400-450 is not out of the realm of possibility on our ag fields here. I used the Berger program and it works like a charm with any other bullet make. Lesson for the file: use the program to get you close, but always verify on the range. I’m lucky, I have a 100-600 yard range set up in a pecan orchard three miles from my house. My Hammers were dropping more than the program indicated they should, but that’s life.

In my little world I’ve found I’ve had my best luck using hammers that were on the light side, rather than the heavy side for a given round on whitetail. 270? 124 Hammer Hunter, 300 Win Mag? 150’s. 160’s? You better purposely hit bone or it zips through.

Thanks guys, all good reports. I live in Calif so pretty much limited to Barnes and these aren't really any more expensive so I think I'll give them a call Monday and get some ordered.

Good info here, thanks men. I will order some for various .224 cartridges this week.

I’ve shot them in several rifles from 6.5 up to 9.3 all with great accuracy. Hunted with them in my 7mm Mashburn this past fall, used their 169gr at 3060fps. Killed one deer at 552yds and another at 50 yds. Both deer showed pretty extensive internal damage so overall I’m pleased with them. Some of the easiest bullets to tune I’ve ever tried.

Same cal I'm ordering. I have called Hammer before and talked with Steve (I believe the owner), super nice and knowledgeable guy for recommendations and load data.

Hammer does have some rudimentary load data on their site now.

I'll echo what others have mentioned here - load work up and accuracy was fantastic in two rifles I tried them in. Didn't get to run a single one through a deer this year though so have no first-hand knowledge on performance.

Wonder how a .224 out of an AR would do on deer?

Steve is co-owner, co-founder and the one who does most, if not all, the customer interaction.

In the Adam Wby YouTube interview with those guys, you’ll see Steve doing most of the talking. The other guy seems more technical. BTW, that’s a great piece, Goggle it.

DF

IME, they’re not that COAL sensitive, easy to load and not finicky, accurate.

Gunner500 told me he was the first to kill a cape buff with their 404 gr out of a .458. That’s what they told him. He’s a believer.

DF

Edited to add gunner's quote, "One shot, stone dead drop."

And for buff hunters, they do tend to run even when fatally shot.

I know gunner's a good shot, but the bullet has to do it's part.

I've posted this before. A WT doe at 80 yds or so, killed with a 178 gr. Shock Hammer out of my Pre-64 .358 FWT. She stumbled 20-30 yds and gave it up.

I sent this photo to Hammer, got an email from Steve, pointing out the satellite exits around the core. He knew what he was looking at.

I like their accuracy and they way they frag. Lots of internal damage for a mono.

DF

what am I missing here? the new bullet brand (Hammer) with minimal track record, more expensive (I think) vs. other proven monos over many years such as Barnes touted by professional hunters world wide. More accurate? better penetration? More available? More options in weights? Educate me guys. thanks

Accuracy, minimal load development, dang good terminal performance, no ice picking, and……..they are available any time you call.

That's pretty close.

DF

In my case I cannot find Barnes 62 grain anywhere in my area and since I'm in California not allowed to purchase out of state.

Sorry to hijack.. Anyone running a hammer with a short barrel .308win?

Mine has an 18” barrel.

Gunner just sent me these photos of his Oct. '22 buff kill in S/A, Namibia/Botswana border on the Orange River. As posted earlier, Steve at Hammer Bullets told him that his was the first buff killed with their 404 Hammer bullet.

Pay attention to the exit pattern, and contrast it with my WT exit pattern. His was the 404 gr. .458 Win Mag, mine a 178 gr. .358 Win. But the exit pattern is pretty close to the same.

It was a 28 yd. broadside shot that put him down right there, (DRT). Gunner said this old bull was an "ornary sombitch" that was off by himself, "tearing the crap out of a tree" when they found him He was no longer breeding, had killed two breeding age bulls, so don't ya know the PH was glad to see him go. Gunner said he was so mean, even old "coffee house dagga boys" wouldn't hang with him.

Now, for those Hammer doubters and skeptics, check out these photos.

The gun is a .458 Win Mag that gunner had built, stock by a guy in CA. He reminded me that I had sold him the SS bottom metal off a project of mine.

The 404 gr. Hammer was moving at 2,518 fps over an an unspecified, gunner sized load of AA 2460.

DF

Same gun, same load:

Had a decent day today to hit the range and wanted to try another rifle with these bullets. These were 124gr Hammer Hunters for my 270. Loaded 3 rounds each with 3 different powders, all same COAL which was 50 thou back of lands. Shot each load in succession with enough time to allow barrel to cool down. Worst group measured 7/8” and best was slightly under 3/8”. Pretty fair results given I’d never shot any of these in this rifle!

I’ll say!

What did you load Scott?

I've shot a few deer with the 88gr Hammer hunter bullets. They don't seem to be any better or worse than any other bullet for killing power. HH do shoot great and I didn't have any problems finding a load that worked. With that said I never could find a good load for the 87gr Absolute Hunter bullets.

Hammer in a 22 Creed would be a monster of a bullet .

This is what I'm wondering. I've never seen anyone with them, have only heard about them for so long, and even WITH a vet discount they're $85 shipped for one box of 50 HHTs when I can get the 145 LRX for half that!

That's a big premium for a new bullet. You'd think they'd want to be price competitive to encourage people trying them out. At that price, while curious, I'll probably pass and stick with the LRX.

Small shop producing a custom quality product....you're going to pay more for the product than you would a mass produced product from a decades old, established business. I am sure they want their products out there and to be competitive, but I suspect the economy of scale is what you are seeing driving prices right now.

With outfits like Weatherby starting to load them in factory ammo, I am sure they will gain traction if reports stay positive. They may one day be priced very similar to Barnes.

From their website, Absolute Hammers must be pretty finicky.

"Absolute Hammers are very similar to the Hammer Hunter bullets with the same 1.5mm hollow point and the same basic form. We designed the Absolute Hammer so that it can not be engraved on the ogive of the bullet. The only part of the bullet that encounters the barrel is the PDR drive bands. This greatly reduced the engraving pressure of the bullet which in turn increased the potential velocity in most cartridges. [Because of the very low engraving pressure the Absolute Hammers do not line up well with conventional bullet loading data. They should only be loaded by expert reloaders that are capable of working up a load without any supporting data."]

110 HH in the 6.5 Creedmoor
137 HH in .308


And then I sold the .308 (Ridgeline FFT) to a bud that had to have it.

Funny timing on this thread DF, i hadn't saw it when we were texting about hammer bullets last week, did want to send you some pics of what they can do, Riflecrank is the real driving force behind the 458 cal 404 Hammer bullet, and the very reason it was built in the first place, i was just the first guy that already had a safari in the works, found the old bull and took him, yes, everyone around there was afraid of that bull, he was mean anyway, and growing meaner each day due to some guy that prior April taking a hail mary shot at a running Wildebeest bull, he hit the old Cape Buff in the brisket, 400gr ceb raptor shed it petals, shank of the bullet ranged down and back and was recovered in this old bulls flank.

He was getting more pissed off with every step, glad he's out of his misery and will be shortly headed for a farm in Oklahoma.

Yes these bullets are expensive, but, my hat is off for any bullet maunfacture busting their asses keeping bullets IN STOCK AND READY TO SHIP to us and not jacking the dog sending their components to uncle sugar gravy and ammo companies leaving us with green loading blocks full of sized, primed and powdered cases waiting on a fkn bullet!

Not really. All these were on the first day at the range with them.

You shot 19 deer this season?

Four Reasons I like/load them:

1. I have always been able to find them In Stock!

2. You can order a 15 pack to Sample.!

3. They don't seem to care about C.O.A.L.!

4. They are very accurate!

I've never shot a head of Game with them yet, always seemed to of had a different rifle/load with me when I did. But give time!

I shot 15 and my boys shot the others. We shot a couple of more deer as well but used Barnes.

Amen... The couple of bucks I use up a year in hunting bullets likely won't put me under. I can use other stuff to punch paper.

He does this all the time PF... You just have to wait a little bit till he has the load nailed down, then we can copy him..

The cost of the Hammers sure seems to bring out the detractors, eh?

Meanwhile, one of the campfire's beloved bullets - now the same cost-per-50 as many of the Hammers.

I don't get it. Must be the newness of them Scott. I'm not sure if many have seen the price for a box of Partitions lately either.. I know others than really hammer on a single rifle, but for most of the serious ones, if they get shot a 100X a year, I am having a good year. I tend to beat on the 223's and cheap stuff if I am shooting a bunch, but for the cost of a box or two of bullets to hunt, compared to the cost of filling up my 55 gallon tank on my truck, they seem like a bargain

Hammer bullets in my handloads have been very accurate as long as you use the right Hammer bullet for the twist in your barrel . my 257 Weatherby mag with the 103 gr. Hammer Hunter bullets at 3680 FPS average shoots under 3/4 inch 3 shot groups and really does kill bigger bucks well or DRT , i also shot a antelope buck at a measured 460 yards 1 shot DRT . Grandson used a 257 Roberts with 75 gr. Hammer Hunter this year shot a doe 80 yards DRT. in my 22 K-hornet rifle i use 33 gr. Shock Hammer bullets they have a big hollow point, accurate and for the last 2 years i have killed 40 - 50 Kritters like raccoons ,possum , stray cats ,woodchucks some other Kritters too most lay there or DRT . i don`t think thes Hammer bullet are that expensive either for a accurate bullet that preforms so well , besides Hammer bullets are always in stock too. i was at the Weatherby factory a year ago they told me they were very excited to sell their Weatherby ammo with Hammer bullets too. i still like and use lead core bullets too but to be honest these copper Hammer bullets and other copper brand bullets might be what we will be forced or only legal to use by our liberal bunny hugger Government to hunt with in the future. Pete53

Anyone shoot Hammer Hunters into ballistic gel? I've found a few petals that have broken off but never a bullet core.

Where in the body are you shooting the animals you kill?

I, personally, just do not see the need to leave the Barnes bullets given my experience with the on all manner of game in a number of chamberings. Availability is not an issue for me as I have hundreds in the diameters I use, have loads developed for a multitude of rifles and leave it at that. A couple of weeks ago I took my M70 375 H&H for sight in due to a scope/mount swap. Dialed in dead on at 100 yards in six shots. I'll head out again once the weather permits to help prove to me the Trijicon is good to go.

.

high shoulder neck area kills chit quickly but the antelope was a heart shot and lopers die easy , grandson`s was center lungs and that did surprise me it died so quickly but it did go thru back side shoulder. my 257 Weatherby mag. does DRT on bigger bucks under 250 yards even with 1OO gr. Nosler Partitions or Swift A-Frames but the Hammer 103 gr. bullet is a more accurate bullet too for me.

Ed, I don't think anyone is stopping from using Barnes or the like, I think the Hammer's are just nice cause they are available. I still have a few loads that use Barnes and will keep using them, but having a solid option doesn't hurt either.

See YouTube. Plenty there even at 600 yards

92gr hammer hunter @3430 out of my 25/06

6 for 6 this year

4 deer/2 coyotes

Heart shot deer ran bout 30-40 yds

High shoulder shot deer DRT

Closest shot 100 yds / longest shot 305 yds

I’m a fan

A lot depends on the accuracy your looking for. Hammer Hunter bullets are very accurate and precisely made. I use mostly Barnes bullets for hunting because I'm not sold on the petals yet. But the accuracy of Barnes tipped bullets isn't like a target - match bullet.

I'm with you men and EdM too, i'll never leave Barnes, they pretty much keep bullets in stock too, never say FU to us and supply uncle sugar with a billion rounds for usps and irs LMAO!

nosler has lost their way, if they somehow believe they're better than a Swift A Frame they have again picked the wrong week to stop huffing gold spray paint!

My good bud, who goes to Africa on a regular basis, is a 7mm NAB 160 gr. advocate. I don't think I could ever convince him to try another, those work for him.

He shoots a 7RM Sendero, sorta heavy gun. But when asked why he packs around such a heavy gun, his reply, "I know what it'll do when I get it there". And, he has rooms of nice trophies as evidence.

The gun's a shooter, he's a shooter, nice combo to decorate a wall with stuffed heads.

I enjoy loading his ammo, enjoy Africa vicariously. I also enjoy hunting on his 2,000 acre property on the Red River.

DF

No hijack, but I always loved/lived vicariously loading ammo for other people! I insist that they do a necropsy and give me details of the shot, permanent wound, exit size and whether bloodshot or not, ha. I have learned tremendously and I got to shoot all their rifles w/o buying them first! Whoopee! OK, back to Hammers...I have some for my 338/06 Imp, the 300WSM and the long Shilen barreled 7x57. ( I like adding that Shilen barreled", IOW, the rifle is "accurate"!) The very first accurate 7x57 of my life...

I only left Barnes when they were unavailable for a couple of years due to Remington's bankruptcy. It was in this lull, along with Covid lockdown that got me into Hammer Bullets. Hammer went a different way in their construction. Somewhat like a Nosler Partition, only match accurate in my rifles. I still use Barnes exclusively in my 338 WM. Vor-Tx factory ammo in the 225 TTSX is a half- three-quarter inch in my gun, and I see no need to try and beat that in a magnum.

Jim, like you I enjoy loading for bud’s Africa adventures, vicariously enjoy his hunts.

I loaded ammo for his .416 Rem, sighted it on a standing bench. He whacked a nice Buff with a 400 gr SAF over 4064.

I had called Swift; Bill Hober answered the phone. We had a nice conversation. He gave me their factory ammo load data and that’s what I used.

I was impressed that the head guy answered the phone and was very generous with his proprietary load data.

Now, that’s CS at its best. I had loaded 400 gr NPT and SAF ammo. PH preferred the A-Frame and that’s what they used. I think the Partitions would have worked equally well. They were equally accurate.

DF

I used Barnes X when I played with the 416 and had a 400 Woodleigh on my short time with the 404 Jeffry. I also shot heavy, gas checked hard cast bullets in them. I had to buy the mold for Beartooth for the 404. He paid me for it with bullets, as you said, some places have great CS! I had the 416 Taylor, 416 Remington and 416 Rugby. I shot a boys Mark V in 416 WBY when I was in Oklahoma and it was in a class of Recoil far above those other 416s! Wow.

A few of the Hammers & the CEB Maximus fill a niche/void for me in a few calibers and weights. The .458 404 Shock Hammer that RC was instrumental in having produced is definitely a big one. The others are more, because I feel there some advantage to bc or weight, or combination of the two.

I am not definitely not abandoning the Barnes. Personally, I have been very pleased with the accuracy and performance of the Barnes.

Talked with Steve on the phone Thursday and here today, let the fun begin!

Interesting. DIY ballistic tip insertion. Wonder if anyone else ships that way?

I shot a whitetail buck this past November quartering away at 60 yards with a 90 gr Absolute Hammer at 3700 fps. The bullet took out 3 ribs going in, shredded one lung and the heart, and the shank exited through the front of the off side shoulder. The petals appeared to have punched through the off side ribs in a constellation around the main shank exit. This bullet shot groups half the size of E tips and Ballistic tips out of my rifle. I'm sold.

#hammertards

i just got my new order a Hammer bullets today ! i plan on trying some 160gr 30 Caliber Hammer Hunters in my 30-06 Winchester model 70 and if these bullets shoot more accurate than the Nosler Partitions group i plan on taking the Hammer Bullets instead of Nosler Partitions to Africa this spring. so far most of the rifles i have tried Hammer bullets in have shot very well . its windy here this weekend so i well wait a few days before i shoot my 30-06.

I wouldn’t be surprised to hear Hammers shoot tighter than Partitions.

Occasionally a Partition will be the most accurate bullet. You never know; it’s trial and error.

My HS Precision .240 Wby shoots the 100 NPT sub MOA, best was 1.7” at 400 yds. HS makes in-house barrels that shoot with the best, cut rifling like Brux and Krieger.

But overall, I’d bet on Hammer.

DF

Yeah I'm a new reloader and not exactly what you call an expert shot but with my first attempts with an 16" ar I was able to get 5 shots just under 1" at 100 yards so I'm pretty happy.

yes the Hammer bullets do shoot more accurate , i am still trying to get the most consistent accurate powder IMR 4350 seems good ,RL.17 not as consistent in this rifle i will try some H414 yet . was very calm early this Sunday but now windy again.

Well I decided to order some 153 HHTs for the 280AI, see if they're faster and as accurate as people claim.

Anyone have an RL23 load?

turns out H414 is the best powder for this rifle`s cartridge combo with 160 gr. Hammer bullets . shoot 3/4 inch and under 3shot groups at 100 yards its a hunting rifle so 5 shot groups mean little to me, i have target rifles for the best groups at 5 shots. Pete53

There are Hammer loads on line. With different bullets, different loads.

For example the Absolute Hammer has less resistance and seems to do better with faster burning powders vs more conventional burn rate powders.

Steve Davis at Hammer can help you. Email him with your specific question.

DF

thanks for the thought and in the future will get a hold of Davis. i am happy with my H414 load in this 30-06 its now time to move on to 200 yards and 300 yards this week and probably buy more 160 gr. Hammer Hunter bullets. Pete53

Great guys, always happy to answer questions and they actually are shooters / hunters! I’ve heard some negative comments about what people have heard or read about them. If you don’t like them, don’t shoot them! Plenty of people have great luck with them.

Their customer service with my orders and conversations, has been outstanding.

Nailed it!

Adam Weatherby is a believer, now loading some Wby factory ammo with Hammer bullets.

There’s a great You-Tube piece, Adam interviewing Hammer founders. Good technical bullet info. Google it, worth your time.

DF

Saved ya the trouble. Here's the Weatherby/Hammer interview. I found it quite interesting.

Do a Google bio on Adam, very impressive young man. IMO, the company is in good hands. Don't ya know, Roy in looking down with a smile on his face.

DF

Dirt farmer, I’ve been listening to the Weatherby podcast on long road trips to west Texas and they sold me on the Weatherby rifles and Hammer bullets. I just need to spend the money.

Yeah not cheap, Wby or Hammer, but good stuff.

Adam seems impressed with Hammer bullets and he’s not alone.

DF

I have a Cooper 6.5-284 I just got and a Cooper 6.5PRC, both grouped at Cooper using the 124HH. Do you mind sharing your 6.5-284 load?