Anyone using these for hunting?

Accuracy? Terminal performance ?
Load data compatibility?

They have some interesting designs for lighter 6mm &22

I haven’t yet but plan to. I’m in another forum and the people there love them. They have two .224 bullets I would like to try in the 22 K Hornet. The 33and 36 grain. The 36grain looks like it will be fun. You can buy sample packs to see if they work before you spend big money on them.

son and I also plan on using 25 caliber Hammer bullets for hunting this year for antelope and deer out of my 257 Weatherby mags. ,i feel this bullet will still be accurate and hold together / stay together when it hits an animal out of a real fast rifle. i may also try them out of my 220 Swift soon too , 10 yr.old grandson i should load some for his little 556 rifle i will have him use too ? i feel you can`t go wrong with Hammer bullets in any cartridge for hunting.

I like that they have those 15 bullet sample packs to see of you like them. I ordered a sample of 70 grain 6mm to try in my 6x6.8 bolt rifle on pigs. They apparently shed the front part (hollow point area) shortly after entering the animal.
Did the folks using the 22s mention accuracy or terminal performance on game?
They’re expensive, but everything is these days.

Have you shot any of them Pete?
I’d be interested to see some comparisons in accuracy, penetration, weight retention etc.
they have good reviews but most aren’t too specific.

Not too much talk of the 22cal bullets over in that forum. They were mostly into the bigger stuff like .280+ and they were very pleased with its accuracy and performance. Most said that if you had any questions they are happy to help you over there at Hammer with a phone call. That will help me since a few bullets won’t have a lot of load data published anywhere. Two cartridges I wish to try out will have next to no load data and I’m sure I can figure it out, but it’s nice to hear if someone else came up with the same numbers as me. I want to try the 175 grain in a 338-06 AI and the 33, 35 and 41 grain in the K Hornet.

i have only shot 25 caliber bullets in my 257 Creedmoor and the Hammer bullets shot excellent on paper at 100 yards ,have not done anything else yet but this brand bullet does impress me so much. i will be using them this hunting season in son`s and my 257 Weatherbys . i bet Hammer`s retain bullet weight well like Nosler partitions and Swift A-frames do at high speed cartridge as these other bullets do for me.

My daughter and I both killed bucks last year with the 110 Hammer Hunter in a 6.5 creedmoor. They shoot one ragged hole with Sta Ball 6.5.

I have experience with 243 Win and 240 Weatherby with Hammers. 760 with the 55 grain 243 got me over 4K, well under MOA. I tried Varget and H380 with slightly larger groups. I've only shot one coyote so far with the 243 and needless to say he was deader than last years romance before it hit the ground.

I shoot the 70 grainer in the 240 with IMR-4350 and it also shot sub-MOA. 3662 fps average. I still need to ventilate a coyote with it, but I'm sure it well get the job done.

In my limited experience I've found them very easy to get to shoot accurately. I struggled with 80 and 85 Barnes in the 240 and never quite got the result I wanted.

I have used the 124 Hammer Hunter out of my 6.5 WSM (MV about 3200fps) the past two years on cow elk. The 2021 cow was broadside about 100 yards away, hit behind the shoulders and made a 30 yard dash before collapsing in the trees. The bullet exited leaving about a 1" exit hole, The 2020 cow elk was also shot about 100 yards away and broadside. The bullet entered through some muscle on the back of the shoulder, though an onside rib, though an offside rib and scapula, and exited. She ran about 40 yards. Meat loss was minimal around the bullet path. One of the petals of the all copper bullet was found under the far side hide. As the gutless method of dressing was used, the internal trauma was not checked.

I've got a load worked up with the 86gr Shock Hammer for my 327 Fed carbine. The accuracy is very good, but I haven't potted any game with them yet, so no terminal results.

i plan on trying 1st some 135 gr. BERGER VLD bullets in my new 257 Weatherby mag rifle that has a Brux contour #4 , 7 1/2 twist 28 inch barrel on a Weatherby mark 5 action . if this bullet shoots well i might use it velocity will be 3100 fps? i also plan on trying Hammer 103 gr. bullets and if they shoot well at 3800 fps i probably will just use them because out too 500-600 yards these Hammer bullets will be shooting very flat for a antelope hunt and whitetail bucks. and speed kills. i will post on this site how well the 103 gr 25 caliber bullets do in my 257 Weatherby mag for you might be a week or so before i shoot them.Pete53

I used the 220 Hammer Hunter in 35 Whelen last year on deer. I was able to run the Hammer bullet about 60 FPS faster than the 225 Accubond or TSX. The Hammer actually weighs 222 grains. Very accurate and has less bearing surface than most other bullets and can be driven a bit faster.
Terminal performance is outstanding

well got bored this afternoon and decided to set the conograph up and shoot , 90 degrees -humid as heck-gusty 20 some miles per hour wind ,not very good conditions. so i wanted to test pressure while working up a load using the newer Nosler book. this is what the 103 gr. Hammer 25 caliber bullet did out of my 257 Weatherby mag. the last 3 shot group in this horrible wind at max.powder load ,new norma brass ,fed 215, Reloader 25 " Nosler reloading book " 103 gr. Hammer 25 cal. velocity was 3680fps average the 3 shot group was 1 1/4 measured all 3 were horizontal across from each other. i like what the rifle did in these conditions . now if i can get a cool day i will head to the 600 yard range next ! > another note it appears Hammer bullets in the 25 caliber 103 gr. bullet are around 200 + FPS faster than standard bullets, so far.

225 TSX and 222 grain Hammer less bearing surface on the Hammer

i did a chart comparson 25 caliber on the Berger 135 gr. VLD bullet at 3100 FPS VS. Hammer 103 gr. at 3700 FPS out too 800 yards, with the Berger reloader manual , the 103 gr. Hammer bullet was a better bullet for my hunt . so i guess it will be Hammer time for my antelope hunt. these Hammer bullets just keep on impressing me with speed and accuracy .

I shot a couple groups this morning with 70 gr Hammer Hunter and wasn’t impressed at all.
This rifle shoots everything well. And sone exceptionally well. Best I could do this morning was 2.3”. Glad they sell em in sample packs. I tried the things they suggested in their forum except crimping which I hate to do.
Underwhelmed so far.
Will try a few other things before giving up on them. Maybe they shoot best at scorching velocities?

Seeing as this is a varmint hunting thread it is hard to imagine what they would bring to varmint hunting that a traditional bullet wouldn't do at a considerable savings.

That's true, the Hammers aren't cheap. The Barnes VG are a pretty explosive lead free, and much cheaper. My old 1-16 222 Rem loves the 30 grain VG, and the 50 grainers shoot well from a couple of my friends' 223s.



I had to fiddle around around a fair bit to get the 86s to shoot well from my 327. Ended up burning up the entire box of 50 I had bought dialing in a winner.

Then I had to wait a couple months to get more, because they rotate production quite a bit. They did respond really quickly to an email inquiry asking about future supply, though, and the time estimate they shot me was really close.

they have shot well for me at max.powder charges so far ? but i have 7 1/2 twist rifles for my bullets too and both are 25 caliber rifles 257 Creedmoor and my 257 WEATHERBY MAG. Brux barrels , Reloader powder , lapua and norma brass ? bench rest dies and i volume load ?

I’m starting to think these bullets (Hunter style) like a lot of speed (spin) to shoot well. They tell you to crimp the cases, but I just hate to crimp a rifle round except where needed for recoil or a tube magazine.
Will try some other seating depths etc before giving up on them until I run out.
Thanks for your input.
Greg

Brayhaven, is your twist rate compatible?

Yes. 1:9. Bartlein barrel. They call for 1:10 (or faster) for that bullet. Though all those twist recommendations are a little worthless without caliber, speed etc.
it’s the RPMs that stabilize a bullet.

Just ordered some 88 hammer hunters to try in a pair of 6 creeds and 6-06.

I’d be interested in an objective review.

I’ve about decided that monolithic bullets aren’t the most accurate bullets out there. I Don’t see anyone competing successfully with them. Maybe the ones selling em. Might be an obturation issue due to the characteristic of solid copper. Some shoot pretty well even at lower velocities. I’ve shot ttsx for many years in several calibers with good results, mainly because they’re so effective on game. And most shoot under an inch. Best monos I’ve tried. Though not as good as a quality jacketed lead target bullet. The terminal performance makes up for it.
I’m gonna try some changes with those hammers and see what happens.

I've gotten good results with Lehighs, the Nosler Etip, and the Hornady GMX and MFX, but they've all been a lot more finicky to dial loads in for than the Barnes. The TTSX seem to be the most forgiving with load development, in my experience. The Hammers fell ino the finicky category for me, but they did end up shooting well.

I'm not shooting for match level accuracy, though. Touching shots with irons @50-75 yards is my "good enough" point. 🤷‍♂️

I've pretty much given up on Lehighs though, because they never seem to leave anything on the market very long. Get em to shoot, then find out they're discontinued 🙄

Is this an encore carbine?

Henry BBS 16" carbine. They ended up liking CFE Pistol best through it. Most of the other bullets I've shot in it prefer Unique or 2400, but the Hammers didn't like either one of those powders.

5 shot group. Have a Williams FP peep with a Marbles 1/16" white bead front sight on it.

My early testing of the Hornady CX also shows them to be less forgiving than the ttsx bullets. I was kind of hoping they’d be an improvement over the gmx in terms of accuracy, as they appear to be a little better expanding at lower velocities.
The good old Barnes still seem to be the best monos I’ve shot. Killed a lot of game (deer & hogs) with em for many years. Most dropped in their tracks and farthest one traveled was @40 yards.

I'm a big fan of the Barnes as well. I've gotten them to shoot well in every cartridge I've tried them in without needing to do a ton of load fiddling.

I've pretty much only used the other monos in applications where there wasn't a Barnes to fit the bill, or they were unobtanium when I was working up loads.

I met old Fred once back in early 70s at his place in Colorado. He had a Cadillac up on blocks in the rear that he’d used to pull (swage) pure copper tubing through a mandrel for his signature copper & lead bullets. Great game bullets back then as well.

I finally got the 70 grain Hunter to shoot pretty well in my 6x6.8 @5/8”, very finicky though, but have decided I don’t really like the design.
The bullet sheds the front very quickly into @4-5 grain flat “petals” that don’t go far in meat as you’d expect. The other 50 grains of so continues on straight through at original diameter like a full jacket. Not too impressed in my tests, 2 gallon jugs of water and wet catalogs.
I want a bullet that expands to 1.5 or 2 calibers, retains its weight and continues to plow through the other side, in case a blood trail is needed, and expending energy all the way through.
TTSX bullets have done that reliably for me for many years.
Fun to play with new things though.