So I've heard both sides of this. I've killed 4 animals with the 180VLD's and expansion was excellent. My buddy said he also got good expansion with the 195's, but I loaded them so I could prove it for myself. Got a few deer and elk tags left so hopefully I get some bullet information! I've heard of the penciling also though.
I put all the bullets with premium tips into my "hunting round" box haha
Awesome! You guys actually loaded me up my initial custom batch (150rnds) of 180 VLDs. They shot amazing and hit HARD. I've since started reloading myself and now want to see how these 195's perform on big muleys and elk. If i'm not impressed, then ill go back to the 180's with full confidence!
Basically Identical! Peterson and ADG are supposed to be very similar. I'd bet you could go straight to 81.5 gr. of N570. I didn't see pressure until 83 gr.
Yeah dude! I ended up killing a Muley at 540 yards, a Muley at 30 yards, and an elk at 320 yards with them. They performed perfect in each scenario! I am, however, working on a mono metal load with the hammer bullets in order to hopefully get some exit holes. But also still have some shrapnel flying around when the petals break off. Only think I don’t like about the Berger’s. No exit holes, so no blood.
It just struck me as I read your last sentence - the only Bergers I have had that didn't exit were .284 cal. (I have had plenty of .284s exit though, too. ) Were you hunting with the 180s or 195s this past season?
I hunted with both 180's and 195's. Killed a caribou and two bucks with the 180's. No exits. Then killed 2 bucks and elk with the 195's. No exits. Even the buck I shot at 30 yards had no exit. Bullet shank was buried in offside hide. That being said, their terminal damage is IMMENSE and I love that about them. I also just like messing with stuff lol. So i'll see what I think of these Hammer Bullets in 2021!
I enjoy playing with all the stuff, too. I really wanted to try the 180s and 195s but my 7 has too slow of a twist. The 168s (both classic hunters and HVLDs) have been deadly for me though. I'll be interested to see what you think of Hammer bullets. They're local to me but I haven't gotten around to trying them in any of my rifles.
They seem to be a pretty sweet bullet. I've already developed a load and they're super accurate. 83gr. of N570 pushes the 169gr. at 3260 fps. Just need to kill some stuff with them now!
haha those damn things don't care about much. They just shoot! I shot 82-84.5 gr. with the 169 hammers. All were in 5/8", including the fouling shot from a clean barrel haha. COAL is 3.650 on those.
82 gr of N570 was the sweet spot for my rifle.. Thanks again man! You saved my time and more importantly precious powder! Averaged 3070 fps with a SD of 4.4... I’m impressed, tighter group than my best with retumbo.
Oh awesome!! That’s great to hear man!! Super glad you were able to benefit from that. I played hell trying to find info on an N570 load.
