HAMMER Bullets Performance on Game

amassi

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Hard quartering away on a bull elk. I killed multiple bucks and elk with the 180 VLD and 195 EOL’s from 30 yards to 630 yards and never got more than 15-18” of penetration. They were devastating on deer, but not impressive on elk. But I’m having a bigger 30 cal built now. 300 NMI and possibly shooting 230 Berger’s at 3100 FPS could change my mind. But I’m also considering shooting the 199 hammers at 3350fps. Their low BC and high wind drift possibilities is the only thing keeping me on the fence. Their actual terminal performance, is not in question though. They kill.
Hard 1/4 away like drawing a line from rear rib to off side shoulder?

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huntnful

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80D362CC-194C-4003-8A44-006C2F6715A2.jpegHard 1/4 away like drawing a line from rear rib to off side shoulder?

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Yes exactly. I would personally stay away from this shot with a berger from my current experience with them.
 
OP
T
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Oh geez - I actually stopped visiting LRH because of all the Hammer Fanboys…Steve is a dbag and his bullets are super overrated. Take this shit to LRH.

Oh geez - I actually stopped visiting LRH because of all the Hammer Fanboys…Steve is a dbag and his bullets are super overrated. Take this shit to LRH.
You may have noticed ammunition and reloading components are a little hard to come by these days, and when they are available the prices are a tad inflated. With 4 rifles all in different chamberings and limited time to develop loads I chose to try Hammer bullets as they were actually available and seemed to have a decent reputation as far as "on game performance" was concerned. They are said to be quite accurate as well and I have found that to be the case in my experience. I have recently heard a few comments on other forums disputing the theory of Hammer's design concept. This is what prompted my posting of this thread. While my 2 harvests were satisfactory they are not enough to make me feel 100% comfortable hunting with them in the future. I will need a few more notched tags to get to that point... RS has generally been very helpful whenever I requested advice or accounts of personal experience in regard to all things we bring to the elk woods. I appreciate the substantive comments that have been offered to this end. Yours is not one I consider substantive or remotely relevant. As for your suggestion that I "take this shit to LRH"; I would be sorely out of my element there. I am not, nor do I aspire to be, a "long range hunter". Now, perhaps I may suggest that you avoid things that trigger your fragile sensibilities, like conversations about Hammer bullets. Run along now, and do try not to interrupt the adults when they are in the midst of a discussion...
 
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You may have noticed ammunition and reloading components are a little hard to come by these days, and when they are available the prices are a tad inflated. With 4 rifles all in different chamberings and limited time to develop loads I chose to try Hammer bullets as they were actually available and seemed to have a decent reputation as far as "on game performance" was concerned. They are said to be quite accurate as well and I have found that to be the case in my experience. I have recently heard a few comments on other forums disputing the theory of Hammer's design concept. This is what prompted my posting of this thread. While my 2 harvests were satisfactory they are not enough to make me feel 100% comfortable hunting with them in the future. I will need a few more notched tags to get to that point... RS has generally been very helpful whenever I requested advice or accounts of personal experience in regard to all things we bring to the elk woods. I appreciate the substantive comments that have been offered to this end. Yours is not one I consider substantive or remotely relevant. As for your suggestion that I "take this shit to LRH"; I would be sorely out of my element there. I am not, nor do I aspire to be, a "long range hunter". Now, perhaps I may suggest that you avoid things that trigger your fragile sensibilities, like conversations about Hammer bullets. Run along now, and do try not to interrupt the adults when they are in the midst of a discussion...
🤷🏻‍♂️ There is a reason hammer bullets are easy to come by when all others are not. Just let that sink in…
 
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I have had several interactions with him, bought and loaded his bullets and was less than impressed. I stand by my statement that he is a dbag. There was actually a thread over on LRH about hammer bullets poor performance with pics, it kept getting deleted.

With all the awesome bullet choices out there, I have no idea why you would shoot a mono…unless you lived in a communist state like California and had to. Steve will say something stupid like eating game killed with lead bullets will give you lead poisoning…another reason I think the guy is a dbag. To each their own, shoot whatever you want. I think his product is shit 🤷🏻‍♂️.
Also, why shouldn’t BC matter to most hunters? Wind drift can be the difference between vitals and guts even at 300 yards. If you are sitting in a tree stand and are shooting whitetails back east at 100 yards, I agree. Otherwise, BC is relevant,
I also had a post on LRH about accuracy of hammers vs bergers as well as on game performance. It was deleted
 

WKR

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I used a 169 grain HH out of my 7mm rem mag this year.

Bang flop on a pronghorn buck at 300 yards Lungs were torn to shreds

Bang flop on a black bear at 50 yards
Lungs were torn to shreds

Shot a cow elk at 488 yards and didn't recover. I could blame it on the bullet but I would lay the blame on myself first.
 
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You must feel pretty strongly about that to create an account just to post this?

What was your experience?
More like created an account here to get into a hunting forum where everyone isn’t a conceded prick but it looks like one already found me.. I don’t owe you an explanation but if I feel like divulging that information again maybe you will find it here.
 
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Sample size of one but I shot a smallish whitetail buck on Christmas Eve at 180 yards out of a 16 inch rifle chambered in .308 win. Bullet was 151 grain Absolute Hammer. Bang flop with dang near baseball size exit.
 

MattB

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More like created an account here to get into a hunting forum where everyone isn’t a conceded prick but it looks like one already found me.. I don’t owe you an explanation but if I feel like divulging that information again maybe you will find it here.
Or one found us.

My Hammer bullet experience is limited to a load I developed (80 gr .243) for my recoil-sensitive 12 yo daughter. Loaded up easy, shot really well (.40"-.45" 3 shot groups), and resulted in a one shot kill on a 160# boar the only time we've used it. Steve was great in answering any questions I had - nice to find a company whose owner will quickly return a call and spend as much time as necessary to make sure the customer gets what they need.
 
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More like created an account here to get into a hunting forum where everyone isn’t a conceded prick but it looks like one already found me.. I don’t owe you an explanation but if I feel like divulging that information again maybe you will find it here.

Awesome handle.

Welcome..


Maybe some info on your experience with hammers versus just throwing stones would garner a little more respect.
Just saying.
 

huntnful

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More like created an account here to get into a hunting forum where everyone isn’t a conceded prick but it looks like one already found me.. I don’t owe you an explanation but if I feel like divulging that information again maybe you will find it here.
Lol what in hell. That’s fine, you don’t have to share.
Or one found us.
Damn, I guess.
 

huntnful

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Why?

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Oh because I never got more than 18” of penetration with a berger. And you need more penetration than that to reach and devastate the vitals from that angle.
 
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Awesome handle.

Welcome..


Maybe some info on your experience with hammers versus just throwing stones would garner a little more respect.
Just saying.
I’ll dig up the 22-250 and 280ai info out of the cloud and give you all a tasting after I have reached the satisfactory requirements to make threads. Long story short I had a couple 1/4 MOA rifles with bergers that would not stabilize the early HH’s despite being told by Steve they would. Eventually these bullets had their recommended twist rates sped up. It’s documented on other forums as well those that have been around the hammer crowd wont be surprised. Im not a berger fanboy. I shoot a lot of accubonds and my favorite 308/3006 bullet is a 2140 Sierra hpbt game king. But it’s a pretty big turn off when you can have your evidence immediately dismissed by the overwhelming majority of ppl that claim Hammers are the end all be off of hunting bullets. Unless your shooting 5000 fps with a 1:4 twist 30 cal barrel and shooting due north on Christmas Eve you will have Hammer fans Blame your bullet failures on poor load development skills, poor marksmanship, the list goes on.


Back end of a rough 48hr shift if the previous post was a bit sideways I apologize
 
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WKR

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I’ll dig up the 22-250 and 280ai info out of the cloud and give you all a tasting after I have reached the satisfactory requirements to make threads. Long story short I had a couple 1/4 MOA rifles with bergers that would not stabilize the early HH’s despite being told by Steve they would. Eventually these bullets had their recommended twist rates sped up. It’s documented on other forums as well those that have been around the hammer crowd wont be surprised. Im not a berger fanboy. I shoot a lot of accubonds and my favorite 308/3006 bullet is a 2140 Sierra hpbt game king. But it’s a pretty big turn off when you can have your evidence immediately dismissed by the overwhelming majority of ppl that claim Hammers are the end all be off of hunting bullets. Unless your shooting 5000 fps with a 1:4 twist 30 cal barrel and shooting due north on Christmas Eve you will have Hammer fans Blame your bullet failures on poor load development skills, poor marksmanship, the list goes on.
I think this thread was about the efficacy of hammers on game animals not what they do on paper
 

huntnful

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Oct 10, 2020
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I’ll dig up the 22-250 and 280ai info out of the cloud and give you all a tasting after I have reached the satisfactory requirements to make threads. Long story short I had a couple 1/4 MOA rifles with bergers that would not stabilize the early HH’s despite being told by Steve they would. Eventually these bullets had their recommended twist rates sped up. It’s documented on other forums as well those that have been around the hammer crowd wont be surprised. Im not a berger fanboy. I shoot a lot of accubonds and my favorite 308/3006 bullet is a 2140 Sierra hpbt game king. But it’s a pretty big turn off when you can have your evidence immediately dismissed by the overwhelming majority of ppl that claim Hammers are the end all be off of hunting bullets. Unless your shooting 5000 fps with a 1:4 twist 30 cal barrel and shooting due north on Christmas Eve you will have Hammer fans Blame your bullet failures on poor load development skills, poor marksmanship, the list goes on.
Lmao at the 5000fps 1/4 twist 30 cal 😂😂. It’s so true. That was funny man.

And thank you for actually just saying what your issue was. I believe it 100% because I had the same issue with bullets that were supposed to stabilize, not stabilizing. I’m not even that conceded either ya jerk 😒
 

gbflyer

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Feb 20, 2017
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I have found Steve to be very responsive to email questions. I have loaded the 186 shock hammers in my .338 Federal with good results on paper. No game experience with them. I don’t take long shots. I like to support small businesses like Steve’s when I can.
 
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