Hammer HHT tip installation PITA!

[SDHNTR]

That's what pushes some people away from their products.

The widely known and obvious BC deception for increased sales. And the continued lies about it. The way too many skus (which this chasing of rabbits is probably the reason for all their other problems). The mix ups with bad batches of copper. I’ve even had incorrect bullets in mismarked boxes. And the ridiculous diy tips. I want to tell them to pound sand, yet I keep buying them because they shoot well and destroy critters. I sure do wish they’d get their act together.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

The widely known and obvious BC deception for increased sales. And the continued lies about it. The way too many skus (which this chasing of rabbits is probably the reason for all their other problems). The mix ups with bad batches of copper. I’ve even had incorrect bullets in mismarked boxes. And the ridiculous diy tips. I want to tell them to pound sand, yet I keep buying them because they shoot well and destroy critters. I sure do wish they’d get their act together.

I haven’t killed anything with them yet, just bought one box to try in my 25x6.8 wildcat. Got the 67gr screaming out of an 18” AR… but… all the issues you mentioned I have read on other forums as well, makes me hesitant to invest further for more serious uses beyond experimentation.

 

[wapitibob]

I haven’t killed anything with them yet, just bought one box to try in my 25x6.8 wildcat. Got the 67gr screaming out of an 18” AR… but… all the issues you mentioned I have read on other forums as well, makes me hesitant to invest further for more serious uses beyond experimentation.

They kill fine but I pushed 140's at 3400. If they group fine out of your rifle I wouldn't hesitate provided you have the speed.

 

[Silver Wings]

I bought 50 of the 105 AHT for my 6.5 cm and I agree the tip thing is a bit of a PITA. I mean it’s nothing to put the tips in…except that on a couple the fit was so tight that I bent the shaft trying to force them in. Which would be no big deal except there wasn’t one extra tip in the bag, so I’ve got a couple loaded up sans tip.
This being said, I’m going to order 100 more because they work. I had been shooting 151s out of a .30 06 and the terminal performance was great. The 105s have been used on 1 mule deer and 1 pig both bullets again performed well.
The 105s were loaded with 45 gr of Lever and I had them at 3333 mv. 4DOF had them above 1800 fps to 775 yards. I don’t need that kind of distance and wouldn’t mind trading some speed for reduced recoil. Can someone chime in with the minimum FPS that ensures terminal performance with these monos…is it 1800 fps?

 

[WeiserBucks]

Can someone chime in with the minimum FPS that ensures terminal performance with these monos…is it 1800 fps?

Yes according to Hammer. You'll want to verify real BC to determine your effective range vs advertised BC punched into a calculator.

 

[PA farmboy]

210gr HHT's shoot lights out in my 340 Weatherby, trouble is the tips break off in the magazine during recoil. Hammer didn't have much to say about it when I contacted them.

 

[waspocrew]

Agreed with the above - they shoot well, but how the owner (Steve) conducts himself on forums was a big turn off for me. I have a few boxes on the shelf, but doubt I’ll be buying more. My Bergers, Hornadys, and Sierras shoot just as well for significantly less $$.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Agreed with the above - they shoot well, but how the owner (Steve) conducts himself on forums was a big turn off for me. I have a few boxes on the shelf, but doubt I’ll be buying more. My Bergers, Hornadys, and Sierras shoot just as well for significantly less $$

Yep.

 

[cal30_sniper]

I’ve recently started fooling with HHTs and HBCs and have been pretty impressed (so far).

I don’t think I’ve wasted a moment worrying about the process of having to tip them. It’s something the kids enjoy doing with me just like every other step of the reloading process.

I’ve clocked BCs with a LabRadar (calibrated against bullets with lots of data in Litz’s database) for the .358 and .366 caliber offerings. In those calibers, BC seemed to run fairly consistent with estimates in the website. Only one of the four I tried ran significantly less than advertised (and it was clearly marked as an estimate on their website). However, one other (the .366 242gr HHT) significantly exceeded what they had listed, and that's becoming one of my go-to 9.3mm hunting bullets:

*All of the above are averaged across at least 10 data points with Kestrel sourced atmospheric conditions.

I’ve heard that their tipped BCs run a lot truer than their open tip BCs. Seems to be a well documented problem they had at one point, but maybe they’re learning from it.

I’ll be trying .308, .264, and .257 offerings as the summer progresses. It could also be that the accurate or conservative BCs I’ve found so far are just a function of the larger bore diameters. It could also be that they haven't tested a lot of their larger caliber BCs, and are choosing to be somewhat conservative in their estimates.

I've also noticed the higher velocity thing. The 242gr HHT is moving over 2700fps from my 23" 9.3x62, and I'm still not into pressure signs. I can't get there with a 250gr AB. Every one I've tried has shot MOA or better, noticeably more accurate than the AB or TTSX from the same rifle.

 

[Muley Buck]

That's what pushes some people away from their products.

Yes, no doubt. I am one of those people. I started to look for a lead free bullet about a year or more before California forced us to do so. I looked at all I could find on the market, CEB, Hammer, Hornady CX, Barnes, DRT and Lehigh Defense.
DRT and Lehigh were the ones I focused on, unfortunately I could not obtain DRT bullets in California at that time (I believe that has changed now, still not sure though) so I choose to go with Lehigh. Very glad I did. I bought close to 1000 of those bullets for half the price of Hammers. They shoot very accurate and they wreck animals. Glad I still have a good pile of them, especially since they discontinued the .264 122 gr. If I run out I'd never go with Hammers.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

I tried a box of those once. I said never again with the price of the bullets and the time it takes to get them loadable.

 

[dgfavor]

I just figure it's another mundane step amongst a bunch of mundane steps. I did 50 tips tonight and took me 9".

Sexy Blu sukrs! 120gr. .257's over 54gr Retumbo in seating depth ladder 25-06 and 125gr .264's over 76.5gr Retumbo in 6.5-300 Wby on standby for huntin' season.

 

[ACHILLES]

I like hammers and don’t mind installing the tips. They shoot well with no load dev, just pressure test. Get crazy speeds, have good terminal performance, always exit with great blood trails, and lot to lot consistency. I could care less about the bc as I usually use them at shorter ranges. I use them in special situations and shoot a very small amount of them compared to cup in core bullets each year. Like most things it depends on an individuals needs and wants. This is just another option and the appeal to me is having light for caliber options at high speeds with very little drop that still penetrate heavily and shed petals doing a lot of damage. Just like everyone else the cost is turn off but that’s just the price you pay for the pros of monos. Theres pretty much always a cup in core bullet that can fill the role of what some want from a mono but it will be at the cost of using a heavier bullet with more drop. Which for a long range shooting isn’t much of a disadvantage. But some want laser like trajectory’s for short to mid range shots where you have very little time to get a shot off, think about dialing, or hold over.

 

[cbuck516]

I had similar feelings when the tipped Hammers came out. Why the heck should I install the tips when I am paying a premium price? I had plenty of the regular Hammer Hunters in proven loads so I just stuck with what I knew worked until this year. I have tried the HHT and HBC now and really don’t find the tipping to be much of a hassle. It’s far less annoying that trimming brass
I have yet to try a hammer bullet that shoots over MOA in any of my guns. Many shoot 1/2MOA consistently and some under 1/4MOA.
It was really their availability throughout the ammo shortage that pushed me away from lead-core options and I haven’t looked back. Hammer bullets just work and are impressively devastating in light for caliber options.

 

[cornstalker]

I didn't mind installing the tips. It was easy.

Take a look at the 192-grain .308" HBC. G1 .662, G7 .321

"Calculated from shot drops at 870y, 4200′ elevation, MV of 3725 fps"

How do you get a 192-grain .308" bullet to 3725 fps?

https://hammerbullets.com/product/308-cal-192gr-hammer-hbc/

 

[wind gypsy]

I didn't mind installing the tips. It was easy.

Take a look at the 192-grain .308" HBC. G1 .662, G7 .321

"Calculated from shot drops at 870y, 4200′ elevation, MV of 3725 fps"

How do you get a 192-grain .308" bullet to 3725 fps?

https://hammerbullets.com/product/308-cal-192gr-hammer-hbc/

.30 cheytac

 

[LBEdgin]

Love these bullets and my guns love them too, but I absolutely despise having to install the tips manually, one by one. I can’t believe Hammer expects the customer to do this tedious process for them, especially given the cost. I’ve put up with it because Hammer has said they have the tip machine coming and it’s only temporary. Well, they’ve been saying that for at least a year now. Kinda like their inflated BC values, I’ve given up on taking their word for it. Anyone know the inside scoop? Are installed tips ever gonna actually happen? I’ve been putting off ordering more.

I agree with you big time, it's not like the bullets are so cheap that they need us to complete their product.

 

[ACHILLES]

I didn't mind installing the tips. It was easy.

Take a look at the 192-grain .308" HBC. G1 .662, G7 .321

"Calculated from shot drops at 870y, 4200′ elevation, MV of 3725 fps"

How do you get a 192-grain .308" bullet to 3725 fps?

https://hammerbullets.com/product/308-cal-192gr-hammer-hbc/

30XC or 300Raptor

 

[SDHNTR]

I didn't mind installing the tips. It was easy.

Take a look at the 192-grain .308" HBC. G1 .662, G7 .321

"Calculated from shot drops at 870y, 4200′ elevation, MV of 3725 fps"

How do you get a 192-grain .308" bullet to 3725 fps?

https://hammerbullets.com/product/308-cal-192gr-hammer-hbc/

At least in the case of that bullet, they tell you how they got the bc value. And if they are using similar super fast cartridges to calculate all their bc’s, that may explain why the numbers are seemingly so inflated when shot out of normal rounds.

 

[dgfavor]

Just got another 50 of the 120gr .257 HHT's that I'll have to waste 10" of my life tap tappiting tips into. I've wasted about 2 hours surfing around the WWW this morning already...

Anybody mess with crimps on these Hammer bullet things? I have been a little and I do think more crimp tightens up the SD's...but so far my best, most consistent, 100yd group is from a load with the least crimp @ 1/4. SD's usually mid teens. Probably pay a price for that though at more significant longer distances.