Hammer Hunter 156g Batch Differences

MeatBuck

WKR
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Aug 30, 2018
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woodpile, Commiefornia
Damn batches aren’t even close to same. Cbto and coals are all over the board.

In the middle of development and hit a snag when I opened my second order of 156g hunters. Had been running a cbto of 2.3770” and coal of 3.080” @mag length.
Now at mag length my cbtos are from 2.3630”-2.3670” and coals from 3.0790”-3.0820”
That won’t work. Not only are they inconsistent but even picking the most consistent ones the Jump is way longer and when I set it back to where I had it coals too long for mag.
(Whah whah whah...)

Sounds like I’ll be calling em tomorrow.
Deer season coming fast. No time for this.

Suggestions, comments, etc. Please and thanks.
 
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The hammers I have delt with have been the most consistent I have ever seen. Is it possible you got a fluke batch or new/old design? Willing to bet you will be taken care of.
 
I’d imagine the bc would be different if the nose shape is different as well...?

I’m going to open all the boxes and see if all are the same or if some are like the first box I got. Fingers crossed there’s at least a 50 pc that’s the same. This 100pc has been all over the board. Gonna check the other 100pc and the 50pc now.
 
Checked the other boxes and now have spread of 2.3610”- 2.3670” cbto
And 3.0770”- 3.0820” coal
None match first batch. Making the call in the morning.
 
That is wild. I have a bunch of the 124 gr in 6.5mm and a bunch of the 70 gr in 6mm and have not had any of these issues. Oddly enough though, I found better consistency in terms of bullet weight in Berger VLD.
 
I didn’t have any issues with first purchase of 156g or 70g. Consistent seating and such.

Need to get more 70g for .243 but going to wait and see what happens when I call about 156s before ordering more.
 
Consensus is that I got first batch from old lathe and second from new but also the cutter was worn out on second batch leaving ridges on bullets.
He’s sending out a new batch for me but time crunch is on for deer season. Says I might see them by Monday or Tuesday next week. Yikes.
Still the new batch is going to screw with my jump/mag fitment.
Looks like I’ll be running single feed from here on out because I don’t think she’s going to like the big jump. Only testing will tell for sure.
 
I had the same issue with the 7mm 143 gr bullets. Orders on different dates were different in bearing surface by .020. When I talked to Steve at Hammer, he didn't seemed to be concerned. I recently bought 200 bullets at the same time and they were different from box to box and had up to .005 difference in bearing surface within each box. I assumed that CNC bullets would be much more consistent, but I'm not seeing it in Hammer bullets. I haven't used Cutting Edge or any other CNC bullet to compare.
 
Got call back from Steve. The concentricity of the batch was out of whack. Said the machine may have been set up with a piece of stock that was slightly larger than the next piece and machine wasn’t adjusted for the smaller diameter stock.
He’s gonna turn me a fresh batch today.
Also he’s gonna try to shoot some of the out of spec bullets to see what happens.
 
I tossed them on concentricity gauge and needle barely moves. Not sure how he’s able to measure the concentricity of them or if he is using same method as I am and just wants to see zero movement of needle...
Anyway Is anybody else seeing a variation in a batch like this?
 
I tossed them on concentricity gauge and needle barely moves. Not sure how he’s able to measure the concentricity of them or if he is using same method as I am and just wants to see zero movement of needle...
Anyway Is anybody else seeing a variation in a batch like this?
I've never had a discrepancy between 3 batches of 7mm 155s

Sent from my SM-G892A using Tapatalk
 
Fresh batch of copper sitting on reloading desk...
Quick look at 5-6 of em in comparator show far less deviation and most were actually the same.
Headed to smiths to have once fired case threaded for oal gauge and then will be pouring powder and seating these up. Fingers crossed that they’ll match the first batch and I’l still be able to feed from mag.
 
Since these are lathe turned bullets, it usually leaves a small tip on the base of the bullet where the bullet is parted from the stock. To avoid any deviation caused by that, I use two comparators to check the bearing surface.
 
Since these are lathe turned bullets, it usually leaves a small tip on the base of the bullet where the bullet is parted from the stock. To avoid any deviation caused by that, I use two comparators to check the bearing surface.
The new lathe he uses does not leave tits on base. That’s how he’s able to determine what machine your batch came off of and that determines when you bought it...
I’m still seeing some deviation in seating depths but not nearly as wild as second batch.
Since my jump and mag length don’t jive with new batch I went ahead and ran them out to .010” jump but they didn’t like it at all. Saw 3000 FPS down to 2960fps across 4 shots. 3000 flattened primer but no other pressure signs. Thinking maybe I was just into lands with that one but not 100% sure. Backed down the charge and chrono didn’t pick up those 4 shots. Waste of session kinda. Went back to .035” jump that I thought I was at before at mag length with first batch but still too long to mag feed. I’ll shoot them tomorrow morning. Going back to 4 shot .3g powder increments to try to get grouping back. Things all over the place right now. Time crunch for Saturday morning deer season isn’t helping me think straight either.
 
Well things were going wonky this morning as I was shooting 4 4 shot groups. First 4 were 63.3g h1000 and with the first batch of hammers I got I was seeing 2920fps and a pretty good grouping around 3/4moa in 10shots, .4880” in 4shots. This third batch I saw 2865 - 2971fps. Group over a min.

63.6g I was seeing 2935fps and group was a little bigger. Now with this third batch of hammers I’m anywhere from 2789 -2981fps. Group over a min.

63.9g was seeing 2950fps and over a minute groups. Now 3/4moa groups (half moa if I save fourth shot) and FPS 2984-3084.

64.2g was 2980 and 3/4moa but with this third batch of hammers I’m seeing 3006-3063fps and 3/4Moa groups. (Half moa if I stick that fourth shot in my back pocket.)

Any explanation for the drop off in velocity on 63.6g?
And why the sudden shift in es to near 100?

The things that changed were seating depth and bullet batch.

I never really knew the exact jump before as I was limited to mag length and had a Winchester mod case that was different dimensions but it had a .035 jump at mag length with the first 50 pc of hammers I got. Guess I could measure it out with the win brass and new hammers to really narrow down what I was at exactly.

Im now running .035” jump. 010” jump shot terrible last night so I stretched it back out to where I thought I may have been before in an effort to get a decent group that I feel comfortable hunting with this weekend. I chose the64.2g load to hunt with this weekend and am limiting shot distance to 500yds. I figure since that’s where I was comfortable shooting factory ammo out of factory gun and I never had factory stuff group 3/4 or less. The es of 57 still lingers in my mind tho.
 
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