What mono to use

[Bluefish]

It'll be interesting if a tipped .358 197 Hammer can have a better BC by a margin that makes any difference (or at all) vs a .358 200 TTSX. By necessity (.358, 200 gr, mono construction), they need to be similar in form/shape and I personally don't see it happening. Barnes gets their BC from shooting in a 300 yd underground tunnel based on time of flight and are historically pretty close to real world results.

The Barnes is about .37, claimed is .369 if I remember correctly. the wounding mechanism between the two is different, Barnes with its pedal opening and Hammer with pedal shedding. Hammer claims a lower minimum velocity, which could extend range on some of my rifles which don’t have the mv of the whelen.

If the bc is close to the Barnes, I will give the hammers a try. Hammer is claiming over .4. I do know that the hunter hammers are only .03-.04 overstated, so these might be right in line with the Barnes. My personal hypothesis is that hammer calculated bc for the bullet shape without taking into account the hollow point. Change that hole diameter and drag goes up. Adding a tip should help.

 

[35WhelenAI]

The Barnes is about .37, claimed is .369 if I remember correctly. the wounding mechanism between the two is different, Barnes with its pedal opening and Hammer with pedal shedding. Hammer claims a lower minimum velocity, which could extend range on some of my rifles which don’t have the mv of the whelen.

If the bc is close to the Barnes, I will give the hammers a try. Hammer is claiming over .4. I do know that the hunter hammers are only .03-.04 overstated, so these might be right in line with the Barnes. My personal hypothesis is that hammer calculated bc for the bullet shape without taking into account the hollow point. Change that hole diameter and drag goes up. Adding a tip should help.

I like Hammers design, it's a great counter to the original mono design that Barnes created. One sends petals shedding outward, the other maintains full weight. Seems there isn't a middle ground in mono bullet design. Either weight retention and exiting penetration or loss of weight on expansion and a caliber diameter hole punching it's way out. Two good ways to fill the freezer.

On the BC subject, Barnes .358 200 TSX with small tip opening is a full .085 lower in BC (.284 vs .369 TTSX) and the 225 TSX with small tip opening is .359. From that comparative standpoint, .358 Hammers look to have a similar large cavity filled with the tip like the Barnes TTSX. IMO, with that size cavity/tip feature similarly dictating overall bullet shape that is where I come to the thought the Hammer can't/won't have an appreciable difference in BC if the two could be compared side by side. Just talking for the sake of discussion here.

 

[Bluefish]

I like Hammers design, it's a great counter to the original mono design that Barnes created. One sends petals shedding outward, the other maintains full weight. Seems there isn't a middle ground in mono bullet design. Either weight retention and exiting penetration or loss of weight on expansion and a caliber diameter hole punching it's way out. Two good ways to fill the freezer.

On the BC subject, Barnes .358 200 TSX with small tip opening is a full .085 lower in BC (.284 vs .369 TTSX) and the 225 TSX with small tip opening is .359. From that comparative standpoint, .358 Hammers look to have a similar large cavity filled with the tip like the Barnes TTSX. IMO, with that size cavity/tip feature similarly dictating overall bullet shape that is where I come to the thought the Hammer can't/won't have an appreciable difference in BC if the two could be compared side by side. Just talking for the sake of discussion here.

I am ordering some to try. I do like how easy the hammers are to load and they have worked well. If bc is good, they may be my new choice. I would like a tipped 180g with say a .3+ bc offering. I am slowly coming to the belief that lighter and faster is better with solids. I hope to try 160g CE Raptors on an animal today or tomorrow. I have used the 150g brass and had mixed results.

 

[35WhelenAI]

Good luck, look forward to hearing if you get something today.