If you are ever privileged to meet Ron Spomer in person and speak with him, you will be impressed by his kindness patience and his knowledge of all things firearm related. He is a legend in the firearm business.
As a new reloader and returned shooter I simply loved this video. Ron, for hunters and shooters, you are the most informative of presenters here. More of these please.
I just had a great experience with Hammer bullets in my 358 Win BLR. On Elk, at 300 yards, just above 1800 fps, I had complete pass through with crazy damage to the heart in between. Got them for the BC, thrilled with the terminal performance.
@@energizerwolf5574 - I first read Peters comment and thought he was saying something negative about the 300 yard shooting distance. I wrote out a big long answer about bullet velocity, proper energy, point blank aim, etc. Hit post and rec read his comment. Ty = Thank You. He was thanking him for shooting at an ethical distance. I had to delete my comment. Too bad it was a good one. Oh well. LOL.
Hey Chris, I saw your review on the Hammer website. I have the same gun and just got Hammer's 15rd sampler pack of 200gr bullets. I have TAC and Varget to work with. Interested in the COL you loaded to. With 2.765" dummy round I show ogive in the lands COL 2.780 for a .015" jump.
@@pauldeahl3980 I believe if you have more than 1/2 second of travel which is usually 500 yds or less this is ethical range. Any more than 1/2 second your not a hunter or ethical person
@@bilvol I think my COL is 2.76 or so. I used to have feeding issues that seemed to improve when I loaded a little shorter than max mag length. I've since replaced the mag and all feeding issues are resolved. I tried TAC, but never got the speed that others report. IMR3031 has been outstanding for accuracy in my gun. My load for Hunter 200gr and IMR3031 is heavily compressed, but according to q/l and brass and ease of extraction, should be safe... but i sure had to pack a lot of it in there to get 2500 fps....
Another happy Hammer customer here, last season I shot a 5x5 at 420 yards and a late season cow at 500 yards, both flop dead with 180 HH in a 300wby. They shoot sub 1/2 “ and I’ve practiced them accurately too 800 yards, hit an 8” plate consistently.
Hammer bullets just became a household name lol. The secret is out. Hopefully the price comes down a smidge for us home makers. Thanks for another great video Ron
Great video once again Ron, thanks! Those hammer bullets are my new love affair. Been playing with these for a while, very little copper fouling and great accuracy, they perform as advertised
Thanks, Ron, for the great video interview and a shout out to Steve who has been a great help to me in my reloading "journey" for my 300 WM. Am working with the 166gr HHs and 181gr HHs. The struggle has been to obtain primers and powder, but am now ready to put some loads together. Steve has given me unbelievable customer service, and I highly recommend giving Hammer a go.
Steve is a quality guy and makes a quality bullet. I've read 100's of his posts on Long Range Hunting. Steve is well respected there. Some say his bullets are expensive but look at what a hunt costs and consider that you may have only one shot at that quality animal. Does it really matter then when you have the best bullet suited for the job.
Thanks for the video Ron.Hammer bullets are by far the very best bullets I've ever used.there accurate,deadly and very easy to load for and they hit like a Hammer.and also hammer is a really great company to deal with you can call them up or email them and asked any questions about the bullets or what they have had great luck with in a one caliber or another as far as load data or what ever and they always get back to you and if for what ever reason your not happy with the bullets you purchased which I don't see how you would be but they will make it right with you there just a great all around company and I load for them in all my rifles and have harvested animals with them and they are like I said the best bullets I've ever used
They shoot better for you than Bergers? Guess if you live in Cali and HAVE to shoot copper they might be the best solid copper but lead density match projos are the shit for long range
@@shanek6582 I my rifles they do shoot better than berger bullets yet I've only loaded berger classic hunters and vld hunting bullets. And I live in NC and I still would rather shoot hammer bullets over other bullets on the market
Hammer bullets are awesome...easy to tune... absolutely deadly on game...and Steve is a wealth of knowledge and with chat with you all day if you have questions...who ever dogs on hammer bullets clearly hasn't even tried them
I was very glad to see they kept the 264 win mag and other older 6.5 cartridges in mind for some of their bullets. I'm hoping to get to use hammer bullets this year in my 264 win mag.
(when recovered) This kind of pedal loss square frontal area is exactly what my Winchester / Combined Technology FailSafe bullets have done as they entered and drove through Cape buffalo and hippo. I thought they had "failed" to some degree since they would always loose all four pedals. Maybe they were actually doing MORE DAMAGE that way with their new square flat front! Interesting! THANKS - will keep using the few I have then look at Hammer Bullets!!
Thanks Ron for a very informative video. I started loading Shock Hammer bullets last year and am yet to see a deer id shoot so i have not seen any on game performance but they sure are very accurate and they are also very consistant in weight, better than any other bullet I have loaded and that covers quite a few bullets
These bullets are amazing! Crazy high BC’s for monometal bullets and the terminal performance reports from the field seem to be quite favorable. They also have a line of bullets with a wider meplat for up close work or woods defense. More factory ammunition manufacturers need to load this bullet. Thankfully Weatherby just started loading them. I’d sure love to see their new .338 RPM loaded with a Hammer bullet! What a combination!?
I have used drive band copper bullets before. Have always been impressed with the terminal ballistics. The only concern I have had was that I lost accuracy sooner when the barrel heated up. Now under normal hunting conditions you don't take to many shots, but could never get consistent groups with 5 shots. I will give Hammer bullets a try and see.
One of my favorite attributes of Hammers is their great accuracy and grouping. It is typical for me to get 0.5" groups within 15 shots. Get a sample pack and try them. Just follow twist recommendations and loading guidance on the Hammertime Forum.
I can't help but put my engineer's hat on again and think of all of this in terms of an energy balance. When Steve says the ideal bullet would travel through the target with no loss in velocity, to me that means no energy transfer is transferred. To do tissue damage there has to be energy transfer - no debate here as this is dictated by the laws of physics (1st Law). Having said that, it appears to me that the Hammers maybe more effective because less energy is wasted with making "mushrooms", but instead quickly separating the petals, and using the rest of the energy to get that perpendicular flow of tissue to the "wad-cutter" terminal bullet form nose. All this tells me they have come up with a better hunting bullet design. This makes sense, and now I definitely want to try some. Great information and great interview.
I love hammer bullets. Easy load development superb accuracy and great terminal performance. I’m trying to shoot them in every rifle I take big game with.
My 6xc is shooting 1/4” groups with 101 gr hammers. I have a 1-7 twist. To answer your question, hammers don’t “hit harder” they expand more violently. Death comes quickly when the hammer grenade goes off inside an animal hit with one. I’ve seen two pigs drop almost instantly by hammers from a 308 and a 300 nozler.
I've been very happy with Hammer bullets, I've taken them to Africa twice so far and again in 2023, my 6.5 PRC loaded with 124gn Hammer hunters have taken everything from Duiker to Kudu, blue and golden wildebeest, Sable and gemsbok. I've been very impressed with both the terminal performance as well as the accuracy from 100 yd. out to 800 yds. I'm still less 1/2 MOA with these bullets. I also load them in my 300 PRC as well as 6mm ARC both rifles seem to really like them as well and I've not had any issues finding a setting depth that shoots very well. in the 20+ animals taken with the Hammer Hunters (or Shock Hammers) my only complaint is bullet recovery... there hasn't been, every animal has expired with 1 shot and within 100 yd., and all of them were pass though shot (found a few petals but never the main slug) I prefer heart lung shots, but will take frontal shots if needed, of those shots taken the slug didn't exit but I didn't see the need to process the gut piles for the pill lol I would absolutely recommend the Hammer bullets to anyone wanting a very high quality bullet for med to long range and superior terminal performance just please don't run out of stock when I need to order more
After watching your vids working with these in your 25-06 I was hoping that you would do more video on these bullets Thanks so much Ron awesome video. I only wish we could get them up here in Canada.
@@10dannyp89 really that's awesome last I checked a few months ago they weren't able to ship here. Guess I better check the website like right now lol. Thanks for letting me know man
I got some straight from Hammer. So you can import them fr US. But I’ve heard that there is a distributor in Canada now too. Can’t remember who it is but you should be able to find it easy enuf.
Hmm Interesting. Look like the GS Custom bullets as well as the long gone Groove Bullets I used to shoot. The petal shedding and the plug work as described and they shoot very fast. I shot the 129Gr Groove bullet for 15 years until I ran out, out of my 7mm STW at 3850fps (no thats not a typo). I had to switch to the 145gr Barnes LRX as that was the closest I could find. Looking at the website, sure wish he would list the G1 as well at the G7 to better compare with others on the market. Thank you for the video, I was unaware or these bullets.
I was curious once I saw title, had no idea anyone had a rifle chambered in a 7SAW on here! Shout out to WTO, I’m going getting a barrel from them this summer.
@@Seanconnery1st The barrel I have is coming from Preferred Barrel Blanks. It looks like a great cartridge. I'm trying it in a 18.5" barrel, and there isn't a lot of data on that yet, so wish me luck.
The hammers work. The 7saw I believe is meant more for heavy bullets, but I am sure if you are getting an 8 twist. Should be fine if you are going to shoot the smaller bullets super fast.
@@Dave-cf2ng I think of the 7mmSAW as a modernized 7mm-08 (like a 6.5 CM compared to a 260 Rem), optimized for long, heavy bullets to use up the entirety of a 2.95” magazine. But, I also think long, lighter copper monolithic bullets should work well, so long as they can be stabilized. Also, since I’ve limited myself with a short barrel, shooting a lighter bullet may allow me to optimize speed and pressure.
I think Steve did a good job putting his explanation of his bullet design into “layman’s term” so it could be understood by most everyone in a 12 minute video. A lightbulb went off in my head and I understood the design intent when he compared a flat nosed dangerous game bullet to the Hammer bullet after the petals break off and you get basically a wadcutter shaped bullet “tearing” thru tissue to maximize the damage and subsequent blood loss.
Always wanted to try them but Barnes is usually cheaper and (generally) more available. That and with their high number of driving bands means you usually will be seating the bullet fairly deep into the case to maintain good neck tension or “grab” on the bullet
Weird, I couldn’t find Barnes to save my life but I can order the Hammer bullets all day. I’ve not had any issues with seating depth or neck tension/consistency so far. My limiting factor for OAL with their typical bullet is the magazine and not wanting to single shoot. I was sure hesitant to try them, but I’m sold now that I have.
The objective with bullet design is to get through all that pesky air space between the muzzle and the animal. After that, penetrate clean through the animal while doing the most tissue destruction in the process, in such an effect as to slow down very minimally all the way through. Doing the air thing and the tissue thing with the same shaped piece, that's the engineering challenge.
The "perfect" bullet is the one that shuts the CNS or the heart down. Instead of debating calibres, we need to have people like Ron doing tests on the different bullets "makes" in the same calibre. That should put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Yeah it’s always been and always will be the location of impact first, the projectile choice second, and cartridge a distant third. Of course shot placement is 100% up to the Hunter, the animal, and the conditions with almost no regard for the bullet or the cartridge except for the effective range constraints of your chosen combination. So naturally it makes the most sense to focus mostly on the bullet choice with a small bit of emphasis on the cartridge and only insofar as the cartridge choice affects your effective range and ability to be consistent. And yet there are endless cartridge wars while very few spend time talking about the bullet. I’d take a .260 Remington with my choice of bullet on an elk hunt over a 300 win mag with a subpar bullet every day of the week. I’ll shoot the 6.5 better from any position, I get more rounds in the magazine, and I’ll probably get a cleaner kill with the best bullet in the 6.5 than with a bad bullet in the 300 win mag. But hey, I read on UA-cam that my .30-06 is underpowered for elk, so what do I know.
I wonder if this product related to Cutting Edge bullets. Neat product! Thank you as always for great content, that's in-depth enough to scratch the itch of "nerds" and general enough for the large audiences to enjoy.
Cavitation in the wound channel is what you're looking for, that expansion of tissue to the point of rupturing and shredding by taking it past it ability to return to normal state...
Thanks for the insight of bullets that has transitioned from lead to copper and it’s terminal affects, building the confidence of an component unused by many . Lead components has already been transitioned out in many areas due to ecology issues.
Great interview. I am working my way through the article he referenced, it's a pretty good read. I have found some of the theoretical things being discussed to be true the hard way.
So hammer starts as a boat tail hollow point, expands petals like a mechanical broadhead on impact, and then becomes a wadcutter to rip a full- bore hole.
Hello Ron, I just picked up a 1959 winchester model 94 in .32 win special, and now being the so far never ending such for ammo. Would love to learn about the cartridge and some of the other .32 calibers out there
I've had exceptional results with hammer bullets. I use the 101gr in 243 win and I've shot about 50 red deer with them now. Only observation I have is that they are extremely destructive if you hit bone. I had one hind that had the off side shoulder completely separate from the rest of the carcus. Hand granade analogy was very accurate on that occasion. Very impressed with them and would no hesitate to recommend them.
Cutting edges' seal-tite is similar but their radiused and redundant bands might make them more consistent when mishandled. I love my cutting edge bullets, but they're pricy, and are exclusively fragmentating type. I hear what he's saying about presenting a sharp edged blunt end end to wound better regardless of size. But I think petals are vital to the new wounding concept the 8.6 blackout, since it's cutting in a radial manner with extremely high twist, imparting both shock and cutting broadly with a lot of surface per depth.... trying to find bullet designs that work with that concept.
From their website: All of the Hammer Bullets that are designed for hunting are impact tested down to 1800 fps impact velocity for proper deformation. We have not been able to impact a Hammer Bullet at too high of an impact velocity. They will retain the same weight at low and high velocity impacts.
I had some Cutting Edge and they world do the same thing. But when the petals came off it was like a solid. Super accurate but went straight through with not a very big wound channel and no expansion. This seems like the same. Nowhere near the wound channel like a Barnes.
I can tell you from 5 deer that all have been bang flop, even on a couple bad shots. Those wound channel blows everything away. I have run into our there.
@@jamesmuhlbeier9032 I have shot many bullets and taken over 70 species and I have never seen any wound channel close to a Barnes! Big game from a Cape Buffalo to a Dik Dik! If it is doing like the Gentleman says, it is doing exactly like the Cutting Edge. Looks like a copy to me. It will be like shooting a solid with no expansion. I’m glad you are having luck with them but I don’t need a 30 cal solid!
I'd like to see a video of badlands precision bulldozer vs hammer bullets with terminal performance and bcs and accuracy and all that jazz. The 195 gr 30 cal bulldozer has really caught my attention but I've also been looking at hammer bullets as well.
I don't know if you remember me but I always e talk the 257 Roberts up as far as I'm concerned the very best deer rifle cartridge the 257 even with a fast twist mine was ordered with a 2 in 8 twist and still some heavy bullets didn't do well the worst grouping was the speer 120 grand slam but the 120 hollow points shot pretty good and I tried many powders and loads for both bullets the nosler 115 gr partition was the best premium controlled expansion it was a three quarter in. 5 shot all day the ballistic tip was a 5 shot half inches
Just had my 30/30 T/C Contender Carbine out to the range. Chambered in the over length 30/30 chamber that S&W reamed long. 124g Hammer Hunters using 35g RE7 went 2869 FPS!!!!
I follow the same line of thinking with terminal ballistics. Never did follow the "goes in and blows up like a hand grenade" theory. I am concerned about deflection as the petals break off (or fail to break off) at different times upon impact on an actual animal though. We had a very similar product that unfortunately fell through here in Australia called Australian Copper Projectiles/Australian Custom Projectiles. I think their popularity had quite a bit to do with their downfall due to inability to keep up with orders. They were a good product if you could get them.
The question is obviously if the hammer effect allows good penetration. Surely the Hammer bullet with deliver its energy in a very destructive manner, but will it deliver that energy deep enough and not waste it all on bones. Very, very interesting. We are slowing moving toward a 'sabot' principle which is used in anti-armor ammunition where a hardened core exits out of an ogive to pursue the flight into the hard metal. Can we think of a bullet that would have its core keep the major part of the bullet energy and surge forward? We are coming to that.
Interesting. After the petals come off the bullet it basically becomes a wad cutter. I learned in years of construction in order to prevent a piece of wood from splitting I could blunt the end of a nail and when driven in it punches a whole rather than split the grain.
Hey Ron, take a comparable bullet design by outside appearance MINUS the bands of the hammer of course. And of same weight and caliber and gun used. Reload using your best load parameters for an existing load of yours, and see if the accuracy improves regardless of how minute it might be. Even if you have to vary the load (grains of powder) slightly to achieve it. As we all know, no two bullets will perform exactly the same. Considering ALL other parameters are absolutely identical. Im simply curious if the accuracy gained is significant enough to change from ballistic tips or jacketed designed projectiles. Im from the keep it simple school. One bullet for everything. With one exception, that being varmint hunting. I try for frangible to decrease down range collateral behind small targets .
Incog, considering the accuracy challenges of the original, full diameter shank on X bullets compared to the easy accuracy one gets with the newer TSX and TTSX bullets, I think that question has been answered. It's a matter of bore diameter consistency and the projectile's ability to obturate to fit that bore. Depending on rifle/barrel, I've had original X shoot 1/2 MOA and 2 MOA. I rarely see TSX and other banded coppers shoot poorly. I've used just the 92-gr. .257 Hammer Hunters in one rifle, but got sub MOA easily.
Another one , do the grooves have to be seated into the case neck or can they be outside of it to aquire proper distance from the lands ? Barnes also .
I shot benchrest for several years in the early 90s, never seen a bullet with a cannelure do anything positive to my groups, I know with solid copper they have to put those “drive bands lol” in so the pressure doesn’t go up too high so I’ve never even bothered to try any. I always assumed since California made lead core hunting projectiles illegal, copper projos were made by sheer necessity, a few years later all the marketing was just BS. I’m old and stubborn but might try some solid coppers some day.
Very interesting. I've heard of Hammer bullets and had no idea what they were. I assumed the were similar to Berger. I'm curious if anybody who uses them goes down in weight to increase velocity. Something like in .30 cal dropping from 180gr to 150gr or less, or in .270 from 130gr. to 110gr. If so how'd it work on game? Or do you stick with the "normal" bullet weight and SD?
I shoot the 152HH in a 300 WSM mainly due to the 1/11 twist in my Tikka but get 3400+ fps without pressure and excellent accuracy. The engraving pressure is a bit less than published loads for equal weight bullets so there is the possibility to push velocity a bit faster with diligent attention to pressure signs when using Hammer bullets. I can't speak to similarities with Berger bullets as I don't believe Berger makes "all copper" or mono bullets... They have worked very well on elk and deer for me and Hammer Bullets knows about customer service too. Did I mention they are very accurate ;)
@@fortfly thank you, that is very useful information. I've mostly used partitions at heavy for caliber weights. Might have to look into these hammers. Thanks again.
@@jk-kr8jt I shoot almost exclusively the.270. since the mid seventies. I’ve tried most grains offered in bullets and always came back to 130gr because of accuracy. Every caliber made, IMO has a particular grain that will consistently outperform the others. Stick to the 130gr in your .270 and my favorite powder for it is IMR 4350. Im a .500 to .625 inch 5 round groups at 100. For a sporter bbl thats not bad. and was good enough for 800yds at prairie dogs. Shooting off a bench and sand bagged of course. Never could connect first shot because of shimmering mirage on the plains, but with a spotter with a 60x spotting scope, wearing ear plugs and ear muffs (keeps him from blinking from muzzle blast) he’d call out my bullet strike. Then I’d add my Kentucky windage and always hit the second shot. At that distance the “dope” was good until the wind changed etc.. The rifle a 1976 Sako Finnbear .270, is topped with a Leupold 6.5x20 50mm Vari-X III AO. Potent medicine. Good luck!!
@@incognito5986 thanks for the info. I agree the 130 is the sweet spot in the 270. Wonder if the new super bullets change some of that. That's a fine shooting Sako you've got. Hang on to it.
what powder were you using on the 25-06 hammer bullets also what powder load and group size with that set up building a 25-06 long range rifle Hammr recomended a 90 gr bullet anyhelp would be apperciated
A good video. The design is not much different from a Barnes TTSX ( or the old TSX ). They are my go to projectile and I use them in my 6mm Rem, 257 Roberts and my 6.5 x 55 Swede. 100 % instant kill rate.
If you are ever privileged to meet Ron Spomer in person and speak with him, you will be impressed by his kindness patience and his knowledge of all things firearm related. He is a legend in the firearm business.
As a new reloader and returned shooter I simply loved this video. Ron, for hunters and shooters, you are the most informative of presenters here. More of these please.
I just had a great experience with Hammer bullets in my 358 Win BLR. On Elk, at 300 yards, just above 1800 fps, I had complete pass through with crazy damage to the heart in between. Got them for the BC, thrilled with the terminal performance.
Ty for shooting humane distance
@@energizerwolf5574 - I first read Peters comment and thought he was saying something negative about the 300 yard shooting distance. I wrote out a big long answer about bullet velocity, proper energy, point blank aim, etc. Hit post and rec read his comment. Ty = Thank You.
He was thanking him for shooting at an ethical distance. I had to delete my comment. Too bad it was a good one. Oh well. LOL.
Hey Chris, I saw your review on the Hammer website. I have the same gun and just got Hammer's 15rd sampler pack of 200gr bullets. I have TAC and Varget to work with. Interested in the COL you loaded to. With 2.765" dummy round I show ogive in the lands COL 2.780 for a .015" jump.
@@pauldeahl3980 I believe if you have more than 1/2 second of travel which is usually 500 yds or less this is ethical range. Any more than 1/2 second your not a hunter or ethical person
@@bilvol I think my COL is 2.76 or so. I used to have feeding issues that seemed to improve when I loaded a little shorter than max mag length. I've since replaced the mag and all feeding issues are resolved. I tried TAC, but never got the speed that others report. IMR3031 has been outstanding for accuracy in my gun. My load for Hunter 200gr and IMR3031 is heavily compressed, but according to q/l and brass and ease of extraction, should be safe... but i sure had to pack a lot of it in there to get 2500 fps....
What a great listen! You always seem to ask all the right questions and I sure love hearing Steve’s answers. Thanks Ron!
Another happy Hammer customer here, last season I shot a 5x5 at 420 yards and a late season cow at 500 yards, both flop dead with 180 HH in a 300wby. They shoot sub 1/2 “ and I’ve practiced them accurately too 800 yards, hit an 8” plate consistently.
Nice! Working on that exact load myself. Shoots fantastic so far.
Hammer bullets just became a household name lol. The secret is out. Hopefully the price comes down a smidge for us home makers. Thanks for another great video Ron
Never heard of them. Can't wait to try them out. Hopefully will be effective and affordable.
@@millermanhalDefinitely not affordable lol
Great video once again Ron, thanks! Those hammer bullets are my new love affair. Been playing with these for a while, very little copper fouling and great accuracy, they perform as advertised
Thanks, Ron, for the great video interview and a shout out to Steve who has been a great help to me in my reloading "journey" for my 300 WM. Am working with the 166gr HHs and 181gr HHs. The struggle has been to obtain primers and powder, but am now ready to put some loads together. Steve has given me unbelievable customer service, and I highly recommend giving Hammer a go.
Just was talking to Hammer via email. Super polite in messaging. That means something to me.
Steve is a quality guy and makes a quality bullet. I've read 100's of his posts on Long Range Hunting. Steve is well respected there. Some say his bullets are expensive but look at what a hunt costs and consider that you may have only one shot at that quality animal. Does it really matter then when you have the best bullet suited for the job.
Thanks for the video Ron.Hammer bullets are by far the very best bullets I've ever used.there accurate,deadly and very easy to load for and they hit like a Hammer.and also hammer is a really great company to deal with you can call them up or email them and asked any questions about the bullets or what they have had great luck with in a one caliber or another as far as load data or what ever and they always get back to you and if for what ever reason your not happy with the bullets you purchased which I don't see how you would be but they will make it right with you there just a great all around company and I load for them in all my rifles and have harvested animals with them and they are like I said the best bullets I've ever used
They shoot better for you than Bergers? Guess if you live in Cali and HAVE to shoot copper they might be the best solid copper but lead density match projos are the shit for long range
@@shanek6582 I my rifles they do shoot better than berger bullets yet I've only loaded berger classic hunters and vld hunting bullets. And I live in NC and I still would rather shoot hammer bullets over other bullets on the market
Hammer bullets are awesome...easy to tune... absolutely deadly on game...and Steve is a wealth of knowledge and with chat with you all day if you have questions...who ever dogs on hammer bullets clearly hasn't even tried them
Looking forward to some great wisdom.
Have a good day, Ron.
I was very glad to see they kept the 264 win mag and other older 6.5 cartridges in mind for some of their bullets. I'm hoping to get to use hammer bullets this year in my 264 win mag.
Hammers just work great. Steve is a wealth of knowledge. He also shares that with his customers.
Buy once Cry once. They simply work
Love Hammer bullets!!!! A lot of my bolt gun and semi-auto cartridges have been changed over. Good luck and stay safe! 😉
Well explained. Ordered my 1st Hammer's today in 6mm ARC 75gr's.
Thanks for sharing, Ron and Steve for the compelling information and describing the amazing performance of your Hammer bullets.
I really like that the music is perfectly matched with the overall volume,nicely done :)
Can't stand too loud intros at evening
(when recovered) This kind of pedal loss square frontal area is exactly what my Winchester / Combined Technology FailSafe bullets have done as they entered and drove through Cape buffalo and hippo. I thought they had "failed" to some degree since they would always loose all four pedals. Maybe they were actually doing MORE DAMAGE that way with their new square flat front! Interesting! THANKS - will keep using the few I have then look at Hammer Bullets!!
Petals?
Awesome Steve! I am glad it is getting out there. Keep up the good work!
Thanks Ron for a very informative video. I started loading Shock Hammer bullets last year and am yet to see a deer id shoot so i have not seen any on game performance but they sure are very accurate and they are also very consistant in weight, better than any other bullet I have loaded and that covers quite a few bullets
Very interesting , makes good sense when you think about it. Thanks Ron .
These bullets are amazing! Crazy high BC’s for monometal bullets and the terminal performance reports from the field seem to be quite favorable. They also have a line of bullets with a wider meplat for up close work or woods defense. More factory ammunition manufacturers need to load this bullet. Thankfully Weatherby just started loading them. I’d sure love to see their new .338 RPM loaded with a Hammer bullet! What a combination!?
I have used drive band copper bullets before. Have always been impressed with the terminal ballistics. The only concern I have had was that I lost accuracy sooner when the barrel heated up. Now under normal hunting conditions you don't take to many shots, but could never get consistent groups with 5 shots. I will give Hammer bullets a try and see.
One of my favorite attributes of Hammers is their great accuracy and grouping. It is typical for me to get 0.5" groups within 15 shots.
Get a sample pack and try them. Just follow twist recommendations and loading guidance on the Hammertime Forum.
I can't help but put my engineer's hat on again and think of all of this in terms of an energy balance. When Steve says the ideal bullet would travel through the target with no loss in velocity, to me that means no energy transfer is transferred. To do tissue damage there has to be energy transfer - no debate here as this is dictated by the laws of physics (1st Law). Having said that, it appears to me that the Hammers maybe more effective because less energy is wasted with making "mushrooms", but instead quickly separating the petals, and using the rest of the energy to get that perpendicular flow of tissue to the "wad-cutter" terminal bullet form nose. All this tells me they have come up with a better hunting bullet design. This makes sense, and now I definitely want to try some. Great information and great interview.
Excellent interview Ron and Steve!
Awesome!! I love to see technology progressing.
Excellent and Outstanding!!! Well Done!!!
Thanks Ron for many years of sharing your adventures and love for the great outdoors. Good shooting to you and yours. 🎥💯👍
👍
Thanks for listening, Joel. I appreciate your enthusiasm. Happy hunting.
Great video Ron, now do one about cutting edge bullets.
Hilarious, I was just on his site last night trying to decide which one for 7mm-08. Awesome product
Hammer Bullets has caught my attention no doubt.
Good information, thank you!
Makes perfect sense...now I need them
I love hammer bullets. Easy load development superb accuracy and great terminal performance. I’m trying to shoot them in every rifle I take big game with.
Sounds like a good round if it works right....Thanks Ron from an old Vet....Shoe🇺🇸
My 6xc is shooting 1/4” groups with 101 gr hammers. I have a 1-7 twist. To answer your question, hammers don’t “hit harder” they expand more violently. Death comes quickly when the hammer grenade goes off inside an animal hit with one. I’ve seen two pigs drop almost instantly by hammers from a 308 and a 300 nozler.
well done and thanks Steve
Wow that was very interesting and good to learn cheers 🍻👍👍
I've been very happy with Hammer bullets, I've taken them to Africa twice so far and again in 2023, my 6.5 PRC loaded with 124gn Hammer hunters have taken everything from Duiker to Kudu, blue and golden wildebeest, Sable and gemsbok. I've been very impressed with both the terminal performance as well as the accuracy from 100 yd. out to 800 yds. I'm still less 1/2 MOA with these bullets. I also load them in my 300 PRC as well as 6mm ARC both rifles seem to really like them as well and I've not had any issues finding a setting depth that shoots very well.
in the 20+ animals taken with the Hammer Hunters (or Shock Hammers) my only complaint is bullet recovery... there hasn't been, every animal has expired with 1 shot and within 100 yd., and all of them were pass though shot (found a few petals but never the main slug) I prefer heart lung shots, but will take frontal shots if needed, of those shots taken the slug didn't exit but I didn't see the need to process the gut piles for the pill lol
I would absolutely recommend the Hammer bullets to anyone wanting a very high quality bullet for med to long range and superior terminal performance just please don't run out of stock when I need to order more
What powder and load are you running the 124gn in the PRC? Have some on order to try.
@@tonystewart7287 just ordered 124s for my PRC. Steve recommended Reloader 26 or N560 starting at 58 grs.
@@joeybennett1491 Thanks Joey
That’s where you messed up…should’ve dug through the gut pile 😄
Nice work, Mr. Davis!
I would like to know what is the minimum impact velocity to open up effectively per manufacture design?
1800 is what they test to for full expansion.
After watching your vids working with these in your 25-06 I was hoping that you would do more video on these bullets
Thanks so much Ron awesome video. I only wish we could get them up here in Canada.
You can get them in canada now.
@@10dannyp89 really that's awesome last I checked a few months ago they weren't able to ship here. Guess I better check the website like right now lol. Thanks for letting me know man
I got some straight from Hammer. So you can import them fr US. But I’ve heard that there is a distributor in Canada now too. Can’t remember who it is but you should be able to find it easy enuf.
Hmm Interesting. Look like the GS Custom bullets as well as the long gone Groove Bullets I used to shoot. The petal shedding and the plug work as described and they shoot very fast. I shot the 129Gr Groove bullet for 15 years until I ran out, out of my 7mm STW at 3850fps (no thats not a typo). I had to switch to the 145gr Barnes LRX as that was the closest I could find. Looking at the website, sure wish he would list the G1 as well at the G7 to better compare with others on the market. Thank you for the video, I was unaware or these bullets.
Interesting interview. Thanks
I'm putting together a new rifle on a 7mm-SAW, and I was looking at the Hammer Bullets. Will be great to hear Ron's thoughts on them first.
I was curious once I saw title, had no idea anyone had a rifle chambered in a 7SAW on here! Shout out to WTO, I’m going getting a barrel from them this summer.
@@Seanconnery1st The barrel I have is coming from Preferred Barrel Blanks. It looks like a great cartridge. I'm trying it in a 18.5" barrel, and there isn't a lot of data on that yet, so wish me luck.
The hammers work. The 7saw I believe is meant more for heavy bullets, but I am sure if you are getting an 8 twist. Should be fine if you are going to shoot the smaller bullets super fast.
@@Dave-cf2ng I think of the 7mmSAW as a modernized 7mm-08 (like a 6.5 CM compared to a 260 Rem), optimized for long, heavy bullets to use up the entirety of a 2.95” magazine.
But, I also think long, lighter copper monolithic bullets should work well, so long as they can be stabilized.
Also, since I’ve limited myself with a short barrel, shooting a lighter bullet may allow me to optimize speed and pressure.
@@Seanconnery1st it's incredibly new and not from the us. Probably explains why I never heard of it either. Neat
Interesting bullet
Thanks for another nice video Ron.
I think Steve did a good job putting his explanation of his bullet design into “layman’s term” so it could be understood by most everyone in a 12 minute video.
A lightbulb went off in my head and I understood the design intent when he compared a flat nosed dangerous game bullet to the Hammer bullet after the petals break off and you get basically a wadcutter shaped bullet “tearing” thru tissue to maximize the damage and subsequent blood loss.
Agreed. That was the "ah huh moment" for me as well. Can't wait to try them
Always wanted to try them but Barnes is usually cheaper and (generally) more available. That and with their high number of driving bands means you usually will be seating the bullet fairly deep into the case to maintain good neck tension or “grab” on the bullet
Weird, I couldn’t find Barnes to save my life but I can order the Hammer bullets all day. I’ve not had any issues with seating depth or neck tension/consistency so far. My limiting factor for OAL with their typical bullet is the magazine and not wanting to single shoot. I was sure hesitant to try them, but I’m sold now that I have.
Thanks Ron, the archery comparison is a good one. Keep up the good work.
The objective with bullet design is to get through all that pesky air space between the muzzle and the animal. After that, penetrate clean through the animal while doing the most tissue destruction in the process, in such an effect as to slow down very minimally all the way through.
Doing the air thing and the tissue thing with the same shaped piece, that's the engineering challenge.
The "perfect" bullet is the one that shuts the CNS or the heart down. Instead of debating calibres, we need to have people like Ron doing tests on the different bullets "makes" in the same calibre. That should put the cat amongst the pigeons.
Yeah it’s always been and always will be the location of impact first, the projectile choice second, and cartridge a distant third. Of course shot placement is 100% up to the Hunter, the animal, and the conditions with almost no regard for the bullet or the cartridge except for the effective range constraints of your chosen combination. So naturally it makes the most sense to focus mostly on the bullet choice with a small bit of emphasis on the cartridge and only insofar as the cartridge choice affects your effective range and ability to be consistent. And yet there are endless cartridge wars while very few spend time talking about the bullet. I’d take a .260 Remington with my choice of bullet on an elk hunt over a 300 win mag with a subpar bullet every day of the week. I’ll shoot the 6.5 better from any position, I get more rounds in the magazine, and I’ll probably get a cleaner kill with the best bullet in the 6.5 than with a bad bullet in the 300 win mag. But hey, I read on UA-cam that my .30-06 is underpowered for elk, so what do I know.
I wonder if this product related to Cutting Edge bullets. Neat product! Thank you as always for great content, that's in-depth enough to scratch the itch of "nerds" and general enough for the large audiences to enjoy.
Cavitation in the wound channel is what you're looking for, that expansion of tissue to the point of rupturing and shredding by taking it past it ability to return to normal state...
Hammers ARE the direction Ron.
Thanks for spotlighting the best monolithic bullets known to game.
Right on
Thanks for the insight of bullets that has transitioned from lead to copper and it’s terminal affects, building the confidence of an component unused by many . Lead components has already been transitioned out in many areas due to ecology issues.
Would really love to get my hands on some Hammer bullets, I really think they would be perfect for a lot of the small deer species we have in the UK.
More great stuff.
Good stuff Ron. I'd like to see the performance of this bullet in gelatin.
There’s a feller that has some videos of shooting these at ballistic gel, just search hammer bullets and they should pop up. Good performance 👍🏼
@@alaskanadventure3275 Thank you sir. I'll follow up.
@@alaskanadventure3275 Simple-minded Fella on UA-cam
Great interview. I am working my way through the article he referenced, it's a pretty good read. I have found some of the theoretical things being discussed to be true the hard way.
So hammer starts as a boat tail hollow point, expands petals like a mechanical broadhead on impact, and then becomes a wadcutter to rip a full- bore hole.
Hello Ron, I just picked up a 1959 winchester model 94 in .32 win special, and now being the so far never ending such for ammo. Would love to learn about the cartridge and some of the other .32 calibers out there
Lucky you. A great rifle and a good brush gun.
Hi Ron, from New Zealand
Great Interview
I've had exceptional results with hammer bullets. I use the 101gr in 243 win and I've shot about 50 red deer with them now.
Only observation I have is that they are extremely destructive if you hit bone.
I had one hind that had the off side shoulder completely separate from the rest of the carcus.
Hand granade analogy was very accurate on that occasion.
Very impressed with them and would no hesitate to recommend them.
Cutting edges' seal-tite is similar but their radiused and redundant bands might make them more consistent when mishandled.
I love my cutting edge bullets, but they're pricy, and are exclusively fragmentating type.
I hear what he's saying about presenting a sharp edged blunt end end to wound better regardless of size.
But I think petals are vital to the new wounding concept the 8.6 blackout, since it's cutting in a radial manner with extremely high twist, imparting both shock and cutting broadly with a lot of surface per depth.... trying to find bullet designs that work with that concept.
I hear you about the cost of CEB. Damn! And the very reason I too am investigating Hammer Hunter
Elmer Keith and wadcutters come to mind.
From their website:
All of the Hammer Bullets that are designed for hunting are impact tested down to 1800 fps impact velocity for proper deformation. We have not been able to impact a Hammer Bullet at too high of an impact velocity. They will retain the same weight at low and high velocity impacts.
This is very intresting!
Good info...
Awesome bullets!
I had some Cutting Edge and they world do the same thing. But when the petals came off it was like a solid. Super accurate but went straight through with not a very big wound channel and no expansion. This seems like the same. Nowhere near the wound channel like a Barnes.
I can tell you from 5 deer that all have been bang flop, even on a couple bad shots. Those wound channel blows everything away. I have run into our there.
@@jamesmuhlbeier9032 I have shot many bullets and taken over 70 species and I have never seen any wound channel close to a Barnes! Big game from a Cape Buffalo to a Dik Dik! If it is doing like the Gentleman says, it is doing exactly like the Cutting Edge. Looks like a copy to me. It will be like shooting a solid with no expansion. I’m glad you are having luck with them but I don’t need a 30 cal solid!
Those drive bands are like pistol rings!, Very impressive engineering,!
Ron edits this discussion a bit here, but he's got the full thing published to his podcast for anyone who wants to hear the rest of it.
I'd like to see a video of badlands precision bulldozer vs hammer bullets with terminal performance and bcs and accuracy and all that jazz. The 195 gr 30 cal bulldozer has really caught my attention but I've also been looking at hammer bullets as well.
Very interesting.
I don't know if you remember me but I always e talk the 257 Roberts up as far as I'm concerned the very best deer rifle cartridge the 257 even with a fast twist mine was ordered with a 2 in 8 twist and still some heavy bullets didn't do well the worst grouping was the speer 120 grand slam but the 120 hollow points shot pretty good and I tried many powders and loads for both bullets the nosler 115 gr partition was the best premium controlled expansion it was a three quarter in. 5 shot all day the ballistic tip was a 5 shot half inches
They look pretty good, but holy cow the price tag for them!😵
Great Video.
Just had my 30/30 T/C Contender Carbine out to the range. Chambered in the over length 30/30 chamber that S&W reamed long. 124g Hammer Hunters using 35g RE7 went 2869 FPS!!!!
Artillery rounds have brass drive bands. Kinda new in rifle bullets
Cool interview! I got some hammers in the mail but haven't tried any yet.
This sounded like a good idea. Obviously, hand loaders are able to use these but are these available in commercial loads?
I follow the same line of thinking with terminal ballistics. Never did follow the "goes in and blows up like a hand grenade" theory. I am concerned about deflection as the petals break off (or fail to break off) at different times upon impact on an actual animal though. We had a very similar product that unfortunately fell through here in Australia called Australian Copper Projectiles/Australian Custom Projectiles. I think their popularity had quite a bit to do with their downfall due to inability to keep up with orders. They were a good product if you could get them.
The question is obviously if the hammer effect allows good penetration. Surely the Hammer bullet with deliver its energy in a very destructive manner, but will it deliver that energy deep enough and not waste it all on bones. Very, very interesting. We are slowing moving toward a 'sabot' principle which is used in anti-armor ammunition where a hardened core exits out of an ogive to pursue the flight into the hard metal. Can we think of a bullet that would have its core keep the major part of the bullet energy and surge forward? We are coming to that.
I have yet to have a non pass though. In fact I have only found 1 petal. Those tend to pass through too.
Been reloading bonded and banded rounds for my .270 and .243 for a few years now...
Interesting. After the petals come off the bullet it basically becomes a wad cutter. I learned in years of construction in order to prevent a piece of wood from splitting I could blunt the end of a nail and when driven in it punches a whole rather than split the grain.
Hey Ron, take a comparable bullet design by outside appearance MINUS the bands of the hammer of course.
And of same weight and caliber and gun used.
Reload using your best load parameters for an existing load of yours, and see if the accuracy improves regardless of how minute it might be.
Even if you have to vary the load (grains of powder) slightly to achieve it. As we all know, no two bullets will perform exactly the same.
Considering ALL other parameters are absolutely identical.
Im simply curious if the accuracy gained is significant enough to change from ballistic tips or jacketed designed projectiles.
Im from the keep it simple school.
One bullet for everything. With one exception, that being varmint hunting. I try for frangible to decrease down range collateral behind small targets .
Incog, considering the accuracy challenges of the original, full diameter shank on X bullets compared to the easy accuracy one gets with the newer TSX and TTSX bullets, I think that question has been answered. It's a matter of bore diameter consistency and the projectile's ability to obturate to fit that bore. Depending on rifle/barrel, I've had original X shoot 1/2 MOA and 2 MOA. I rarely see TSX and other banded coppers shoot poorly. I've used just the 92-gr. .257 Hammer Hunters in one rifle, but got sub MOA easily.
This sounds a lot like the Lehigh Defense Controlled Chaos bullets. If so yea they do work. I've taken game with 243 and 300 blackout with them
Another one , do the grooves have to be seated into the case neck or can they be outside of it to aquire proper distance from the lands ? Barnes also .
I shot benchrest for several years in the early 90s, never seen a bullet with a cannelure do anything positive to my groups, I know with solid copper they have to put those “drive bands lol” in so the pressure doesn’t go up too high so I’ve never even bothered to try any. I always assumed since California made lead core hunting projectiles illegal, copper projos were made by sheer necessity, a few years later all the marketing was just BS. I’m old and stubborn but might try some solid coppers some day.
I've used them 2 years, GREAT and forgiving accurate, great wound channels, great blood trails
Very interesting. I've heard of Hammer bullets and had no idea what they were. I assumed the were similar to Berger. I'm curious if anybody who uses them goes down in weight to increase velocity. Something like in .30 cal dropping from 180gr to 150gr or less, or in .270 from 130gr. to 110gr. If so how'd it work on game? Or do you stick with the "normal" bullet weight and SD?
I shoot the 152HH in a 300 WSM mainly due to the 1/11 twist in my Tikka but get 3400+ fps without pressure and excellent accuracy. The engraving pressure is a bit less than published loads for equal weight bullets so there is the possibility to push velocity a bit faster with diligent attention to pressure signs when using Hammer bullets. I can't speak to similarities with Berger bullets as I don't believe Berger makes "all copper" or mono bullets...
They have worked very well on elk and deer for me and Hammer Bullets knows about customer service too. Did I mention they are very accurate ;)
@@fortfly thank you, that is very useful information. I've mostly used partitions at heavy for caliber weights. Might have to look into these hammers. Thanks again.
@@jk-kr8jt I shoot almost exclusively the.270. since the mid seventies.
I’ve tried most grains offered in bullets and always came back to 130gr because of accuracy.
Every caliber made, IMO has a particular grain that will consistently outperform the others.
Stick to the 130gr in your .270 and my favorite powder for it is IMR 4350. Im a .500 to .625 inch 5 round groups at 100.
For a sporter bbl thats not bad. and was good enough for 800yds at prairie dogs.
Shooting off a bench and sand bagged of course.
Never could connect first shot because of shimmering mirage on the plains, but with a spotter with a 60x spotting scope, wearing ear plugs and ear muffs (keeps him from blinking from muzzle blast) he’d call out my bullet strike. Then I’d add my Kentucky windage and always hit the second shot.
At that distance the “dope” was good until the wind changed etc..
The rifle a 1976 Sako Finnbear .270, is topped with a Leupold 6.5x20 50mm Vari-X III AO.
Potent medicine.
Good luck!!
@@incognito5986 thanks for the info. I agree the 130 is the sweet spot in the 270. Wonder if the new super bullets change some of that.
That's a fine shooting Sako you've got. Hang on to it.
I shot like for weight. 116 in a 270 wsm results are devastating.
what powder were you using on the 25-06 hammer bullets also what powder load and group size with that set up building a 25-06 long range rifle Hammr recomended a 90 gr bullet anyhelp would be apperciated
I’ve never seen the hammer bullets. I’ve used the Barnes bullet and like them.
Good of you to get that nice Rich Evans on.
A good video. The design is not much different from a Barnes TTSX ( or the old TSX ). They are my go to projectile and I use them in my 6mm Rem, 257 Roberts and my 6.5 x 55 Swede. 100 % instant kill rate.
Same from my .300 RUM
Yes and no. They look similar in construction, but Barnes try to imitate a traditional jacketed bullet where these essentiality turn into wad cutters
Great info . Can you tell me what case size can be resized into a 6.5x55 Sweedish mauser brass ? Real hard to find !
Wow great talk. I would love to try the Hammer bullet