What to build for blacktails? Hammer bullets, low recoil, 700 yard effective range

If be far more concerned about impact velocity of the projectile at 700…. than the "energy".

choprzrul said:

6mm Remington with a 26" barrel, 8.5lbs ready to hunt, using temp stable powder for those 105 degree days during CA deer season.

101gr HH using H4350 to 3200fps. At 700 yards 1860fps and 775 ft lbs of energy. 10.6 lbs of recoil

Using my Ruger #1 in 25-06 as an example...but you wouldn't want to lug that heavy pig up and down mountains...

90 AH using RL16 it shoots 3611fps. At 700 yards 1875 fps and 702 ft lbs of energy. In an 8.5 lb rifle, you would have 11.3 lbs of recoil.

Just some examples, while not meeting your 2000 fps parameter, they come close and stay within the recoil constraints. The Hammers are supposed to function just fine down to 1800 fps, so the above 2 examples have a little bit of margin left at 700 yards.

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I think the 6mm rem load is pretty close to what I'd be looking at. Maybe a 6cm and shoot that same hammer bullet. Might get me close.

22creedmoor with 70ish gr hammer might do it as well.

coop2564 said:

Your recoil limit is a problem, limits you to 243w or 243 AI, 6 creed etc. 25-06 will be well over that. Most the rifles mentioned are well over 12lbs of recoil.

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Yeah I can probably fudge a little on the recoil energy aspect. But not a whole lot more; it's critical to spots my shots or at least keep the animal in my sight picture for this terrain. I'm thinking heavy for caliber 224 or .243 might get me the closest. 700 yards is in reality farther than I will shoot with this setup and the conditions would need to be ideal for a 600 yard shot with a mono.

Damage Inc. said:

If be far more concerned about impact velocity of the projectile at 700…. than the "energy".

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Yep. I've killed with hammers down to 2000ish fps impact and it was still excellent terminal performance. But that was my 30-06 with a 151 absolute and wayyy more recoil that I'd like.

How about a 6.5×47mm Lapua?

Building off long action?

Had a 6.5x284 that was shooting 124 Hammers at 3090 fps.

Got up to 3240 but best accuracy was at 3090. I see that brass in my local shops.

Could do long or short action. Looks like even a 110hammer hunter from a 6.5 creedmoor could get me to 600 yards. Will have to play around with some options there, 6.5cm would be easy.

Might have to stick with that for now and later rebarrel to either 6cm with 101HH or 22cm with 70ish HH…still think that a laser fast 22 or 6mm might end up being the ticket in the long run.

I'd do a 6CM or 6.5CM

willfrye027 said:

Yeah I can probably fudge a little on the recoil energy aspect. But not a whole lot more; it's critical to spots my shots or at least keep the animal in my sight picture for this terrain. I'm thinking heavy for caliber 224 or .243 might get me the closest. 700 yards is in reality farther than I will shoot with this setup and the conditions would need to be ideal for a 600 yard shot with a mono.

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243 will get you there, I use mine @ 621yds on a 200lb sow in a hay field. She ran 30yds and flipped. We do a lot of hog eradication I almost always use my 243. I shoot 90gr Accubonds. Will the bullet open at 600+ no. But it will likely tumble which is very deadly, in this sows case the bullet plastic tip was missing and the tip slightly deformed. Bullet was on off shoulder in hide sideways. The 6.5 CM will get you to 650 maybe close to 700yds, with just barely over 12lbs. With muzzle brakes or cans you would be under.

coop2564 said:

243 will get you there, I use mine @ 621yds on a 200lb sow in a hay field. She ran 30yds and flipped. We do a lot of hog eradication I almost always use my 243. I shoot 90gr Accubonds. Will the bullet open at 600+ no. But it will likely tumble which is very deadly, in this sows case the bullet plastic tip was missing and the tip slightly deformed. Bullet was on off shoulder in hide sideways. The 6.5 CM will get you to 650 maybe close to 700yds, with just barely over 12lbs. With muzzle brakes or cans you would be under.

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Problem for me is the non lead requirement. I've got a 25 creedmoor with a heavier barrel that I shoot long distance with. It's got the energy to kill well beyond 800 yards depending on the elevation. The monos however really suffer in the BC and retained velocity department. Gotta drive them pretty fast to make it way out there.

I'm working out a deal for another tikka in 6.5creedmoor that will be kept light and handy. Will try to work up a hammer load to do what I need, and if it won't, might try something like 6cm or 22cm down the road. In the meantime can never have too many tikkas!

In the scheme of things I can usually stalk in from 700 to 600, 600 to 500. It's always a risk that the animal will move into the brush, bed down, etc during that time but shooting monos the risk of my wind call being slightly off is probably higher.

Plenty of trade offs in the shooting/long distance hunting world and definitely fun to work through them and come up with a good solution

willfrye027 said:

Problem for me is the non lead requirement. I've got a 25 creedmoor with a heavier barrel that I shoot long distance with. It's got the energy to kill well beyond 800 yards depending on the elevation. The monos however really suffer in the BC and retained velocity department. Gotta drive them pretty fast to make it way out there.

I'm working out a deal for another tikka in 6.5creedmoor that will be kept light and handy. Will try to work up a hammer load to do what I need, and if it won't, might try something like 6cm or 22cm down the road. In the meantime can never have too many tikkas!...

Plenty of trade offs in the shooting/long distance hunting world and definitely fun to work through them and come up with a good solution

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What did you end up going with?

Wilderness Blacktail said:

What did you end up going with?

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Last few have been 90gr absolute hammer from 25 creedmoor going 3600ish.

Have a new 6cm and a fresh 22 creed barrel coming, might see if I can get a better long distance load in one of them.

What did you not like about that combo?

Or is it the heavy barreled gun you wanna move past?

Wilderness Blacktail said:

What did you not like about that combo?

Or is it the heavy barreled gun you wanna move past?

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It's a 10lb rifle, and that particular load runs out of gas in the 550-600 yard realm. It's not a fun gun to pack for miles which is how most of my CA hunts end up. Still haven't found the ideal combo for our tiny little blacktails, but going to try some DRT terminal shock bullets in 22 creedmoor this winter and see what I can work up.