Hammer failures

[Wedgy]

Keep in mind the Hammer bullet is not designed to expand and mushroom like a normal lead bullet but instead the front breaks off and petals radiate outwards doing some damage while the remaining shank(now with a flat nose like a wad cutter) penetrates thru creating a large wound channel and is designed to exit giving two holes to bleed out of. Weight retention is ~70% I think ??

 

[JMW67]

I've got a failure to report:

My .30 cal 124gn Hammer Hunter bullets won't make coffee in the morning.

You may need to try the absolute hammers they make coffee and cook eggs

 

[lhedrick1]

Keep in mind the Hammer bullet is not designed to expand and mushroom like a normal lead bullet but instead the front breaks off and petals radiate outwards doing some damage while the remaining shank(now with a flat nose like a wad cutter) penetrates thru creating a large wound channel and is designed to exit giving two holes to bleed out of. Weight retention is ~70% I think ??

I've recovered quite a few in the dirt behind our targets and just by looking at them would say minimum 60% retention. These are either 284 or 6.5.

 

[westcoasthunter]

I have 270 wsm and 126HH going 3450fps . I shot a 6x6 bull a few years back. The shot looked clear in the scope at the time but was kinda a odd place now that I think about it. Anyways 450y neck shot dropped like lightning. I was surprised when cutting the neck off I found the bullet . The damage was unreal In the neck. At first I was like that the hell happened . So talked to Steve and we both think I hit a branch before the bullet got to the elk and tumbled into the neck. The next day a friend used my rifle and killed a bull at 430 same bullet. Thru both shoulder exited and had about 2" hole they the lungs went 10 yards . So not the bullets fault at all in my eyes.. and still using hammer and will be loading them in more guns also..

 

[doubledoc]

From the description, I suspect you were cutting the posterior pleura and barely penetrated into the lung, causing only slow pulmonary bleeding, something that is not lethal unless blood accumulates and compresses the lung, or causes a tension pneumothorax (rare with GSWs). I've seen similar wounds in the ER do well by simply draining the hemothorax with the occasional transfusion required. W.Capps, MD

 

[Rich Coyle]

Thanks, doubledoc.

 

[Alibiiv]

Very short Indeed, I've done my homework on the Hammers and as far as I can tell you from I have never heard not one negative report on a Hammer of any sort, I've said it before , The Hammers are a total game changer

Have you ever shot anything with a Hammer bullet? I'm not knocking or questioning you at all; not with a photo on your profile page. Ive been using Barnes bullet with incredible results, was thinking of using Hammer bullets, just a bit pricey for me. This could be one isolated incident, or.....something else (?). There are a number of variables to be put into the equation when talking about bullet performance. Was the animal wearing a Kevlar suit!!???

 

[ButterBean]

Have you ever shot anything with a Hammer bullet? I'm not knocking or questioning you at all; not with a photo on your profile page. Ive been using Barnes bullet with incredible results, was thinking of using them, just a bit pricey for me. This could be one isolated incident, or.....something else (?). There are a number of variables to be put into the equation when talking about bullet performance. Was the animal wearing a Kevlar suit!!???

I sure have, 2ea coyotes with the 124HH in 300WSM, 1ea 1500 pound Bull and 2ea hogs with the same rig, Bull and the hogs were identical, pass thru and never took a step ( Shoulders ), the coyotes were a different story Deer season is a week away, I've got two loads for Em, 90g AH in 25 cal and the 67g Shock Hammer in 25 Cal as well, at the velocity they are at it should be really interesting, I was a Barnes enthusiast myself and they are a fine bullet, the Hammers are a game changer, FWIW I push everything very hard and the Hammers just eat it up

 

[Treeslug]

We had one odd experience this year that we can't quite figure out. Dad fired 2 shots at his buck appx. 400 yards slight quartering to and maybe a slight quartering wind, 10 - 20mph. He was fairly confident the first shot was a miss as he slipped off the rock and the buck just stood there. But the 2nd shot was the text book hunch up, jump and take off running. He either dropped or bedded down. We kick the buck up there about 2 hours later and he may have had a little gimp but otherwise he's doing the muley trot pretty gracefully and clearly isn't hurt too bad. Maybe 1/4 cup of blood present where he was bedded and very few tiny drops where he ran. He bedded down again within probably 300 yards and Dad was able to finish it.

Now......before I explain what appeared to happen on the inside....its fair to mention that Hammers are very very destructive and leave very large exit wounds. I think that's a statement anyone who's used them would agree with?

The initial hit entered the front of his chest in the brisket area just below where the neck meets the body. It then exited on the offside upper back behind the shoulder and below the backstraps.

Where these deer were, it was all that 4' tall scrub brush so we suspect a branch may have been clipped on the way to the animal. But how in the hell could this animal bed down for 2 hours and get up and run like no big deal with a quarter sized hole in his chest and a golf ball sized hole in his back? And manage to not bleed out?

I do not claim this to be bullet failure. That bullet did all the damage it could with poor shot placement. But still can't understand how that buck got up and ran like he did. And how the bullet got from point A to point B bulldozing its way through and never hitting vitals. Just a freak situation I guess.

146 gr Hammer Hunter out of a .280 AI.

"never hitting vitals" There is your answer. Many animals survive muscle damage and leave hunters scratching their heads. More common than most people realize. Having butchered many deer and listened to many stories of many hunts, I feel confident in saying that your dad's buck is lucky that you guys were so tenacious in searching him out and finishing what could have been a painful death by infection.

 

[Forcedoutage]

Never had a failure.

 

[Pdvdh]

'Never' a bad terminal performance is more than I expect or require. Rarely a bad experience is good enough. So far, looking very good on that performance scale.

The hit described on that deer is an area of the chest cavity that has proven to be marginal to completely deficient on broadside shots on deer with broadheads (archery), based on experiences of others I've bow hunted with. There's an area in there without lungs. The top of the lungs hang down a ways below the backbone.
Although broadside bullet hits there are generally successful, as bullet destruction is usually over a much larger area than a broadhead.
So... I think it's whatever the MD said...???

 

[vancewalker007]

We had one odd experience this year that we can't quite figure out. Dad fired 2 shots at his buck appx. 400 yards slight quartering to and maybe a slight quartering wind, 10 - 20mph. He was fairly confident the first shot was a miss as he slipped off the rock and the buck just stood there. But the 2nd shot was the text book hunch up, jump and take off running. He either dropped or bedded down. We kick the buck up there about 2 hours later and he may have had a little gimp but otherwise he's doing the muley trot pretty gracefully and clearly isn't hurt too bad. Maybe 1/4 cup of blood present where he was bedded and very few tiny drops where he ran. He bedded down again within probably 300 yards and Dad was able to finish it.

Now......before I explain what appeared to happen on the inside....its fair to mention that Hammers are very very destructive and leave very large exit wounds. I think that's a statement anyone who's used them would agree with?

The initial hit entered the front of his chest in the brisket area just below where the neck meets the body. It then exited on the offside upper back behind the shoulder and below the backstraps.

Where these deer were, it was all that 4' tall scrub brush so we suspect a branch may have been clipped on the way to the animal. But how in the hell could this animal bed down for 2 hours and get up and run like no big deal with a quarter sized hole in his chest and a golf ball sized hole in his back? And manage to not bleed out?

I do not claim this to be bullet failure. That bullet did all the damage it could with poor shot placement. But still can't understand how that buck got up and ran like he did. And how the bullet got from point A to point B bulldozing its way through and never hitting vitals. Just a freak situation I guess.

146 gr Hammer Hunter out of a .280 AI.

It sounds like that shot went into the no mans land as archery shooters call it. I've hit a Wyoming Antelope with an arrow in that area and it took a while to get close enough to hit it correctly. The advantage of a very tough bullet in this case is its disadvantage. It sounds like the bullet held together and went through in a lot of ways like an arrow would, missing the majority of the vitals and not sending much of a shockwave into the lungs. From experience this happens in Africa a lot to American hunters. We tend to shoot too high and too far back, And this placement with a tough bullet will make a hole through the hide and rib cage but miss the lungs. A critter can go a long way in this condition.

 

[MZmoose]

Stuff happens. Sounds like the bullet expanded and chewed on stuff like it's supposed to. It's our job to put the vitals in the bullets way. Definitely not a bullet failure. Glad you were able to follow up and recover it.

 

[bowhunter123456789]

From the description, I suspect you were cutting the posterior pleura and barely penetrated into the lung, causing only slow pulmonary bleeding, something that is not lethal unless blood accumulates and compresses the lung, or causes a tension pneumothorax (rare with GSWs). I've seen similar wounds in the ER do well by simply draining the hemothorax with the occasional transfusion required. W.Capps, MD

Yep, that's what I was thinking..........