Hammer Shout Out to Weatherby

[gator378]

Last week after Independence Day Brian and I made a mad dash south to Sheridan WY to spend the day on Wed with the folks at Weatherby. I must say it was well worth the 9hr drive each way, very glad we made the trip. For those of you who do not know, we have been working with Weatherby for the last couple of years to iron out what Hammer Bullets to run in Weatherby ammunition. As of a few months ago the official launch of Weatherby Hammer Ammo has happened. A little back story. In 2019 Brian and I headed to Shot Show with the intention of getting Hammer Bullets into a line of ammunition. Long story short we left after the show ended a bit disheartened. Seemed like every ammunition manufacture was on the race to the bottom. Quality was secondary to price. If we couldn't offer a bullet that was less expensive than the rest there seemed to be little interest. We wanted to find a company that wants to make the best ammunition possible. We felt like if there was going to be a commercial line of ammunition with Hammers, we would have to produce it our selves. Last thing we wanted was to be involved with an ammunition manufacture that only cares about being the cheapest in order to gain market share. This would undoubtedly lead to people using sub quality ammunition and thinking that Hammer Bullets don't really shoot that well. Last thing we wanted was a business relationship where we would have to say it's not the Hammers fault, the ammo stinks. Fast track to where we are today. Getting to tour the Weatherby production facility was fantastic. Their attention to detail was well beyond what we anticipated. Not just in the ammunition manufacturing, but the entire facility from stock painting to action manufacturing and final product out the door. They have made a huge move to manufacture everything in house since they made their move from California to Wyoming. A great move on their part. Streamlines their business and ensures that they are getting the quality that they demand. Much better in house than hoping that the guy down the road will care as much as they do when farming out production. Then when it comes to the ammunition side. Frankly I was taken aback by the amount of continuous testing that they do. Not just load development using best of equipment, but the continuous testing of each lot of ammo during the production run of a lot of ammo. Making sure that the pressures and accuracy are holding up to expectation and adjusting if needed. The meticulous data collection on powder, primer, brass and bullets for years. They are after consistency and they control as much as possible. It was very refreshing to hear from the ballistician crew that the most consistent bullet day in and day out that they have worked with is the Hammers. That the Hammer Bullets have a higher probability of being highly accurate in every rifle they put it in, really just felt good to hear. Our worlds all revolve around making ammunition for a rifle. Their world revolves around making ammunition for all of their rifles.

We did a podcast with Adam Weatherby and Luke Thorkildsen. It was fun, even though I get nervous for that kind of stuff. Luke is the head of marketing at Weatherby. Both he and Adam were great guys. Both have used Hammers to take game. In fact Adam was fresh back from a trip to South Africa where he use Hammers to take a couple animals. It was great to do the podcast with guys that have used Hammers in the field along with the feedback that they received from a bunch of other Weatherby associates that used Hammers last year on game. These guys are into hunting and understand terminal performance, why it happens, and seeing great results in the field with Hammers.

After lunch we got to go and geek out with John Baumgartner the head ballistician for a bit before a meeting with the sales team, customer service and some of the various engineers and such. There was like 20 or 30 people in the meeting room! That was more nervy than the podcast! Haha! It tuned out to be a great meeting and was great to get to meet the team and talk about the future with Weatherby and Hammer. Thinking we may push Roy's dream of speed to levels he couldn't go in his day due to limitations of bullets. We'll leave it at that for now...

I want to throw in here, that any of you that are looking at getting high quality production rifles, don't look past the Weatherby rifles. Things are looking very good there. They are aggressively running that race to the top and not riding on past reputation or laurels. The two rifles that Brian and I have got to play with have both shot very well, and in a very light weight platform to boot.

@FEENIX you might want to contact the folks at Weatherby and make sure they know their options.

Which Hammer bullets do they use for the 300 Weatherby. I sure love the 300. On my second one. wore the first one totally out. Sure enjoyed it. Love to shoot it

 

[Willys]

Im guessing the brass is their "safety valve" so reloaders don't over stress their weatherbee rifles ?

 

[WYO300RUM]

Congrats Steve and Brian ! Great job . Great combo.

 

[cjl2010]

??? When was your red Karen derriere ever mentioned ?

 

[nealm66]

Is there a difference between the bullets made for weatherby and the ones offered on your site? Like the 195/196 ? Getting pretty close to load work up with a 30-378. Also curious if they put drop information on the box? I've found it very close in the past. Also congratulations!! I feel Weatherby is lucky to have your offerings and it will probably grow after a few seasons of success.

 

[Fedwell]

Which Hammer bullets do they use for the 300 Weatherby. I sure love the 300. On my second one. wore the first one totally out. Sure enjoyed it. Love to shoot it

I have tried 178 AH and 124 HH am working on Development with the 180HH Gotta wait for the weather to Moderate. 100degree Heat aint no time for Old guys to be at the Range

 

[PatriotHenry]

Last week after Independence Day Brian and I made a mad dash south to Sheridan WY to spend the day on Wed with the folks at Weatherby. I must say it was well worth the 9hr drive each way, very glad we made the trip. For those of you who do not know, we have been working with Weatherby for the last couple of years to iron out what Hammer Bullets to run in Weatherby ammunition. As of a few months ago the official launch of Weatherby Hammer Ammo has happened. A little back story. In 2019 Brian and I headed to Shot Show with the intention of getting Hammer Bullets into a line of ammunition. Long story short we left after the show ended a bit disheartened. Seemed like every ammunition manufacture was on the race to the bottom. Quality was secondary to price. If we couldn't offer a bullet that was less expensive than the rest there seemed to be little interest. We wanted to find a company that wants to make the best ammunition possible. We felt like if there was going to be a commercial line of ammunition with Hammers, we would have to produce it our selves. Last thing we wanted was to be involved with an ammunition manufacture that only cares about being the cheapest in order to gain market share. This would undoubtedly lead to people using sub quality ammunition and thinking that Hammer Bullets don't really shoot that well. Last thing we wanted was a business relationship where we would have to say it's not the Hammers fault, the ammo stinks. Fast track to where we are today. Getting to tour the Weatherby production facility was fantastic. Their attention to detail was well beyond what we anticipated. Not just in the ammunition manufacturing, but the entire facility from stock painting to action manufacturing and final product out the door. They have made a huge move to manufacture everything in house since they made their move from California to Wyoming. A great move on their part. Streamlines their business and ensures that they are getting the quality that they demand. Much better in house than hoping that the guy down the road will care as much as they do when farming out production. Then when it comes to the ammunition side. Frankly I was taken aback by the amount of continuous testing that they do. Not just load development using best of equipment, but the continuous testing of each lot of ammo during the production run of a lot of ammo. Making sure that the pressures and accuracy are holding up to expectation and adjusting if needed. The meticulous data collection on powder, primer, brass and bullets for years. They are after consistency and they control as much as possible. It was very refreshing to hear from the ballistician crew that the most consistent bullet day in and day out that they have worked with is the Hammers. That the Hammer Bullets have a higher probability of being highly accurate in every rifle they put it in, really just felt good to hear. Our worlds all revolve around making ammunition for a rifle. Their world revolves around making ammunition for all of their rifles.

We did a podcast with Adam Weatherby and Luke Thorkildsen. It was fun, even though I get nervous for that kind of stuff. Luke is the head of marketing at Weatherby. Both he and Adam were great guys. Both have used Hammers to take game. In fact Adam was fresh back from a trip to South Africa where he use Hammers to take a couple animals. It was great to do the podcast with guys that have used Hammers in the field along with the feedback that they received from a bunch of other Weatherby associates that used Hammers last year on game. These guys are into hunting and understand terminal performance, why it happens, and seeing great results in the field with Hammers.

After lunch we got to go and geek out with John Baumgartner the head ballistician for a bit before a meeting with the sales team, customer service and some of the various engineers and such. There was like 20 or 30 people in the meeting room! That was more nervy than the podcast! Haha! It tuned out to be a great meeting and was great to get to meet the team and talk about the future with Weatherby and Hammer. Thinking we may push Roy's dream of speed to levels he couldn't go in his day due to limitations of bullets. We'll leave it at that for now...

I want to throw in here, that any of you that are looking at getting high quality production rifles, don't look past the Weatherby rifles. Things are looking very good there. They are aggressively running that race to the top and not riding on past reputation or laurels. The two rifles that Brian and I have got to play with have both shot very well, and in a very light weight platform to boot.

@FEENIX you might want to contact the folks at Weatherby and make sure they know their options.

A well deserved Congratulations to you guys!

 

[tooth doc]

It will be interesting to see if they go with the standard twist barrel and a light for caliber bullet at warp speed or a faster twist to shoot the heavier monos and get more range out of it. I run a 143 HH out of a 7 RUM a bit over 3,600 fps but it's a 700 yard gun, after that the speed runs out.
Congratulations on your new partnership !

shot a nice zebra stallion at 1046 with a 143 hh out of my 28 nosler at 3550. he died, real quick. beautifully expanded, through the vitals, under the offside skin.

 

[Rich Coyle]

Wow. Read that whole thing thinking I might finally give hammer a try (I wasn't set up for reloading at the last house) and then I saw your dig at the end. If Weatherby still loads Barnes, I'll stick with them.

Good man. You don't want to do anything that might help you.

 

[Mike Matteson]

It will be interesting to see what comes about it. I am a hand loader, and that's the way I will stay. Started at age 14 an now 74. I think that's great that the bullet is going to be put out in tailor made ammo. I wish them the best.

 

[nealm66]

shot a nice zebra stallion at 1046 with a 143 hh out of my 28 nosler at 3550. he died, real quick. beautifully expanded, through the vitals, under the offside skin.

That's good to hear. How did you come up with your ballistic data? Sorry if this is a stupid question

 

[tooth doc]

That's good to hear. How did you come up with your ballistic data? Sorry if this is a stupid question

chrono for speed. benchmark barrel friend did my data. it was spot on when check at the area of hunting. i had 3 sets for differing elevations. shot blesbok at 535, blue wildabeast at 780 and the mentioned zebra.

 

[nealm66]

That's excellent. They must've just went with the g7? I really need to spend the time and get my kestrel figured out

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I sure hope this works out but my doubt that it will stems from Weatherby screwing up most things. They grabbed hold of the stupid 6.5 wave of chamberings and cant seem to let go. I was a longtime Weatherby guy but i havent been able to buy ammo for my 340 in 3 years. I went to their custom shop to do a couple rifles and was told they dont chamber the 270wby in most of their rifles now??? They said they cant get Carbon barrrels in the .277 cal. I hope they can turn their company around but when they partner with groups like Meateater (owned by the Chernin group-Anti gun company) I dont have much hope for them.

I hope this bullet deal helps them but if they screw this up it wont surprise me.

We have never dealt with Weatherby prior to the last couple of years. So I can only comment on what I see now. This is a company that is aggressively going after quality. It is very obvious that they do the same when it comes to their staff. We didn't meet all 140 of them, but I can say that they are a bright, ambitious group of people. From the building to the people from the process to the product they are top drawer.