Longrangish Hammer bullet shots

[ButterBean]

Love real world testing of products! So sick of ballistic gel tests on bullets. I don't hunt Ballistic gel. Awesome work, and you answered my question on their velocity threshold for expansion.

An archery hunter in Texas name Troy Fowler runs a ranch and refers to the wild pigs as his "test lab" for his archery setups. You should keep this going with other bullets....

 

[VLD Pilot]

I don't believe anyone has done this before so I decided to test it out since I have the ability to do so . I have access to shoot some wild pigs off of pivot fields. Problem is that it's super hard to range a black pig on flat ground at longer ranges. So we just decided to cut the pigs off and shoot two of them in the head with pistols and then stage them on a berm and shoot them in the shoulder at 800 yards with the 169 Gr Hammer Hunter out of a 7mm Sherman MAX. The 169 Gr Hammer Hunter is being pushed out of the muzzle at 3125 FPS. The bullet was traveling at approximately 1880 fps when it struck each pig. Their was one large boar and one sow. The boars shields were 1 1/2" thick on each side. The sow was not as big but still a very stout and thick animal.

The boar was shot first and the bullet entered into his shoulder, opened completely. 2 petals exited the offside shoulder which I found very impressive. The petals each made dime sized wound channels through the pig and the shank made about a half dollar or larger sized wound channel. The damage was considerable even at this range. The petals went through 3" of shield and the whole broadside body of the boar and exited. Impressive. The results were the exact same on each pig.

Exit holes for the two petals.



View attachment 299943

Wound channel of the petals:
View attachment 299944

Wound channel of the shank:
View attachment 299945

View of entire shoulder:
View attachment 299946

Shank and petals found:
View attachment 299947

Final verdict:

Although the BC is a complaint by many, I had no problems turning my dial a few extra clicks. The bullets performed flawlessly on each pig with both the petals and the shanks making large wound channels that would impress most if not all. These are legitimate bullets out to 800 yards in my rifle. I would have no issue at all shooting these bullets at an elk at that distance.

BC means nothing if you don't mind dialing a bit more and you know the impact velocity. Excellent test and result of those Hammer bullets. You may be getting a call from Hammer to be put in their Rep list.

 

[ButterBean]

BC means nothing if you don't mind dialing a bit more and you know the impact velocity. Excellent test and result if those Hammer bullets. You may be getting a call from Hammer to be out in their Rep list.

I agree 100% Your dialing anyway and holding for wind, I'll quote a friend of mine who said " Folks sacrifice terminal ballistics for a high BC that they most likely will never need"

 

[VLD Pilot]

I agree 100% Your dialing anyway and holding for wind, I'll quote a friend of mine who said " Folks sacrifice terminal ballistics for a high BC that they most likely will never need"

Exactly. In most cases, BC is a LR or ELR target shooters friend. Not so much for hunters. It's important but not nearly as much for comp shooters shooting at LR

 

[ButterBean]

Exactly. In most cases, BC is a LR or ELR target shooters friend. Not so much for hunters. It's important but not nearly as much for comp shooters shooting at LR

Absolutly

 

[FEENIX]

Folks sacrifice terminal ballistics for a high BC that they most likely will never need"

Brother, some folks do not need to sacrifice either one. That's the beauty of reloading and having choices.

 

[ButterBean]

Brother, some folks do not need to sacrifice either one. That's the beauty of reloading and having choices.

I agree whole heartedly and for the distances you shoot I understand exactly where you are coming from and I love your style Brother

 

[VLD Pilot]

Brother, some folks do not need to sacrifice either one. That's the beauty of reloading and having choices.

Well that's correct. While the Hammers might not offer the highest BC numbers, they still offer higher numbers than most other hunting bullets and accuracy trump's BC regardless. Sounds like they have the accuracy issue sealed up. I'll be ordering some.

 

[FEENIX]

Well that's correct. While the Hammers might not offer the highest BC numbers, they still offer higher numbers than most other hunting bullets and accuracy trump's BC regardless. Sounds like they have the accuracy issue sealed up. I'll be ordering some.

The end-user's goal is always to have "all" the advantages at his disposal regardless of bullet choice. If not, the end-user must find the best compromise for their intended purpose. Personal choice, purpose, preference will always be a factor in bullet choice.

 

[VLD Pilot]

The end-user's goal is always to have "all" the advantages at his disposal regardless of bullet choice. If not, the end-user must find the best compromise for their intended purpose. Personal choice, purpose, preference will always be a factor in bullet choice.

Recently (last 5 years) I have been distancing myself from the highest BC bullets in favor of the most accurate. Most times, the highest BC fodder doesn't turn out the most accurate for me. I have a 500 yard gun range and while most low drags do very well at 500, so do most of my hunting bullets and also offer plenty of what's needed to anchor any animal. Once I get beyond around 600 yards, I start getting into my High BC bullets to find what I need. The hammers will prove to cover both scenarios for sure.

 

[FEENIX]

Recently (last 5 years) I have been distancing myself from the highest BC bullets in favor of the most accurate. Most times, the highest BC fodder doesn't turn out the most accurate for me. I have a 500 yard gun range and while most low drags do very well at 500, so do most of my hunting bullets and also offer plenty of what's needed to anchor any animal. Once I get beyond around 600 yards, I start getting into my High BC bullets to find what I need. The hammers will prove to cover both scenarios for sure.

That's fine as that is your personal choice; that's why I noted it as such.

The end-user's goal is always to have "all" the advantages at his disposal regardless of bullet choice. If not, the end-user must find the best compromise for their intended purpose. Personal choice, purpose, preference will always be a factor in bullet choice.

I think @lancetkenyon put it best, esp. the last paragraph.

I have a great 121 Hammer Hunter load for my 25SST at 3414fps.
I couldn't get the 110 Super Bulldozer to shoot acceptably in it. Probably would have been fine for shots 500 and in though.
I have not tried the Cayuga.

But at $1+/ea, they are nearly 2/3x the cost of Berger or Blackjack. When you shoot a lot, that adds up quickly. For a hunting rifle, no big deal. But for a double duty steel/hunter, that can be a deciding factor.

Plus, BCs are somewhat/substantially lower.
131 BJ Ace G7 .333
135 LR Hyb G7 .334
133 Elite G7 .315 (advertized)
115 VLD G7 .247
121 HH G7 .238
128 HH G7 .244
117 Cayuga G7 .282
110 SB G7 .292

Now, a .257 Wby build does not sound like a dual purpose build.

But there are people who do not like mono bullets.

For me? Monos work great for moderate distance shots on game. But stretching it out, I want a high BC cup/core bullet. For wind as much as impact velocity.

I have a few monos (Cayugas, Badlands, Barnes, Nosler, Hornady, and GSC) but have not had the time to do so.

I always load the high BC bullet I am going to use at ranges beyond 600Y.

 

[marioq]

Bean,


That is so cool. Very good and relevant point.

 

[VLD Pilot]

That's fine as that is your personal choice; that's why I noted it as such.

I think @lancetkenyon put it best, esp. the last paragraph.

I have a few monos (Cayugas, Badlands, Barnes, Nosler, Hornady, and GSC) but have not had the time to do so.

I always load the high BC bullet I am going to use at ranges beyond 600Y.

That's why I stated out to 500 yards because even the Nosler Partition works great performance wise and accuracy wise at that range in cartridges I use. Beyond that, they lose steam fast. Look forward to trying out the Hammers and PVAs

 

[FEENIX]

I agree whole heartedly and for the distances you shoot I understand exactly where you are coming from and I love your style Brother

Brother, I enjoyed our PMs on this matter and learned each other's personal preferences and intended purpose(s).