HAMMER 7MM 143 VS 177 FOR ELK
- Thread starter Nevrsummr
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Nevrsummr
Well-Known Member
I could post pic after pic including the 2 i posted already of animals taken with barnes. That being said im done with them. Doesnt mean im done with monos. I bought accubonds and bergers with the intentions of using them in my 28. But ive been reading mixed results. I have logged pics of poor results at close range. Bullet explodes with minimal penetration. Hammer is the only bullet ive read of that performs near to far. Ill have to test for myself.
I have had experiences similar to your brother with barnes
I have had experiences similar to your brother with barnes
Stiltsville
Banned
"I've heard", "I been told", "I've read" and so on.
I have 25 heads on the wall, all but one killed with ONE Barnes bullet each. All died within sight. The exception was an Elk killed with a 1.2 ounce .610 Maxi ball of my design from a flintlock who went 20 whole yards until he ran out of blood.
I believe any quality big game bullet will any animal if put in the boiler room. Any view to the contrary is internet BS.
I have 25 heads on the wall, all but one killed with ONE Barnes bullet each. All died within sight. The exception was an Elk killed with a 1.2 ounce .610 Maxi ball of my design from a flintlock who went 20 whole yards until he ran out of blood.
I believe any quality big game bullet will any animal if put in the boiler room. Any view to the contrary is internet BS.
Nevrsummr
Well-Known Member
Stiltsville. Thats not the first time you have talked about your heads on the wall. You get around for a southeasterner. First, lets see the 25. If you are telling the truth they are almost all antelope which die fairly easy. Second i agree with you any quality bullet placed through lungs or heart will do the job. Third the technique of "worked in the past must be the best" is a caveman aproach. Works well, till something goes wrong. Your posts have little to add other than opinions. Which are like azzholes. You know the rest. Im not looking for opinions, im looking for facts. (Which you seem to have none of) Have you ever shot hammer bullets? Well you are not alone, i havent either, but im willing to. Always willing to learn. Unless you have something positive and factual about HAMMER BULLETS to add just bug out man. Ive taken 20 antelope with cap n core doesnt help me one bit.
dougduey
Well-Known Member
The one thing that got me to try Hammers in the first place was Steve's guarantee. You don't like them, he will buy them back or trade you for a different Hammer bullet until you're happy. What do you have to lose? Honestly, I think you'll really like them.
Attached is a photo of my group with the 177gr in my 7 STW
Doug
dougduey
Well-Known Member
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Search for a member on here that goes by stx. He's killed a bunch of game with Hammers in multiple cartridges. He can give you a ton of first hand experience with them.
codyadams
Well-Known Member
I have glanced through the 6 pages, I'll give my input.
Seems like your ranges start at 400 and go out to as far as your comfortable. If your going to use the hammer bullets, I would definitely go with the heavier option, to reduce wind drift and give you more room for error. Also will likely have more energy, and possibly more retained velocity at the outer limits. I would start your seating either as far as your mag box will allow or somewhere around .020"-.030" off, to give yourself the most room for powder. I have found the hammers to not care where you seat them, in the three guns I have used them in they all shot under half MOA with the first seating depth I tried after a little playing with the powder charge.
You loose some BC with the hammers, but you gain consistent terminal performance. You will be hard pressed to find a bad review of the game performance of the hammers, from point blank out to well over 1000 yds. That simply cannot be said for pretty much any other bullet. There is always someone that has pretty well documented proof of a bullet not performing optimally. Unfortunately, it just happens sometimes, there are hundreds of things that can cause a bullet to not perform right. And that is being expanded due to the higher demands of bullets now days. It is near impossible to find a bullet that will get full penetration at 50 yards through the heavy shoulder of a bull elk without being too destructive, but yet will also get good expansion, full penetration, and put devastating shock on a pronghorn with a broadside through the ribs shot at 1050 yards. From what I have seen, Hammer is the closest one to achieve this of any bullet manufacturer, with the caveat being a lower bc compared to other long range specific bullets. Personally, for my sub 600 yard hunting guns, Hammer is generally my first bullet consideration. For my guns used out to and beyond 1000, I generally look at something with higher bc.
Seems like your ranges start at 400 and go out to as far as your comfortable. If your going to use the hammer bullets, I would definitely go with the heavier option, to reduce wind drift and give you more room for error. Also will likely have more energy, and possibly more retained velocity at the outer limits. I would start your seating either as far as your mag box will allow or somewhere around .020"-.030" off, to give yourself the most room for powder. I have found the hammers to not care where you seat them, in the three guns I have used them in they all shot under half MOA with the first seating depth I tried after a little playing with the powder charge.
You loose some BC with the hammers, but you gain consistent terminal performance. You will be hard pressed to find a bad review of the game performance of the hammers, from point blank out to well over 1000 yds. That simply cannot be said for pretty much any other bullet. There is always someone that has pretty well documented proof of a bullet not performing optimally. Unfortunately, it just happens sometimes, there are hundreds of things that can cause a bullet to not perform right. And that is being expanded due to the higher demands of bullets now days. It is near impossible to find a bullet that will get full penetration at 50 yards through the heavy shoulder of a bull elk without being too destructive, but yet will also get good expansion, full penetration, and put devastating shock on a pronghorn with a broadside through the ribs shot at 1050 yards. From what I have seen, Hammer is the closest one to achieve this of any bullet manufacturer, with the caveat being a lower bc compared to other long range specific bullets. Personally, for my sub 600 yard hunting guns, Hammer is generally my first bullet consideration. For my guns used out to and beyond 1000, I generally look at something with higher bc.
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Cool it with the trolling and sniping, guys.
Nevrsummr
Well-Known Member
Thats fantastic Doug! Im already more than willing to give them a shot. I just didnt want to waste bullets picking a bullet weight. I have guys behind me also waiting for my decision. I have complete confidence that any one between 143 and 177 would do the job. Just thought some feedback would help me narrow it down. Either way, im killing elk with them.
RockyMtnMT
Official LRH Sponsor
The only other thing I will mention is keeping the stability high. Particularly as the bullets get longer for caliber. So I think with the shots starting at 400y and the 8" twist 28n you can't go wrong with the 169g Hammer Hunter. Headed into the shop shortly and I'll look up the load that we did with this combo.
RockyMtnMT
Official LRH Sponsor
We loaded the 169g Hammer Hunter in a 28n Borden rifle with 8" twist. Nosler brass, Fed 215m primer, N570, COL of 3.50". Started at 81g and took it up to 86g but settled on 84g. Was too compressed at 86g. Finished load was 3210 fps with 15 fps es.
We did run the 155g Hammer Hunter in the same rifle. Finished at 88g and a vel of 3330 fps.
These loads are top end and should be backed down from and worked up to carefully.
We did run the 155g Hammer Hunter in the same rifle. Finished at 88g and a vel of 3330 fps.
These loads are top end and should be backed down from and worked up to carefully.
Nevrsummr
Well-Known Member
Thank you Steve. That helps. I have been reading a lot and started to migrate towards the lighter side of the spectrum, (as you recommend)want to make sure things open up and are well over the 1800fps.
I am not sure how light i can go because my rifle is throated for berger 195's. Like a piercision. And i dont want a bunch of jump. When i get my oal figured out (cbto) ill send it to you and see what we can come up with.
UplandFreak
Well-Known Member
I have had a ton of luck with the eldx as well. Funny how most hammer bullet threads turn into a fight.
To the OP - spend some time researching experiences about the 177 and BCs. Bryan Litz's BC for this bullet was significantly lower than Steve's estimate. According to steve it varies from gun to gun, but you should go in understanding your experience may be closer to Bryans than Steves.
