I Hate Hammer Bullets!

This is reasonable. If I may ask. Compared to what? I can say that our raw material is more expensive than it could be if we used a lesser quality product, but really the greatest factor in bullet price is time. The amount of time it takes to produce a bullet, not counting cleaning, packing, and shipping, it takes about 20 seconds to take raw material and turn it into a single bullet. Cup and core or formed bullets can be produced at tremendously faster rates. I guess it is the nature of cnc lathe turned bullets. Now because they are cnc lathe turned we can hold a .0002" tolerance. Also because they are cnc lathe turned we can make our patented radius drive bands. These radius drive bands cured the issue of copper bullets having too much pressure in tight bor guns and terrible accuracy in loose bore guns.
I throw rocks at the neighbors dog. Rocks are cheaper, but not very good at long range.
 
It is this…this is exactly why people hate hammer. Rich is a perfect representative of the fanbase that people loathe. Rich was told by Steve not to participate, told not to defend, and yet hear he is in all of his glory, picking fights, defending hammer bullets.

I don't think you understand the difference between questions and defending a product.
 
I will say the same thing as a few others have said.

I really don't think hardly anyone "hates" hammer bullets, at least, I personally haven't seen anyone say anything like that. Hate is a rather strong word. The only complaint I have seen, which is legitimate, is bc, which for many of us that shoot 500-1200 yards for hunting purposes, is an unavoidable determent due to the specific design of your bullets, that is necessary for the proper function of your monolithic bullets. You have bullets that have a good bc to them, such as the 285 grain .338 cal with a .355 G7 (I own some), however the same gun that shoots that bullet can shoot several other bullets with G7's well over .400, of a similar weight, and the end result is much less wind drift and more retained velocity and energy in the same rifle at distance. But to avoid getting too technical, I digress.

Steve, you and I have talked before, both in p.m.'s and on the phone, and I use your bullets in a few rifles, they work great for their intended purpose, and you are very helpful with figuring out appropriate loads. However your bullets aren't currently the perfect solution for every rifle and every use, and there is nothing wrong with that! They do a good job at killing critters, and are easy to load for accuracy.

I think the part everyone "hates", is what has already been stated.

The drama is tiresome. They simply aren't the "perfect" bullet for everything, I have even heard you say something similar to this, and some people get extremely defensive about that. Pretty much all of us understand why your bullet's bc's aren't as high as many others, and pretty much everyone highly respects your reasoning behind it. What people don't respect is getting bombarded for saying it, that is all.

As far as for marketing and attempting to progress your business, I have my opinions. This will be my opinion on it, so it may not be worth much, but here it is. I think the best thing you can do, is stay neutral as much as possible. You sell a great product, a product that is now established, and functions as you state, nothing more, nothing less. I feel people that say it is the only bullet anyone should ever use for any type of hunting, and is perfect for absolutely every use, as well as people that would say it is a useless, terrible, and pointless bullet, should be distanced from your business. Extremes in either direction tend to cause many problems for businesses.

I do not believe you are at fault for any of the following, and a lot of this is stated in general, not specifically directed at your business, so please don't take it as that. As Americans, we don't like opinions, good or bad, to be forced upon us. Tell us what you offer, and your bullets will sell themselves, as they already have. Aggressive marketing or splashing of opinions everywhere can be very detrimental in the long run. It creates annoyance for educated people, people that just need the facts presented to them, and are fully capable of making their decisions. Heavy, aggressive marketing works well for the less "in the know" people, no doubt. However, that is generally not the market here. Again, I personally don't see you specifically doing this at all, so please don't take this as a personal attack, it is not, and I respect you and your business. It seems to be more other people that are overly aggressive and "pro hammer" that seem to be somewhat hurting your business image. I know this may be greatly out of your control as well, unfortunately.

As far as R&D, I probably won't say anything you don't already know or have already tried. But you have a good bullet design with your current line up, nothing needs to be changed for them. If you truly want to create the "Perfect" bullet, maintain your current line, but on the side I would be doing some testing. I would focus as hard as I could on researching and testing to finding a way to get a tipped type bullet to perform as your current bullets do to increase bc. Making your hollow point smaller to increase bc will undoubtedly reduce terminal performance, therefore, the only other way is to add a tip. If you could get your current bullet performance, but with the bc of some of the other manufacturers, I do believe you would have nearly the "perfect" bullet.

The bantering, arguing, jumpy, overly defensive bickering has got to stop, on EVERYONE's part. None of this is the purpose of Len's living room. We should be better than all this. I am not defending either side, and am not taking sides. I'm just annoyed of getting on this forum to relax, read and enjoy my passion, and just seeing a bunch of grown men bickering.
100% agree. And it applies to other topics as well.
 
One thing I dislike is lack of load data-- specifically for the absolute hunters. I know there is a document where people are sharing their load data but I honestly do not trust non-professional load data from someone I do not know. I would love to see something official from Hammer Bullets to make me feel confident in starting a load. Just saying they use faster powders and need experienced loaders who can recognize pressure signs makes me nervous. I consider myself a fairly experienced loader but I don't necessarily feel confident in using powders where there are not established starting loads for a certain caliber. This has deterred me from purchasing the absolute hunters.
I realize that there is liability in releasing load data and this is probably the reason there is nothing "official" as a resource that we can use. But to offer constructive criticism, this is something I would love to see coming from Hammer in the future.

I have had mixed results in emailing for load data help. The first time I purchased Hammer Hunters I emailed for load help and got a response right away. It impressed me and I thought I might as well do this for some other calibers I load for. I have now emailed for help two other times without a response at all. Not sure if they are overwhelmed with questions or do not want the liability? I have a couple of boxes of absolutes that I have not tried because I did not get a response and the caliber I shoot had no representation for the bullet weight I purchased on the document where people are sharing load data.

Also-- it might be a good idea to put a little insert into the bullet box letting people know about the vapor trail. I was a little concerned the first time I did load work up for my dads 6.5CM and every shot had a vapor trail. The previous HH I shot did not do that. I had to go and research online to find out what was going on. Not everyone that buys these bullets follows you guys closely on forums and they may also feel like there is a problem if they are unprepared?

I am not sure if my post lives up to the OP's request. I have no dislike for Hammer Bullets. My goal here was to offer constructive criticism to help show areas where consumers feel like we need more support. If you make it easier for people to buy your product by supporting their needs, you business will keep growing. Or at least stay in business so we continue to have the bullets we have come to appreciate.
 
Man.. I guess Steve should see if you guys could use your food stamps to buy bullets.
I mean, they do produce food.
Can't afford the hammers!! Lol
And back to that cup and core match bullet Steve!! 😜

Dang bullet threads!! Lol
 
Hey good fellas. I've been sittin quiet from this forum for quite a while. Not sure where this thread will end up, but maybe we can inject some reflection? When I find myself reacting to another's enthusiasm, it's good if I just sit back and look at myself before jumping to the other end of the see-saw. What happens is I get emotionally bent from another member's post, then blame them for my emotional disturbance. There's more going on with ourselves than we care to admit. Every time I react to someone else, I raise the temperature and I create more reaction. The cycle spirals down the black hole to nowhere and I'm caught in the vortex myself. How about we all inhale some fresh air, smile, and move on - just happy that someone else has something they can be enthused about in a day when there could be much to be disheartened about. Negative reactions almost never produce what we want anyway. 🤠 Unless reactions and negativity is what we want. 😩

To Steve, I have no complaints about Hammer performance on game. The "speed kills" emphasis that is referred to here should not detract from the fact that they are not ineffective at lower, longer-range velocities. I have had good results at lower velocities as well. My only pipedream is that you'll find a significantly higher BC break-through that performs just as well in its line of work - fast, reliable extermination. I appreciate that you have stated your principal priority - terminal performance - and feel that is a priority that will guide you straight in your business model and continued development. Keep working on it!
 
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I've seen hundreds of critters hit the ground with about every brand of bullet out there and have seen what some would call a performance failure from each of them. Fact is those bullets all performed just fine when you look at all the facts, such as the muzzle velocity, range, shot angle, ect.

Unfortunatly a lot of newbie gun gurus are only as smart as the last person they talked too.
It's also disappointing to see sales hype forming those uneducated opinions. I myself have yet to try Hammer Bullets but plan to order some and use them this year. Bear in mind if I find they work well, I'll post that, if they do not you won't hear a peep. I will pass along my finding to the manufacturer so they can use the data to improve the product. Opinionated ****ing and moaning doesn't do anyone any good, nor does it help getting good products to market.
 
I hate that they get brought up in everythread. Some guy asking about B tips vs vmax in a 22-250 for coyotes gets a respose like this. "Ive never shot a coyote, but last year I shot my moose with hammer hunters out of a 300RUM. Try those."
That can be quite annoying. Ignoring it will likely reduce its impact. ;)
 
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