Hammer “failure” and the importance of shot placement, kind of….! Pics included.

[unclecroc]

I shot a doe in the neck once with a Sierra gameking in a 270 Winchester. I missed the spine and hit just her esophagus this resulted in her running about 100 yards where I found her standing in the middle of a pile of brush and I had to finish her off.
Moral of the story is no matter what bullet you're shooting when taking a neck shot you must hit the spine in order for drt results whether it's a vmax or a fmj.

 

[JMB 1911]

explosive bullets kill quick but only when placed where any bullet would do so. Give me reasonable expansion and deep penetration with an exit hole and a blood trail every time

 

[HRM Johnny]

Congratulations on getting the second hog. Thanks for the post. Thanks for the pictures.

 

[TxHeartShot]

My son and I made a late afternoon stroll to see if we could catch a buck running does or at least pop a swine mooching off my wheat. No deer but there was a lonely adolescent boar out rooting around. With the rangefinder and his custom 257 WBY 7.5 twist we made a short walk to gain a little elevation to be able to shoot over some grass between us and the hog. We went prone with good line of sight and the Leica quickly said 349 yards. 0.6 MIL dialed for a 121 Hammer hunter at 3400, I called a right hold for the wind and shouldn't have. A perfect Hammertrail followed the 121 to an impact a bit high on the neck between the shoulder and ear of the 150-170 lb Boar, passed thru and kicked up dirt on the back side. Dropped him, but he staggered back to his feet and stumbled into the earlier mentioned grass. I heard him crash and assumed he was DRT. Well we made it closer and found him just in time to see him wobbling into a creek bottom some 300 yards away. We looked for a few minutes but its hard to track in such a high traffic area and didn't see any blood so we headed back to the truck.
Now maybe the Hammer failed to open fully with no bone impact in the fatty part of the neck. Maybe a Berger would have had massive wounding and killed him. Hard to know anything other than the bullet didn't go where it should have. Which brings me to the next chapter…..
About 20 minutes later we see a boar of equal size, closer. He sees us and calls no joy, he's heading straight away and no sign of stopping. I said 'Let him have it". The 'Oklahoma Head Shot' was the only option but he dropped, squealed, and flopped. It was over in less than 5 seconds. We then walked out the 220 yards to give inspection. I didn't bother opening him up for wound cavity but the 121 entered just below and right of tail head and I don't know where it stopped but it got far enough there was blood coming from his nose and mouth. Probably 18-24 plus inches of hip, guts, liver etc. and obvious instantly DEAD.
There is a lot of discussion and some out right arguing on here about Hammer bullets vs the world. I have just started using them and am impressed thus far for what I use them for. I still use Berger in most my other rifles for their given applications, but for anything under 600 yards with my calibers the Hammer looks to be a very viable option. Shot placement is still key, but this story I thought might give some insight on what Hammers are capable of. It was just coincidence it happened 20 minutes apart.

Bullet placement key factor here, it ain't the arrow, its the Indian. Luckily just an ol' pig not a trophy whitetail! Oklahoma head shot...

 

[cajun]

I'll admit I'm intrigued. I just cant get past the sticker shock.

 

[Alibiiv]

Sounds more like a shot placement issue than a bullet failure.

And as you mentioned, maybe a soft cup and core bullet would've ended it right there, due to the more explosive damage.

 

[choprzrul]

I fired 4 shots at deer this season in 2 states. 4 dead deer. 1 bang-flop, 2 went maybe 30 yards, 1 went maybe 50 yards. The first 3 were 90gr AH in 25-06, the last one that went 50 yards was 85gr HH flying 3402fps.....but nearly zero bloodshot meat when we boned it out the next day.

Granted, my sample size of 4 is small, but so far so good with the Hammers for me....

.

 

[Fiftydriver]

My son and I made a late afternoon stroll to see if we could catch a buck running does or at least pop a swine mooching off my wheat. No deer but there was a lonely adolescent boar out rooting around. With the rangefinder and his custom 257 WBY 7.5 twist we made a short walk to gain a little elevation to be able to shoot over some grass between us and the hog. We went prone with good line of sight and the Leica quickly said 349 yards. 0.6 MIL dialed for a 121 Hammer hunter at 3400, I called a right hold for the wind and shouldn't have. A perfect Hammertrail followed the 121 to an impact a bit high on the neck between the shoulder and ear of the 150-170 lb Boar, passed thru and kicked up dirt on the back side. Dropped him, but he staggered back to his feet and stumbled into the earlier mentioned grass. I heard him crash and assumed he was DRT. Well we made it closer and found him just in time to see him wobbling into a creek bottom some 300 yards away. We looked for a few minutes but its hard to track in such a high traffic area and didn't see any blood so we headed back to the truck.
Now maybe the Hammer failed to open fully with no bone impact in the fatty part of the neck. Maybe a Berger would have had massive wounding and killed him. Hard to know anything other than the bullet didn't go where it should have. Which brings me to the next chapter…..
About 20 minutes later we see a boar of equal size, closer. He sees us and calls no joy, he's heading straight away and no sign of stopping. I said 'Let him have it". The 'Oklahoma Head Shot' was the only option but he dropped, squealed, and flopped. It was over in less than 5 seconds. We then walked out the 220 yards to give inspection. I didn't bother opening him up for wound cavity but the 121 entered just below and right of tail head and I don't know where it stopped but it got far enough there was blood coming from his nose and mouth. Probably 18-24 plus inches of hip, guts, liver etc. and obvious instantly DEAD.
There is a lot of discussion and some out right arguing on here about Hammer bullets vs the world. I have just started using them and am impressed thus far for what I use them for. I still use Berger in most my other rifles for their given applications, but for anything under 600 yards with my calibers the Hammer looks to be a very viable option. Shot placement is still key, but this story I thought might give some insight on what Hammers are capable of. It was just coincidence it happened 20 minutes apart.

with no flame intended at all but a hit in the neck, especially high on a hog is in an area with no vitals, especially if the spine is not hit. The Hammer bullets, like most all other solid designs do not have the dramatic, instant energy dump like a conventional bullet does. A berger may have shocked the spine with this shot placement, maybe, maybe just enough to knock him down and also get up, maybe enough to break the spine. From what you discribe, the results are what i would expect with any hammer, barned CE or any other solid HP type design. The Hammers do very well but got to put one through the vitals as you proved with the second opportunity. The shot angle you took is certainly a personal preference which some will not take on a non wounded animal but thats a different topic to blow up

 

[6.5shaggy]

I'll state it again to be clear. I don't believe the Hammer failed because the hog wasn't DRT. I think it did not kill the first hog because the bullet missed everything vital enough for DRT. Watching the hog go into the brush, I honestly think it will probably survive. Also to clarify, the hog shot in the *** was a totally different animal. Again, I DON'T SHOOT GAME ANIMALS IN THE NECK OR *** WITH ANY BULLET. But hogs and coyotes are nuisance animals on the farm/ranch. Most hogs get whatever projectile I can get in them, I let coyotes go unless they are around the house or near my cows. My sons and I are accomplished marksmen, reloaders, and hunters, but I made a bad wind call and my son put the crosshairs where I told him, and that's where the impact was, a bad spot on a hog. I know because I have killed close to a thousand of them and dissected many of them and inspected terminal performance. No , I DONT EAT THEM. If you disagree, I respect that.
I have limited experience with Hammers but I am well pleased thus far, 4 hogs, 3 DRT and the one this novel is based on. I have shot thousands of Berger's, well pleased with all but 2. The 6.5 156s and . 257 115s. Both too fragile in my opinion. I think the Hammer is limited to 6-700 yards in most cartridges based on the mfg recommended impact velocity but I will be testing that on hogs in the future. I currently have Berger kills at 825,856, and 902 yards as a baseline. If the hammers "FAIL", it's only a hog and not a deer or elk. Still one of God's creatures and I respect them, but they are expendable for the purpose. I hope to have more data to post soon.
Gentlemen, thank you and God Bless.

 

[Fiftydriver]

I'll state it again to be clear. I don't believe the Hammer failed because the hog wasn't DRT. I think it did not kill the first hog because the bullet missed everything vital enough for DRT. Watching the hog go into the brush, I honestly think it will probably survive. Also to clarify, the hog shot in the *** was a totally different animal. Again, I DON'T SHOOT GAME ANIMALS IN THE NECK OR *** WITH ANY BULLET. But hogs and coyotes are nuisance animals on the farm/ranch. Most hogs get whatever projectile I can get in them, I let coyotes go unless they are around the house or near my cows. My sons and I are accomplished marksmen, reloaders, and hunters, but I made a bad wind call and my son put the crosshairs where I told him, and that's where the impact was, a bad spot on a hog. I know because I have killed close to a thousand of them and dissected many of them and inspected terminal performance. No , I DONT EAT THEM. If you disagree, I respect that.
I have limited experience with Hammers but I am well pleased thus far, 4 hogs, 3 DRT and the one this novel is based on. I have shot thousands of Berger's, well pleased with all but 2. The 6.5 156s and . 257 115s. Both too fragile in my opinion. I think the Hammer is limited to 6-700 yards in most cartridges based on the mfg recommended impact velocity but I will be testing that on hogs in the future. I currently have Berger kills at 825,856, and 902 yards as a baseline. If the hammers "FAIL", it's only a hog and not a deer or elk. Still one of God's creatures and I respect them, but they are expendable for the purpose. I hope to have more data to post soon.
Gentlemen, thank you and God Bless.

If your shooting them for pest control and not eating, that makes more sense.

 

[6.5shaggy]

I have eaten them, and they can be quite tasty if they are the right size and condition and killed cleanly. Swine, if stressed when killed release enzymes that make the meat unpalatable, feral hogs are no different except maybe worse. If you want to eat one, a sow , after the first hard freeze, preferably not nursing, and shoot her right behind the ear! I have seen boars eat dead coyotes, dead cattle, cattle afterbirth, other dead hogs…I AIN'T EATING ONE!
Below, one with a .257 121 hammer and one with a 6mm AI 87 Berger. Both behind the shoulder, no tracking required.

 

[shinbone]

Kind'a unfair to the manufacturer to state 'Hammer "failure"' in the title, but then admit in the text of the post that it was poor shot placement.

JMHO

 

[6.5shaggy]

I put failure in quotes hoping to imply sarcasm as so many folks are split on copper vs cup/core. I also felt the good performance of the hammer on the second pig with much poorer shot placement (in the bum) would add the the irony, but text doesn't translate like true speech. I try to never give a product negative reviews unless totally warranted. I prefer honest experiences based on a given occurrence and everyone can choose for their own. Thanks for your input and I'll try to keep my words more clear in the future. To be fair to the Mfg (Hammerbullets), I am fixing to order more!

 

[the blur]

Hogs are just tough animals. I shot one 4 times with accubonds. They just don't die.