Hammer 181 Hunters leaving an oblong hole in the target

[CENTURY]

Went to the range today to sight in a new scope with the 181 gr. Hammer Hunters.
Rifle is a custom 30-378, 1 in 10 twist, Norma brass, 109.5 H-1000, 215M primers, chronographed at 3450 FPS.
Had an okay pattern ( sub-MOA ) but at 100 yds most of the holes in the target were oblong. I am thinking they are not being stabilized. If so, will they stabilize as the distance increases? Have never had oblong holes with any other bullets I have tried, Nosler Partitions, Nosler LRAB and Barnes, I need to stay with an all copper bullet since unfortunately I live in California and now lead is not allowed.

All help is very much welcomed

 

[cohunt]

Is your target perpendicular to your shooting position?

Berger stability calculator shows 1.6 sg at 0 msl and 85 degrees, so it should be stable.

Did you copper clean your barrel before shooting the hh bullets?

 

[CENTURY]

Target was perpendicular, Rifle was cleaned using bore-tech eliminator prior to trying the Hammers. Cleaned it with bore-tech copper cleaner today, but will not be able to go the range for a few weeks. Was shooting Nosler 210 LRAB's without any oblong holes prior to trying the Hammers.

 

[bigngreen]

I suggest contacting Steve at Hammer bullets first and he'll get you dialed in on what's going on.

 

[CENTURY]

Thank you, I posted on Hammer Time as well as here. Hopefully he has some solutions for me.

 

[The Oregonian]

Thank you, I posted on Hammer Time as well as here. Hopefully he has some solutions for me.

I'd call rather than post - his response back via PM or in the thread will likely be to call him. He is very responsive and often is the one who picks up the phone.

 

[CENTURY]

Thank you

 

[HARPERC]

The first Hammers we tried to shoot was the .375 395 grain Hammer Hunter, and they went in side ways.

I ordered that barrel as a 1-10" twist, and shot it happily for 30 years. It actually measures 1-11+. You never know until you measure it first hand yourself, very easy to do.

 

[Doublezranch]

The first Hammers we tried to shoot was the .375 395 grain Hammer Hunter, and they went in side ways.

They sure did!! I was able to call Steve right away. He was quick on getting the 394's and 370's out so we could give them a go. Steve will definitely want hear this and want to hear every detail you can give him.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

@CENTURY

As was stated check your barrel twist manually. The 181g Hammer Hunter is not super long for caliber but I would still call it a pretty long bullet and our min required twist is really a min. I am thinking there is a combo of things going on. A barrel that is not quite as fast as we think, and atmosphere ie. low elev high humidity along with high vel causing the issue. We have run this bullet over 3500fps at 4000' elev past 1000y with no issue from 10" twist. We have found that as vel gets higher it changes the dynamic stability of a bullet making it want to change ends. Then there is every now and then a barrel that simply does weird things to bullets. Where two diff rifles with the same specs have very diff results. Bullets are perfect until you shove them through a barrel. lol

At any rate we need to get you some diff bullets that will work for you. Check the twist and give me a call and I will get you some replacements that will work. 406 261 0010

 

[LanceS4803]

@CENTURY
At any rate we need to get you some diff bullets that will work for you. Check the twist and give me a call and I will get you some replacements that will work.

Now THAT's customer service!

 

[zb338]

What a pleasant surprise to hear of a supplier that is actually
interested in his customers. I think I will try some of his bullets.
Zeke

 

[Deleted member 48126]

@Rocky Mountain I havent purchased or owned any of your products, but I am having issues with your bullet. Can you please send me some free ones?

Great customer service! Glad the OP will get this figured out!

 

[CENTURY]

After manually checking the twist rate, it was not a 1 in 10 as I was told but a 1 in 12. I had a great conversation with Steve this morning about MY mistake and he is sending me a box of 152 gr. Hunters to try. What awesome customer service. Even though in no way was it Hammers bullets fault he still went above and beyond to help me out.
GREAT GUY and a GREAT Company!!