That's impressive. Is this going to be used up to deer size game? You don't really say what performance will be tested.
Not sure if I'll use it on deer.
The rest of this response is not directed at anyone in particular. (
don't read into anything @BEEMAN, not speaking negatively of you!)
There are quite a lot of metrics I'll bee looking at, as this is my first experience with Hammer bullets. I have extensive experience with 22 creedmoor chambers, barrel configurations, components, and performance with traditional jacketed bullets. There are a lot of things being said about Hammers on this site, both positive and negative. It has become glaringly apparent that there is a lot being said on both sides which are false at worst, or over-simplified at best. Even if that were not true, there is a decided lack of first hand qualified accounts which have been meaningfully documented. So, this will be an objective collection of my observations, and I'll draw all the conclusions I can from those observations across the life of this barrel. No arguments will be engaged in or tolerated. I'll be documenting as much of the process as I can. The results will be what they are, and no amount of bickering will alter that fact. Disruptors will be reported and ignored. All are encouraged to comment and ask questions, but be respectful!
This barrel was started with Hammer 52's, and that's all the barrel will see across its life.
Initial observations:
Speed. These bullets move out... and they seem to shoot best when you are really stepping on it. Load development was interesting, because I'm accustomed to keeping in a low node. Initial results at lower pressures were not great. It also took a bit of work to find an optimal seating depth. Quite simply, they behave nothing like jacketed counterparts of equal weight. This was expected, given the unique design properties of the Hammers. The goal for the first session was to just start getting some rounds on them and see if I could start figuring out what the barrel likes. Definitely achieved that. Obviously I'll need quite a bit more rounds fired before I can do final load development, but having something that shows promise early is always nice.
Fouling. These Hammers don't seem to foul up like traditional jacketed bullets. Normally I would need to clean a new barrel within 20-30 rounds of firing because it will start to pressure up. Clean when new, fire 20-30, clean, fire 60 or so, clean... then I generally clean when I've decided I'd clean after that. This barrel has 64rnds on it presently and has not pressured up.
As is typical with lighter bullets in the .22 creed, H4350 does not seem to be optimal. Velocity topped out at 3975fps with H4350, as there was simply no more room in the case to get enough of it in there. Varget showed optimal case fill, velocity, accuracy, and precision in early testing with these Hammer 52's.
Jump tolerance and seating depth. It took a bit to discover where they liked to be seated, but once I found the window... tuning from 1/2MOA down to this little bug hole of significantly under 1/4 MOA, was a move of .005". The seating depth window of 1/2moa performance was about 50 thousandths wide. So, no conclusions can be drawn yet, but the initial observation is that they can shoot well across a wide range of seating depths, but to really get them to bug hole it will probably be a much smaller window. This chamber is running a .125 freebore. These bullets are hopping a LONG ways. Not quite sure how far yet, as I only had 2 driving bands engaged and it still wasn't touching the lands... so that will take further experimentation to discover. It's encouraging that they can shoot well with that large of a jump, as it tends to indicate a fairly forgiving bullet. This is also good from the perspective of speed, as longer jump will typically stay under pressure and leave room for performance.
Having zero experience with Hammers, I started from bare nothing... and I did not look on the internet for data because I did not want my experience tainted by preconceived notions. So work began drawing from only my own experience with the 22 Creed, and I think if I had worked with these bullets at all before I probably would have had an easier time locking into where they like to be earlier. My experience with jacketed bullets in the 22 Creed with my chambers is so extensive, I can usually get sub-1/4 MOA within 12-20rnds, regardless of component choice. These Hammers are a different critter all together, and I'm excited to be able to provide everyone with some quality data as this project progresses.
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