Thank you. I'll order some. I will also make some of the 146gr available for anyone wanting to try them. All I would ask as they cover the shipping cost.
Hammer Hunter 146 in .284
- Thread starter Mark37082
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That's an awesome gesture, Hat's off to you neighbor
@Mark37082 I would be interested in the hammers. Been wanting to try them out but have not pulled the trigger yet. Was going back and forth between the 120 and 131 for my 7mag since I have the same twist as you. 146 might be an easier mental transition (if they stabilized ok for you). Also I have some and imr 4350 or 4831 which should work for those. Still no magnum primers but hoping to stumble on some.
I will send you 15 so you can test them out. Did not have any keyhole issues. If you can pm me with your address, and agree to reimburse my shipping expense, I'll get them in the mail the first of the week. I had to pay way to much for a brick of Fed 215m primers a few weeks ago. Stumbled on them at a local gun show.
That would be great, really appreciate it!
I've come to terms with overpaying but can't find it in stores. Online I have seen a bunch of small rifle primers lately. Makes me want to buy a new rifle to shoot them ha.
Interested to see how the 120hh work for you in your setup.
I've come to terms with overpaying but can't find it in stores. Online I have seen a bunch of small rifle primers lately. Makes me want to buy a new rifle to shoot them ha.
Interested to see how the 120hh work for you in your setup.
RockyMtnMT
Official LRH Sponsor
We designed the 146g Hammer Hunter for two reasons. One of the members here was having trouble feeding the longer nosed bullets in his rifle and the need to make as heavy as possible 7mm that would still have a pointed nose and be stable in a 10" twist. The 146g HH fixed both issues. The 146g doesn't sound so light and fills that mental feeling that we all have about what a bullet should weigh for a given cartridge. I tell people multiple times a day that as long as their chosen bullet is fully stable in their rifles twist, it then becomes a personal choice with no wrong answer. We design the bullets and I find myself often feeling like a particular bullet seems too light even though I know it will work very well for the task at hand. We all learned to run heavy for caliber. Particularly for magnum rifles. This was for two good reasons. Bullets couldn't handle launch speeds much over 3000 fps and if they could there was a good chance they would come undone on a close range high velocity impact resulting in poor penetration and a train wreck with a wounded animal to track. The solution was heavier bullets to slow down the muzzle vel and then hopefully there would be enough bullet left after a close range impact to get to the far side. Well, we don't have either issue. So in most rifles being used under 400-500y speed is king. High velocity impacts are more dramatic on game than the heavier slower bullet with more energy. Roy Weatherby was right.
DoneNOut
Well-Known Member
Oh man, you put to rest quite a number of questions with this post. Helping me get out of the "heavy-for-caliber" ingrained dogma by which I was indoctrinated all these years!
Varmint Hunter
Well-Known Member
I just can't go with some of the ultra-light bullets because I've got a mental block after 40+ years of reloading. I also spent the last 10 years, or so, loading heavier and heavier. However, a step or two down in weight isn't that hard to justify.
The 143 HH bullet is the lightest bullet I've ever shot from my custom 8.5" twist 7WSM. It shoots amazingly well and certainly has plenty of authority under 500yds where I've been shooting whitetails. Actually, the 124HH in the PRC almost seems like overkill now. LOL
The 143 HH bullet is the lightest bullet I've ever shot from my custom 8.5" twist 7WSM. It shoots amazingly well and certainly has plenty of authority under 500yds where I've been shooting whitetails. Actually, the 124HH in the PRC almost seems like overkill now. LOL
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Indeed somethings just get ingrained and we accept them as the pure truth. This is the very reason I joined this forum. I continue to expand my thinking and let new ideas help me achieve a better success. I am waiting for a nice day to get to the range to try out the 131 and 120 HH to compare to the 146. This time I will be prepared to record velocities.
I thought I would snap a pic for view of the 120, 131, and 146 HH. Also including AB160 and Berger CH168 for reference. 10 shot velocity test with different loads of H4350 and IMR4831 on the next nice day.
There is still a hardcore crowd here that will never acknowledge that the lightweight Hammers do what they do
RockyMtnMT
Official LRH Sponsor
Hahaha! Are you drinking whiskey?
As a matter of fact I am, we are snowmobiling in Wisconsin
Just a quick follow through on my progress with testing out the HH's. I just did a little velocity testing today with new ADG brass and 215M primers. I needed to start the fire forming process on the new brass so results will more than likely change once the are fully formed and sized appropriately. I did a light crimp with the Lee crimp die (1/4 turn). Tried 10 different charge weights on the 120, 131, and 146 HH. I used H4350 with the 120's and 146's and IMR4831 with the 131's. I was cautious as ADG brass seems to have a little thicker brass. I did not run into any pressure issues on any of the loads and did not go to book max listed for similar weighted bullets in Nosler or Hodgdon load data.
120's - 3386 at 64.5 grains (H4350)
131's - 3119 at 64.7 grains (IMR4831)
146's - 3120 at 61.8 grains (H4350)
120 and 131 shot well at far POI. Not so much for 146.
I'll probably bump up the load on the 131's till I find some signs of pressure and run some SD and ES tests once I find the right velocity level.
120's - 3386 at 64.5 grains (H4350)
131's - 3119 at 64.7 grains (IMR4831)
146's - 3120 at 61.8 grains (H4350)
120 and 131 shot well at far POI. Not so much for 146.
I'll probably bump up the load on the 131's till I find some signs of pressure and run some SD and ES tests once I find the right velocity level.
