Sorry but dead isn't just dead. Sure the animal may have taken its last breath, but what happens from bullet impact to that point can very. My experience with Barnes has been a crap show. Not tons of kills with them, just consistent enough to draw my own conclusions. Early on bullets, shot two whitetail doe behind shoulder (one after another) at under 100 yards with 180 grain from .300WM. They ran...and ran...and ran. Thought I'd made bad shots, nope just didn't expand and very little damage. Next was a newer bullet, the kind with rings on it
: 7mm Rem mag, whitetail doe at spitting distance (as in feet). She took off running, I waited a few minutes to start tracking and found small spots of blood where she went into woods, jumped her after a short distance and hit her again with a hard angle (raking) shot, caught up to her several minutes later as she was laying off the side of a well used trail watching me walk by, shot her in the head and that ended that debacle. Swore off their bullets after that.
Some claim that Hammer bullets and Cutting Edge bullets act the same (terminal performance). They may on paper, as in theory, but not what I've seen. Both are supposed to have petals break off and shank continues to penetrates. No comparison in my experience. A buddy and I have several shot animals from deer to elk with high velocity .338s to a .408 Cheytac, near to far. And though exceptionally accurate/precise (whichever you want to call it) out to some really far ranges, the terminal performance was not what I'd call great. These were all with their MTH "hunting" bullet, I haven't shot anything with the Lazer line...yet. Hopefully they have better terminal performance.
Up to this point I just have not been a fan of the mono's performance on game. Sure they will kill, but not as dramatic as most of the cup-n-core bullets I've used. Now come the Hammers, I have been nothing but pleased with their performance (on paper and on game). Besides being consistently the easiest bullets I've ever loaded (in multiple caliber/cartridges, in multiple rifles), a couple buddies and I are nothing but pleased with their performance on game. We have shot several deer and elk with them and never been anything but satisfied with the results. Steve will tell you that he makes bullets for terminal performance first. Are they the magic be all-end all bullet? Nope, no such thing. They are not cheap, as you should expect. Plus their BC is going to be lower than a bullet of comparable weight and caliber, at least what most think of in terms of long range bullets. Steve will also answer a text, phone call, and message on this site in very short order. He will also listen to what you have to say, and buy back or swap bullets if they don't work out in your rifle. Am I a fan so far? Yep! Are they the only bullet/company I use? Nope! I load and shoot bullets by Berger, Nosler, Sierra, Hornady, Speer, etc. Even have a case of core lokt ammo for one of my rifles. Hammer bullets are just a straight up solid option for hunting.
