Hammer Time:

HARPERC

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Jan 28, 2011
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Location
Spokane, WA
I had the opportunity to spend Sunday with Steve, and Brian of Hammer Bullets (RockyMtnMT). I had a great time learned a bit, and re-thinking some of what I thought I knew.

The trip started as they were looking for a .375 H&H to test a couple of bullets in, specifically, 250, and a 395 grains.

We did establish a load for the 395, and the H&H will give somewhere 2100-2200 fps.
The surprise to me is it wouldn't stabilize in my rifle. I had it built 30+ years ago, and ordered a 1-10" twist, this is the first time I've had cause to question it was anything else. I'm kind of on the road right now, but first on my list is verifying it's actually what I've believed it to be.

The "varmint" bullet on the other hand, shot extremely well. I'm ordering some, and will gather more data.

The 250 chrono'd 2720 fps (I think), a velocity increase should be readily achievable based on past experience, but on short notice it's very usable at that velocity.

Once sighted in, my Rocket J Squirrel gong was placed at 274 yards. 4 shots fired, 2 by Steve, and 2 by my friend Cody. Steve's first shot was low, he dialed up, and basically 10 ringed it.

Squirrel flipped impressively, and had everybody laughing. Crazy thing did manage to land on it's feet, albeit a yard or 2 back, and concealed by rock. The great thing about a .375 varmint rifle is its ability to rearrange habitat. Cody's first shot cleared all the rock away, and with a clear view he nailed it also. It did flip the target out of view so that ended that.

The 2 shots measure 0.8". I believe that is representative of what the bullet will provide.

We shot their 80 grain 6mm a little, and once shooter and spotter were on the same steel, it worked as well. I had a little work done on the rifle, and the trigger was lighter than what I like the kids to use, so I had the 'smith adjust it up, and he overachieved. I have some of these in hand, and once I dial the trigger pull back to single single digits I expect good things.

The guys are really committed to getting us what we want from a bullet. I'll be buying and trying them in the various calibers in my safe.

I'll try to add pictures later.
 
IMG_0046.jpg

The .375 as a varmint cartridge using 250 grain Hammer.

IMG_0039.jpg

Factory 300 Sivertip, and an as loaded 395 Hammer.
 
Very cool I've been back and forth with Steve on pm and plan jumping on board soon. Love the fact they are will to actually listen to us and what we want. I love the that they are wil to talk over ideas. Been throwing a few his way. Gonna do them in my .375 Am when it's done and my 6.5 creed.
 
Very cool I've been back and forth with Steve on pm and plan jumping on board soon. Love the fact they are will to actually listen to us and what we want. I love the that they are wil to talk over ideas. Been throwing a few his way. Gonna do them in my .375 Am when it's done and my 6.5 creed.

You may have told me, but I don't remember. What is the twist of the 375? I am hoping it is 10.

Steve
 
It has not been built yet so im hoping you and Kirby can work together on it. Just past the 2 year mark so with the delays on dies and things hopefully end of summer. I will never shoot any light bullets ever. I ordered a repeater cause I didn't want to pave anything on he table but don't need it. I just told him I wanted the baddest long range unit I could get. So I can get a 1/9 twist if we wanted to.
 
Thanks for posting Harperc. That was the hardest kicking varmint gun I have ever shot.:rolleyes: Those of you who did not catch on to the varmint thing. This varmint bullet is made for 1000lb varmints with big teeth. It is a 250g .375 cal designed for the standard factory twist of 12 or 14 that most of the 375's have. We also had another 375 H&H there that was a factory Sako. We worked up a load in the Sako at 100 yards and felt good about it. Shot as good a group as I can with a rifle that was whacking me every time I pulled the trigger. About an inch maybe a bit better. This took us 8 or 10 shots I think. We then turned to the rifle that Harperc brought. We really wanted to shoot the 394g Hammer Hunter. This is a much sleeker design than the one that has been previously talked about. It is designed for 10 twist and needs all of the 10 twist. I knew that we would be a bit low on stability with the H&H due to the slow velocity. At under 2200fps the stability at the 3800ft elevation we were at showed 1.4 sg. Should have printed well but did not. Bullets were clearly unstable. This is why we suspect that the old custom barrel may not be 10 twist. I am "PATIENTLY" :rolleyes: waiting for Harperc to get a chance to pull a patch and check the twist. This bullet is currently being tested in a bigger 375 10" twist so we will see how it does there. I will say that the 375 H&H with a 394g bullet is a pleasure to shoot. Just a push. I was expecting it to hurt since the 250's at 2750fps did hurt. To my surprise it was very comfortable. Too slow to hurt. This is our first time working with bullets this large so I think we are learning some new stuff. I have heard that the large mono's need more twist than the Miller calculation says. As soon as we get a measurement on the barrel we will learn if this may be true.

Now back to the varmint bullet. :rolleyes: We decided that we would take the load that we used in the Sako and try it in the rifle that Harperc brought. I guess I had not had enough punishment, my shoulder was still functioning. We put on the magnetospeed and got a few shots with it to confirm a velocity. Then possibly test drops for bc. It took me several shots to get the zero.:rolleyes: My eye sight is not so good up close so I did not bother looking at the numbers on the elevation turret and just assumed it was 1/4 moa clicks. Could not figure out why I was all over the place trying to zero. Thinking our bullet shot like crap. Then I squinted a bit harder and noticed that the scope is 1/2 moa. Ugh. This is the second time I have done this. I must be old. Now that we have things figured out we got it zeroed. Sub moa with the load we did for the Sako in the Mauser semi custom. Pretty good. Took a stab at what to dial for the 270 yard gopher and hit 6" low. What a ballistic pig. Hey it's a close range knock the stuffings out of what ever bullet. Added two more moa and drilled the gopher. 4 clicks, duh. :rolleyes:

All in all a fun day.

Steve
 
......I am "PATIENTLY" :rolleyes: waiting for Harperc to get a chance to pull a patch and check the twist...........

Law of nature:If you have a great day Sunday, stay in bed Monday because it has to balance. Sorry about the delay! Electronics in my truck are scrambled, "ghost codes" coming from systems that check out? Gets a new brain today, hope that solves it.

Anyway-1-11" is what I come up with of all things. The importance of verifying things first hand re-learned.
 
That is good news to me, as it means that the bullet does not have a design problem. That puts the sg down at 1.16 explaining the sideways holes at 100y. Although it did go to the target and I can only imagine what a wreck it would make hitting a live target like that.gun):rolleyes:

Steve
 
You must have a ouji board, or crystal ball:Dgun).

It's been good to me overall, but the couple of electronics issues have kicked my butt, trying to find what if anything is wrong.
 
That's how I knew. Seems fairly common. One of my employees bought his first GM and within a week the ecu was gone. He's really sceptical now but I told him it's gonna be fine now.
 
Mine has a permanent check engine light. It finally wouldn't go anymore, so back to the shop. Picked it up a little bit a go. Very proud mechanic, hah I finally cleared all the codes and lights on this thing. I start the truck, and bring him back to show him the light he's fought for sometime is back. LMAO! Truck runs great it just thinks it's sick.
 
Anyway-1-11" is what I come up with of all things. The importance of verifying things first hand re-learned.

I've got a 10-twist Lilja that is actually 10.55", best I could measure it. I measured two revolutions and divided the length by 2 several times. All my other barrels checked out, but the Lilja 300 Win Mag barrel is off by 5%.

Button-rifled barrels evidently aren't manufactured to twist rates as exactly as cut-rifled barrels.
 
I've got a 10-twist Lilja that is actually 10.55", best I could measure it. I measured two revolutions and divided the length by 2 several times. All my other barrels checked out, but the Lilja 300 Win Mag barrel is off by 5%.

Button-rifled barrels evidently aren't manufactured to twist rates as exactly as cut-rifled barrels.

From what I understand the button rifled barrels can vary give or take depending on the rate of speed the button was pulled through the barrel. I just received my new Lilja 9" twist .338. Maybe I should check it before I have it fitted to the action. I would be sooooo disappointed if it were slower.

Steve
 
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