Addicting
Well-known member
I just resize without the ball and seated it deeper to catch all the rings. I also bought a Lee Factory crimp die. Jury is still out on that step, though.
Hammer bullets?
- Thread starter CasperOutdoorsman719
- Start date
I just resize without the ball and seated it deeper to catch all the rings. I also bought a Lee Factory crimp die. Jury is still out on that step, though.
Something not right. Great groups, but that isn't common to Hammers. mtmuley
I was asking myself the same questions regarding my 7mm-08. I told Steve what I wanted to hunt, he suggested the 131 hammers (actual weight is 134). Did my first load ladder per Steve's suggestions. Velocity started at 2900 and went to just above 3100. Found 2 nodes I'm going to test in the next batch.
Addicting
Well-known member
It was in my 260ai so the necks are a little shorter.
L
longbow51
Guest
I wonder if he will ever make enough to offer them in factory ammo? I know you can spend the price of a pretty nice scope to get load development and a hundred rounds, but it would be nice just to buy 20 rounds of ammo for the same price as other premium loads, e.g. Weatherby. Especially true given the seating problems noted above.
Right now Hammer is a two man operation. Loaded ammo is a big jump. mtmuley
L
longbow51
Guest
Figured.
antelopedundee
Well-known member
If you seat the bullets so the loaded round fits in the magazine there would be a mile of bullet jump in a Weatherby. I'd want to verify accuracy before buying a box or even offering them for sale. Thing is that they'd have to use someone else's brass. There is a place in Tejas offering 6.5-06 custom ammo but using Hornady 25-06 brass. Not something I would do.
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noharleyyet
Well-known member
Monthly Hammer threads not going away....
antelopedundee
Well-known member
If you size with no ball you can always let the bullet be the expander. You need to be careful so that you don't end up collapsing the shoulder, esp. with an AI case. I had a couple Nosler [and Winchester] 6.5-06AI case shoulders collapse when expanding up to .263.
Addicting
Well-known member
The Hammer Hunters I’ve used have such a generous boat tail that it works almost as a mandrel when seating. With other bullets I could see that being a issue. Thanks for the heads up, I hadn’t thought of that.
L
longbow51
Guest
I actually meant priced like Weatherby, just to clarify. Looks like we won't see this though.
antelopedundee
Well-known member
I have done that and even flat base have enough bevel that it's not an issue. If you use a Redding competition seater die they recommend against that practice.
VikingsGuy
Well-known member
If you are using Lee dies that may be the problem. I have had 2 or 3 Lee FL sizing dies slightly over-expand the neck enough to cause TTSX bullets to spin in place. In talking to customer support, they acknowledged this is a semi-common problem for their dies and mono bullets. I have moved away from Lees because of this.
VikingsGuy
Well-known member
Find a local friend who reloads, buy a box of 50 Hammers, load with the powder and charge on the lower side of Steve's recommendations and to standard SAMMI length, and give it a go. Won't have the tuned precision of full handloading process, but probably as good any other non-optimized factory.
ImBillT
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2018
- Messages
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I’ve never seen high neck tension help anything with jacketed lead bullets. Does Hammer recommend this?
Lee....whatever your problem, there’s your problem.
Lee....whatever your problem, there’s your problem.
MO Betta
Well-known member
Not to jump on a Lee hate bandwagon, but have you mic'd the expander ball to see if it is oversized?
VikingsGuy
Well-known member
It was on the first one - and a little out of round. I didn't bother measuring the others as a consistent failure mode. CS told me to round and make smaller with fine sand paper/emory cloth - I decided to switch the Redding instead.
Addicting
Well-known member
Steve recommended it to me, he said he runs .004-005 neck tension.
ImBillT
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- Oct 29, 2018
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There ya go. He likely knows what he’s talking about.
