Hammer Bullets – Hunter Tipped Copper Bullets

Hammer Bullets has been manufacturing all-copper hunting bullets for over 80 years in northwest Montana and is rapidly becoming a leader in uncompromising quality and performance with the Hunter bullet line. Hammer bullets are lathe-turned from solid copper bars to exact and very consistent specifications. These lathe-turned bullets are some of the most consistent bullets available on the market today and offer hunters a lead-free option with excellent terminal performance not always found in monolithic bullets.

The Hammer Hunter bullet design is a boat-tail hollow point projectile that looks very similar to many cup-and-core bullets often found loaded in hunting ammunition. The Hammer Hunter is designed for initial expansion through the hollow tip nose which is larger than most hollow point bullets. This system works well but was recently updated with a new polymer tip to help initiate expansion and also increase the BC or Ballistic Coefficient of the projectile. The new polymer tip also protects the meplat during loading or feeding, which in some open hollow point bullets can cause failure to expand when damaged. This combination will offer hunters better external ballistics in flight and terminal performance on game once the bullet arrives on target.

This fall, I was able to harvest several whitetail does and a mature buck with Hammer Hunter Tipped bullets in 7mm 145-grain and 30 cal. 203-grain hand-loaded ammunition. The performance was exceptional, with the copper petals shedding inside the chest cavity. This created massive trauma instantly on all three deer with broadside shots from 40 yards to 200 yards. None of the deer made it more than 25 yards before expiring. Quick, clean kills with zero meat loss is about as perfect as you can ask for performance-wise.

Hammer Hunters are designed to expand and shed the petals down to 1800 FPS muzzle velocity, which for most common hunting cartridges is 500-600 yards on average. Magnum cartridges like the 7 PRC and 300 PRC can maintain the minimum muzzle velocity to 700-800 yards, depending on load data. While Hammer currently only sells their bullets to the hand loader, Hammer bullets are found in loaded ammunition from Unknown Munitions, Weatherby, and Gunwerks just to name a few manufacturers.

With hunting season wrapping up, now is the time to start developing loads for our rifles, and Hammer Bullets should be high on your list for all-copper projectiles for next season. Many hunters today are hunting for meat, so save more meat for the freezer and keep it lead-free in the process. There is no reason to not incorporate lead-free bullets into your rifle this year for fear of poor performance. Monolithic copper bullets are going to be my bullets of choice for many seasons to come after seeing the performance of the new tipped Hammer Hunters. Find out more information and order bullets for hand-loading at Hammerbullets.com or email the Hammer bullet crew at info@hammerbullets.com and tell them Western Hunter Magazine sent you.