How have the Hammer brand bullets been doing on plains game?

How have the Hammer bullets been performing on African plains game? I have a new Weatherby rifle coming from their custom shop, due to arrive this week. I had it chambered for the old 7mm Wby mag cartridge. I have some factory ammo ready but will probably handload for it.

I have been trying the lathe turned hammer bullets in some other rifles and they shoot very well. I shot one deer with a .257 Wby with a 92 gr Hammer going 3,700 fps. The bullet did as advertised.

I'm considering Hammer, Barnes and Swift bullets for this new rifle.

Thanks,
TD

There is another forum where they have been discussed a lot. The general feeling I get is they are good but that there are some other choices that might be better. Seems like there was a thread here on AH a few months ago. Did you try a search?
Bruce

Gday TD
Great advice above from @gillettehunter

My advice is also do you research well & don’t look @ just the good as when it goes pear shape you’ll most likely wish you had of researched a little more but depends also if your all cool with just a dead critter or like them consistently dead quick ( defining those 2 subjects is often met with a little passion lol )

This research is not only from other hunters as the company itself gives us the insight into how they look @ things along with the way the projectile ( bullet to some of you guys or as I often do shorten it to pill ) is designed to work & here is where one can sort through a lot of BS but where we also as a individual might not know as our personal experience in that field varies & could be very knowledgeable, limited to none & hence I see your asking which is great start . but when you see the words on some of the companies descriptions on their pills I highly suggest one takes a breath analyse those words combine with a little research which will show a more consistent result in the field & what is better suited which may be either another style or brand altogether

I like to cover bases in the field & use many different brands as no one brand is the best for everything ( the good /best is another great topic hmm for another day I’d suggest lol ) as a lot of different resistances occur & on a base of brands used on the whole hammer is down the list of what I accept today & will use for the situation ahead of me
For you they maybe fine ??? That I just don’t know & why a little research will most likely be beneficial imo

Cheers

They're monolithics and they'll share properties with Barnes TSX, TTSX, and similar. In other words, they like to be pushed fast, they usually exit, and animals often go a little ways before they're done. The hammers will probably shed petals a bit easier and might be a touch more consistent when it comes to dimensions and manufacturing tolerances.

Swift A-frames have a little different philosophy. They're basically a sturdier Partition, a tried and true bullet offering an excellent compromise of expansion and penetration in a variety of angles and conditions.

All monolithics are less dense than lead bullets, which means longer bullets for the same weight. This might eat up some of your case capacity. This is no big deal in voluminous cases like the .416 Rigby, but potentially a bigger issue in the .458 Win.

I have not taken any to Africa, so i can only report my experiences here.

.22-250, 8 twist, 70gr hammer hunter loaded about 3,400fps. killed multiple SC whitetails from 50-238 yards. all shots in the chest/vitals and broadside. average distance traveled after the shot is about 40 yards with one dropping instantly from a behind the shoulder shot, those are rare to me.

7mm Rem mag, 8 twist, 169gr hammer hunter at just over 3k fps. mule deer mostly head on at about 40 yards, entrance point of shoulder, exit back of the ribs, he made it a few steps. Cow elk, 302 yards, high shoulder/spine, could put a fist in the exit once the skin was off. 0 steps

6.5 creedmoor, 8 twist, 124 hammer hunter at 2,950 fps. several whitetails, 100-200 yards, they usually go 20 yards or so if anywhere.

i like the hammers, i plan on taking them after moose in alberta in november in my .340wby. gotta work up a load first, trying out the 235 HHs at present.

They are fast and seem to like to be pushed. generally i find the hunters easy to find a good load for, the absolutes are really fast but a little more finicky, so i just stick to the HHs. I have not gotten the newer tipped ones yet.

They are designed to shed 4 petals. 70% weight retention of the shank, but the shank will be basically bore diameter since the petals shed and do not fold like a barnes. I have yet to recover a shank, but have found a few petals, especially with the .22-250. in deer i usually see about a 4" spread of the little petal holes with the shank in the middle, in the offside ribs. they shoot really well, i like the design.

i also love swift bullets, can't really go wrong with either. i load a-frames for my pops in his 7RUM, and we have killed i dont know how many deer combined with sciroccos.

Took Hammer bullets to Namibia, 195 gr in 300PRC, with great success. Kudu, warthog, waterbuck and giraffe. All one shot kills.

I shot the 180 hammers out of a 7LRM for plains game in 2022, I was not happy with the performance, I believe the issues I saw were due to shooting the wrong bullet for the situation. Most of my shots were close range with a setup designed for long range shooting. I did not lose any animals due to bullet performance, but extensive tracking jobs were required where bullet placement was not an issue.

Not African plains game, but I just took a coastal brown bear using a 270 grain Stone Hammer at 2680 fps out of my 375 H&H. It was a frontal shot at only about 40 yards. He went about 20 yards and crumpled.