Bullets For The 35 Whelen

[jwp475]

With bullets being difficult to come by and Hammer bullets being readily available I order 100 to try out.
They are beautifully made

 

[F. Vaccaro]

Don't overlook .357 pistol bullets for reduced velocity practice/varmints.

 

[sgt_zim]

the one thing you gotta verify before buying Hammer bullets is your twist rate. The heaviest Hammer bullet I could stabilize in my 280 AI is 141 grain.

 

[jwp475]

the one thing you gotta verify before buying Hammer bullets is your twist rate. The heaviest Hammer bullet I could stabilize in my 280 AI is 141 grain.

I don't think that I'll have a problem stabilizing any 35 caliber bullet since my Whelen is a 10 twist

 

[CoElkHunter]

the one thing you gotta verify before buying Hammer bullets is your twist rate. The heaviest Hammer bullet I could stabilize in my 280 AI is 141 grain.

I saw the twist rate emphasized on their website. Is this different than a Barnes or similar all copper bullet?

 

[jwp475]

the one thing you gotta verify before buying Hammer bullets is your twist rate. The heaviest Hammer bullet I could stabilize in my 280 AI is 141 grain.

We're they effective on game?

 

[sgt_zim]

I saw the twist rate emphasized on their website. Is this different than a Barnes or similar all copper bullet?

As far as I can tell, they're pretty unique.

 

[jwp475]

They are sleek looking bullets they should hold their velocity well at distance

 

[Shootist43]

jwp475. what are you thinking of for a "load." Did / does Hammer offer any suggestions?

 

[jwp475]

jwp475. what are you thinking of for a "load." Did / does Hammer offer any suggestions?

I'm loading 66 grains of CFE223. The same as I load behind the 225 Accubond

 

[TwoTracks]

I loaded and shot the hammers last fall. Super fast and easy to find an accurate load. We shot 2 animals with Barnes and 3 with Hammers. I’ll continue to use the hammers. Best performance I’ve had with a solid copper bullet, and probably the most accurate bullet regardless of design. I am a big fan.

 

[sgt_zim]

jwp475. what are you thinking of for a "load." Did / does Hammer offer any suggestions?

I contacted them directly about this. My thought was that these would be loaded much like Barnes. He told me to use Nosler data.

If I can't find a good load for my 280 AI between A Frame 160 and Oryx 156, Hammer will be what I try next.

131 gr is my best option for Hammer. Unfortunately, Nosler doesn't have a 125 or 130 gr in 284, but based on the 140 gr load data, I'm pretty sure I could get north of 3200 fps with those.

 

[jwp475]

Power Pro Varmint turned out to be the powder for these 220 Hammer bullets.

 

[jwp475]

Power Pro Varmint turned out to be the powder for these 220 Hammer bullets.
Group at 200 yards

 

[Shootist43]

Holy sh** Batman, based on this I may have to look into getting some of those Hammer bullets.

Bob, this a "smoking" load, velocity beats mine by a bunch. There is one caveat however, that is what "pressure" is being developed by this load? QuickLoad doesn't have Power Pro Varment in its data base. It does however have CFE 223. The 66 gr. load as mentioned above pushing a 225 Gr Accubond was ONLY 20,000 PSI above the PMax listed for the Whelen.

 

[jwp475]

Holy sh** Batman, based on this I may have to look into getting some of those Hammer bullets.

Bob, this a "smoking" load, velocity beats mine by a bunch. There is one caveat however, that is what "pressure" is being developed by this load? QuickLoad doesn't have Power Pro Varment in its data base. It does however have CFE 223. The 66 gr. load as mentioned above pushing a 225 Gr Accubond was ONLY 20,000 PSI above the PMax listed for the Whelen.

One of the owners of Hammer Bullets told me that he didn't think that 66 grains of CFE223 would get this bullet up to pressure. So I never shot the CFE223 load.
Does Quick Load take into account that Whelens have fairly long throats?

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I don't think that I'll have a problem stabilizing any 35 caliber bullet since my Whelen is a 10 twist

@jwp475
Man that us a fast twist I thought the fastest they made wasxa 1 in 12 twist

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Power Pro Varmint turned out to be the powder for these 220 Hammer bullets.

View attachment 430364View attachment 430365View attachment 430366

@jwp475
Holy snappin duckshit batman thats motoring. It even wave good bye to the 338 on the way past. That's what I get out of my Woodleigh 225s with 64gn cfe223.
The bullet looks a lot like our atomic 29
Bob

Atomic 29 flanked by left Woodleigh 225gn RNSP and on the right a 275gn PPSP and a 310gn RNSP Woodleigh

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Holy sh** Batman, based on this I may have to look into getting some of those Hammer bullets.

Bob, this a "smoking" load, velocity beats mine by a bunch. There is one caveat however, that is what "pressure" is being developed by this load? QuickLoad doesn't have Power Pro Varment in its data base. It does however have CFE 223. The 66 gr. load as mentioned above pushing a 225 Gr Accubond was ONLY 20,000 PSI above the PMax listed for the Whelen.

@Shootist43
Art that's close to the same speed I get with my 225gn Woodleigh PPSPs. Mine average 2,950fps.
I've got some 220gn Atomic 29s that appear to be similar to the hammer that I'm looking forward to playing with along either the others in the photo.
Bob

 

[Trogon]

There's a good amount of info on the Hammer Bullet line on the Long Range Hunting forum, posted load data and field experience worth checking out.