Range Tested: Federal Premium HammerDown Ammunition

by
posted on September 25, 2020
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
There are few things more important to a hunter than what sort of ammunition is taken into the field. From what runs best in a particular gun, to ballistic characteristics, to terminal performance, everything plays a factor in the final decision. For a while, lever-action hunters have had to deal with a few compromises, due to their preferred firearm's unique loading system. They are forced to no longer. With the introduction of HammerDown ammunition, by Federal Premium, lever-action hunters have a cartridge designed specifically to maximize their effectiveness in the field.

Federal HammerDown .45-70 Gov't

A line targeted at the full spectrum of lever-action aficionados, HammerDown includes not just traditional rifle calibers, like .45-70 Gov't. and .30-30 Win., but also pistol calibers, like .327 Mag., .357 Mag., .44 Mag. and .45 Colt. To design these cartridges, Federal teamed up with the lever-gun experts over at Henry Repeating arms, to determine the characteristics needed to make a cartridge load, feed and shoot reliably every time.

Federal HammerDown .44 Magnum

Cases are nickel plated to resist corrosion, and have had their case rims chamfered to reduce snags in loading and feeding; bullets are either molecularly bonded soft-points or hollow-points, depending on caliber. These feature reliable expansion and near-total weight retention, for deep and devastating wound channels. While loads for the available rifle calibers tend toward the traditional, HammerDown pistol calibers have been loaded to optimize performance out of a rifle. This means an increase in velocity of 400-to 600-fps, thanks to the longer barrel. Further, heavy-for-caliber bullet weights are used to more efficiently increase terminal performance at these velocities.

Federal Hammerdown Rifle Trio

For more on how these cartridges fared at the range, join Executive Editor Jon Draper in this exclusive video, and for more on the HammerDown line, check out federalpremium.com.

Latest

Dont Look Around The Smoke Follow Through And Keep Your Stockweld Secure
Dont Look Around The Smoke Follow Through And Keep Your Stockweld Secure

3 Muzzleloader Mishaps to Avoid

Your smokepole sights are hovering over the vitals of an elk or deer, and you touch off the trigger. But did you make one of these mistakes? Let’s take a look through some things that can go wrong, before they ever do.

Submit Your Member's Best Hunt Entries NOW

Now hear this, NRA American Hunter readers: this is a call for entries for American Hunter’s “2027 Members’ Best” feature story to run next year in our combined June/July print issue.

Kent Cartridge Recall of Certain Shotshell Ammunition

Kent Cartridge is recalling specific lots of select 12-gauge and 20-gauge shotshell ammunition due to the potential for excessive chamber pressure when fired. The issue is limited to the product code and lot number combinations identified below.

#SundayGunday: Benelli Ethos Cordoba

On this week's #we’reSundayGunday, we are checking out the Ethos Cordoba A.I. BE.S.T. shotgun, a hunt-focused model of Benelli’s competition-driven semi-automatic. Learn more about it on this exclusive video.

Trump Wants to Make the Outdoors Safe Again

President Trump is attempting to reduce mosquito and tick-carried diseases, including the alpha-gal syndrome (AGS), a tick-carried molecule linked to a potentially serious human allergy to red meat and other mammalian products. (AGS is primarily transmitted from bites from the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum) in the U.S.)

Elk Tactics: It’s Not All About the Bugles

It’s hard not to return the bugle of a bull in the wild. But the author is convinced tactics he uses with calling help seal the deal on public land.

Interests



Get the best of American Hunter delivered to your inbox.