I bet it would shoot the 88s just fine.

Yes.

1:8 is not a problem.

This is your bullet - https://hammerbullets.com/product/224-cal-068gr-hammer-hht/

You’ll be amazed at the terminal performance and you don’t have to worry about them blowing up on close shoulder shots.

77gr barnes lrx. or the 70gr tsx if u need a lighter bullet

It is 1:8 twist and it would not shoot 85 or 88 grain. That’s what shot in it and it was all over the paper. They called Horizon Arms and they told them to stay below 80 grain. It shoots the 75 gr less than 1/2”. I’m going to try some 70 and 73 gr Hammer’s

Make sure you read the min twist requirements on Hammers website. Those 73 gr bullets won’t work in a 1:8 twist. Horizon’s advice was most likely pertaining to cup & core bullets. Mono bullets are less dense and longer than lead bullets of the same weight.

Hammers like to be pushed fast. I’m pushing 57gr HHT 3340 from a 22” barrel 223.

With hammers is best to drop down in weight compared to a lead bullet. The faster you push the hammers the better they work.

They have 68 grain tipped bullet, maybe that would be a good round

Yes! That’s the one I linked in my initial post above.

I’ve killed LOTS of deer with a .17 HMR, so yes I’d hunt deer with the .22 CM

I wouldn't hunt anything with any Hornady ELD-X bullets much less match bullets

1:8 is perfectly fine with 75gr eld -m and 77gr otm from Berger. That’s plenty of stability at 3200fps.

You don’t need. 7 twist for those bullets.

I’ve never been able to get hammer bullets to shoot as accurately as jacketed bullets. They’re just a different breed, very long for weight because it’s monocore. They need a faster test but also some unique loading processes (like crimping bullets which is unusual for bolt gun loads).

Your Hammer experience doesn’t mirror mine. I’ve found them to be super easy to load accurately and I’ve never crimped them. I’m running the exact same load in 2 rifles and both shoot 0.5 MOA.

Here’s how my hammers shoot- http://www.aldeer.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=4221022#Post4221022

I’m with you 1bamashooter, not much on ELD-M bullets at all. That’s why I’m looking into something else.

I mean, I can sling a 3 round group at half-moa but not every time with the hammer hunters I tried (22 cal and 6.5mm). I just feel like for me, traditional jacketed bullets are normally better performers and easier to tune.