clarence hammonds

[chevytruck_83]

Just wanted to put this post to reassure anyone thinking about having Clarence Hammond's do work on their rifle. I read some reviews and found out about this gentleman on various sites so I decided to have him do some work on my 700 for target shooting. Ill admit. I was skeptical when I got there and saw he runs his shop out of his basement. Make no mistake about it. Mr Hammond's is very good at his craft and was more then willing to share his knowledge. After explaining what I was looking to have done he basically told me I was going about it wrong and what I really needed to do. Long story short I ended up buying one of his personal guns in 6ppc which is well used but rebarreled. It wasn't exactly what i had mind but I felt like I owed him for sharing his knowledge. End result is the gun shoots amazing. .5 at 200 easy. That's with wind and me a novice shooter. I left his shop with knowledge and techniques that buying a gun somewhere else alone would have taken years to aquire. Thanks Mr Hammond's.

 

[gunsandgunsmithing]

He does good work and I'm sure you have a great gun. Most of us, in this line of work are much smaller in scale than some nice website make things look. A shop doesn't have to be a big one to produce great work, and it doesn't have to be located in the high rent, high traffic part of town. My trip to work every day is about 40 yards from my back door. I like it like that, and being in the country, I can test my work before it goes home simply by opening the back door and shooting it out to 500 yards. If there's a problem I want to know it before I ship it to my customer. After 10 years of it now, I can count my comebacks on one hand. I bet Clarence is the same way.--Mike Ezell

 

[MrMajestic]

My 700 SA .243AI was Hammond built. Most accurate rifle I have ever fired.

 

[artbosco]

Just wanted to put this post to reassure anyone thinking about having Clarence Hammond's do work on their rifle. I read some reviews and found out about this gentleman on various sites so I decided to have him do some work on my 700 for target shooting. Ill admit. I was skeptical when I got there and saw he runs his shop out of his basement. Make no mistake about it. Mr Hammond's is very good at his craft and was more then willing to share his knowledge.

And he shoots exceptionally well too!

NBRSA World Records as of 9/1/2010

Grand Aggregates 5-5(100+200)

Unlimited .1496 Bill Forrester 8/12/1989

Heavy Varmint .1773 Clarence Hammonds 7/02/1995

Light Varmint .1719 Tony Boyer 9/25/2009

Sporter .1886 Jack Neary 9/24/2009

Hunter 500-27X Lee Keller 9/12/1998

 

[Eddie Harren]

Outdoorsman, if you'd done a little more reading, you would have been able to report that Clarence was the first shooter to shoot 24X's at 100 yds. in a score match. He did it on bench 1 at York IWLA. For the next 2 years you couldn't get there early enough to get that bench.

 

[chevytruck_83]

There is definitly a nice one on one feel that i got at his shop that i would imagine i wouldnt have got from a larger shop with more employees and a larger overhead. Before leaving He even said give me a call and we will shoot sometime. If you dont think the gun shoots let me know and i will show you it will. Not that there was ever any doubt.

 

[expiper]

clarence hammonds--yepp...he's still got it!!!

Its good to hear Clearance is still doing work and shootin a lil....I havent shot with or seen him for 10 yrs or so....It s interesting to see somone with his decades of experience and shooting skills and world records being discoverd/authenticated in our modern times..ahhaha.....he is somone who pioneerd what we take for granted today.....say hi to him if you ever go back...Roger

 

[chevytruck_83]

I def plan on going back. He actually makes a custom bore guide which uses o rings to seal the solvent out of the chamber which I would like to get. Will he know u by roger

 

[artbosco]

Clarence was the first shooter to shoot 24X's at 100 yds. in a score match.

That's disappointing. When did he finally shoot 25? And, who was the first to shoot 23?

 

[Eddie Harren]

Why is it dissapointing?
I don't think he ever did.
I have no idea. Look it up.

 

[Chuckhunter]

The first person to shoot 25X's was my brother-in law, Dennis Collins and it was done with a 6PPC. Shot in L.V. in 1995 and again with H.V. in 1996. Both records have been retired since they were shot before the use of W.O.'s as an official scoring method. I used to enjoy seeing Clarence when we would make our trek to the York,PA. range, back in the early 80's.. Clarence was just getting started then but his work was always first rate and Clarence is old school, if he knows the answer to a question, you will to, no secrets with Clarence. Glad to hear He's still going strong.

 

[Eddie Harren]

To the best of my knowledge, Dennis is still the only guy to shoot 25X's with both light and heavy varmint. He is one of the true gentlemen of the sport.

 

[chino1969]

I've used Clarence's skills and expertise for years and will continue to do so. Many fine shooting rifles have come out of that man's shop, don't let the size fool you. His work is second to none and he's full of knowledge.

 

[artbosco]

Why is it disappointing?

Because you always wish the best for a nice person. I spoke to Mr. Hammonds a few years ago when trying to get a rifle re-barreled for an up and coming match and he was willing accommodate a tight deadline. Most folks wish the best for someone like that. I wish that the shooting gods would have granted him the 25th X on the day that he shot 24.

 

[mikado463]

My 700 SA .243AI was Hammond built. Most accurate rifle I have ever fired.

He did the same for me in the winter of '99, best damn varmint rig I've ever owned.

Does anyone know how Clarence is these days ?

 

[Dusty Stevens]

anybody thats been around benchrest for years know hammonds. he is a pillar of the modern day benchrest techniques and one of the nicest guys and best gunsmiths of all time. I have a few articles he wrote in magazines way back and they still are valid today to chamber a winning barrel. the same techniques are used by the top of the equipment list gunsmiths this very day. you still see railguns and tools he made years ago at matches. glad to see when people discover one of those hidden gunsmith masters and bring them to light. too many people go with the fancy website and advertising guy these days when in all reality clarence probably chambers more barrels every year than those new guys do in 10 if they make it that long!!

 

[tenring]

Yesterday, a fellow shooter told me Clarence has retired completely due to poor eyesight. He no longer does gunsmithing or bullet making. I still have a bunch of his 65 grainers.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

He made great dies. Im lucky enough to have several including the best ppc SB die ive ever seen.

 

[kerjo]

Sorry to hear that Clarence has retired. He made my first BR rifle in the late 90's and it was a shooter. He was also my teacher at the first I.B.S. BR school in 1999 at Canastota. I learned more from him in 3 days than I had in the past 30 years. He was always willing to share his knowledge with you.

 

[stacy]

HE BE THE MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!