clarence hammonds

[thekriebles]

The rumor is INCORRECT. Clarence is still open for business and his eyesight is fine. I recently corresponded with him. He even said a few years back that there was a rumor he had died.

He and his wife, Linda, are well. They have stopped making custom bullets, but he's still providing his professional services.


Don

 

[stever88]

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.

Just spoke with Mr. Hammonds and he reports that he is still active and very much alive!

 

[Piney]

I had the good fortune to run across Clarence Hammonds while attending college in Johnson City, TN. (He is originally from Gate City, VA ). I knew a couple of guys he grew up with, who invited me to my first bench rest shoot where Clarence & Jim Carmichael were among the competitors. I brought along my copy of Jim's "book of the rifle" & visited with him for over an hour. He told me about the 260 panther design & said Remington was buying the patent...the following year the .260 Rem hit the scene....
He was shooting one of Clarence's rifles (6 ppc) that day & I got to fire a bench rest rifle for the first time. I was hooked. That day was the start of my accuracy bug & the ensuing rabbit hole...1995 as I recall.
I had Clarence build a .270 on a Rem 700 action & hart barrel. That gun still shoots almost everything I put in it under .5 MOA & some well under that.
I've shot 3 other rifles he built & they are all tack drivers. The man is old school & a class act...he's forgotten more than most of us know.

 

[nakneker]

This seems to be the same Gentleman listed in the gunsmith section on this site, Hammonds Rifles. The cost for his basic hunting rifle is more than reasonable given the background this post sheds light on. Good to know.

Im thinking his pricelist may be out of date on his website.

 

[Rflshootr]

Is Clarence still with us? Did someone take over his business? I remember years back, he had someone working with him before he retired.

 

[Uthink Uknow]

A new record? This thread is eleven years and one month old.

 

[PhilC]

A new record? This thread is eleven years and one month old.

This one beat it by a month.

 

[rkittine]

I have a 6PPC that Clarence Built and love it. Bob White still has his shop in his basement along with his store and has done great work for me too.

 

[thekriebles]

Is Clarence still with us? Did someone take over his business? I remember years back, he had someone working with him before he retired.

Clarence posted a Merry Christmas via his Facebook page on Christmas eve.

 

[FNSafari]

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.

Eddie,
you are right about that. Was sorry to see him leave and take up trap, but if thats what he likes so be it. Take care, say hellow to Sarah.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Eddie,
you are right about that. Was sorry to see him leave and take up trap, but if thats what he likes so be it. Take care, say hellow to Sarah.

Tell eddie to come around more often. Its been years since hes been around

 

[300 win mag]

nice to hear clarence continued his work for many years and as of this thread still kicking.he built me a sporter rifle in 2001 in 257 bee.when i went to pick it up i already had done my research on clarence and knew of his ablities.when i knocked on the basement door he was there in about 10 seconds,he said you must be bob which i replied yes.well when i walked in i was a tiny bit concerned as we spoke and looked at his lathe and other equipment.i joked and asked clarence will she shoot,he said bob if you start with the loads i recommended it will.if it doesny bring it back and we will go to the range and i will show you it shoots.i laughed as we taliked and then he threw a a tube or spray of some kind and use it when breaking in the barrel.graphite compound i believe he recommended.anyway it shot very well with many bugholes.used to other guys for some builds from back then.clay spencer a perfectionist to say the least,mike bryant in texas as honest a man as you could find.another man who a few of you might know who was refered by as col billy stevens.all rifles by these benchrest builders were phenominal.always assumed dusty was a son or nephew,if dusty sees it i would like to know,as it appears he followed the family footsteps.

 

[300 win mag]

sorry for spelling issues,keyboard needs replacement.

 

[ELR LVR]

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.

He knows what he's doing and gives much attention to visual detail as well as the funtionality of whatever he is working on.
One of the best out there in my opinion
You made a good choice!

 

[JEFFPPC]

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

You mean disappointing like your post.

 

[kerjo]

He was my teacher at the first IBS Benchrest school in Canastota in 1999. I couldn't have asked for a better teacher. Such a wealth of knowledge! Then he built me my first BR rifle, When I went to pick it up he shortened the learning curve on reloading the 6PPC considerably.

 

[JPB3]

Clarence also built a couple of BR rifles for me early on.. They were very nice, both accurate and as pretty as they could be.

Pat B