Umarex hammer vs Benjamin bulldog

I never had the bulldog but I can say that my Hammer is an absolute pleasure to shoot, it hits hard, it hits fast and it is LOUD. The gun is an absolute riot. 

Well, you are comparing a .357 @ 150-180 FPE to a .50 in the 500 + FPE range



Quite a swing there,...why these two ? any particular reason ?

much more big bores out there.

I think spirit of that question was that it’s hard to give advice about which one to get when they are two totally different guns in terms of power and caliber. If you actually want some advice from people maybe you can share a little bit about what your goal is and they can say which of those guns would be better.


what are you looking for? Any big bore under $1000? Is there some reason why you’re specifically looking at the bulldog and the hammer?



knowing nothing about your goals here is my advice. If you want something that’s really powerful that uses up a lot of air you know which one to get. If you want one that is less powerful and uses less air and shoots smaller slugs, then you should get the bulldog. 

Should I of listed every one?

These are the two im looking at.

If you have a better choice under 1000 tell me.

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A ton of Big bores under a grand,.....what caliber you really want ? because you can go from .30 to .72 really and there's a ton of difference between those, ...what power range you looking to have ?

what do you want a big bore for, Hunting ?

if so you plan to hunt what is you range of quarry ?

are you more of a brain shooter or a main vitals shooter ?

If not hunting you just planning to target shoot and plink ?



A more narrowed down set of wants needs would go a long way towards giving any kind of advice  

Just from the classified here a little example of a powerhouse well under a grand



https://www.airgunnation.com/topic/wts-aea-challenger-357-6/?referrer=1

its not really the same thing ... a giant 50 is going to be 2 shots a fill probably, use expensive ammo and be alot more cumbersome, but also alot more lethal .. depends what your doing .. if your riding around in a truck on a farm chasing hogs, or stationary in a blind after BIG stuff a 50 will work for you ... otherwise, if your on foot and hiking around for 'medium' stuff like hogs or smaller deer or anything else smaller, the bulldog is gonna be better ... i could use both, the benji is my choice of the two to start with though ... both could use mods to make them quieter for certain situations, and thats a good chunk of change to ....

I really like my bulldog but my aea challenger is right up with it in price performance and quality. For the price of the hammer I'd buy a texan blem from airforce directly. I feel for pure power the texan with a maddog stock is hard to beat. I am a fan of the texan for power for the dollar. Not much can go wrong once you've done your first bottle dump and learned what not to do. Trust me its quick learning when that bottle goes.

I wholeheartedly agree with Mike. You can't go wrong with a Texan. In all honestly, gun makers in the 1k price range are trying to make something that compares to the Texan's versatility (multiple calibers/lengths/suppression options), power, and accuracy but none have achieved it.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Eat mutton, 10,000 coyotes can't be wrong. Use whatever analogy you want, but the Texan has been and still is the leader in big bore. Period. Yes, there are other big bore makers/guns that are nice (I even own one) and affordable, but unless you drop big money nothing is going to shoot as good (accuracy/distance/power) as the Texan. Reliability, durability, proven design, and factory warranty/service. What's not to like? I'll grant that the Bulldog is very ergonomic and easy to carry in the field, but I can't reconcile giving up the power and accuracy of the Texan.

just yesterday, i received a new Hammer from PA.

i shot it 15 times this afternoon and refilled back to 4500psi after each shot.

my hunting distance is max.....35yrds.

nsa 388gr slugs @ 835fps = 600fpe

i've owned 2 texans, one .45 SS 2 years ago and since, a .45 standard version.

i took many deer with both and now i'm playing with the hammer.....

power is not that much better with the texan vs the length, which is my main reason for trying the hammer.

i hunt with my grandson's in shooting houses and ground blinds.

they hunt with PB's and i'm just there for the watching.....

but-----you snooze you loose !!!!

i think the hammer has potential for a good hunter for me and my area.

time will tell and PA has a great return policy.

I would add the AEA lineup of big bores to your comparison. I would rather have a .45 or .50 challenger bullpup than a hammer, and I MIGHT rather have a .30 or .35 challenger bullpup over a bulldog. Nothing against the bulldog. I've come close to buying one before. I have a .35 aea terminator which I like for its upgraded air capacity and semiautomatic capability. Downside is that they can only shoot one kind of slug well, so it's either that one kind or shoot pellets



I'd choose the AEA over the hammer because they dont need as much pressure, which means more shots at the range before my tank gets too low. they have 6 shot magazines rather than just 2, and enough air for 6 good shots rather than just 3. Only other big bores I know of with such capacity are the AAA slayers and they're super expensive. .50 challengers make roughly 200 FPE less energy than the hammer, but if you're comparing to a bulldog, I doubt energy is the primary consideration. They cant fit large slugs in the magazine as the hammer can, but can single load some large ones. They are heavy AF though, and they're not regulated, unlike the hammer. I've heard of reliability issues with the hammer but maybe they've gotten better since I last looked into it.

I agree with the others who said more info about your intended use would help us make suggestions. Hammer and bulldog are very different animals. We're talking like the difference between .32 caliber pistol and long barrel .357 magnum carbine levels of power here.

Definitely heard a lot of bad reports on the Hammer, even from someone that was just at the EBR and said the Hammer was the only gun displaying problems on the line,.....But, I never had one so I can't really tell for sure.

A Bulldog got 2nd place in the modified Bigbore. Hammer was there and I watched it shoot. I did not hear much steel ringing, but my ears were ringing from the muzzle report. 

does the hammer have accuracy problems, or other things ?

does the hammer have accuracy problems, or other things ?

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Ive not had any issues with accuracy so far out to 75 yds. Not with the hammer anyway, I fired a group of manufacturers slugs and they were not sized very well.... Mr HP ammo was dead nuts every time. 

Definitely heard a lot of bad reports on the Hammer, even from someone that was just at the EBR and said the Hammer was the only gun displaying problems on the line,.....But, I never had one so I can't really tell for sure.

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Ive not had any issues with mine but ive only fired about 125 rounds through it. I find it to be a complete pleasure to shoot. Not saying anything isnt better because thats just not true, but I do thoroughly enjoy my hammer.

Kevo, i asked them questions so i could keep an eye out for the problem area's.

i've had my hammer about 2 weeks and like you said, its a joy to shoot and mine is very accurate and consistent. 

holds air perfect and does 600fpe with NSA 388gr .510 slugs.

going to be a perfect deer hunting machine !!

here ya go.......

30yrds

50yrds

Kevo, i asked them questions so i could keep an eye out for the problem area's.

i've had my hammer about 2 weeks and like you said, its a joy to shoot and mine is very accurate and consistent. 

holds air perfect and does 600fpe with NSA 388gr .510 slugs.

going to be a perfect deer hunting machine !!

here ya go.......

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The only ammunition I havent tried that I bought was NSA!! both manufacturers I tried sunday , had me ready to throw my hammer down the lane. Groupings look great!