The core in the Sting Ray was much larger than the old hammers. The hammers were good on short dry patterns. When the oil begins to make the ball carry down farther and miss the break point. The Ray will still keep making the turn. The rays get dirty. It's a given. Any light colored balls will show how much dust mixed with oil is on the track. If you get your hands on an old Burgundy hammer. Not the new burgundy. You'll see a big difference from the ol' black to burgundy. The burgundy has lot more pop in the back than the black. The original sanded blue hammer hooked on even the heaviest oil pattern.
So Blue Hammer vs Sting Ray. Blue hammer if it's short sprint horse race. Over a 4 game spread it's sting ray all day.
