I don't have my drilling specs in front of me and I had this ball drilled by a ball supplier from the internet. I can email my specs if you are really interested. The pin was right on my ring finger and I don't think the ball was drilled for a very strong reaction. I'm lefty and loft the ball quite a bit so I usually try to find equipment that will get started early. I read a review on this ball in BTM and based on that I bought it. It's bright red and someone asked me if I had pulled an old ball out of my closet. They had mistaken it for the old red Hammer. But it rolls much nicer and and hits very well. I kept the ball in out of box surface condition and threw my first 3 games with it last night on a fresh league shot. 246, 237, 247 for a 730 series. In my opinion this is the best particle ball that Faball has put out so far. It does get started early but still has some good backend reaction. I can overpower the shot and make it go straight if I throw it too hard but as long as I keep my ball speed down it works very well. My only concern is on how long the hook will last. My experience with at least a dozen different particle balls is that almost all of them will hook great out of the box but tame down quite a bit over time. I think Faball has a winner here and they can finally compete favorably with some of the other ball manufacturers. This ball is reasonably priced as well.

Took my Wheel up to 1000 grit sandpaper finish, just to try and clear the heads a bit cleaner but not change the backend reaction. I drilled it like the directions said, with the pin no more than 4 inches away (mine was at 4), and kept the CG 5 inches away, which placed my Mass Bias slightly to the left of my thumb. No Extra hole needed on this ball. Used the ball so far on a fairly wetdry condition with some carrydown. The ball gave me quite a bit of area allowing both errors to the right and left to get to the pocket. Overall my carry was pretty good, although the ball appeared to not hit very hard. The pins stayed low to the pin deck and carried almost everything. Left the usual ringing tens but that can be expected with any ball. I want to try this ball with a flatter lane condition and see what type of read I get on the lane. But for what i have seen this ball will work on the average house condition with better than average results. The one thing that i really liked about the ball was that it gave a true predictable roll, something that too many balls just don't do.

16 lbs 1 ounce before drilling, 2 5/8 ounces top weight, pin 3 1/2 inches out.
Drilled 3 3/8 x 3 3/8 stacked leverage.
Extra balance hole on the VAL 2 3/4 inches from the PAP to add some extra flare.
Balance hole 7/8 inch diameter, 2 inches deep.
My PAP is 5 3/4 inches over and 3/4 inches up.
Ball speed 16-17 m.p.h., average revs...40 degrees axis tilt.
Ball left in box condition.

Ending static weights were 1/2 ounce side and 1/2 ounce finger weight.

Lane condition is crowned to 36 feet all wood lanes. fresh stripped back ends.
Not pure stripper but a 6-1 water to stripper mix always stripped before 1st
shift every night. Medium oil, crowned but still at least 3 units of oil outside the 7 boards each side.

For a low RG ball it clears the heads nicely and makes a nice strong arc to the pocket. Carry was very good. It seems on medium oil the Wheel will not leave as
many 8 and 9 pins because it is not skid flip and really does not over react
even swung to the drier boards out side the 7 board.

I'd compare the reaction of this ball to slightly less than a Rock On I had
drilled 4 x 4 with no balance hole required. After 2 sets so far I love this ball.  

I am 160 Avg. bowler. I drilled up a Hammer Wheel to company specs. First game was 233. Lots of hook, used a alley ball for the 10s. Ihave always been a straight player but that sure has changed. Now I have to learn to adjust to changing lane conditions. I sure love this ball.

   The Hammer Wheel is a low r.g. ball with a dynamic core configuration that has the potential to move your axis point.  We drilled a 16 lb Wheel with a pin out 3-4" and 2.7 ounces of top weight.  We placed the pin 4 1/2" from the p.a.p. and the c.g. 6" from the grip.  The extra hole was right on the c.g and the mb marker was placed about 1" past the v.a.l.  We sanded the ball with 400, 600 and 1000 grit paper and then polished the shell to a light gloss with Ebonite factory Finish.  The tester throws 17 mph and has between 19 and 21 revolutions, very little axis tilt and has about 45 to 60 degrees of axis rotation.  The lane conditions we tested the Wheel on were synthetics oiled with the Kegel Elite machine patterns one and two.  

   The first thing we noticed about the Wheel was it's even revving nature.  The ball comes off your hand rolling hard and never stops.  Due to that revving nature and the shell and drilling we used, we had a very even and predictable ball that was better thrown straighter down the boards.  Whenever we tried to swing the Wheel it didn't react well and in fact sometimes never turned the corner at all, even on dry back ends.  We attribute this to the drill pattern, you have to believe that this ball would really flip on dry back ends if it were drilled with more of a 12:00 pin-mb placement.  Having said that, when we were able to get lined up throwing the ball straighter up the track area (pattern #2) the ball was as good as anything else we had at the time.  Because the Wheel revs up so nicely, it drives through the pocket like only the most powerful balls can and that provides some impressive carry.  The shell of the wheel is fairly versatile and can therefore be polished and scuffed easily.  When polished, the Wheel skids slightly farther down the lane but again, due to the layout we used we still could not create a skid-flip reaction.  

   The downside to all of the above is that because our Wheel was better when thrown straighter, we were in the dryer part of the lane and length became a problem.  It clearly wasn't the best way to attack the condition.  When the shot is tighter, dry back ends or not, this ball is a great choice for all but those who turn the ball really well.  Our Wheel loved an oily track and it was then that it really showed it's stuff.  It skidded far enough to the break point, arced strongly and destroyed the rack time after time.

   Overall, we were very happy with the Wheel but unhappy with our choice of drilling pattern.  The people who will like this ball the most are league bowlers who like to play straighter down the track but who have trouble getting anything to react enough for them to carry.  If you are a Hammer fan who was disappointed with the Hammer 2001 balls, don't let that scare you away from trying this ball.  

   If you have any questions about this or any other review, e-mail us at: proshop@bowlero.com

This ball is absolutely the worst ball i have ever owned-this hammer wheel was drilled to hook.On a medium oil pattern this ball does not recover enough.  Leaves alot of ten pins and 4-9 splits.This ball does have a even arcing hook but no bite on the backend-very forgiving ball-good for a lower average bowler.  If i could get my money back i would.  In fact i e-mailed faball and told them exactly that.

Thinking I knew better than Fab I put the Pin at 5" when they reccommend no more than 3 3/8" from PAP.  Wound up with a very hard hitting ball that thumped over the finger holes.   I would say that pin carry is as good as any ball on the market.   Keeps pins low and mixes.   It is not by any imagination a heavy oil ball. Shined, Dry to medium.   Very impressive with hit and carry.   Just pay attention to drilling instructions on ball.   Pin no more than 3 3/8' from PAP.   This ball, with a little drilling research might have been the best  secret of the season.