Hammerli, a company relatively unknown in the United States but with a rich history of building competition-style arms, is making a big move in 2024 with the launch of its Force B1, a straight-pull, biathlon-style, .22 Long Rifle-chambered rifle with a few unique features that make it an attractive rimfire option.
For one, the Hammerli Force B1 is built with a unique, spring-loaded locking collar not unlike a quick-disconnect hose fitting that enables barrels to slip into and out of the action quickly and easily. This not only allows users to change out different barrel lengths and profiles, it also allows for easy caliber interchangeability, and the Force B1 launches initially with .22 Long Rifle and .22 WMR barrels.
Yet another nod to versatility and reliability is the use of nigh-industry-standard Ruger 10/22 rotary magazines for feeding. The magazine well is sized for use with .22 WMR-length rotary magazines, and Hammerli makes an adapter that slips onto the back of .22 LR rotary magazines to allow them to fit into the same space. Our test sample, chambered in .22 LR, came with a single rotary magazine with an installed spacer, along with an additional spare spacer for use on another rotary magazine.
Fairly uncommon in the commercial bolt-action rimfire world, the Hammerli Force B1 uses a biathlon-style bolt handle, which is a polymer extension that extends out and down from the articulating lever that allows the bolt to travel back and forth in the receiver. The design is elongated enough to allow for several fingers to grasp the handle, and it provides an easy, comfortable control for rapidly actuating the bolt.
Operating the bolt will take a little getting used to, as the lever locks into position at the forward end of travel, requiring a slight push to put the bolt fully into battery. There’s an audible click when this occurs, along with a tactile snap users will learn to rely on. A further clue as to the bolt’s status is a red dot on the top face of the articulating bolt lever. If the dot’s visible, the gun’s out of battery.
A nicely sized, bilateral magazine-release latch sits just forward of the trigger guard, and behind it is a traditionally located push-button safety. The Force B1 also makes use of a blade-in-shoe safety that requires a fully pressed trigger to fire the gun. The trigger itself is of the 10/22 pattern, meaning users can swap out triggers for their preferred 10/22-compatible aftermarket design, if they desire, though the factory trigger is actually quite nice.
One of the stand-out features of this affordable straight-pull rifle is the lightweight, adjustable, versatile stock. Several stock options will be available in the line, including wood-laminate models, but the basic model we’ve been testing has a well-appointed stock molded from black polymer. At the front end of the stock, the rifle has a generous section of M-Lok attachment points on the underside, along with pebble-style texturing on either side of the fore-end.
At the midpoint of the stock, there’s a pistol grip along with repeated texturing on either side of the grip, along with a flat point at the top embossed with the Hammerli “H” just to the rear of the aluminum receiver. I found this to be a comfortable position for my shooting-side thumb, rather than wrapping it around the grip in a more traditional way. The rear of the stock is adjustable in several ways.
A rubber comb insert can be pulled out and reversed, providing two different heights. Length of pull is adjustable to six different point by simply pushing the round “H” button at the butt and pulling the stock out to your desired position. The button is inset into a soft, rubber buttpad that, while unnecessary for dealing with the nonexistent recoil of .22 LR, is a nice feature, nonetheless. A QD swivel cup sits at the toe of the stock, just ahead of the recoil pad.
Optics can be mounted on the 15-slot Picatinny rail machined integrally into the receiver top. There are no iron sights. The .22 LR-chambered barrel we received with our test sample measures 16” and is threaded ½-28 TPI for suppressor compatibility, and it comes with a nicely knurled thread protector. Hammerli says it will thread all additional barrels for the Force B1.
American Rifleman has been shooting its test sample thoroughly since receiving it in December 2023, though another example of the Force B1 was used extensively in a field test in South Australia, the full details of which will be covered in an upcoming American Rifleman magazine feature. In that test, thousands of rounds were fired through multiple versions of the Force B1 while small-game hunting, and in the process, we learned a lot about the pros, cons and things to watch out for in this new Hammerli design.
Pricing? $649 MSRP for the base model chambered in .22 Long Rifle with a 16” barrel and up from there. Pricing on extra barrels has not yet been verified, but cost is intended to be accessible, making it a fairly affordable multi-caliber platform to buy into. For more details, visit hammerliarms.com.
