a dead blow hammer has a skeleton including a cylindrical head tube and a cylindrical neck tube fixed to the head tube and projecting laterally therefrom and receiving therein a disk - like plastic spacer and the working end of an elongated plastic handle core , which is adhesively secured in the neck tube . the head tube contains shot and the ends thereof are closed by end caps having cylindrical , longitudinally - slotted flanges press - fitted in the ends of the head tube . the entire skeleton is encapsulated in an overmolded plastic sheath which includes an inner covering and a flexible and resilient grip further overmolded on the inner covering adjacent to the distal end of the handle member .