Hydraulic rock drill exhibits outstanding attributes of high power and high frequency, but there are some issues including unclear mechanisms governing impact dynamic behaviors and inaccurate evaluation of impact performance. In this study, a dynamic test platform for the hydraulic rock drill was established by employing the terminal velocity method, utilizing a high-frequency non-contact laser displacement sensor to precisely capture the transient kinematics of the impact piston. The quantitative results indicate that as the input pressure rises from 10 MPa to 23 MPa, the impact frequency increases from 50 Hz to 76.9 Hz, and the impact energy increases from 89.9 J to 275 J. A hydraulic rock drill AMESim simulation model incorporating the impact system, collision medium and buffer system was developed and validated. This reveals the operating mechanism of impact piston driven by the equivalent pressure difference between the front and rear chambers. And the stroke reversal interval governs the duration between the deceleration onset and collision of the impact piston. As a result, both excessively large and small stroke reversal intervals will lower the impact power. The 12 mm stroke reversal interval has been identified as the optimal setting for maximizing impact power, at which the impact power reaches 17,561.3 W, which presents an increase of 4.70% and 3.12% compared to the intervals of 7 mm and 17 mm, respectively. This study contributes a reliable theoretical basis and direct data support to the performance evaluation and optimized design of hydraulic shock systems.