Hawk bullets how do they perform

[houndsnmules]

Has anybody used hawk bullets and what is your opinion on their performance?

[BrownBear]

They're clones of the original Barnes bullets with heavy, pure copper jackets and soft lead cores. I've shot the Barnes, followed by the Hawks once Barnes got distracted, for 50 years. Over 3k MV, they're still great for longer shooting but getting soft for shots inside 100 yards. Hold your MVs below 3k and they'll give superb performance anywhere you cut hair. Lots of expansion, but great weight retention so they still penetrate well. Over all the years of using them, I've managed to recover only a very few bullets. In my estimation, the toughest cup and core bullet out there, but still a cup and core with all bars against super high vel impacts.

[houndsnmules]

I built a 400 Whelen on a Model 1917 30- 06 I planning a brown bear hunt, I didn't know what was better 330 Hawk with a.050 Jacket or a swift 350 A-Frame. thanks for your help

[BrownBear]

I built a 400 Whelen on a Model 1917 30- 06 I planning a brown bear hunt, I didn't know what was better 330 Hawk with a.050 Jacket or a swift 350 A-Frame. thanks for your help

One of the bear guides I count as friends and join on personal hunts is real high on A-Frames, but likes to drive them fast. He's in the field with hunters right now so I can't ask, but if I had to guess he'd feel fine with either in your 400. Dunno, and speculation is worth what you pay for it.

[Nitroman]

The nice thing about Hawk is you can get bullets made to your specs of you choose. Want a .375 diameter 400 grain torpedo with an 0.050 jacket? They'll make it for you if you buy the minimum quantity. Lots of odd diameter bullets, and with the soft copper and pure lead they really are kind to old rifles.

[mart]

I built a 400 Whelen on a Model 1917 30- 06 I planning a brown bear hunt, I didn't know what was better 330 Hawk with a.050 Jacket or a swift 350 A-Frame. thanks for your help

I have a 400 Whelen built on a left handed model 70 action and have done extensive load development with it. I tried .035 jacket, 300, 350 and 400 grain Hawk bullets in my rifle. I believe the bullet you describe would be a custom run. I also believe, as do the folks at Hawk, the .035 jacket would be appropriate for the velocities of the 400 Whelen. The .050 is a pretty thick jacket for the velocity you can expect from a 400 Whelen. The 350 grain Swift A Frame shot really well in my rifle but I haven't had the chance to shoot any game with it. So far only one critter has fallen to my 400, a caribou bull with a 400 grain Woodleigh. It was adequate for the job.

I think either bullet, the 350 Swift A Frame or the .035 350 grain Hawk would be outstanding in the 400 Whelen against anything in Alaska. My rifle doesn't want to shoot 300 and 350 grain Hawks very well. If it did I would be inclined to use the 350 Hawk for everything. The 400 Whelen has been the most fun rifle build I ever did. I really love the old wildcat.

Mart

[Smitty of the North]

I've considered the Hawk 30 cal. 190 gr. FNs to HOP UP my thutty-thutty properly for the Bears.

BUT, the blame things cost $37..50 for half a box (50).

SOTN

[BrownBear]

BUT, the blame things cost $37..50 for half a box (50).

Perty cheap compared to lotsa premiums, but we're still talking 30-30, so it's easy to spend too much.

[Smitty of the North]

Perty cheap compared to lotsa premiums, but we're still talking 30-30, so it's easy to spend too much.

I might just go ahead on, and get a cupla boxes, if I can get some loading data, and some idee of performance.

IIRC, Some loading outfit, like Double Tap had 30-30 loads using the 190 grain Hawk bullet, and published velocity, but I can't find which one it was.

If I can approach 2K fps in my Marlin with a 20" barrel, I'm thinking it might be a more reliable killer on a Beeg Animal. ????

I'm working on all kinds of Specialty Loads for 30-30, Cast bullet Hunting loads, Gallery Loads, Small Game Loads, Home Defense Loads. Why not a Bear Defense Load?



Smitty of the North

[Mt Al]

Many moons ago I had a 9x57R and used Hawk 250 grain with some kind of a thinner jacket for slower velocities. The velocity was glacial speed: about 2100 or so. Never chrono'ed, just guessing based on the load. They killed like a sledgehammer. The bullets I recovered expanded like crazy. The core wasn't completely connected to the jacket, kind of wiggled inside what was left of the jackets, but they all worked. I have no idea how they'd work in higher velocity applications but assume they would work very well.

I, too, got a bit tired of the expense and don't see any reason to pay astronomical prices for slow moving bullets. I'm a believer in Cor-Lokt bullets. Every other rifle I've used, aside from the 9x57R, has spit standard Cor-Lokt bullets and killed everything. I'm not shooting grizzlies or elephants so I don't see a need for anything "premium" when what I've used has worked for the last 30 years.

That said, if I had money spilling out of my pockets I'd use Hawk bullets again and am sure they'll work in your application.

[houndsnmules]

Mart,I just received two boxes of the 330 grain .050 bullets from Hawk. When the bullets arrived the box said 325 grain no problem. When I had the reamer made I didn't know the Whelen exact dimensions. So as it turns out the base to shoulder length is a little longer then the original. I have been using 411 Hawk reloading data with no problems. If you have any favorite loads you would like to share I would appreciate it.

[mart]

The 400 Whelen, 400 Brown Whelen and 411 Hawk are all so close in case dimensions and capacity that data is interchangeable. As for powders you'll go a long ways before finding a better powder than H4895. It has proven to be the hands down best performer across the board. I had hopes for Reloader 15 but it turned out to be too slow. Same with 4064 and 4320. IMR 3031 works well with 300 grain bullets but no so well with 350-400 grains. In my rifle 58 grains of H4895 with a 400 grain (2150 fps), 60 grains with a 350 grain (2275-2300fps) and 62 grains with a 300 grain (2400 fps) have all worked well. Those are top loads and should be worked up to in your rifle. I'd be willing to bet you'll get great penetration with the .050 jacket bullets. That's a pretty thick jacket. I would like hear how they work out for you.

My chamber was made with a reamer cut to the original dimensions of the 400 Whelen. It was the same as Michael Petrov's reamer. Michael did great research into the 400 Whelen and published a couple of articles about it. A quick google search should put you onto them.

So far I have tried the 300 grain Hawk, 300 grain Hornady FP and SP, 300 grain Barnes TSX, 350 grain Hawk, 350 grain Swift A Frame, 360 grain North Fork, 400 grain Woodleigh RN, 400 grain Hornady (.410), 400 grain Barnes Super Solid, 400 grain Hawk and a 320 and 400 grain cast bullet from my Accurate Molds bullet mold. I really like the 400 grain Woodleigh and my rifle really shoots them well. My wife took her caribou two years ago at 250 yards with a 400 Woodleigh. She had to hold a bit high but that bull went down like you jerked the tundra out from under him. Bullet entered just in front of the on side shoulder and exited behind the off side shoulder with a 1.5"-2" hole and no bloodshot meat. Both lungs had 2" holes through them. If I wanted a flatter shooting bullet I'd probably go with the Swift.

You are going to love the 400 Whelen. It has been a lot of fun for me.