Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Hawks cartrdiges

Does anyone has experience with this wildcats; http://www.z-hat.com/HawkContents.htm, it will be interesting to build a rifle in this cartridges specially the big bores. A rechambering job to a 30-06 will work or how about to a 35 Whelen.

I had a 338 Hawk for a while.

Fun to play with, but to be realistic, not worth the effort.

Fireforming brass to blow the shoulder forward is kind-of a PITA.

I have had a 7MMJRS too, which has the same brass forming requirements.

I have sworn off of them.

The 338WM and 7MM Rem. Mag. outperform them with a whole lot less hassle.

Also, take a look at the price of the dies!!!!!!!

They want $180 for the dies if I remember correctly. I was looking at the 358 hawk and comparing the data presented for the 3200 Hawk(8mm) and my 8mm-06AI it looked to me as all the additional work of necking up and down to create a false shoulder and then fireforming didn't look very promising for next to no gain over my 8mm-06AI.

I don't think the 3200 even has the shoulder set forward. I think that starts with the 338 and up.

Save your money.

just wondering of this wildcats, I did have interest in the 375 or 411 Hawk, but for now I need to finish four of my pets that are in progress and maybe by the end of summer began thinking in them I still have two Mauser 98 action to play with.

You may be correct about the shoulder not being blown forward on the smaller than .338 hawks. I was intrested in the 358 as I was in the middle of deciding on 338-06 or 35 whelen or similar round. I only compaired the 3200 to my 8mm-06AI to get a basis for deciding velocity gains vs a known control...

I consider the whole line of Hawk and Scovill (very similar) cartridges to be a waste of time and effort. To begin with the Gibbs cartridges did the 'blow the shoulder forward on a 30/06 case' thing a long time ago. Whelenaways comments are spot on. A 7Mag or a 338WinMag will do a lot more with lots less headache! If you need more case capacity than the original '06 case then get a short magnum or a full length magnum as I see it. No flies on the original 35 Whelen either.

I built a .375 Hawk-Scoville on a Mauser for a fun project/elk rifle. To me, except that it's a wildcat, it seems like a fitting round for a mauser. The .375 has some pretty efficient ballistics (on paper). Haven't shot it yet as I'm still working up a sweet piece of english walnut. It sure does cycle rounds well. Concur on the price of dies. Nice but expensive. I got some pre-formed brass awhile back, so fire forming isn't needed. Yet.

Reno,

It is a fun project, and I enjoyed my 338 Hawk for a while too.

You will be the only guy in camp with one. That's for sure.

I would do a 375Whelen AI or 375 Ruger now, but as long as you are having fun, that is the point.

It's kind of cool to have a cartridge that few others have.

I've got a 411 Hawk. 'Bout the max you get out of an '06 case...

Interesting for sure.