Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Hawk Bullets Any good?? For the 348 or ?

Was checking out the Hawk bullet website and was wondering if these bullets are any good. How are they compared to Barnes. Are they less prone to fouling?

They also list a 270 grn. bullet for the 348....any experience on these and thier use.?? Also, the have spitzer bullets for the 348...was not sure but what rifle can they be fired in?

Dear BC Boy,

My son & I have two Model 71's, a 1940 Winchester Model 71 DeLuxe rifle with a 24' barrel and a Browning Model 71 "carbine" with 20" barrel, mid-1980's vintage. We have used various bullets in .348, ranging from the old reliable Hornady 200-grain flatpoint to the Alaska Bullet Works Bonded Core 250-grainer in Buffalo Bore loads. We have used, and like, the Barnes bullets. I have more experience with the Originals, particularly the 250-grain. In that weight, I find them a little "softer" than the Bonded Cores; both do the job.

The Hawk bullets are, I believe, all copper. I have used their 180-grain offering with the .030" jacket and a special run of 225-grainers with .035" jackets. They hold together very well, better than the Hornady, a bit better than the Barnes. The weights, please note, are not comparable. I haven't used the Barnes X bullets enough really to say this, but I see similarities between their performance and the Hawks. I like the Hawks a lot. The 180-grainer is a devastating deer bullet. I asked for the 225-grainers as an "all round" bullet for heavier game & like it a lot.

If there is any more barrel fouling with the Hawks, I have not found it to be significant. Both my barrels are in fine shape. With a rougher barrel, there might be more fouling.

Both of our 71's have iron sights, and 200 yards is about maximun range for reliable accuracy. At that distance, I like the blow struck by the traditional flat point bullets. If pointed bullets were loaded, you could still use them in the Model 71, if you loaded one up the spout and but one in the tubular magazine. That would make the 71 a two-shooter. With the heavy recoil of the .348, I would absolutely not use pointed bullets in a tubular magazine with multiple rounds, and I assume that you would not either!

We have a number of Ruger No. 1S rifles rechambered and rebored from .218 Bee to cartridges not chambered by the Ruger factory. Two favourites are rifles in .35 Winchester and .35 Whelen, and there is another coming in .303 British. You could doubtless do a No. 1S in .348 Winchester, which would be a great rifle for pointed bullets. I really associate the .348 entirely with the great Model 71, however, which is my favourite lever rifle, with the Model 1895's not too far behind.

Good luck to you!

here is a thoght on the spitzers
i do not know on pressures but always thought a siamese mauser in 348 would be grand it will chamber the 45-70 why not the 348?
just a thought. chris

HAWK Bullets are definitely VERY GOOD in my opinion. I have used them so far in a 6.5-.257Ackley, .35Rem in Contender, and .416 Taylor. In the Taylor they gave me about 5 feet of Penetration on a Moose after breaking the shoulder joint. In the 6.5 they absolutely ruined a mule deer bucks plans for procreation however did not have an adverse effect on any of the eatin' parts. Have not killed anything with the Contender yet but have no doubt that it will do the job. All have been exceptionally accurate, the .416 will shoot 3/4 inch groups at 100 yards. A buddy has a .50AE Desert Eagle, a 350gr HAWK out of it went LENGTHWISE through a Chevy Suburban but that is another story. Recovered bullet weighed 337 grains measued almost .9in in diameter. (Heavy .44 mag loads would not penetrate crosswise through both doors of the same 'burb by the way ).

Hawks are built with a PURE Copper jacket and PURE Lead core. Perhaps this is what was meant above by the statement that Hawks were "all copper". They have a special proprietary annealling process for their jacket material which results in a Brinnell hardness of a finished bullet in the low to mid teens as I remember. A "conventional" jacketed bullet usually falls somewhere in the low twenties. Although this relative softness might indicate a tendency for fouling I have not experienced this.

This softness does however require a couple of minor adjustments to loads and loading theory. First they do obturate in the bore much more easily and completely better sealing the gases etc. Therefore you MUST start with a true "Starting" load and work up. My experience has shown that maximum velocity etc. will be reached with less powder than with another type of bullet all other things being equal. This better obtuartion may be a big part of the minimal fouling that occurs. I have also found that best accuracy occurs when cartridge overall length is such that allows for at least .035 bullet travel before engaging the rifling. I know this goes against common thought and practice, I seat my varminters on the lands or nearly so too. I spoke with the guys at HAWK about this and they confirmed my findings. Their best thought on the situation was that due to the softness of their bullets seating them very close to the lands might actually be causing the base of the bullet to "peen" or "rivet" slightly. Giving them a bit of room to get moving before engaging the rifling apparently helps reduce or eliminate this.

To wrap this up, I have found HAWKs to be very accurate, clean to shoot and great penetrators. They are my bullet of choice for game hunting loads in any caliber they are available ( I am sort of a .25 caliber nut and the smallest they make are 6.5's ). Well worth the money.

KDK

Thanks guys you answered my ??? Still was looking at the 270 gr. FN and does anyone have a load for it.

bc