Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Hawk bullets?

Does anyone have any input on these bullets at all? It seems like a strange concept making a bullet super soft so they expand and penetrate. Anyhow.... has anyone used them with any luck?

I shot about 20 head of African plainsgame with them in my 338 Win. and some deer with my 7x57 and in each case I used the thickest jackets they had to offer and the heaviest bullets..In each case the jacket seperated from the core..I was not the least impressed..

I do believe they might work on deer size animals in the old Win. calibers like the 38-55, 33 Win., 45-70, 45-90 etc. mabybe in the .348 Win. but I wouldn't swear to it..

They are basically nothing more than yesterdays bullets with a lot of promises IMO..No partition, not soldered to the jacket, no locking feature to hold the lead in the jacket, and a real line of BS to sell them...

My limited experiences using them on deer out of a .270 Win. mirror atkinson's. Far better, and cheaper, mouse traps out there.

If my memory is correct the Hawk bullet has no base to its so called jacket! This means that the 'jacket' is just tubing open at the front and the back.

There was an incident where a core blew through a jacket when the bullet was in a rifles barrel! A search might find that incident.

Wow!

That speaks volumes

"If the base of Hawk bullet is still open and not protected by a jacket then the core could blow out as one did before. When the core blew out the jacket stuck in the barrel."

Savage_99.

"that happened to me, destroyed the rifle and left me with a life long eye injury. Core squirted out of the jacket but the jacket remained in the barrel. I wouldnt suggest Hawk bullets"

todbartell

Link to above

It's more of a hole in the base, rather than totally open. These are from two different deer.

I didn`t see any improvement over store-bought bullets. More expensive, and more difficulty in finding an accurate load. Stick to those bullets of known quality.

My feelings exactly---what CGP said.

WN

I have used them once in a 30-06. It was a 165 grain round tip at approx 2600 fps. My son shot a mule deer doe at a measured 170 yds. The bullet hit approx 2 inches above the heart and the animal died on its feet. The top of heart was gone and aorta severed. Complete pass through with an exit wound the size of a tennis ball once the hide was off. I was impressed. I will load some up this year for use in my .358 BLR. They will probably be 225 grain round tips. I can let you know how they work if I am lucky enough to test one.

Not too impressive huh?

A few years ago a friend of mine shot an eland in Zimbabwe with a 250 grain Hawk bullet from his .35 Whelen. The bullet failed to penetrate and he had a tough time recovering his eland.
I believe Hawk bullets are made pretty much like Fred Barnes made his famous tubing jacket bullets. I have never heard of them leaving the jackets behind in the barrels they were shot from.
I swage tubing jacket bullets and if they are done right the hole in the base is a pinhole that wont allow the core to be blown out of the jacket. I have absolutley no fear of shooting the ones I make.
John

My younger brother shot a Bull Moose in the center of his chest with a 220gr Hawk out of his 300win mag and the bullet exited the rear left quarter. The wound was devastating, the moose clasped in his tracks. I have used Hawk bullets in Tanzania and have had no problems and experience quick and impressive kills.

Use Hawk bullets on whitetail, hog, mule deer and black bear, with no problems. Of course I use the appropriate jacket thickness for the velocity I am driving them at and the game I am hunting. Great bullet, soft copper and purer lead and when the proper jacket thickness is used you get a bullet that does not come apart and leaves an impressive wound channel. I like them, will keep using them, they are a great stopper when up close on big game as well as other average hunting shots.

My 358Win on bear hunt pounded a big Black with a 225gr RN he was driven to the ground, never move and had all most a tennis ball size exit wound. Great bullets, have worked in the field for me for a long time and "NO" failures.