Fellas:
I have 8 boxes of Hawk bullets for the .577 bpe double rifles. Never heard of them. What can you tell me about them: quality, availability, as good as Woodleigh, price, etc.. are they on backorder like everythign else these days? the boxes are 50 count each, one jacket is .035" thick and the other 7 boxes are .065" Weights between 560 and 650 grains.

Once I can find out about them I will list them and other .577 bullets as well as brass in the classifieds.

As always, thanks to AR.
Cal

Here you go:
https://hawkbullets.com/

I have not used them but have heard they are good bullets in the more common diameters. Yours are for BIG game and the Hawk web site may help you understand what you have.

Cal, I used Hawk bullets in a 9x57R double rifle drilling I had years ago, long since sold. Frankly I don't think it's much of a comparison to your application with a 577 BPE and I can't compare to any other bullet brands in the DR world. Regardless, back then with Hawk you had the option of thin or thicker jacket. The 9x57R is relatively pedestrian so I chose thin and it took a cow elk, antelope, some deer and a buffalo (not a hunt, a "shoot") The non-buffalo critters dropped immediately and the bullets I recovered were pretty much picture-perfect: mushrooms and most of the material all in one place. For the buffalo nothing was recovered but it did expire pretty quickly.

I was very satisfied with Hawk bullet performance.

I just took another Hawk bullet out of a bear I killed. 300 grn .452 in my 450 Bushmaster bolt gun @ 2100 fps. These are .035 jacket thickness. Expanded to about .800 and weighs 270 grns.
I'll send it to DPCD who has another I took out of a deer. They usually pass through unless quartering or frontal shot is taken.
They are best at the slower speeds it seems. Impact vel 2000-2200 fps in tests I have done.
I tested them awhile ago. 400 grn in 10.75x68, 11.2x60 and 458x2". All at 2100 fps range. As you might guess, all were pretty much equal in the penetration box I built. 1/2" rubber matt, 3/4 plywood, wet sawdust/sand mix.
That's all I got for you.

Sorry, I just remembered I switched to the sand mix after the test above. It was tight packed newspaper& magazines in the 400 grn bullet test.

Cal, I have used them abit and did considerable test with them when I wrote for Rifle/Handloaders. They are basically the same copper tube full of lead design as the original old Barnes bullets. They work fine within their velocity range.

quote:

They are basically the same copper tube full of lead design as the original old Barnes bullets.

Was just going to add that.
Simply a cup and core bullet.

The .065” jacket ones should be the business in a nitro rifle and the thinner jacket ones at BPE velocities.

Thanks, everyone. 7 of the 8 boxes are the thicker .065" jacket. Weights are 560 to 650 grains so I would guess for bpe rifles.

Cal, keep them at a reasonable speed. Paul Truccolo guided some guys in Australia shooting Water Buff with 500 NE doubles and Hawk bullets. They didn't penetrate at those speeds....too soft. Not sure which jacket thickness they were using.

I have used them on game with the 7x57, .338, 45-70 and 38-40..I used them on about 30 head of game some years ago.

They seperated and came apart most of the time in the 7x57 and 338 win in Africa on a lot of animals. They are simply cup and core, I used them on two hunts and the thickest jackets..I won't use them again in high velocity calibers..

BUT they work fine in the 45-70 and 38-40 at low velocity with the thicker jackets..Id say they are my favorite bullet in the 38-40, 44-40 etc.

They don't compare to Woodleighs...What they should do is solder or glue the jacket to the lead..

How they work in a 500 or 577? I suspect they would at that velocity, but I personally would not use them on DG..

Cal I used the 650gr .65 jacket on a big giraffe in 2015 with the 577 BPE that I bought from you and they performed very well. one shoth through the heart was against the far side shoulder and the one through the lungs was a complete pass through. The one recovered if my memory served me had expanded to .900 and retained 597gr.

They do very well at the 2100fps and less impact range. Have shot them in my 405 WIN double but only on paper and steel so far.

Their copper jacket seem to be a bit softer than the gilded copper on your standard cup and core kinda bullets. They are bonded well and seem to give more expansion than your cup and core and retain a bit more weight. IMO they are a good bullet for older doubles and rounds that aren't trying to set speed records.

Interested in what you all think.

With woodleigh out of business, in the last two days I have bought up a bunch of woodLeigh’s as well as hawk bullets, in double rifle calibers and I don’t own a double yet.

I have had good experiences with Hawk bullets in several cartridges. I used Hawk .375" 235 gr RTs in a .375 2-1/2" Flanged with very good accuracy at about 2200 fps. Didn't take any game with it though.

With a .38-55 model '94 Winchester (.379" groove diameter), Hawk 270 grain .377" flat points have also been very accurate.

A model '95 Winchester in .38-72 (also .379" groove) shot astoundingly well with Hawk .375" 300 gr RTs at a bit over 2000 fps and proved very effective on game - 2 shots, 2 bison, no chasin'.

I was very impressed at the ability of the .375" Hawks to shoot so well in the .379" groove '95.

For high velocity cartridges I refer Barnes monolithics, but for moderate velocity rounds the Hawks have worked great for me.

I used them with great success in a 450 BP rifle.

Thanks for your info, gentlemen.
With Woodleigh out now, Hawk may be flooding with business.
I just sold a bunch of Hawk bullets. When my
Woodleigh supplies run low I will look to Hawk.
Cheers,
Cal

They have always been good people to deal with! I have used them for years!

I have only read about Hawk bullets.I have never used them.
- I have heard that they are very good people to deal with.
- I have read that their bullets are consider by some to be too soft/expanding for cape buffalo.

I would definitely try them on thin skinned game at moderate velocity. JMO
Brian

With Woodleigh out (I never used them but understand their popularity), for DG in a DR, the answer is CEB.

Yup, Cutting Edge is the way to go.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
Yup, Cutting Edge is the way to go.

For those unfamiliar with my comment and Biebs' follow on, CEB is Cutting Edge Bullets.