I will be taking my M1895 Winchester, in .405Win, on the annual spring bear hunt.

I bought 300gr Woodleigh Weldcores and 325gr .050" jacket Hawks. I loaded 5 each last night to test over the Chrony. Objective is ~2230 fps with the 300gr Woodleighs and ~2100-2150 with the 325gr Hawks.

54grs H4895 with the 300's and 52.5grs H4895 with the 325's. Hornady brass and Win LR primers.

Range results:
300gr Woodleigh Weldcore, 54grs H4895, Win LR primers, Hornady cases.
MV = 2158, 2128, 2172. Avg MV = 2152 fps.

325gr Hawk .050 jkt, 52.5grs H4895, Win LR primers, Hornady cases.
MV - 2117, 2126, 2114, 2115. Avg MV = 2118 fps.

The velocity I got out of the Hawks was just about what I was looking for, so I'm going to stick with that. I could add a grain or so of powder to the 300gr Woodleigh's and bump up the MV a touch, but it's okay for what I want to do, which is shoot a 7' black bear at 20-40 yds.

After I Chrony'd the 2 loads, I fired them into the clay bank, at the gun range. Distance was very close, like 10 paces, so they were at near max' velocity.


L t R: .411 cal. 325gr Hawk, 300gr Woodleigh.


Base of the Hawk bullet, with the charactristic lead pulling out of the copper jacket.


325 gr Hawk front end.


300gr Woodleigh Weldcore base.


Business end of the Woodleigh.


... and a second angle on the Woodleigh.


Both of these bullets should tear a pretty big hole in whatever they hit.

Even the standard Hornadys blow a black bear up; 2 years ago in Manitoba my friend was using his .405 and the exit wound was about the size of your hand. Black bears only, though. Nothing tough that needs penetration.

IMO, the Hawk is not a good hunting bullet in any caliber, they just come apart too easily. The Hornady is a better hunting bullet. I am surprise dthe Woodleigh show fragmentation, but then again, clay is a diff medium for expansion. Try wet phone books or newsprint. It comes as close to balistic gel or live tissue as I have found. Left i swetpack, right is from a big kudu bull.

fredj338, are those expanded bullets both Hornadys? FWIW, I have Hornady 300gr SP and FN bullets.

I'm pretty sure you're right, the clay is a damn stiff test for those bullets, and the range was very close, point-blank really. At a bit longer distance, and a different test medium, I'm sure the results would be different.

I do intend to hunt with the 325gr Hawk bullet and I'm going to also have the 300gr Woodleighs with me. Normal distance I expect to shoot a bear at is ~25-40 yds and a long shot would be about 100 yds. I am confident the Hawk will perform nicely. I'm very interested to try it.

If I had more time, I'd do some wet newsprint testing. I've got a box set-up for that, just don't think I'll have time. My 'test' medium will be a 7' black bear.

FYI, I've shot a couple of 7'-20" skull bears up in our hunting area the last few years; looking forward to crossing paths with another!