History and Development of HAWK Cartridges by Fred Zeglin
History and Development of
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If it ain't broke | Results | Other Hawks? | Another Myth Destroyed |What's in a name?
How it all started!
It was in the latter part of 1988 when Bob Fulton, designer of HAWK Bullets, had the idea to build rifle that was suitable for dangerous game, as well as anything in North American. Recoil was another major factor, Bob wanted an 8 pound rifle that would not beat him up. A friend gave Bob a rifle chambered in 375 Whelen Improved. Bob was not impressed with the mediocre ballistics. So he started looking for a better cartridge design, based on the 30-06 case.
With Bob's long background in guns he had seen and shot many wildcats. He was aware of the Gibbs line of cartridges, but the goal was not to wring every last foot per second out of the 06 case. Rather, to have a reliable feeder and make the most efficient use of it . Considerations of the design were weight, cost, brass availability, low cost brass, low recoil and muzzle blast, and easy conversion of any 06 size action. Bob wanted a case that is easy to form as well.
If it ain't broke don't fix it!
So Bob decided to use the basic design of the 9.3x62 (often called the 30-06 or Africa). By moving the shoulder forward and straitening the body taper, Bob managed to increase the powder capacity of the venerable old 30-06 cartridge by a total of 9% over the original design. He used the original 17 degree shoulder angle to facilitate reliable feeding. At the same time he retained a useful neck length of .329" , that is plenty long enough to give consistent neck tension.
Editors note: Depending on which resource you check the 9.3x62 is listed with both a 17 degree and a 25 degree shoulder.
When Bob went to the range with is new gun and a chronograph he was pleasantly surprised. His original goal was to increase velocity to 2600 fps with a 250 gr. bullet. Bob discovered that he could easily surpass his original goal with a wide margin for safety. In reality he achieved 2700 fps with a 250gr. bullet. Top of Page.
What do you do with a new wheel?
Bob paid a visit to Dave Scovill at Wolfe Publishing in 1991, they print "Rifle" & "Handloader" magazines. He sat a 375 Whelen Improved and a 375 Hawk cartridge on Dave's desk. Like most wildcats, seeing is more impressive than hearing. According to Bob, "Scovill was favorably impressed with what he saw." Dave scooped up the cartridges and an article was underway.
Dave borrowed the original rifle from Bob for some time. Bob's favorite loads for the 375 Hawk were all with H4895 which was designed for use in the 06 case. It was Dave's contention that with modern powders we should get even better results. Dave had two guns of his own built in 375 Hawk in order to fully test the cartridge.
In 1993 Dave Scovill published an article in Handloader #166 titled, ".375 Hawk/Scovill." Included was an extensive load table*. Dave chose to convert the Hawk dimensions from those used on the 9.3x62 to the more common 30-06 base dimensions. Bob Fulton was a little old school, so the problems of using 30-06 brass in a 9.3 chamber did not matter to him. The difference in dimensions serves an important purpose Bob explains, "The 9.3x62 follows the standard British practice of slightly looser chambering for use in Africa and other hot climates. That improves reliability of extraction, the extra room in the chamber is there to take advantage of the way that brass stretches and contracts." Dave noted that this left a slight bulge on the case at the web, he cited concerns about stretching and possible head separations as the reason for using the smaller 06 case dimensions for his version of the 375 Hawk. Ballistically the two versions are identical although ammunition cannot be interchanged.
Bob comments that he shoots mostly 235gr. and 250gr. bullets with H4895 in his 375 Hawk. He pushes the 250 at about 2600 feet per second, even though it will go faster. Bob tells me some of his brass has been loaded as much as 30 times. He says that is the greatest measure of pressure, long brass life.
Simply put, the 375 Hawk will easily match the trajectory of a 30-06, 180gr. bullet at 2700 fps. The important difference is that the 375 Hawk does it with a 250gr. bullet. A 30-06 with a 180gr. bullet has a point blank range of 268.1 yards (that is, point and shoot), the 375 Hawk with a 250gr bullet has a point blank range of 264.7 yards. Of course more important than that is the energy delivered, with a muzzle velocity of 2700 fps the 06 delivers 2913 foot pounds at the muzzle, while the 375 Hawk delivers 4046 foot pounds.
For full ballistics click this link, 375 Hawk ballistics. *
Where did all the other Hawk calibers come from?
In 1995 Graydon Snapp walked into Fred Zeglin's Shop in Casper, Wyoming. Graydon had read the article about the 375 Hawk. Being a fan of the 35 Whelen he was sure that a 358 Hawk would be the way to go. Graydon had even written to Dave Scovill to ask about the idea. Since Bob Fulton lived just 25 miles away Graydon had also looked him up and introduced Fred and Bob.
Fred had the opportunity to pick up a 375 Hawk/Scovill chamber reamer on sale from the maker. He talked it over with Graydon and ordered the reamer. Fred had his doubts about the results reported in the article and was not sure he wanted to invest in expensive tooling for a wildcat. When the 375 Hawk was finished range testing was the first order of business. Pleasantly enough, Fred found that the rifle would reproduce the results in the Handloader article nearly perfectly.
Graydon was so pleased with the results of his new 375 that he decided the 358 Hawk (his first choice) was now a must. At the same time Fred was so impressed with the results of the 375 Hawk that he decided to build a 338 Hawk. Fred called Bob and discussed the specifics of the design of both calibers. With Bob's blessing the reamers were ordered in September of 1996.
Both calibers delivered great results. The 338 Hawk delivers very nearly everything that the 338 Winchester Magnum does. The 358 Hawk is virtually a twin for the 358 Norma Magnum. Recoil is much lower than these magnums, for two reasons. First, Hawk cartridges use less powder than to the magnum cases. Second, the relatively straight walls of the cases appear to enhance efficient use of the powder, much the way the Ackley cartridges work.
About the time the 338 and 358 Hawk were finished up Bob called Fred. He had necked one of his 375 Hawk cases up to accept a .411 bullet. Bob was sure it would work. Fred and Graydon played with .411 and .416 bullets in the Hawk cases for a while. It quickly became apparent that the 411 Hawk was the way to go, the 416 reduced the shoulder area enough that it would have been very difficult to form and load the brass safely.
The headspace myth, that just won't die.
We had all heard the myths about small shoulders being insufficient to headspace on. More than likely the headspace myth came about as a result of the 400 Whelen, most versions used a standard 06 case and the shoulder was non-existent, to be kind. The original 400 Whelen had a .458" shoulder, and later cartridges which have enough shoulder have suffered at the hands of this old myth. The problem is, over the years writers have repeated the myth without looking to the source, or checking for themselves. (One writer did investigate this old myth, click here to read about what he learned.) So, we have tested 411 Hawk brass to see if it is possible to move the shoulder. Frankly, because of the Hawk's expanded shoulder diameter, it takes a great deal of concentrated effort to move the shoulder of the case once formed. You will not move the shoulder accidentally.
Perhaps the best acid test for a cartridge is to put it in the hands of several shooters. Fred has shipped more 411 Hawk guns than any other cartridge in the line. The results are interesting, clients report that fire forming the brass for the 411 requires a little more attention to detail, but nobody who followed the forming instructions has had trouble with the shoulder.
We now had four exciting and useful cartridges (338, 358, 375, and the 411 Hawk). They have no belt, and still offer magnum power, in a standard length action. They are accurate and yet reliable feeding cartridges. Brass is cheap and easy to locate. They are easy to form even for a novice. In short, just what many hunters are looking for these days.
Before the end of 1996 Fred spoke to Bob about naming this line of cartridges. Bob had designed and developed the Hawk line of bullets and at that time still owned Hawk Laboratories. He named the line... you guessed it, "HAWK."
By the time Bob picked a name, Fred had come up with designs for everything from 240 Hawk to 3200 Hawk, for a total of eleven cartridges. If you have been looking for a cartridge that delivers magnum results with out the belt and less recoil, you have found them! Hawk Cartridges have been specifically written up in several magazines, Handloader #193, and Rifle Shooter, June 98 to name two and mentioned in numerous articles.
Since this article was written, a client asked us to add the 348 Hawk and we have plans to make a 9.3 Hawk as well.
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Born on:
October, 1999
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