utbowhntr,
Honestly, I can't remember what brand of conical I have used the most. It was a bullet mfg down in Cedar City or similar, that Sportsman's used to carry. They shot pretty well and I bought a bunch of them when they clearanced them out. I believe that they are 375 or 385 grains with a hollowed out base and a rounded nose. I have loaded 80-95 grains of Ffg, but settled on 90 grains most of the time.
I recently purchased some Hornady Great Plains and some TC Maxi Hunters and Maxi Balls. I hope to have the opportunity to see how they shoot sometime soon.
I wish I could give you more information, but I frankly spent more time developing awesome loads for my Knight Wolverine. That dogon rifle shoots groups as tight as most centerfire rifles. That is the rifle I have spent the most time with as I have hunted with a ML since 1998. This past season, I drew the Buck/Bull combo tag and never even got out the inline, although I did shoot a few PRB out of the Hawken. Hopefully, this year I will get her figured out. She is a really pretty rifle. I used the "Plum Brown" for browning the barrel and repeated the process until I had a really dark brown color, and installed a TC Tang style Peep. The stock is lighter in color than the traditional Cabelas Hawken. I actually used Walnut stain and then sanded it off and repeated this about 4-5 times. The result was a really dark grain pattern with the bulk of the wood the standard Maple color. I am really proud of it.
Someday I plan to really dial her in. I drew a doe tag this year and had actually considered using the Hawken to harvest her. I knew that I would need to get really close, but my 8 year old son also wanted to tag along for the first time. Due to feeling it was important for him to be there for a harvest, I pulled out my 7mm-08 and dropped a little doe at 175 yards. My son was right next to me watching through his binoculars after making a careful stalk, crawling through the sage and peering over the ridgeline. It was awesome. So......now I need to come up with a new opportunity to harvest an animal with my Hawken.
Good luck and remember to keep yer powder dry.
Firehawk