Was almost useless to Hewkii since he had been a Kolhii player all his life and was known to be one of the best player on Mata Nui. So, he was already a really good shooter. Plus, contrary to all of the other toa inika, we only saw him use it once. :P It's a really good kanohi, but I don't think that it was the right choice for that character.
So I had a thought, the Inika's organic masks were sentient, what happened to those sentient creatures once the Inika became the Mahri? Did the toa feel anything or did they even register the sentient being at all?
Well they were basically removed. Though the masks were more sentient than regular masks, it wasn't anything more. It just allowed the Toa Inika to learn their powers more easily. The Toa Inika were well aware of the nature of their masks. Also, there wasn't a separate sentient creature/being inside the mask. If it had a mind, that mask would be very primitive in nature.