Anyone have experience w/ hornaday Lever-evolution?

[NataSS]

I have been reading real good things about this ammo for the lever action rifles.  Does anyone here have any personal experience they would care to pass onto me.

Thanks!

[blmathis12]

if the .30-30 is your gun then lever-evo's are the only way to go. they shoot great and group very well. my advice is if you reload buy the flex tip bullets and come up with a load but if you dont care then buy and start throwing some lead 

[carpsniperg2]

i am a handloader and for me to buy factory loads is not very common but i did buy some 45 long colt lever evs to shoot threw my 454 casull raging bull and they shot very good so i am going to buy the bullets to load in the 454 case for more power but i like the way they shot have no done penitration or weight retension testing yet but like you said all i read is good if they stay about 70% and shoot good thats a good bullet in my book

[NataSS]

from what i understand is that hornaday is using a propriatary powder bled and they arent releasing it.  and that is half what is responsible for the good accuracy.

[JackOfAllTrades]

The hand loader can buy just the Lever evolution bullets now. I can't think of anything better for a 30-30 lever gun. Factory loads give another 200fps and the hand loader can squeeze another 100fps which is sweet!

Testar77 shot some last year. Nice and accurate.

-Steve

[Gutpile]

I'm a reloader too but wanted to try them in my 45/70 to take advantage of the added FPS. They are very accurate. I load plinkers for the 45/70 now and save the lever evs for hunting. Here's a pic of a 5 shot group from my 45/70 from a rest with open sites.

[Gobble]

It turns that ol 30-30 into a killing machine. Now shots at 200 yrds plus are obtainable with this bullet. My son has shot it for a couple of years and it has been very effective at killing animals. The doe he shot 2 years ago blew half a rib bone out of the carcass on the exit side. If you are shooting a small lever gun like a 30-30 I don't think you would want to use any other bullet IMO

[7mm ed]

they shoot real good. Thats all i will shoot . i gett uot just over 200 yards out of my mariln 30/30.

[yorketransport]

I'm with everybody else, the Lever-evolution ammo is one of the best loads going in a lever gun or a handgun. I've tried them in 450 Marlin, 45-70, 35 Rem, 30-30, and 44mag. It's always been one of the most accurate loads I've tried in each gun. All but the 450 Marlin were tested in both rifles and pistols, and the worked great in either weapon.

Andrew

[orchemo]

I recently pickup up a Marlin 338 Marlin Express. Replace the trigger with a "Happy trigger" - great improvement.

Still working sighting it in, but like the 338 ME concept. Will have to see how the accuracy pans out.

Eric

[Greg4829]

Ive shot about 100 rounds of 45-70 lever evolution and have enjoyed some decent results.  We were thumping milk jugs at 200-250 yards with no problems.  I have a question for some of the more experienced folks out there...The 45-70 round is only 325 grain, any reason not to have a hotter load than that?

[fishermanjoe]

I am sure the lever evolution has great accuracy, but from a friends personal experience it is the worst bullet on the market. My bud shot a doe with this round and hit her right in the pumphouse, there was no questions asked if it was a good shot or not. When it came to the cleaning of the animal it was another story. The bullet fragmented inside the body cavity and turned everything into soup. When i mean soup i mean EVERYTHING, there was not one solid piece of gut to be found! They thought that was weird so they brought her back to camp and started to skin her. During the skinning process they found out that the bullet fragments have all embedded themselves into the whole carcass trailing along that good ol' soup with it. The whole thing was ruined, there was not one salvageable piece of meet on this deer. Its a cry and shame to have to loose an animal like that just because of some bad bullet. 

[Gutpile]

there was not one salvageable piece of meet on this deer

 


You know, this really doesn't make sense. The whole deer? Absolutely no meat salvaged? Here's my personal experience. I shot a pronghorn doe at 115 yards and it thumped it hard. I hit a little far back (open sites) and yes it turned the guts into soup just like you described. I punched it once more behind the shoulder from 20-30 yards to finish it. There was no more bloodshot or meat damage than any other animal I've ever shot. Your friend is stretching things a bit. There's just no way I can believe one bullet with perfect placement ruined an entire deer from fragmentation. Flame on if you like but I simply do not believe this.

[scoyoc5]

i was looking into buying a box for my 35rem.

[jdb]

I agree with gutpile how could a hit in the chest cavity affect the meat of the hind quarters?