I thought I would start a thread to share results of using this powder in various lever calibers. The first caliber I've tried is the 307W . I have not been able to come up with accurate load with good velocity in this gun . I haven't had the gun long and have tried Varget,H4895, and RL15 with mixed results. I use a 50 yard range and could not get a group less than an 1 1/4.

So I loaded up some 150 gr and 170 gr loads with LVR. The 150 grain bullets didn't shoot worth a hoot with this powder. The 170 's gave me the best groups so far in this rifle.

At 50 yards

40 gr LVR 1 in group
40.5 LVR 3/4 in group
41 gr LVR 3/8 in group av vel 2410 fps

I am very happy that I found a load that will shoot in this rifle. It would be a great whitetail load. I will try up to another grain of powder and see if this is the sweet spot for this powder and bullet.

I have other calibers that I want to try with this powder, but being that it was snowing today. I think it's going to go from winter to summer and skip any spring shooting bench time before the summer rush of activities hit. So lets hear of your experiences with this powder, good or bad.

This really sounds great. I also have some LVR waiting to be loaded for possibly my 307 and my 7-30 Waters. The Waters works closer to 30-30 pressure range so I'm hoping to get the boost in velocity. I'll be curious as to how much higher you can go with this 307. Even if this is the top end load, it looks great for accuracy and very comparable for other top end loads on velocity with 170 grs. I will be interested to hear more, keep up the good work.
CJ

BenT
How did you come up with a starting load range for LVR powder and the .307?
Thanks
C

CJ, it came from the latest Hornady reloading manual. It list 40.4 gr as max for the 307 ,but the 308MX list 41.9 gr as max. Which is odd because the 307 has more case capacity and a higher pressure rating. Plus reading Hodgens 2011 annual manual it talks about the LVR ammo being a compressed load. So I will go up to the 308MX max load in the 307.
I've noticed that this powder isn't listed for many bullet weights in the Hornady manual. The 30-30 is only 160gr and 170gr bullets and Hodgden only list the 75 gr for the 25-35.

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It is my understanding that the LVR is not a general purpose powder. It was designed for specific caliber and bullet applications. Usage in other applications will yield average results at best and poor results in some cases. In the 30-30 the LVR powder was designed to use the FTX 160 gr. bullet for optimum performance. Any other combination of bullets may be disappointing.

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I agree. Lever action cartridges with lower pressure ratings are worth a try with this powder. I would give it a try with the 7-30 Waters . But I do not expect it to do good with all bullet weights.

Thanks for the info....I didn't realize the new Hornady manual had LVR loads other than what Hodgdon put out (especially the .307)! Does it have LVR load data for the 7-30?? If so, I'll have to get one.
Thanks again,
CJ

The Hornady 8th Edition does not list any Leverevolution loads for 7-30 in either rifle or Contender sections. Neither deos the 2011 Hodgdon Annual Manual. Until (and unless) they do, its use in that cartridge is not recommended.

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I got to the shooting bench with some more loads. I took the 307W load up another grain to the the Max load listed for the 308 MX.(which was higher than the 307W) I gained another 50 fps to 2460 average . The groups stayed tight to 1/2 in at 50 yards with this load. Extracion was easy no signs of excess pressure. I'm happy with these results. I might try 160 FTX bullets next and see what that gets me.

Good info! I like that grouping...not sure if my gun (or I) will do the same (and can't really check right now as I have a receiver sight on my 307). The 2460 velocity is just what I get with my 160 FTX's and Varget, so you're getting a little bit more energy out of the gun with this powder. I got up to 2525 at loads above the 41.7 listed without excess pressure signs but opted to play it safe and stay at 41.7 for hunting. LVR appears to be a pretty dense powder...did 41.9 grns fill the case?
CJ

No ,it was close to the bottom of the neck. How was the accuracy of the 160gr FTX's. Finding an accurate load has been my problem with the 307. Plus I haven't heard consistant performance with the 30-30 FTX bullet on deer, so I'm not sure if I want to go that route.

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BenT said:
" Extracion was easy no signs of excess pressure."

cj307 said:
" I got up to 2525 at loads above the 41.7 listed without excess pressure signs but..."

What kind of excessive pressure signs are you looking for? 65,000+ psi is required before the usual pressure signs can be detected. Are you guys running the 308 ME up in that range? Hodgdon's says that the max is under 48,000 psi.

Dr. Don Heath of Norma writes that he has seen pressures in their lab that were very near 80,000 psi that demonstrated no visible signs of excessive pressure. Bolt lift was easy and primers looked normal.

Just curious.

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BenT...accuracy is ok for my hunting..probably 2-3" at 100yds with receiver sights...I've never tried these loads through my 307 when the scope was on it, so I don't know definitively.
I shot a sm/medium sized buck (142 lb dressed) at fairly close range, 40yds or so. The bullet struck the neck and exploded, I recovered the jacket and some lead fragments. This performance didn't surprise me given the distance and velocity/energy...above that of a 30-30

JBledsoe...I was looking for lever kick, flattened primers, and case head expansion...all compared to factory 180gr loads in this same rifle.

I'm now trying the LVR powder, and the Hornady FTX bullets, in 30-30 loads. In the Hodgdon load data, the max load of 35.5 grains is listed as a compressed load. However, when I put some rounds together with this load, and a few others below that level, I did not perceive any compressing. I didn't feel any powder "crunching", or any kind of resistance during bullet seating. When I give the completed round a shake, I don't hear any powder moving around, so I know the case is pretty full. I guess I'm just wondering if I'm just not sensing things right. I don't have any other experience with compressed loads, so maybe I just don't know what the compression should feel like when the bullet is being seated. Or, maybe this particular load is just barely compressed, so I should not feel much. Please comment.

You've got it figured out. Compressed loads do not necessarily give any kind of audible or even tactile feedback to let you know what you just did. This is one reason reloading data from a reputable source is invaluable.

Sometimes, when seating a bullet with a compressed load, the bullet will spring back out past where the seater die had them. How quickly and how much they come back out is relative to the amount of powder you're compressing. You can get a pretty good idea whether or not the load is going to be compressed just by looking down into the case mouth.

I just received two pounds of LVR powder last week. Sometime in the near future, I'll be trying some in 30-30 and 35 Remington. Just going by load data supplied by Hornady and Hodgdon, the best thing about the powder is increased velocity with a decrease in pressure. We'll see how the velocity does when I load them. Measuring pressure, aside from felt recoil, primer, and case condition, is beyond me.

__________________
Stretch ®

"If you are a reloader and you don't know Lee, you don't know Jack" - Floydster

DON'T BE SCARED©

I've just finished working up a load using LVR (LeveRevolution) powder for a 1932 Remington Model 8 in .35Rem for a 200 gr Remington Core-Lokt PSP (Spire Point) using Remington case and Rem 9½ primer. For all loads tested, the bullet was seated to the Cannelure and die set for .004" headspace, COAL to 2.492". (PS - I realize that the Model 8 isn't a levergun, and the Spire Points aren't suitable in leverguns but have similar long bearing surface and COAL as the HDY LeveRevoluton FTX bullet, and thought the following info might be of benefit, since there is so little data available on the LeverRevolution loads, and the early auto-loaders also have very low maximum chamber pressures.)

Hodgdon Load Data Center recommends 42 gr start load with HDY RN 200 and max compressed load of 45 grains; 37 gr start load with HDY FTX and 41.4C maximum load.
NOTE: When using the Remington Core-Lokt PSP bullet, start well below the recommended minimum powder charge for the RN bullet. The PSP bullet has a much longer bearing surface and when seated to the cannelure to maintain recommended COAL, thus reduces case capactiy substantially more than the Remington RN bullets, and will generate higher chamber pressures.

I started first load at 40 grains for the Rem Core-Lokt PSP 200 gr, which averaged 2044 fps, and worked up to 43 grains, which averaged 2142 fps and at the point where I stopped. Although the gun cycled without issues and primers were not cratered, there was little or no velocity gain from 42.5 grains to 43 grains, indicating not all the powder was being burned in the 22" barrel, plus best group size at 100 yds was obtained with 42.5 grain charge, which should be very near a 100% load density seating the PSP bullet to the cannelure (COAL 2.492").

Final Load Data:
Case: Remington
Primer: Rem 9½
Bullet: Remington Core-Lokt SP 200 gr
Bullet seating: Cannelure
Powder: Hogdon LeveRevolution (LVR) 42.5 grains

Velocity: 2140, 2143, 2160, 2129; Average 2143

Bench Group (Buckhorn Iron Sights) @ 100 yds: 2.5"

... I must add that I feel the LeveRevolution powder has breathed a new life into this old gun, which has been in my family for 80 years.

Well, I bought some Hornady FTX LeveRevolution bullets in 200 gr.

BEWARE ... the load data on the Hodgdon LeveRevolution powder label for .35 Rem could be a major problem. It lists 41.4C as the maximum load with the COAL of 2.520". I made up a dummy cartridge at 2.520" and it jammed the bullet so far into the rifling that the action couldn't completely close and I had to remove the barrel from the Remington Model 8 so the round could be pounded out.

I went to the Hornady website and found there is revised load notes for the FTX in .35 Rem that lists the maximum COAL as 2.495", which is very close to what I determined for the Remington PSP 200 grain bullet.
http://www.hornady.com/assets/files/..._remington.pdf

However, on the Remington Model 8, a COAL of 2.495" with the FTX still put the bullet about .002" into the lands. I set the COAL to 2.490" and the dummy round chambers OK and ejects with no resistence and no land marks.

Unfortunately, the Hornady revised load notes don't include the LVR powder ... go figure? This makes one wonder in light of the revised deeper seating if the maximum compressed load of 41.4 grains LVR isn't over pressured. Hodgdon needs to get all this straightened out, especially the load data provided on the LVR powder label.

To update my previous post, I increased the bullet seating on the Remington PSP 200 grain bullet to 2.490" and reduced the LVR charge to 41 grains, which will give me a one-to-one comparison with the FTX bullet. A five shot string averaged 2112 fps with a SD of 8 and still a 2.5" 100-yd group with buckhorn iron sights (the sights are only a blur to my old eyes, so the rifle likely shoots much tighter groups, however putting a scope on a 1932 production Model 8 would be sacrilege, IMHO).

I have several FTX loads ready to test, all COAL of 2.490", starting with 40 gr LVR and working up to 41 grain. The LVR load of 41-gr maybe slightly compressed.

I'll update in about a week when the weather is good enough for me to get to the range.

... hope this helps.

For the record, since I reported on the 2011 edition in a post above, the 2012 Hodgdon Annual Manual doesn't list any LVR loads for the 7-30 Waters, either.

Once again, if Hodgdon doesn't list load data for a given cartridge using LVR powder, it is either because they have not yet developed it OR they view the powder is not suitable for that cartridge. They still discourage experimentation in cartridges not listed.

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After shooting LVR and FTX bullets for about three weeks now, I really can't see why I would use any other powder for 30-30. Well, except maybe for the so-called "reduced velocity" kind of loads. The STARTING load of LVR gives higher velocity than the MAX load of almost any other suitable powder.