Does anyone have experience hunting with Hornady Leverevolution bullets for tube magazines? My question is what happens to the plastic tip? Does it separate from the bullet? My thoughts are it could ruin a roast if any plastic was left with the meat. I have shot these in my 30/30 and 450 Marlin and they are very accurate and seem to shoot close to zero with standard ammo at 100yds and should hold point of aim out to 200yds+.
Hornady Leverevolution
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The odds are very high that any meat where the plastic tip passed through, or came to rest, would show obvious damage. Use the same caution in processing your meat that you always do and I'm sure you'll discard the plastic tip, if it didn't pass through during the shot. If you don't process your own game (shame on you, it's easy!) you might mention to the processor that you shot the animal with a plastic-tipped bullet, but if he's any good at all, the same thing as above will apply; he'll discard it with the blood-shot meat it's lodged in.
That's been one of my biggest complaints about using steel shot, versus lead, for waterfowl. Sometimes I swear it was the Association of Reconstructive Dentistry who got that law passed!I don't think you'll have problems with bits of plastic in a roast. I almost broke a tooth on a piece of venison that contained a mushroomed .270 slug!!I shot the Buck at some 300 yards & the bulllet didn't exit and ended up in a roast.
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I am just glad I didn't swallow the .270 slug.That's been one of my biggest complaints about using steel shot, versus lead, for waterfowl. Sometimes I swear it was the Association of Reconstructive Dentistry who got that law passed!
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I killed a deer last season with an FTX bullet. There were no signs of the bullet or the tip in the meat. The bullet put the deer down so fast I couldn't believe it. These are very good bullets.
Seatleroadwr thanks for the response. What caliber did you use? I've already decided on Leverevolution for my 30/30 and am loaning my 450 Marlin to my son for Elk hunting in Oregon at his request. He hunts woods at 200yds or so max range and I'm still trying to decide between Leverevolution or 350gr soft point. I think the Leverevolution gives a little edge but at that range I don't know if enough to matter. They are very accurate in my rifle as they are in my 30/30. I figure on the coastal blacktails full penetration would be the norm.
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I used the 30cal FTX in a 307WMarlin 336.
Didnt know improved ballistics was a gimmick
It sure can be. For instance, shave off about 10 gr. of bullet weight, make the bullet pointy, jigger around a bit with the powder being used, and acheiving 100 fps or so of added velocity along with a slightly flatter trajectory is no big deal. It really gains you very little in terms of practical utility -- no one would argue that a "normal" .30-30 load, when used at ranges for which the rifle and cartridge were intended, will be significantly out-performed by the LeverEvolution load. What is DOES gain you is numbers that make for splendid gee-whiz ad copy.
I'm not saying the LE ammo is no good. If your rifle likes it, I am sure you will do at least as well with the LE as with anything else -- and maybe a bit better in some circumstances. But no one should think the stuff is miraculous, or even a significant step up from traditional loads. It's not better, it's not worse -- it is different. And that is the gimmick.
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The LE ammo in 44 mag is what my biggest hog to date fell to. He went between 300 and 350 pounds. One shot on the point of the shoulder, the bullet entered, destroyed both shoulders, stopping just under the hide on the off side, killing the hog almost instantly. Theyre good ammo, but my Winchester gets a lot better groups with Win 240 grain soft points, and even better with my 300 grain Hornady XTP handloads.
Funny how when bullets went from round nose to spitzer around the turn of the 20th century it wasn't considered a gimmick but an advancement in ballistics. Yet many lever gun users are so locked into their old rounds, they don't look at it that way.
Marlin owners documents in various posts the checks people have done after taking an animal with the FTX. You'll see comments like: internal damage like they've never seen before, dropping deer DRT at ranges that were dicey before because of the loss of velocity with the flat and round nose bullets, and other complimentary posts.
Also, I don't understand how having almost the same knockdown power at 200 yards that a 170 gr gives at 100 yards can be considered of little practical utility.
>Also, I don't understand how having almost the same knockdown power at 200 yards that a 170 gr gives at 100 yards can be considered of little practical utility.
Well, then, you don't seem to realize the reality of how virtually 100% of these rifles are used. I would venture to guess, backed by 45 years of experience hunting deer in all sorts of terrain, that the vast majority of hunting shots fired at big game by levergun carbines are at 100 yards or less, and a very significant portion at no more than 50. I realize there are parts of the country where 200 yards is a short shot, but that's not most places, and the man who would choose a .30-30 levergun for such a locale is severly limiting himself regardless of what ammo he's using. I love my Marlins and use them all the time here in the woods of the southeast, but if I were going to hunt out west the Marlins would stay home. That's what my Savage 99A .308 is for, and it puts the LE .30-30 pretty far in to the shade..
There's no denying these is a slight advantage in trajectory with the LE ammo, but at the typical ranges these guns are used that is a moot point, sort of like having a 50 MPH wheelchair -- neat, but where are you really going to get any benefit from it?
Well, then, you don't seem to realize the reality of how virtually 100% of these rifles are used. I would venture to guess, backed by 45 years of experience hunting deer in all sorts of terrain, that the vast majority of hunting shots fired at big game by levergun carbines are at 100 yards or less, and a very significant portion at no more than 50. I realize there are parts of the country where 200 yards is a short shot, but that's not most places, and the man who would choose a .30-30 levergun for such a locale is severly limiting himself regardless of what ammo he's using. I love my Marlins and use them all the time here in the woods of the southeast, but if I were going to hunt out west the Marlins would stay home. That's what my Savage 99A .308 is for, and it puts the LE .30-30 pretty far in to the shade..
There's no denying these is a slight advantage in trajectory with the LE ammo, but at the typical ranges these guns are used that is a moot point, sort of like having a 50 MPH wheelchair -- neat, but where are you really going to get any benefit from it?
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