Lever Action Choices For Deer or Bear

I like Lever Action guns. I always have, partly I guess because I grew up watching Chuck Connors in the Rifleman series. In addition I loved  shows like Wanted Dead or Alive starring Steve McQueen as Josh Randall, and who can forget "The Duke" standing there holding his Winchester.

At one time I owned a Winchester model 94 top ejecting 30-30 with the original open sights on it. Alas, it was another one of my regrets letting that rifle go. Early on I fell in love with the Marlin series of lever action rifles and at one time had a mdl 336 with a peep sight on it which carried easily and shot very well.

At present there are two lever guns in my stable and both are Marlins. One is a Marlin 336 in .35 Rem and the other is a Marlin Model 1895 in 45-70. Both have had Wild West Happy Triggers installed and both wear variable scopes. Both guns also like Hornady LeveRevolution ammo.

I wanted to do a review of what is available from Hornady in calibers from .30-30 to .450 Marlin in the LeveRevolution line up:

Caliber   /    Standard Factory Loads   /   LeveRevolution Loads
                    Bullet Weight/ FPS              Bullet Weight/ FPS

30:30 Win       170            2,200                       160          2,400
.35 Rem           200            2,080                       200         2,225 
.444 Marlin     240            2,330                       265          2.325
.45-70             300            1,880                       325          2,050
.450 Marlin     350            2,100                       325          2,225

Velocity Gains:

In the .30-30 we have a bullet 10 grains lighter than the factory load moving out 200fps faster. The .35 Rem retains the same 200 grain bullet weight and also moves out about 145fps faster. The .444 marlin jumps in weight from 240 grains to 265 grains and loses only 5fps over the 240 grainer. The 45-70 again jumps from 300 grains to 325 grains and picks up 170fps. The .450 Marlin drops 25 grains in weight and ups the speed by 125fps.

Keep in mind the unique spitzer pointed bullet with the special polymer tip maintains velocity longer and delivers more energy on down range targets.

What about the integrity of the bullet itself?

Quote from one of my PREVIOUS POSTS follows: SEE JULY 8TH, 2010

"My particular rifle shoots some very tiny groups with the 325 grain FTX Leverevolution ammo. I also recently did the water jug tests on this load, except this time I moved the jugs out to a measured 25 yards (instead of the 20 feet or so I usually conduct testing at). I thought this would be a reasonable distance between a baited bear bait site and a ladder stand in the N/E, specifically in Maine.

As mentioned the FTX bullet blew apart (4) one gallon jugs of water and landed neatly resting on the 2X4 in front of the 5th jug. From a penetration standpoint, this was the equal of the BB 405 grain Expander load recommended by Tim Sundle's for bear hunting. Tim indicates it is designed for 2 1/2 feet of penetration in flesh with tremendous expansion qualities. Their 350 JFN (the penetrator) is designed to go 4 feet in flesh and is rated for game up to 2500 pounds, which certainly includes anything I am ever likely to hunt.

My one shot test in water jugs of the Leverevolution 325 grain FTX bullet duplicated the 4 jugs blow apart along with the BB 405 grain JFN, however the FTX bullet mushroomed nicely and HELD together intact."


I have had several sub minute of angle 100 yards groups with both the .35 Rem and the .45-70 using LeveRevolution ammo. I have also read accounts of black bears going down quickly to this load in the .45-70. This is a useable load for deer out to 200 yards in BOTH guns. My own .45-70 when sighted in 2.5 inches HIGH at 100 yards is 7.5 inches low at 200 measured yards. 100 yard groups was 3/8 inch center to center. The .35 Rem was 1 and 3/4 inches high at 100 yards, dead on at 150 and just 5 and 1/2 inches low at 200 yards. Group size at 100 yards ran from one inch to about 1.5 inches.

If I were going after BIG bear with the .45-70, I would likely use heavier loads from either Buffalo Bore such as their 350 grain penetrator load or one of the Garrett Hammer Head  loads. For whitetails and black bear over bait, I feel the LeveRevolution loads will do the job and their inherent accuracy makes bullet placement easy. Combined with the Wild West Happy Trigger and a decent rest, both of these guns shoot as well under 150 yards as any bolt action rig in my safe.

Dan