How Good Is Hornady LeverEvolution Ammunition?

As mentioned in these pages previously, I am a big fan of the Hornady LeverEvolution ammo. I own two Marlin lever action rifles and both rifles absolutely love the LeverEvolution loadings.

My Model 1895 45-70 shoots a number of loads well including but not limited to Federal 300 grain power shoks, Buffalo Bore 350 grain penetrator load and their 405 grain expander loading. I even have some older PMC loads hanging around in my safe. Although my rifle shoots all of these loads well enough for deer hunting at normal ranges and bear hunting over bait, when I want to reach out there and know I can hit that whitetail buck at 150-200 yards, I reach for the 325 grain FTX LeverEvolution load.

Let's take a look at this load. The various 300 grain factory loads have a thin jacket and deliver around 1492 ft/lbs of energy at 100 yards. The Federal Power Shoks load easily prints UNDER an inch at that distance. Remington's heavier 405 grain (still with a thin jacket) hit with 1227 ft/lbs at 100 yards. Hornady's much tougher 325 grain FTX load hits with 2157 ft/lbs or an increased performance level of 76% or almost double the other loads. At first I was skeptical of going on a baited black bear hunt with this load, however I have since read several accounts of stellar performance on even big bears over bait. My model 1895 shoots very acceptable groups out to 200 yards and I would not hesitate to take a broadside standing shot on a big buck at that distance with a decent rest and few seconds to set up the shot.

What about the .35 Remington? Again mine is a Marlin Model 336 and if anything this gun out shoots the 45-70 with the Hornady FTX ammo. Mine will put 3 shots into 3/4 of an inch at 100 yards and into 1.5 to 2 inches at 200 yards while hitting about 5 1/2 inches low as sighted in. Mine is set about 1.5 inches high at 100 yards. One can certainly improve the bullet drop at 200 by sighting in 3 inches high at 100.


35 Rem 200 gr FTX® LEVERevolution®





Test Barrel (24") Velocity (fps) / Energy (ft-lbs)
MUZZLE 100 200 300  2225/2198 1963/1711 1721/1315 1503/1003

Trajectory (inches)
MUZZLE 100 200 300   -1.70  / 3.00    -1.30  /   -17.50

The 30-30 probably receives the greatest boost of both energy and trajectory from the LeverEvolution ammo showing 1304 ft/lbs left at the 200 yards mark. I have read of incredible accuracy out of 30-30 lever guns giving this caliber a new lease on life.

Hornady also makes loads in their FTX line up in .450 Marlin showing a 20% increase in ft/lbs at 200 yards. Even the old .32 Win special benefits from this treatment. I remember in high school debating the merits of the .32 special (vs.) the 30-30 with a "Gun Nut" friend of mine I grew up with. My friend and I both ended the careers of more than a few woodchucks back in the day with open sighted Winchester 30-30 lever actions with 150 and 170 grain factory loads.

ALL ammunition right now is difficult to find, however I was able to pick up a couple of boxes of .35 Rem 200 grain FTX ammo at the local Syracuse, NY spring gun show.

In closing if you do NOT currently belong to the NRA, I would encourage you to join today. Just type in NRA membership on line and get signed up.

Dan

Buffalo Bore Ammo / New Listings

I have tried Buffalo Bore ammunition in several different calibers including .380 ACP pistol ammo. I have no complaints and recently see that they have some new calibers and loads to offer.

For a complete list of products and to visit their website, click on the link below:

https://www.buffalobore.com/


BBA now makes loads in .223 Remington. .308 Winchester, 30:06, and .348 Winchester and also .50 Alaskan.

I have mentioned previously that sometimes I wish I had purchased a .35 Whelen when I bought my Ruger Model 77 .350 Mag. The only reason I feel that way is that ammo for the .350 can be hard to find and it is expensive when you do find it. The .35 Whelen and the .350 are sort of twins in the effectiveness department. In other words what one can do, the other can pretty much duplicate. I spoke with Tim sundles recently by email asking about the possibility of bringing out ammo for the .350 Rem Mag. He would love to do that, however even obtaining brass for this caliber is tough. (MY INPUT) In addition with Remington Arm's woes in NYS, they may or may not relocate due to the draconian gun legislation recently passed in the dark of night by our illustrious Gov Coumo. Remington Arms in Illion, NY produced the Bushmaster rifles which cuomo has decided are now illegal in NYS. If Remington Arms relocates which I would not blame them at all, it could mean putting more than 1000 employees out of work here in NY as the recent legislation made Ar15's and Bushmaster rifles illegal to own in NY.

The two cartridges (.350 Rem mag and the .35 Whelen) are different and you certainly cannot exchange ammo between the two, however from an effectiveness on big game standpoint, one does not have a big advantage over the other. In any event, Buffalo Bore now loads (2) different bullets for the .35 Whelen. One is a 225 grain spitzer BT at 2800fps and the other is a 225 grain TSX at the same speed. This is supercharged ammo for SAAMI specification riles only.

They also make loads for the .444 Marlin which has somewhat of a reputation as a great gun but poor bullet match up over the years. BBA has three offerings in .444 Marlin as follows:

• 270 grain JFN Speer Deep curl at 2250fps
• 300 grain JFN Speer plated softpoint at 2150fps
• 335 grain LFN cast at 2025 fps

The 45-70 is not forgotten and two of the best loads in this caliber are:

• 405 grain JFN at 2000fps
• 430 grain LFN/GC at 1925 fps

The 405 grain loading is Tim Sundles choice for black bear over bait.

In .35 Remington which is a favorite of mine, BBA loads a 220 grain JFN at an advertised velocity of 2200 fps. This should only be used in Marlin lever actions, TC Encores and bolt action rifles as it generates around 40,000 CUP.

The 220 grain JFN has a good repuation for accuracy and would be great for hunting black bear over bait also.





Dan