Lever Evoution

[missy83]

Hey guys & gals…
anyone have experience using Hornady lever evolution 30/30 win 160gr FTX bullets in the big woods for deer hunting. Just wondering how they stand up in thick brush??

thanks
Dustin

[diverduck]

Hey guys & gals…
anyone have experience using Hornady lever evolution 30/30 win 160gr FTX bullets in the big woods for deer hunting. Just wondering how they stand up in thick brush??

thanks
Dustin

Not the 30-30, but I have a sample size of one when I shot a doe with a .44 magnum in a ruger carbine. It made a perfect entry and a pretty nice exit hole while turning the heart/lungs inside out. Doe went 50 yards but left a giant blood trail that a blind man could follow. They won’t shoot through trees though, but I’d certainly shoot another deer with them. Most guys running levers at my old camp where using them except one guy still shooting ammunition he had leftover from the 60’s. They’ll work if you can connect.

[Fox]

Hold up in the brush?

There is no cartridge that will bust brush.

[gbk]

Dont worry,just mind your aim and distance.
You need to know ,the plastic tip is more sensitive to hitting thicker twigs,because it may disintegrate in a flight(to a degree)thus wounding, not killing.Which should be avoided.
I guess ,if the twig is closer to the animal,would not matter that much.
If you are in heavier brush,lead nose may be a better choice.Even then-distance matters.

[GW11]

Hey guys & gals…
anyone have experience using Hornady lever evolution 30/30 win 160gr FTX bullets in the big woods for deer hunting. Just wondering how they stand up in thick brush??

thanks
Dustin

I've shot the lever evolution in 30/30 at paper but not at deer. My initial impression was I didn't need the extra noise and recoil out of the little 30/30.

Inside 100 yards, a 170 grain Winchester power point makes a nice hole and leaves a great blood trail. Usually better than I find with the 30-06. I have inadvertently attempted "brush busting" when using the 30/30 in the old hound camp. I had 3 deer come out ahead of the dogs, I shot the first one. Two ran over to the next guy, he missed, one came back and I fired 6 times (slowly and precisely) at the walking deer at around 40 yards and missed every shot. Upon further inspection I found bullet marks all through the little saplings where the deer was standing and never touched a hair.

A humbling experience that ended with a lot of exciting noise for the gang but only one of three deer down.

Sent from my SM-A520W using Tapatalk

[werner.reiche]

My experience with .44mag and .444 LE ammo is that the bullets are constructed very lightly. If you hit any bones - even ribs - the bullet fragments badly. That seems really counter to the logic of shooting a large caliber. The .44 mag on paper seemed not a lot different from remingtons. The .444 on paper shoot a lot better than the remingtons. (in a JM stamped XLR).

[Fox]

My experience with .44mag and .444 LE ammo is that the bullets are constructed very lightly. If you hit any bones - even ribs - the bullet fragments badly. That seems really counter to the logic of shooting a large caliber. The .44 mag on paper seemed not a lot different from remingtons. The .444 on paper shoot a lot better than the remingtons. (in a JM stamped XLR).

It is probably because they are using pistol bullets in rifles with higher velocities, one of the huge problem with the 444 Marlin, people load pistol bullets in them.

[gbk]

I harvested once a nice 10 point deer ,at about 50 yards,thru really heavy bush(open hardwoods on wet soil have million saplings sticking out -just about everywhere).Height-diameter and type of sapling varies wildly.November,no leafs though.
The deer was walking thru,and i had no other choice.The deer ran 150 yards.I clipped one lung and punched the liver and the other lung).The deer ran into a tree trunk V,and expired.
I was shooting a 20 gage 2 3/4 Win Partition Gold Sabot slug(the best there it is-alas it shoots for nothing from my Savage).That bullet matches the 45/70 ballistics .
Did its job perfectly.

[werner.reiche]

It is probably because they are using pistol bullets in rifles with higher velocities, one of the huge problem with the 444 Marlin, people load pistol bullets in them.

Both the hornady and remington 265gr .444 is supposed to be a .444 specific bullet. But you are right about the pistol bullets. The remington 240 grains are a .44 mag bullet and they mushroom out to over an inch. But at least they stick in one piece. The hornady 265's fragment badly.

[Fox]

Both the hornady and remington 265gr .444 is supposed to be a .444 specific bullet. But you are right about the pistol bullets. The remington 240 grains are a .44 mag bullet and they mushroom out to over an inch. But at least they stick in one piece. The hornady 265's fragment badly.

I have a 50 cal muzzle loader, I wanted to run 44 cal bullets, just due to the ability to get other bullets for plinking. I refuse to buy the packs that they put out, a 240gr pistol bullet pushed by 100gr of 777 powder, that thing is going to open up like crazy, I went with the 300gr XTP, reduce that velocity a bit and gain some sectional density.

I cannot believe they are still loading 444 with pistol bullets, I guess they have not learned.