Wrote this little article last year. Never got used in the local club newsletter. It might be of interest to some of you who reload.
Long-Range 30-30?
Hornady is offering 30-30 ammo called LeverEvolution. They also supply the FTX bullets used in that ammo and Hodgdon offers the LeverEvolution powder. My conclusions, after some testing with a 50 year-old Marlin lever rifle, are that you BUY that ammo and/or components for guns like that you may shoot. It is a definite improvement in energy, trajectory and possibly accuracy.
A major problem with the popular 30-30 is tubular magazine. Since each shell is pushed on the primer by the shell behind, that bullet head has got to be flat. You don’t want a primer set off while loading or under recoil because of a pointed bullet pushing on a primer. Flat bullets shoot like a parachute. You need pointed bullets to cut through the air if you’re going to hold speed and energy. Hornady came up with a solution.
The FTX Hornady bullet has a spongy, plastic tip that literally squishes when pushed on primers in a tube magazine. That’s unlike other plastic-tipped bullets marketed for years with hard tips. Bullets like the SST and Ballistic Tips are NOT soft-tipped and just might be a problem in tubular magazines.
The other issue is powder type. Most lever rifles from Winchester and Marlin used 20” barrels or sometimes even shorter. For reloaders, old IMR 4064, 3031 and 4895 were pretty much all that could be used to get velocity from the short barrel. Now Hornady, with Hodgdon, came out with a new ball powder called LeverRevolution. That’s the name Hornady gave to their new ammo and the name Hodgdon is using on the powder. You can now either buy complete ammunition for your lever guns or make your own.
It sure is a strange feeling to load tubular magazines with pointed bullets. Actually it was kind of scary when I first did it. Decades of trepidation are hard to overcome. Was given 5 complete factory rounds to try. No chronograph then so I don’t know their actual speed. Do know they grouped under 2” at 100 yards and shot a couple inches lower than my old loads. Felt strong and that prompted the exploration.
First thing I tried was just switching to the FTX bullets. Claims are for a high ballistic coefficient and good down-range performance. They sure look more aerodynamic than older flat points. Did some chronographing and found that IMR 4895 worked will with these new bullets. Decent groups and consistent velocity around 2,200 fps. showed the bullets worked well. My drop tests at 200 and 300 yards showed inches of drop LESS than the flat points.
During the past year, Hodgdon started selling the LeverEvolution powder. Got some to see if that was the final link to real improvement.
On the powder can and from Hodgdon published load data for the 160 FTX bullet in 30-30, there is listed a 35.5 grain max load. I started at 32 grains and immediately got velocity MORE than the max 2200fps loads I could get with the same bullet and Hodgdon 4895.
At 34 and 35 grains of the LVR powder, I was choreographing over 2,400 fps and, now get this, showing groups UNDER 1” at 100 yards. This is from an old Marlin lever with 20” barrel and an old 2-7 Leupold. What a shock.
At the listed max load of 35.5 grains there were no pressure signs in my gun. Velocity was up to 2,450 fps and the one group I shot with it opened a bit.
In the 35 grain range my 30-30 now has velocity and energy like a typical 300 Savage. We’re talking around a TON of energy at the muzzle. That’s not far below a 308. Whoa! Now what will it do?
Sighted things in at 100 yards about 2” high. At 200 yards it hit only an inch or two low. Man that means you can literally hold right on to that range. That’s better than what the gun used to do with those flat point bullets. Shot pretty nice groups at that range also.
300 yards was a bit different. I did hit the paper 4 out of 5 times. Problem was I did not hold high enough to center the shots on the target I used. All hits were near the bottom of the paper with one missing. My guesstimate is these FTX bullets hit around 15” low. Looked like “minute of deer” to me as the shots were spaced maybe 8” apart. Simple drop adjustment, and more ammo to test, would probably show nicely-centered results.
Still had 5 shells left to test. There’s that bank at 450 yards. Held where the crosshair gets thick to make a close hit on the bank. Now what about those 560 yard gongs?
This took some thinking and experience. At a 7 moa gap to the thick on the crosshair, I figured to double that distance down the crosshair would give me something in the 80” hold-over. Range Officer Mike does NOT want you to do this. The club does not want people to wildly shoot at the long-range targets without some experience. I have some experience and got the help of two nearby shooters to spot for me.
First shot hit less than 2 ft. low. Next shot had the right height and just left in the wind. Two shells remaining and I nailed it. Spun that gong around and got cheers from others looking. Darn little 30-30 had hit the gong at 560 yards on it’s third try. Range Officer Skyles came running.
“What’s going on? You guys should not be having that much fun”.
Had one shell left. We all looked again and I just missed to the right. “Minute of Deer” from an old Marlin 30-30 carbine.
You can get that LeverEvolution ammo in 30-30, 32 Special, 35 Remington, 44 mag, 444 Rem and some other calibers. Bullets are available, as is the LeverEvolution powder for reloaders. Seems to be working for me. Now it’s time to use the combination for hunting and remind myself just how much fun and useful the old carbines can be.
LeverRevolution Powder and FTX bullets combine to make the 30-30 “new” again.
Which one is the pointed FTX bullet?
Future deer hunter at practice.
Score one for the FTX and LeverRevolution powder with this nice Gerogia 8 pt.
Long-Range 30-30?
Hornady is offering 30-30 ammo called LeverEvolution. They also supply the FTX bullets used in that ammo and Hodgdon offers the LeverEvolution powder. My conclusions, after some testing with a 50 year-old Marlin lever rifle, are that you BUY that ammo and/or components for guns like that you may shoot. It is a definite improvement in energy, trajectory and possibly accuracy.
A major problem with the popular 30-30 is tubular magazine. Since each shell is pushed on the primer by the shell behind, that bullet head has got to be flat. You don’t want a primer set off while loading or under recoil because of a pointed bullet pushing on a primer. Flat bullets shoot like a parachute. You need pointed bullets to cut through the air if you’re going to hold speed and energy. Hornady came up with a solution.
The FTX Hornady bullet has a spongy, plastic tip that literally squishes when pushed on primers in a tube magazine. That’s unlike other plastic-tipped bullets marketed for years with hard tips. Bullets like the SST and Ballistic Tips are NOT soft-tipped and just might be a problem in tubular magazines.
The other issue is powder type. Most lever rifles from Winchester and Marlin used 20” barrels or sometimes even shorter. For reloaders, old IMR 4064, 3031 and 4895 were pretty much all that could be used to get velocity from the short barrel. Now Hornady, with Hodgdon, came out with a new ball powder called LeverRevolution. That’s the name Hornady gave to their new ammo and the name Hodgdon is using on the powder. You can now either buy complete ammunition for your lever guns or make your own.
It sure is a strange feeling to load tubular magazines with pointed bullets. Actually it was kind of scary when I first did it. Decades of trepidation are hard to overcome. Was given 5 complete factory rounds to try. No chronograph then so I don’t know their actual speed. Do know they grouped under 2” at 100 yards and shot a couple inches lower than my old loads. Felt strong and that prompted the exploration.
First thing I tried was just switching to the FTX bullets. Claims are for a high ballistic coefficient and good down-range performance. They sure look more aerodynamic than older flat points. Did some chronographing and found that IMR 4895 worked will with these new bullets. Decent groups and consistent velocity around 2,200 fps. showed the bullets worked well. My drop tests at 200 and 300 yards showed inches of drop LESS than the flat points.
During the past year, Hodgdon started selling the LeverEvolution powder. Got some to see if that was the final link to real improvement.
On the powder can and from Hodgdon published load data for the 160 FTX bullet in 30-30, there is listed a 35.5 grain max load. I started at 32 grains and immediately got velocity MORE than the max 2200fps loads I could get with the same bullet and Hodgdon 4895.
At 34 and 35 grains of the LVR powder, I was choreographing over 2,400 fps and, now get this, showing groups UNDER 1” at 100 yards. This is from an old Marlin lever with 20” barrel and an old 2-7 Leupold. What a shock.
At the listed max load of 35.5 grains there were no pressure signs in my gun. Velocity was up to 2,450 fps and the one group I shot with it opened a bit.
In the 35 grain range my 30-30 now has velocity and energy like a typical 300 Savage. We’re talking around a TON of energy at the muzzle. That’s not far below a 308. Whoa! Now what will it do?
Sighted things in at 100 yards about 2” high. At 200 yards it hit only an inch or two low. Man that means you can literally hold right on to that range. That’s better than what the gun used to do with those flat point bullets. Shot pretty nice groups at that range also.
300 yards was a bit different. I did hit the paper 4 out of 5 times. Problem was I did not hold high enough to center the shots on the target I used. All hits were near the bottom of the paper with one missing. My guesstimate is these FTX bullets hit around 15” low. Looked like “minute of deer” to me as the shots were spaced maybe 8” apart. Simple drop adjustment, and more ammo to test, would probably show nicely-centered results.
Still had 5 shells left to test. There’s that bank at 450 yards. Held where the crosshair gets thick to make a close hit on the bank. Now what about those 560 yard gongs?
This took some thinking and experience. At a 7 moa gap to the thick on the crosshair, I figured to double that distance down the crosshair would give me something in the 80” hold-over. Range Officer Mike does NOT want you to do this. The club does not want people to wildly shoot at the long-range targets without some experience. I have some experience and got the help of two nearby shooters to spot for me.
First shot hit less than 2 ft. low. Next shot had the right height and just left in the wind. Two shells remaining and I nailed it. Spun that gong around and got cheers from others looking. Darn little 30-30 had hit the gong at 560 yards on it’s third try. Range Officer Skyles came running.
“What’s going on? You guys should not be having that much fun”.
Had one shell left. We all looked again and I just missed to the right. “Minute of Deer” from an old Marlin 30-30 carbine.
You can get that LeverEvolution ammo in 30-30, 32 Special, 35 Remington, 44 mag, 444 Rem and some other calibers. Bullets are available, as is the LeverEvolution powder for reloaders. Seems to be working for me. Now it’s time to use the combination for hunting and remind myself just how much fun and useful the old carbines can be.
LeverRevolution Powder and FTX bullets combine to make the 30-30 “new” again.
Which one is the pointed FTX bullet?
Future deer hunter at practice.
Score one for the FTX and LeverRevolution powder with this nice Gerogia 8 pt.