Not good performance with Hornady 30-30 Leverevolution!

[Tommy Kelly]

The point I was making is that if you go out and shoot 5 or 6 shots zeroing in your barrel builds up heat and if it's touching something solid as it heats it expands and will change the point of impact. Once it cools back down and shrinks the impact point will change. So with it zeroed hot when its cool it isn't zeroed until it get's hot again. I see many people go out to zero for hunting and some shoot up to 10 or 12 shots while adjusting their scopes in 15 minutes or so. The all important shot is the first one. A rifle that hits the first shot is adjusted the proper way for hunting.

[flyingfool]

OK. 

So when it is 40 or 45 degrees outside.  How long of time between the next shot should I wait to shoot again?  Obviously 4 hours later would be safe.  But I want to get this zeroed before I grow old!

When I sighted in at my last session.  It took approximately 30 minutes or so and I shot a total of I think 8 shots and they were approximately evenly spaced.  The first two were closer together.  This  averages to 3.75 minutes between shots.

When I ejected the shells they were cool to the touch.  The barrel even when done after all 8 shots was what I would define as lukewarm.  by no means "hot" to the touch.

I do plan to shoot again with completely coool barrel.  I hope that it is "on".  If it again shoots about 4 inches low (50 yards) and to the left.  Which is what it did last time with cold (clean) barrel.  Then I guess I will have to adjust for that POI. Wait some crystal ball length of time and shoot again.

[Jake]

Thats not the case with any of my rifles.

I've made my diagnosis...Ammo is screwed 

[mr fixit]

It's a shame to read a thread like this, the LE's  do what I expect them to do at 100 yds in my 336W,  I'm reading a lot here on barrel cleaning, right now my rifle is doing fine...so why in the world would I want to clean it and screw up a good shooting stick?  I'll give her a good cleaning after hunting, then maybe again in June or July after 4-5 trips to the range and a couple hundred rounds, after that I don't mess with it UNLESS things go south, I figure when it starts shooting the way I expect it to, it's time to back off on the amount of rounds going down the tube.  It only seems to get better as hunting time grows nearer, I still go to the range but maybe 20 rounds a trip, possibly another 60 rounds down range before hunting, always have other rifles to get in line ya know!   
     You guys have touched on some points I was trying to stress to my 16 y.o. nephew, that being even though the barrel feels "cold" at 55 degrees, when it's 25 degrees things happen and tolerances get tighter due to the metal constricting and this may affect POI from the last outing when he thought he was zero'd. At 55 degrees, I'd wait 5-10 minutes between shots as the barrel will never come close to warm.  Again ...sorry to hear of the problems some of you are experiencing with the LEs' and I hope you find something that will meet your requirements for hunting to get the job done.  Just my thoughts.  Mr fixit

[flyingfool]

I am using Factory Rem 200 CL.

If these guns dramatically change POI with a temp change then I guess I will have to get rid of my levers.

Where I hunt in Upper Peninsula of MI it can be anywhere from 10 degrees BELOW zero to 55 degrees above during the 2 week season.  Generally it will change temperature from about 15 to 20 degrees in the morning to 45 or more for a high temp.  If I can not rely on accurate shooting with the lever gun with this temperature change in a day then I may as well give it up!

I'm still hoping it was the clean barrel phenomena.  But with a 5 inch low and 1.5 inch left at 50 yards,. but dead on 8 shots later, I have my doubts.

[Elvis]

Sorry to hear this. I haven't shot any LE but I bought into the hype and picked up a ton of it last time I went by Bass Pro. I hope it's just one bad lot. Do you have any other lot numbers involved?

[Jake]

My mistake bro, I thought you were just talking about 30-30.  I have a 35 and don't have a problem with Hornady (YET). My 35 is Ballard.

Only thing I can figure is some kind of inconsistency in certain lots of Leverevolution be it balance or powder.

One thing I was toying with in my head was if there is an increased hardness in the jacket it could very well effect flight in a microgroove barrel.

[Jake]

Yes, I keep great records

lot#3090803,lot#3090804, lot#3080525,lot#3080490

Yes, thats 80 rounds.

Heres the bad part, I've got over 400 rounds of this stuff, not all these lot numbers.

[BOURBON BOY]

I never had a chance to try them, and from what I'm reading, I'm glad I saved my money. I do know Hornady ammo didn't work well in my .44mag revolver. I think I'll stick with Winchester and Remington ammo-that's about all I can find anyway. Thanks Jake!  Cheers--BB

[stevens520]

Hmmm, my box is from lot # 3080525 too.

[Jake]

I can't agree with this statement  "the hype" because up until this year, they have been good to me.

I can say, not every round in each box flew but about half did.

I trust my shooting and I'm off of them for good.

[186 Tmanbuckhunter]

I can't agree with this statement  "the hype" because up until this year, they have been good to me.

I can say, not every round in each box flew but about half did.

I trust my shooting and I'm off of them for good.

+1. I know I can shoot well... and when a gun isn't shooting a certain type of factory offering good or handload I know I need to go back to the drawing board because its not my shooting!

[BOURBON BOY]

I have a couple of guys I work with that reload--a lot, and told me some batches of Hornady bullets varied a bunch in weight? They no longer use them. With the runs on ammo lately, maybe the qc at Hornady isn't doing their job.   BB

[Jake]

I have three boxes left for my 35 and I just ordered 200 rounds for my 450  

I'm still wondering about the jacket hardness and microgroove theory.  What do you think?  

[186 Tmanbuckhunter]

I have a couple of guys I work with that reload--a lot, and told me some batches of Hornady bullets varied a bunch in weight? They no longer use them. With the runs on ammo lately, maybe the qc at Hornady isn't doing their job.   BB

My box of .452 250gr. XTP's are pretty consistent however my box of 140gr. hornady interlocks really isn't. Out of the 5 I measured the results looked like this


140.2
139.9
140
139.6
140.1

The bullets are 6.5mm (.264) used in the 6.5x55 swedish mauser.

Not that bad, but not consistent either, but my 109 year old M96 swede mauser doesn't complain when they're loaded over 39grs of H-414. I measured some .311 174gr. sierra match kings. I remember the exact measurements.

174.0
173.9
173.9
174.0
173.9

Pretty consistent to me! That is why I also shoot a lot of sierras... more than anything else but when I finally get off my lazy but and get some 30-30 dies I'm going to shoot some Speer hot-cores. I may be buying a lot of speer bullets in the future.