I have no personal experience with this ammo, but overall I've heard amazing things about its performance. The one thing that seems to be the common denominator with this (as with other factory Hornady loads with their new "Superformance" powders from my experience,) is that they, and I quote, "shoot high." Now I'm no physicist or ballistics expert, but it is my opinion that the powder is a "hotter" powder and therefore boosts velocities. Couple this with slightly reduced bullet weights (160 or 140 as opposed to the traditional 170 or 150) and you have what is in reality a much flatter shooting round, simply meaning that the bullet covers a lot more ground before gravity begins pulling it down. I've said all of that to say this: If you're a hunter, sight/zero your gun with whatever round you plan to hunt with. At the moment my 30A is zeroed with Federal Power Shok 170 gr. However I do plan to soon buy a couple boxes of LeverEvolution to sight-in with and try on whitetail this Fall. I'm also interested in hearing of your experiences with this ammo in regards to target performance as well as examples of how well (and consistent) this round performs in hunting applications on deer and other game. Thanks and as always, Happy shooting!
AlphaPredator88
My youngest son uses a 30A and for the last few years and has also uses the Hornady 160 FTX LeverEvolution ammo and loves it. He has killed sever white tail deer and they never knew what hit them.
Before the LeverEvolution he used and had his rifle sighted in with the 170gr. Winchester super-X ammo.
He re-sight the rifle in with the Hornady and if I remember correctly the 160gr FTX Hornady LeverEvolution ammo shot about 4+" inches higher then the super-X ammo had. He sighted his 30A in @ 3"high at 100 yd., and @ 200yd. its about +1/4" high, and @ 300yd. its about -12" low.
The two things that really impressed me was the extra yardage the LeverEvolution gains over regular ammo and the impressive exit (golf ball size) wounds they leave, in all but one case.
Last year he killed a large body 8 pt. buck at 238 yards ( measured with laser rangefinder) with one shot. The buck fell on the spot, but the bullet DID NOT EXIT (the one and only time they had not exited) .
When we dressed the deer I found the bullet under the skin on the opposite side (fine mushroom example of what a bullet should do) and brought it home, washed it up and let it dry.
A few weeks later when I weighted it, it weighed back in at 122gr. after striking the left front shoulder blade and then exited the right front shoulder blade only stopping just underneath the skin on the opposite side. That's just a .38gr. loss on a shoulder to shoulder bone pass through. I thought that was quite impressive for the old 30-30.
In this day of everyone talking about and using a magnum rifle of some type, he doesn't feel under gunned any longer with his old 30-30 !!!
Before the LeverEvolution he used and had his rifle sighted in with the 170gr. Winchester super-X ammo.
He re-sight the rifle in with the Hornady and if I remember correctly the 160gr FTX Hornady LeverEvolution ammo shot about 4+" inches higher then the super-X ammo had. He sighted his 30A in @ 3"high at 100 yd., and @ 200yd. its about +1/4" high, and @ 300yd. its about -12" low.
The two things that really impressed me was the extra yardage the LeverEvolution gains over regular ammo and the impressive exit (golf ball size) wounds they leave, in all but one case.
Last year he killed a large body 8 pt. buck at 238 yards ( measured with laser rangefinder) with one shot. The buck fell on the spot, but the bullet DID NOT EXIT (the one and only time they had not exited) .
When we dressed the deer I found the bullet under the skin on the opposite side (fine mushroom example of what a bullet should do) and brought it home, washed it up and let it dry.
A few weeks later when I weighted it, it weighed back in at 122gr. after striking the left front shoulder blade and then exited the right front shoulder blade only stopping just underneath the skin on the opposite side. That's just a .38gr. loss on a shoulder to shoulder bone pass through. I thought that was quite impressive for the old 30-30.
In this day of everyone talking about and using a magnum rifle of some type, he doesn't feel under gunned any longer with his old 30-30 !!!
You're right, it's not higher its flatter. Which in some parts of the trajectory put the Lever E lower than the equivalent round nose. I think they shoot great. They are a bit expensive here and sometimes hard to get. But very good shooting rounds. I've only done target work with them.
I'd like to roll my own but I'm not sure how the soft tip will go in the seating die.
I'd like to roll my own but I'm not sure how the soft tip will go in the seating die.
I couldn't get under 5" at fifty yards with it. In fairness though, my rifle didn't exactly cozy up to Remington 170's or Winchester 150's either. I'll get around to trying some home grown loads one of these day's.
I shoot it in both 30-30 and 45-70. My little 30-30 has taken deer out to 250+ yards with it. DRT!
45-70, I've only shot on the range. I bought my first 1895 rifle last week and have been to the range twice with it. The last trip was all LE ammo. Below is the last target, 100 yards, 20 rounds. 2 rounds to fine zero, then all the rest. Yes, there are 20 rounds in there.
I know some people don't like this stuff, but, personally, I really like it. I really like the flatter trajectory after 150 yards.
Bob
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45-70, I've only shot on the range. I bought my first 1895 rifle last week and have been to the range twice with it. The last trip was all LE ammo. Below is the last target, 100 yards, 20 rounds. 2 rounds to fine zero, then all the rest. Yes, there are 20 rounds in there.
I know some people don't like this stuff, but, personally, I really like it. I really like the flatter trajectory after 150 yards.
Bob
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