Any real difference for a 30-30 hornady leverevolution vs standard rounds at 100yrds

reelfiftyfive

reelfiftyfive

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Question:
Is there Any real difference for a 30-30 Hornady lever Evolution(other than price difference) vs standard rounds at 100 yrds ?
Reason:
Shooting in bush/brush were maximum distance (and iron sights) is 120 yrds max
 
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I shoot both - and there is very little difference at a 100 yeards (100 yard zero with a reflex red dot - I know sacrilege - even worse I'm shooting a win Klondike commemorative )

At 200 yards the evolution are a little low and my cast bullets of the same weight are not on paper.
 
The only difference between leverevolution ammo and any other .30-30 is the soft bit on the point.
MV/ME of a 160 grain FTX is 2400/2046. Identical for their daft 160 grain Z-Max. 170's from Federal run 200 fps slower.
Like duncansuds says, Bambi won't know or care what bullet kills him.
 
I found in my rifle (savage 340) the leverevolutions were more accurate at 100m. Typical groups for the win/federal/rem soft nosed bullets were noticeably bigger than when I used the hornady stuff.

30-30 isn't a round a shoot much outside of pre season sighting in and (hopefully) only one shot during deer season, so I don't mind paying a little extra for the piece of mind of the premium ammo for a handful of shots each year.

If I were buying it and planning on getting in lots of practise, I would probably stick to the cheapest I could find. It might also be worth shooting a few to see if your rifle even likes them, no sense spending for the premium ammo if your rifle shoots better with cheap Winchester or federal.
 
I know this much: If I sight my Marlin 3" high at 100 yards, it is dead on at 200 yards. And at 200 yards it's still doing over 1000 fps, as opposed to traditional ammo that's heading for the dirt at circa 650 fps, give or take. All of which turned my Marlin 30.30 into a legitimate 200 to 250 yard hunting rifle, instead of about 150 yards. Also, my scoped Marlin likes 'em a lot with respect to 100 yard groups, 1" to max 1.5". Lastly, get to shoot premium bullets with the 140 gr GMX, an added bonus, IMHO. Frankly, the extra difference in price, considering everything else related to rifles and hunting that we spend money on, is pretty much chump change.

LeverEvolution has pumped new life into traditional lever actions like the Marlin and Winchester. First genuine advancement in ammo for tube fed levers in living memory, if not longer. Why not take every advantage of it?
 
I don't agree with most of the posts above... the difference is not just the bullet, the major difference is the LVR powder... and it is not insignificant, although more gain for the reloader. If you double jack a lever rifle and use 150 grain spire points over 38.0 grains LVR, you will find a significant difference... yes, at 100 yards, but even more so from 150-200 yards. In my single shot rifles... this load has more in common with a .308 than it does with the old Winchester 170 Silver Tip loads. LVR has breathed new life into the old favourite... all of the above IME & IMO.
 
reelfiftyfive said:
Question:
Is there Any real difference for a 30-30 Hornady lever Evolution(other than price difference) vs standard rounds at 100 yrds ?
Reason:
Shooting in bush/brush were maximum distance (and iron sights) is 120 yrds max
Click to expand...

With factory iron sights you not have enough adjustment, I know I didn't and had to change to a higher front post. All the other posts are true, but I would like to add in my experience the 160 grain FTX may be a touch soft if you take a lot of really close shots. I've shot and seen shot enough deer at close to very close ranges with this combination and while they seem to kill very well they certainly haven't held together as well as traditional bullets. I would not call say the bullets failed but I don't have confidence in them for anything bigger than a whitetail if the shot will be close.
 
The 30-30 was designed to fire the common 170 grain bullet, the standby of the 30-30, at about 2,200 fps with the new smokeless powders. I believe the original factory ammunition of the major companies pretty well did reach the speeds quoted.
I recently checked an old CIL Imperial with 170 grain bullet. I think the head stamp dated it to the 1950s and it went 2206 fps.
I have also checked multiple rounds of similar aged, or older CIL Dominion cartridges in each of 35 Remington and 38-55. In every case they had a velocity very similar to what was claimed for the cartridge.
But that was then and this is now. I think the average factory loaded 30-30 with 170 grain bullet will have a velocity of well under 2000 fps and I will wager that many will go in the neighborhood of 1900!
I have never shot the loaded leverevolution cartridges, but I have chronographed both 150 and 170 grain 30-30 bullets using the LVR powder. Hodgdon's listings show 36.3 grains of LVR for a velocity of 2332 fps, with a 170 grain bullet. I loaded and chronographed this load and I got 2260 fps, which is a way faster than 30-30 loadings with any other powder loaded to the loads shown in any modern loading books.
I upped the LVR powder to 37 grains and got nearly the exact velocity as Hodgdon's show with 36.3 grains, 2320 fps.
This could be in the area of 350 to 400 fps faster than the maximum loadings shown in modern loading books for any other 30-30 cartridge with 170 grain bullet, or with modern factory loads.
So yes, using either loaded Leverevolution cartridges or LVR powder at listing, shown, is a far superior rifle to modern factory loads or handloads with other powders at listings shown.
 
Just want say that my experience confirms exactly what sir_springer has posted. The Hornady ammo has taken the 30.30 to a whole different level. I have never been much of a long range hunter; I want to know I can make a killing shot, and this ammo makes my Marlin a perfectly adequate rifle for virtually my deer hunting.
 
If you want optimum performance from a .30/30 and do not handload by all means use the Hornady stuff. Who knows what kind of accuracy you will get in your particular rifle but it is good ammo. But the Hornady stuff DOES NOT TURN THE .30/30 INTO A LONG RANGE ROUND. AND ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU THAT IS MISTAKEN.
 
Mike Webb said:
If you want optimum performance from a .30/30 and do not handload by all means use the Hornady stuff. Who knows what kind of accuracy you will get in your particular rifle but it is good ammo. But the Hornady stuff DOES NOT TURN THE .30/30 INTO A LONG RANGE ROUND. AND ANYONE WHO TELLS YOU THAT IS MISTAKEN.
Click to expand...

While not necessarily a viable long range option, LVR technology is a viable range extender, over what has long been typical for the .30/30. While I haven't used LVR powder or loads, I have seated 125 gr Sierras over enough 3031 or 4895 for 2600, and used the tube fed rifle as a 2-shooter. This performance duplicates my powder puff .30/06 loads, which, with a 200 yard zero, are about a foot low at 300. Despite the lightweight bullet, these ballistics are suitable for a deer (caribou, sheep, antelope, seal, wolf) cartridge, where the LVR 170 gr load nudges the .30/30 into the next category, for game up to the size of moose, and for ranges out to 300 yards, when used by a talented marksman with a scoped rifle. Its no .308, but no longer does the .30/30 need to be considered just a 150 yard deer rifle.
 
I've been following the leverevolution for years but long sold what it's chambered in till now.................

I put myself after 28 years back in the .30/30 club. I always liked the little Marlin Texan 336T I had to carry and it's accuracy, but was never a fan of the old gangarene round and I've ahd my share of arguments about it.

Well,..now I'm thinking the LVR ammo has put some zip into the old WCF, so I got myself a new Marlin carbine, a 336Y this time. Topped it with a lightweight 2X-7X x 32 scope and am looking forward to smacking one of those FTX's into a big buck this fall.

I got the Marlin in .30/30 for two reasons.

One,...to try out and prove or disprove the LVR ammo and Two,....I need to get back into my old days of still hunting large sections of forest that are never darkened anymore by anybody. People do not still hunt anymore. It's either driving, aTV'ing or blinds /treestands. All will get a Deer for sure, however I need the conditioning from walking after surviving my first heart attack.
My go to Deer whacker in timber the BLR.308Win is sold, so no shorty carbine to cradle in the forest hence the new Marlin carbine.

I got a WTB ad on the EE to get a carbine barrel for my old 7400 Remington after two unsuccessful attempts to have two smiths shorten my rifle barrel to 18.5 and stock LOP, no luck,.. so the hell with it, it's a kid's 336Y I'll be cradling when I step off the road and meander through sections between roads this year.

The Marlin 336 still lives up to it's predecessor in the accuracy department, not the finish however. Winchester 150PP's are the most accurate, but it's now zeroed for the LeverEvolution FTX160's....waiting for a verdict if the old .30'30 is now a good detuned .308Win carbine. The deer will give the answer. Field report to come if successful in a few month's.

I'm thinking those FTX's should give me at 125yds, should I ever really need it in timber,... about the same as the old 170 ST's and KKKSP's did at 60 yards. Only time will tell and I have a vivid memory on the olden days ammo's performance envelope.
 
But you know how it goes, eh? You poke your head out onto a clearing, and there's that bad boy 5 point 225 yards away, entirely focused on finding his next girlfriend of the season. Do you want that old blunt nose round with about the same BC as a fence post in the chamber? Or a LeverEvolution 140 gr Monoflex (GMX) with a BC of .277 that shoots about 6" low at 250 yards?

http://www.hornady.com/store/30-30-Win-140-gr-monoflex-Leverevolution/

You know?

:)
 
They have more velocity and shoot higher than a bullet of equal weight, but for most hunting conditions it won't make a dramatic difference other than lower your irons a bit.
 
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