Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin Talk Hornady LeverEvolution Ammo

Has anyone had trouble with LeverEvolution (.35 Rem. in my case) bullets not expanding on whitetails?

Welcome to the Campfire Sammy. It is a good place.

I have been shooting the LE ammunition in my 1895 XLR and have not had any expansion issues.


what happened?

I reload 30-30 and have not had any problem with the ammo. Killed 3 deer this year with it. First one the bullet went between ribs on both sides and I didnt get the bullet, but the deer dropped in his tracks. The next two, I shot at about a 45 head on angle and dropped them both in their tracks. Got both of the expanded bullets from just under the skin on the off side.

I shot a buck at an angle behind the shoulder and right thru the opposite shoulder. He jumped the fence and piled up. I gave him 20 minutes and walked over to him. He jumped up and ran on 3
legs about 50 yds. There was very little blood where he had layed. I waited again and then walked to him and again he got up and ran leaving a small blood spot. Anyway, it got dark and I found him the next morning still alive. I finished him and looked at the original shot holes that were made at 75 yards. The exit hole was no bigger than entry hole despite breaking his shoulder.
That was last season. Last week my brother shot a doe at 200
yards. There deer dropped right there. He waited in the blind 15 minutes and said she wasn't moving. On his way to her she got up and ran. Left only a small spot of blood. He found her about 300 yards away with the same size hole on either side.
On javelinas and wild hogs these bullets are devastating. But
I might go back to Core-Lokt for whitetails.

Thank you for replies. I really appreciate it.

can't say much about performance with whitetail, but you're absolutely right about performance on hogs... the wounds are astonishing. The exit wounds are generally about double what i see with my .308... it's almost always DRT with my 45-70

My experience has with LE ammo has been great. I have taken four whitetails with it and none made it past 30 yards. My last deer taken with it was the day befor Thanksgiving. The blood trail was about the same as my 30.06 would have made. Once again the deer only went about 30 yards. LE ammo is also VERY accurate in my Marlin.

My friend shot a deer three times with his 45-70. It was smallish. He thought he missed the first shot, took a second, took a third and it fell straight over like it'd not been shot, just fell over. It had three holes straight through with no expansion. I don't know if the deer ever knew it was hit, it just stood there and let itself get shot two more times. He loves the LE because they fly real straight for him. I liked them until I got some flyers and heard his story. I don't want three .45 entry and exit holes.

I hit one last week in VT and it went down like a school girl on prom nigth in the neck on one side and out the left side of the ribs down like I hit a ligth switch

I took two this year with my 1894ss in 44 with Hornady Leverevolution and did have problems, but not with expansion. My problem was MASSIVE meat loss! As far as taking them down, one made it about 10 yards, the other dropped on the spot. The exit holes were nothing short of vicious. I was using the ftp (or whatever tipped ones), not the xtp. I found the jacket of the round on the second deer- it came off, but was peeled like an onion.

You can't say there was no expansion unless you find the bullet. It is not uncommon for skin to have a small entry and exit hole because skin can stretch for a projectile and then retract after it exits.

I say this having shot 5 deer with LE ammo and only one bad experience but that had more to do with bad shot placement then the bullet.

I have been reading a lot of lack of penetration and it sounds like most of the problems have been on shoulder shots.

I am getting great groups with it and hopefully a kill soon.

I've been reading just the opposite. FXT bullets expanding too much and blowing up on bone.

Looks like people have ahd different experiences. I have been wanting to try them so this brings up a good reason to do just that.