Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Hornady leverevolution 30-30 ammo

anybody ever have problems with the stuff?
i fired half a box this morning and 8 out of the 10 necks split! pulled the bullets on the remaining and the powder was clumped together in little globs that just came out the necks.
did a hook test on the unfired necks and didnt feel anything. makes me leery s i have several more boxes.
the powder looked identical to superformance , smelled fine and burned in a vessel just fine. load was 34.5g of whatever it is, behind the boattail 159.1g gummie tips.
all the split's were spaces about equa distant around the neck and extending down into the shoulder.
i fired them in 2 different rifles so i wouldn't think its the guns.
i just can't seem have any good luck with hornady brass.

So, it looks like ball powder?

More likely to be Leverevolution . . .

The cases look a little tarnished and the story about the powder being globbed together makes me scratch my head and wonder if they were exposed to humidity or moisture at one point in time.
I think if I were you I might call Hornady and get their input and give them the lot number from the boxes before shooting anymore.

sure as heck not shooting anymore of that box. pulled all the slugs. all but one of the remaining cases, unfired, had splits in the necks. most bizarre thing i have seen in ammo.
my guess is these cases didn't get annealed and stress cracked during loading.
now i remember why i reload. these are the first factory loads i have fired in about 35 years.

10-4 on the leverevolution. being their site gives 35.5c as maximun for reloading , makes sense they load their's at 34.5

Deerstalker,

You say you have several more boxes. If the other boxes are the same lot number, or are already showing cracks in unfired cases, I would send the whole bunch back to Hornady.

They will take care of you one way or another. I wouldn't shoot any more of them.

in my 32 Special I used 38.5gr of LeverEvolution Using the 165 Hornady new brass and Winchester WLR primers. Got 2274fps from a 20" barrel
Load was in 9th Edition of Hornady manuel. I would not increase that load.. Same manuel shows 37.0gr for 30/30 max. approach with caution.
Maybe you have a oversive chamber?

gun truch50, they were split before firing. the ones i fired were in two different rifles before i discovered the splits in the loaded rounds. this was a box i got when they first came out and has been sitting on a shelf until now. i think it was just brittle brass that missed annealing. the price tag on the box was $18.95 so you know how long thats been, probably 2005 when they were introduced.
guess i had just better make sure i have my glasses and inspect stuff before firing. first time in 60 years of shooting i have ever seen anything like this.

two -fifty, the other boxes i have are newer and close inspection can't see any sign of cracks.with the bad ones prefiring the cracks show up as faint lines almost like scratches.
will keep me on my toes from now on inspecting stuff.

Sorry I miss read your post. I had some over loaded 270 WSM shells 6 or 7 years ago.

guntruck50, Is the 37 grain LeverEvolution loading in the 30-30 with the 160 grain FTX bullet? Hodgdon shows 35.5 as max with the 160 grain ftx bullet. As well as that load being printed on the LeverEvolution canisters. Somewhat confusing.

When the load first appeared we broke one down and the powder charge was. 36.0 grains even. We had to reach in with a scribe to break the powder loose to get it out. We are still reloading the brass. What lot number on the box?

You should contact Hornady if they are factory. They had a recall when they first came out.

Item number 82730, Lot #3060134
August 9, 2006
Hornady Manufacturing Company is recalling one (1) lot of 30-30Win. Hornady LEVERevolution™ Ammunition. This lot was shipped between the dates of 3-29-06 and 4-7-06.

Yes, Hornady manuel 9th edition shows 37gr of LeverRevolution as max load with 160gr FTX bullets, Hornady brass, and Federal 210 primer. I,ll check
Quick Load and see what it says.

No LeverRevolution in Quick Load.

item 82730 lot 3100032
as far as calling Hornady, i have MS and i just have enough energy to waste, i mean spend here talking to folks on the fire, i just don;t want to talk to someone that is all defensive . just thought it weird they split that way.

call 1800-338-3220 ext 3 ask for brad he helped me with one bad round 17 hmr with head separtion

Never really saw the point of leverevolution ammo. A 30-30 lever action is what it is a handy easily carried rifle usually fitted with open sights that fires a cartridge that is effective and relative easy to hit medium sized game at up to 200 yds. I mean they are sort of a balance between portability, compactness due to not generally having a scope and power. If you want more there's a lot of medium capacity rounds to build a scope sighted rifle for shooting a longer ranges.

The quick answer is: to make money.

The more involved one is that the new ammo adds a bit of velocity, a slightly flatter trajectory, and maybe better bullet performance to the lever guns. Not everyone or even most of the folks toting them these days are using irons and an extra 50 yards could be important at times, or maybe just seem that way. From the tests I've seen, the ammo pretty much delivers on the advertised performance, especially in longer barrels. Some of the older stuff often barely breaks 2000 fps. I gather that a fair number of .30/30 users prefer 150gr bullets in conventional loads for deer, feeling that the extra velocity helps with expansion and the terminal effect.

Hornady has a new LE load for the .25/35. According to the article on it by Brian Pearce, regular 117gr factory loads don't expand on deer and also don't clock as advertised. The new LE loads came close to the listed speed and expand well. Pearce took a pronghorn at about 200 yarda and the LE bullet (110gr) expanded and exited.

The LE bullets are also used in the .308 and .338 Marlin, which are a good bit zippier than the old levergun stuff, and close to rounds like the .300 Savage and .348. I know a man who has one of the .338s, and he thinks it's a hammer.

I have two boxes of them and I'm going to try them in my gun as soon as I can get to the range which may not be until the next rainy day. I want Marlin to bring out a .25-35 so I can set it up with a scope and LE's.