When Hornady introduced its new LEVERevolution ammunition I was somewhat interested but just recently have gotten around to trying it out. As most hunters and shooters probably are aware, tubular fed magazines such as found on the popular Winchester Model 94s and Marlin Model 336s have always required the use of flat point bullets. The idea of the LEVERevolution ammo is simple. The bullet is tipped with a synthetic material that will not detonate a primer when placed into a tubular magazine. Unlike the Nosler Ballistic Tip or similar bullets that use a hard plastic for the tip, the LEVERevolution point has a rubber like feel. While the nose of the bullet is soft it is supposed to still offer improved ballistics over flat nosed bullets.
The Hornady LEVERevolution load for the venerable 30-30 Winchester launches the 160 grain bullet at 2400 feet per second which is pretty fast for a 30-30. This produces 1643 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle (statistics according to Hornady.com). Compare this to a Remington loading with muzzle ballistics of 2390/1902 (150 grain) and 2200/1827 (170 grain) per Remington.com and you can see that the Hornady load is pretty hot regardless of the bullet design. Where the LEVERevolution really shines however is downfield where the pointed bullet really has an advantage. At 200 yards the Hornady LEVERevolution is still moving along at 1916 feet per second and carrying 1304 foot pounds of energy. The Remington loads at 200 yards are moving along at 1605 feet per second (150 grain) and 1619 (170 grain) and carrying 858 foot pounds of energy (150 grain) and 989 (170 grain). Clearly the Hornady LEVERevolution is far superior down range. While neither Remington load carries the 1000 foot pounds of energy that many consider minimum for whitetail deer hunting to the 200 yard mark, the Hornady LEVERevolution carries 1000 foot pounds of energy to the 300 yard mark. Hornady’s website shows the 160 grain LEVERevolution bullet dropping just over 12 inches at 300 yards with a 3 inch high 100 yard zero.
In the field I shot the Hornady LEVERevolution against the 170 grain Remington Core-Lokt for accuracy at 100 yards. Each load shot into about an inch and a half or a little better. While accuracy wasn’t a large improvement over a conventional loading, the Hornady LEVERevolution’s real strength is in down range ballistics. As this test firing took place in summer I was unable to test the LEVERevolution on deer, but there is no reason to not expect it to perform as stated.
Given the ballistic superiority of the Hornady LEVERevolution bullet over standard flat nosed bullets it seems that this is a great product for lever action hunters. For those who often hunt near fields or other openings where a longer shot than 150 yards may present itself, the Hornady LEVERevolution presents a real improvement worth checking out.
