HatchieLuvr

The 250 is such a pisspoor weight & sectional density in a .458cal. I don't understand why Hornady didn't just make a 300GMX with a tip in it instead of the 250gmx & the 325ftx? The 250 MIGHT have been acceptable if they had buzzed it on up to 23-2400+fps but by loading it to the same velocity as the 325ftx they neutered its potential. Two bullets of equal diameter, reasonably comparable BC & equal muzzle velocity will result in the heavier bullet yielding flatter trajectories because it will retain higher velocities down range.

Over the last 20+ years I've shot to many 50cal muzzleloaders with all kinds of Barnes bullets from 200-350grns to know that you're only wasting power, trajectory & penetration when you shoot 45cals under 300grns!

Sometimes Hornady does great things & sometimes they leave me scratching my head!

Nomercy448

Recoil energy man, that's all. The 250 will kill deer just fine at the ranges most folks can manage a 45-70's trajectory, but they can cut a helluva lot of punishment off of the end without a hole in it by dropping the bullet weight.

GOOD OLE BOY

On the Marlin forum there were a lot of guys stating that they aren,t happy with the lever ammo from Hornady.Feeding issues were one of the problems.

Oldtimr

Never had a problem with Leverevolution ammo, my brother uses it in his 30-30 and loves it, I know a lot of folks who use it and never heard a complaint about it.

buckman11

Well In my opinion the 45-70 is way to much gun for Whitetail. I dont know the laws in your state, but I would go down to 30-30 or 30-06. If though you are set on the 45-70, use Leverevolution. Thats all I use in my 30-30, also got a friend that uses it in his 35 Remington, nothing but great results. Hope it works out!

Oldtimr

Well, Buck, in my experience a 45-70 is not too much gun for whitetails. The deer I have killed with the 45-70 had less meat damage than the ones I have killed with a .308 and 30-06. That is one of the reasons I continue to use it.

Nomercy448

The 'opinion' that the .45-70 is too much gun for whitetails is very common for people that have never shot a whitetail with it. The experience that the .45-70 is NOT too much gun for whitetails is very common for people that have shot a whitetail with it. Just the nature of the beast. When a 75-100grn bullet out of a 'lowly' 243win will kill deer cleanly, certainly a case with something around 3x the capacity and 3-4x the bullet would be far too powerful - makes sense, right? Except that the 243win is running about twice the pressure of the old blackpowder cartridge 45-70-405...

The only advantage a 308 or 30-06 has over a 45-70 is trajectory. The 325grn FTX has as much drop at 350yrds as a 150grn .30-06 boattail at 600yrds. Recoil energy could be arguable, as a 325grn pill tends to push back a lot of momentum on the rifle even at moderate speeds - especially in leverguns that tend to weigh a pound and a half or more lighter than a scoped bolt gun, but again, meat damage stands favorable for the old "Government", so really the trajectory is the main comparison point.

I'll also confirm that my experiences in hunting with all 3 in question have shown that I get less meat damage and as fast or faster kills with the .45-70 than the 30 cals.

Not to argue, as I know SOME rifles are finicky about the long ogive and longer profile on the Leverevolution, but I do know that a lot of the feeding issues weren't with factory ammo, but were with guys running standard length brass under the hornady leverevolution RELOADING bullets. The straightwall cartridge FTX's require a short cut case, otherwise they run too long for reliable feeding. The 30-30, on the other hand, doesn't have this stipulation, but I know at least a few guys have said trimming a bit and/or seating a bit shorter seemed to help in their Win 94's. It's been a while since I've hung out over on Marlinforum, and I know there are BOATLOADS of threads on the Leverevolution ammo over there, so I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I do know the AMMO got a bad wrap because guys weren't loading the BULLETS properly (guys used to also complain that the bullets were "slow" too, since in a standard length case, you don't build as much pressure as expected in the manuals that used the trimmed cases).

I've never had any issue running 30-30, 357mag, 44mag, or 45-70 Leverevolution loads in any of my Marlins. I DID have some issues with the 357mag and 30-30win in Win 94's, but a little trimming on the carriers fixed me right up.

buckman11

Ok good Information. Thanks Man!

UncleNorby

I was not impressed with Factory Remington 300 gr JSP on the one deer I shot with them. The smallish 5-6 point was hit twice in the ribs as he ran past me at 25 yds, third shot hit high in the back as he was going away (which dropped him), and the fourth was a neck shot as he lay there looking back at me. Penetration was poor with these bullets. I've shot a few with reloaded bullets (Hornady 350 gr RN) and those were much better. I'm not looking for much expansion on deer from a 45 caliber bullet.

Oldtimr

Norby, I have killed two whitetails w/ the LE .45-70, ammo that were hit in the crease behind the shoulder, my favorite shot. Both deer had soup in the chest cavity, lungs were reduced to 50 cent sized pieces and on one the heart was shot off where to attaches to the vessels and was mush. A third gave me a shot of the top of the shoulder and the neck as it was behind a tree. It went right down, hit e the neck meets the shoulder and it crawled about 15 yards and pumped all its blood out onto the ground. I have been deer hunting for over 50 years and I have seen a lot of blood trails, I have never seen one like this one. Completely took off the carotid The right .45 cal bullet will expand if it is the right bullet made to do so. That red plastic point on the LE ammo is not only to allow it to be used in a tube magazine, it is also for expansion and it works as advertised.