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The Firing Line
Flex tip bullets
Uploaded on January 14, 2009Folks,
I just found out last week that Hornady is making their Leverevolution Bullets available as a reloading component this year! I have been so excited about the product because lever guns have been "my thing" since I was a kid. Now that I can reload with the soft tipped spitzers -- I'm expecting gloriously tight groups at 200 yards with both my 45-70 and my 30-30!
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Well, handloading may help accuracy but Flex Tip rounds from Hornady for my .35Rem isn't as accurate as the standard loadings of Power Point, Hi Shok etc. Still, plenty good accuracy for hunting.
Now that I think about it maybe the higher velocity has something to do with it. I don't have a chrono. but I can tell they're faster.
Jim,
Thanks for responding to my message board announcement.
My hope is to gain an extra 50 yards... At present, I have ecellent groups at 100 yds. Poor groups but still in the pie plate at 150 yds. And anybody's guess at 200 yds. If I can get "pie pan" accuracy at 200 yds., with sufficient punch, it will be well worth it to handload with the flex tips!
I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
Carney,
Since its the weekend and no new blogs from Dave I got to browsing around old posts and see that you really are a lever action nut. I like them too but not in the same way as you, I have guns of all different actions and I only keep the ones that are special. If I can figure out how to do it I'm going to send you a pic of my pride and joy of all my guns. Its all Marlin336 (lever of course) built in 1964, back when Marlin used genuine black walnut and not stained like today (who knows what type of wood they're hiding under that stain, probably Birch). Unfortunately when my eyesight began to fade I put a scope on it. I hate it, a scope doesn't look right on a lever in my opinion. I'd like to put a peep (Williams, Lyman) on it but I hear the real trick is getting the correct height front sight. Someday I'll get it done.
Jim in Mo,
If you have a MySpace page you can contact me at www.myspace.com/cmlayne
If you have a LiveHunt page you can reach me at www.livehunt.com/Carney
Both websites are free if you want to start a web page.
I'd love to see your "pride and joy"! Like you, my eyesight requires extra support these days... I was initially self conscious about putting the scope on my 1895 but I read a comment by Chuck Hawks' that the 1895 was too accurate of a machine not to put a scope on it! So... My goal was to get a scope that I could also put on my BLR 300 WinMag (which I don't have yet...) so I got a 3X9 -- it looks a little extreme for a lever gun, but it removes a lot of shooter's error when I'm shooting groups at the range!
Being a Hornady product, it must be good!
I just bought this ammo and a cabelas leverevolution scope and used it with my dads 1969 marlin model 336. I know this will sound like an ad but wow!!! I have hated 30-30s for years I have tracked too many wounded animals that were even hit right but still got away from the old flat nose. I bought this so my son could hunt with it and have a light kicking rifle but after seeing it go to work on several deer I left my `06 in the truck and tried it on a big doe. The bullet took out both lungs and most of her liver before coming out. It wasn't a long shot though but compared to the old loads I will be trying it again with more distance. It's one thing to make up a load everyone will love but to take an old one and make you fall in love all over again with guns you didn't use well, Thanks hornady
I talked to Tonya today at the Hornady office. According to her the leverevolution bullets should be released to distributors next month!
I'm with you Clay. I have become "sold" on Hornady products and service! I set up my reloading shop with the Hornady auto progressive press last year. Anytime I need help or parts they are right on it! They take their warranty seriously and throw my parts in the mail. If it wasn't for the fact that the local stores run out of what I'm looking for I wouldn't buy any other manufacturer's bullet!
Carney,
I put a 2*7 scope on my savage 99 and it does not look quite right. Have you guys thought about putting a low profile red dot scope on a lever. They seem to be fast, much smaller than a normal scope and the military seems to wax poetic about them. What do you guys think?
Scott,
I was raised with the erroneous notion that scopes are for wimps. That has left me behind the curve so to speak on all that could be known in the world of optics.
I put a 3X9 on my Marlin 1895 because I wanted to be able to swap it off onto a BLR in 300 winmag whenever I could manage to get one. As it turns out I still don't have the BLR and I've gotten used to the look of the big scope on my Marlin.
If you get a red dot for your savage, I'd like to know how you like it. As I imagine it right now, though, I think the red dot would look more strange than a big long distance scope...
What is your savage chambered for? 300 savage? If so, it is a good round and can reach out quite a ways.
The LeverEvolution rounds have a special powder blend that yields greater velocity without increased heat and pressure. You will not be able to reproduce this powder, so purchasing LeverEvolution will still yield the best ballistics.
did you know you can log on to the Hornady web site and using their e-mail question site and request their loads for the new leverevolution bullets. I did and they e-mailed me a reloading sheet with all the different powder weights and COL's. I loaded up some for my old 336c--24" barrel---1962 model--w0000000000w . I have a Weaver K2.5 scope mounted---what a shooter. I love levers, Hornady just made my day.
When I can get the bullets I'll be checking out their reloading info!
Carney,
My Savage 99 is chambered for .308. Fromwhat I have read the .300 Savage is a very good round but I decided years ago to keep with the more common rounds that are easy to get ammo for. My ost exotic chambered rifle is a .35 R
Scott, not too long ago there was a lot of blog talk about the 308. I have no personal experience with it but everyone was very favorable in their comments.
What part of Ohio are you from? My wife was born in Cleveland and grew up in the Chesapeake / South Point area. I grew up across the Ohio River in Huntington, WV. Up until 2 generations ago, my ancestors were long term pioneering families in SE Ohio.
Carney, I have a Browning BLR in 308 win. I shoot any 150 grain bullet that Hornady makes and nothing has walked away from it if hit in the chest or neck area. this is a great rifle for hunting along the p
Platte river or up and down the hills in our pine ridge area. The 308 win is a great one to load for. for the hunting i do its just as good as the 30-06.
PRR = Maybe this year I'll get that BLR that I want!!! I love the one with the pistol grip. I'm sticking with 300 WinMag though -- even though I've heard good things about the 308 -- because I can't have every gun and I've been setting up for the 300 winmag for about a year!
ive only shot a lever once, an old 50's-60's winchester 94.
i cant wait till i get my first lever gun.
The flex tip bullets are a huge improvement out of my 45-70 for distance and speed its quite impressive to see the difference.
Carney,
I live near Toledo, (NW Ohio on lake Erie)
Jim in Mo,
I have a Marlin 336 that was made in the 60's too. It is a awesome gun and the wood is something to behold. I put tru glo fiber optic sights on my 30/30, maybe that would help your seeing the sights?
I have a marlin 336 in 30-30 and I love it , I normally just shoot the best bargain wether its federal, winchester or remington and I really dont need a long range gun, but I had been considering a 308 cus last year I saw a buck in an open field about 300 yards out and couldnt take the shot. The flex tips have me excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just a comment i dont like scopes on leverguns i have a peep sight on mine, but I do understand it if your eyesight is poor. Happy hunting!
Hey Guys,
Thought I'd let you know that I DID get the BLR that I've wanted. NIB but bought off the internet so it was sight unseen. It has a butt stock that looks like crap. But other than that, it's everything I've wanted! Chambered in 300 win mag. Shot it for the first time 2 weekends ago -- it was a "woods shoot" so only offhand shooting. I'll take it to the range soone to see what kind of groups I can get from the bench!
Also, I got 100 flextips for my 45-70. Just this past Monday finally found a pound of 4198 which is on the list of loads an the Hornady sight. I'll load up a few this weekend!
I peeled the scope (old Bushnell Scope Chief fixed 4X) off of my Savage 99 in .300 Savage. It about as good a scope will look on a 99, being vintage, but the gun is just so sleek and good looking that I couldn't stand to have it on there anymore. Turns out the adjustment ramp is missing from the rear sight. Never noticed, never cared, until I was planning to use it with the irons.
Then I found some old gift cards for a local outdoors store. Used them to buy a red dot scope for the hell of it, then realized that my 99 needed something on it. So now I have a very new, very modern red dot scope on an old, classic gun. It's like blasphemy, but the synergy of the two make for a very dangerous weapon. It's pretty much like having a laser on it. You just look at what you want to shoot with both eyes, put the red point on it, and it's dead.
Oh, and it doesn't look bad at all, actually.
If you have a levergun, you shouldn't use a scope! It's just sacrelidge!
The Savage 99 isn't your average lever gun. The .300 Savage in this rifle begs for a scope. It's a 300 yard gun. But I don't want to use it as a 300 yard gun, I have rifles that beat it there and beyond. So now it has a red dot, perfect for when you walk up on that big northern buck at 60 yards and only have 2 seconds and one shot to kill it.
Post a Reply
Jim,
Thanks for responding to my message board announcement.
My hope is to gain an extra 50 yards... At present, I have ecellent groups at 100 yds. Poor groups but still in the pie plate at 150 yds. And anybody's guess at 200 yds. If I can get "pie pan" accuracy at 200 yds., with sufficient punch, it will be well worth it to handload with the flex tips!
I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.
Carney,
I put a 2*7 scope on my savage 99 and it does not look quite right. Have you guys thought about putting a low profile red dot scope on a lever. They seem to be fast, much smaller than a normal scope and the military seems to wax poetic about them. What do you guys think?
Well, handloading may help accuracy but Flex Tip rounds from Hornady for my .35Rem isn't as accurate as the standard loadings of Power Point, Hi Shok etc. Still, plenty good accuracy for hunting.
Now that I think about it maybe the higher velocity has something to do with it. I don't have a chrono. but I can tell they're faster.
Carney,
Since its the weekend and no new blogs from Dave I got to browsing around old posts and see that you really are a lever action nut. I like them too but not in the same way as you, I have guns of all different actions and I only keep the ones that are special. If I can figure out how to do it I'm going to send you a pic of my pride and joy of all my guns. Its all Marlin336 (lever of course) built in 1964, back when Marlin used genuine black walnut and not stained like today (who knows what type of wood they're hiding under that stain, probably Birch). Unfortunately when my eyesight began to fade I put a scope on it. I hate it, a scope doesn't look right on a lever in my opinion. I'd like to put a peep (Williams, Lyman) on it but I hear the real trick is getting the correct height front sight. Someday I'll get it done.
Jim in Mo,
If you have a MySpace page you can contact me at www.myspace.com/cmlayne
If you have a LiveHunt page you can reach me at www.livehunt.com/Carney
Both websites are free if you want to start a web page.
I'd love to see your "pride and joy"! Like you, my eyesight requires extra support these days... I was initially self conscious about putting the scope on my 1895 but I read a comment by Chuck Hawks' that the 1895 was too accurate of a machine not to put a scope on it! So... My goal was to get a scope that I could also put on my BLR 300 WinMag (which I don't have yet...) so I got a 3X9 -- it looks a little extreme for a lever gun, but it removes a lot of shooter's error when I'm shooting groups at the range!
Being a Hornady product, it must be good!
I talked to Tonya today at the Hornady office. According to her the leverevolution bullets should be released to distributors next month!
I'm with you Clay. I have become "sold" on Hornady products and service! I set up my reloading shop with the Hornady auto progressive press last year. Anytime I need help or parts they are right on it! They take their warranty seriously and throw my parts in the mail. If it wasn't for the fact that the local stores run out of what I'm looking for I wouldn't buy any other manufacturer's bullet!
Scott,
I was raised with the erroneous notion that scopes are for wimps. That has left me behind the curve so to speak on all that could be known in the world of optics.
I put a 3X9 on my Marlin 1895 because I wanted to be able to swap it off onto a BLR in 300 winmag whenever I could manage to get one. As it turns out I still don't have the BLR and I've gotten used to the look of the big scope on my Marlin.
If you get a red dot for your savage, I'd like to know how you like it. As I imagine it right now, though, I think the red dot would look more strange than a big long distance scope...
What is your savage chambered for? 300 savage? If so, it is a good round and can reach out quite a ways.
When I can get the bullets I'll be checking out their reloading info!
Carney,
My Savage 99 is chambered for .308. Fromwhat I have read the .300 Savage is a very good round but I decided years ago to keep with the more common rounds that are easy to get ammo for. My ost exotic chambered rifle is a .35 R
Carney, I have a Browning BLR in 308 win. I shoot any 150 grain bullet that Hornady makes and nothing has walked away from it if hit in the chest or neck area. this is a great rifle for hunting along the p
Platte river or up and down the hills in our pine ridge area. The 308 win is a great one to load for. for the hunting i do its just as good as the 30-06.
PRR = Maybe this year I'll get that BLR that I want!!! I love the one with the pistol grip. I'm sticking with 300 WinMag though -- even though I've heard good things about the 308 -- because I can't have every gun and I've been setting up for the 300 winmag for about a year!
ive only shot a lever once, an old 50's-60's winchester 94.
i cant wait till i get my first lever gun.
The flex tip bullets are a huge improvement out of my 45-70 for distance and speed its quite impressive to see the difference.
Carney,
I live near Toledo, (NW Ohio on lake Erie)
Jim in Mo,
I have a Marlin 336 that was made in the 60's too. It is a awesome gun and the wood is something to behold. I put tru glo fiber optic sights on my 30/30, maybe that would help your seeing the sights?
I have a marlin 336 in 30-30 and I love it , I normally just shoot the best bargain wether its federal, winchester or remington and I really dont need a long range gun, but I had been considering a 308 cus last year I saw a buck in an open field about 300 yards out and couldnt take the shot. The flex tips have me excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just a comment i dont like scopes on leverguns i have a peep sight on mine, but I do understand it if your eyesight is poor. Happy hunting!
Hey Guys,
Thought I'd let you know that I DID get the BLR that I've wanted. NIB but bought off the internet so it was sight unseen. It has a butt stock that looks like crap. But other than that, it's everything I've wanted! Chambered in 300 win mag. Shot it for the first time 2 weekends ago -- it was a "woods shoot" so only offhand shooting. I'll take it to the range soone to see what kind of groups I can get from the bench!
Also, I got 100 flextips for my 45-70. Just this past Monday finally found a pound of 4198 which is on the list of loads an the Hornady sight. I'll load up a few this weekend!
I peeled the scope (old Bushnell Scope Chief fixed 4X) off of my Savage 99 in .300 Savage. It about as good a scope will look on a 99, being vintage, but the gun is just so sleek and good looking that I couldn't stand to have it on there anymore. Turns out the adjustment ramp is missing from the rear sight. Never noticed, never cared, until I was planning to use it with the irons.
Then I found some old gift cards for a local outdoors store. Used them to buy a red dot scope for the hell of it, then realized that my 99 needed something on it. So now I have a very new, very modern red dot scope on an old, classic gun. It's like blasphemy, but the synergy of the two make for a very dangerous weapon. It's pretty much like having a laser on it. You just look at what you want to shoot with both eyes, put the red point on it, and it's dead.
Oh, and it doesn't look bad at all, actually.
The Savage 99 isn't your average lever gun. The .300 Savage in this rifle begs for a scope. It's a 300 yard gun. But I don't want to use it as a 300 yard gun, I have rifles that beat it there and beyond. So now it has a red dot, perfect for when you walk up on that big northern buck at 60 yards and only have 2 seconds and one shot to kill it.
I just bought this ammo and a cabelas leverevolution scope and used it with my dads 1969 marlin model 336. I know this will sound like an ad but wow!!! I have hated 30-30s for years I have tracked too many wounded animals that were even hit right but still got away from the old flat nose. I bought this so my son could hunt with it and have a light kicking rifle but after seeing it go to work on several deer I left my `06 in the truck and tried it on a big doe. The bullet took out both lungs and most of her liver before coming out. It wasn't a long shot though but compared to the old loads I will be trying it again with more distance. It's one thing to make up a load everyone will love but to take an old one and make you fall in love all over again with guns you didn't use well, Thanks hornady
The LeverEvolution rounds have a special powder blend that yields greater velocity without increased heat and pressure. You will not be able to reproduce this powder, so purchasing LeverEvolution will still yield the best ballistics.
did you know you can log on to the Hornady web site and using their e-mail question site and request their loads for the new leverevolution bullets. I did and they e-mailed me a reloading sheet with all the different powder weights and COL's. I loaded up some for my old 336c--24" barrel---1962 model--w0000000000w . I have a Weaver K2.5 scope mounted---what a shooter. I love levers, Hornady just made my day.
Scott, not too long ago there was a lot of blog talk about the 308. I have no personal experience with it but everyone was very favorable in their comments.
What part of Ohio are you from? My wife was born in Cleveland and grew up in the Chesapeake / South Point area. I grew up across the Ohio River in Huntington, WV. Up until 2 generations ago, my ancestors were long term pioneering families in SE Ohio.
If you have a levergun, you shouldn't use a scope! It's just sacrelidge!
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