Hornady .30-30 LEVERevolution Ammunition: Worth the Premium?

Above, a Hornady LEVERevolution round (at left) and
a "traditional" .30-30 round. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The advent of lever-action rifles in the 1800s soon made them popular hunting rifles. The lever-action rifle is versatile and is an excellent shooter up to about 200 yards.

One disadvantage was the tubular magazine. The rounds touched each other inside and it was feared that a pointed bullet resting on a bullet's primer in the magazine might detonate. That is why .30-30 Winchester ammo (and others) were made with a flat or round-nosed tip.  

Hornady came up with a solution to this magazine detonation fear with their LEVERevolution ammunition. "It is a jacketed spire point with a soft polycarbonate red tip in place of hard copper," according to GunsAmerica.

GunsAmerica posted a detailed article on the Hornady ammo.

It begins with:

For those who hold and own lever action rifles, the imagery of living in the shoes of cowboys, outlaws, and the classic hunter is impossible to escape. It also helps that the lever gun, by design, is light, quick-shooting, naturally ambidextrous, and holds a fair amount of ammunition. The lever action is also available in several different calibers to tackle anything from beer cans to bear. But one big downside of the lever action is that most of them use ammunition with round-nosed bullets. This drops quicker and loses more energy compared to pointed spire point rounds. That was until the Hornady LEVERevolution line of ammunition came onto the scene.

The Hornady LEVERevolution line of ammunition represents a quantum leap in lever action ammunition. Hornady has grown the line since its introduction in 2006. It has an excellent track record for pushing the power and range envelope of existing lever action rifle cartridges. Despite that, most lever action rounds are still based on old round-nosed designs.

I had good luck with both rounds in the original .30-30 Winchester configuration, but my luck isn’t anything objective. After a long hiatus, I took up the lever gun once again. I began to ask: is the Hornady LEVERevolution round that much better than traditional soft points? If so, is it enough to matter?

I bought a box of the Hornady LEVERevolution ammunition and tried the rounds in my 1962 Winchester 94. The rifle took the ammo just fine and it shot it just as fine. No problems. 

Above, a box of .30-30 Winchester LEVERevolution ammunition. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here.