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. 

Winchester Model 94 30-30 (pre '64) Field Test

Winchester Model 94 30-30 (pre '64) Field Test video by Sub Zero Survival.

Summary:

Field test of the pre 1964 Winchester Model 94 in 30-30 with Hornady FTX Flex Tip hand loads.

The Hornady LEVERevolution Flex Tip .30-30 rounds worked fine in my Winchester 94. 

 

Fudd Friday: Why You Should Buy A .30-30

The .30-30 Winchester cartridge has been around for over 100 years.

Introduced in 1895, it has filled freezers full of venison since that time. It has also been updated many times since then. Today's .30-30 is not your great-great-granddad's cartridge.

Zac K wrote in TheFirearmsBlog why you should buy a .30-30.

The article begins with:

When I recently wrote an article about the demise of three classic hunting cartridges (the .257 Roberts, the .22 Hornet and the .300 Savage), one commenter said:

“Let’s finally put an end to an over-rated cartridge that has effectively been surpassed by a virtual plethora of better cartridges. Some lever-action rifle makers still chamber this old dog for some puzzling reason when there are so many new & better cartridges that make lever-guns incredibly better. Let’s blow taps on this ancient obsolete cartridge, and throw a last handful of dirt on the grave of the 30-30. RIP.”

I couldn’t disagree more. The .30-30 is better than ever, and I intend to buy another rifle, or rifles, to shoot it. Here’s why, and here’s why you should do the same.

To read more, go here. 

MSN: Why I Still Shoot .30-30 In 2025

Above, .30-30 Winchester cartridges. The Hornady LEVERevolution is at left. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Last Wednesday, three of us went out target shooting at the shooting area near our community. I started with my Winchester 62A .22 pump rifle I inherited from my grandfather.

After that, I did some shooting with my Winchester 94. I took the opportunity to try out the Hornady LEVERevolution .30-30 flex tipped ammo for the first time. No problems or issues occurred.

MSN posted a slideshow article by JoshC on "Why I Still Shoot .30-30 In 2025".

It starts out with:

Some folks say the .30-30 Winchester is outdated—like it should’ve been retired with grandpa’s flannel. But I still keep one in the safe, and honestly, it sees more use than a lot of my “modern” rifles. It may not check every spec-sheet box, but it flat-out works. Whether I’m hunting, hiking, or just messing around on the range, there are a few solid reasons the .30-30 hasn’t lost its spot in my lineup.

To view the slideshow article, go here. 

Tried Out The Hornady LEVERevolution .30-30 Ammo

Above, the box of Hornady LEVERevolution ammo is at top. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

One thing I wanted to accomplish during yesterday's target shooting was to try out some rounds of the Hornady LEVERevolution.30-30 soft points. I bought a box last year.

I started with normal "flat-nosed" .30-30 cartridges, then I tried out three of the soft points. I noticed no difference in the handling or performance of the cartridges. They worked just fine in my 1962 Winchester 94. Loading the rifle with them was no problem either.

I decided to just try out three of the cartridges since they are a little on the expensive side. I did more shooting with the inexpensive .22 ammo in my Winchester 62A. 

Grandpa’s 30-30 Ammunition

Above, new .30-30 Winchester (left) and traditional. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

First introduced to the gun-buying market in 1895, the .30-30 Winchester cartridge revolutionized ammunition.

It is the first small-bore sporting rifle cartridge designed for smokeless powder.

But, is it relevant today? According to an article and two videos in Ammoland.com, new technology has given it new life and fans. I have purchased some new (introduced around 2005) Hornady .30-30 LEVERevolution ammo, but haven't shot any yet.

They begin with:

Nostalgic. Old-school. Underpowered. The 30-30 gets called a lot of things, but new technology and a rabid fan base are breathing new life into this venerable round.

Does Grandpa’s 30-30 Winchester still have the juice to get the job done by today’s cartridge standards? Mark Boardman and Ryan Muckenhirn hit the range to find out. They fire three loadings – one old and two new. Will they be impressed or let down by the results. The gel blocks, an old rifle, a few shells, and these fine gentlemen tell the tale in this episode of — Cartridge Talks.

In this episode, Mark and Ryan put this new technology to the test, compare it to traditional rounds, and answer the question, “Is Grandpa’s 30-30 better than ever?”

To see the videos and read the rest of the article, go here. 

Hornady's LEVERevolution .30-30 Winchester Ammo

The other day while in Albuquerque, I picked up some ammunition for my Winchester 94 .30-30 rifle at Omni Arms.

The ammo is Hornady's LEVERevolution ammo with a pointed flex-tip. It is not the traditional flat-nosed .30-30 ammo normally used in lever-action rifles to prevent "chain-fire" accidents in the tubular magazine as the nose rests against the primer of the cartridge in front. 

The reason being (according to ChuckHawks.com):

The key to the LEVERevolution ammunition, two years in development, is a new Evolution spitzer (pointed) bullet with a red elastomer Flex Tip. This tip flattens enough to cushion the primer of the cartridge in front of it in the magazine during the acceleration of recoil, yet returns to its original shape instantly thereafter. The Flex Tip has been tested at temperatures from -40 to +130 degrees F, and also passed 15' drop tests in full magazine tubes and many rounds of proof loads. The Flex Tip eliminates the possibility of a magazine chain-fire, the bugaboo that has prevented the use of pointed bullets in rifles with tubular magazines.

 I decided to give a box of the LEVERevolution rounds a try.

Here's a comparison of the Hornady LEVERevolution .30-30 Winchester cartridge (left) and a flat-nosed Hornady .30-30 Winchester cartridge.