So the pointy .357s are out, play with them yet?

[oic0]

http://www.midwesthuntersoutlet.com/ite ... DyOLrQE%3D
Just wondering if anyone had played with them hand loaded with a mean charge yet.

[Swampman]

I'm still trying to figure out why we needed the LE bullets & ammo.

[AJMD429]

I'm still trying to figure out why we needed the LE bullets & ammo.

So we could have a bunch of too-short brass to fiddle with...?

[piller]

I tried the ones in .30-30, wasn't impressed and haven't bought any more. I will give these a pass. I just don't see the need.

[jnyork]

They will sell like hotcakes to the fudds who simply MUST have the very latest technology, gotta stay ahead of the game, ya know?

[pharmseller]

They will sell like hotcakes to the nimrods who simply MUST have the very latest technology, gotta stay ahead of the game, ya know?

Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord.

P

[piller]

But, the U.S. Army uses Nimrod as a way to not say IDIOT, and just like many other words, the misuse of it has become so prevalent that the misuse is now accepted as the correct use. See DECIMATED as an example.

[n2t]

I am going to go out on a limb and say they could be usefull. I am betting that out of short barreled pistols that light bullet will get up some ok speeds and with that plastic/gummy tip I bet you won't have issues with it clogging with clothing and opening up. Now..there are other/better ways to solve the problem, and reloading self defence ammo is it's own thread, but just musing on the idea, that's what floats through my head. A little snubbie shooting these seems like a decent self defence idea to me.

[shooter]

Don't know how well the bullets perform, but I won't be buying any more of the factory Leverevolution ammo. The brass is too short, by 1/8 of an inch or so. If the gun allows, and the OAL isn't too much, I might think about trying them in some standard length brass. You can buy just the bullets IIRC. I think this is just another hyped up product marketed to the masses, not the serious shooter or reloader.

[rjohns94]

Just thinking out loud here ... It takes millions of $$$ to get a new product through the development process and lots more to get it through production and to market. There has to be a major niche perceived in the market in order for a company to use that amount of resources and effort to bring us these bullets. They must think the neophytes out number the experienced, and that they ALL would want these bullets, OR, there is really is something to these and they believe in their product. I have not used any of this type of ammo on game or tests. Anyone out there have ANY data from personal use?

[jnyork]

Didn't we just do this "Nimrod" arguement a month or so ago? Anyway, I fixed it so as not to step on any more toes.

[J Miller]

86er has done some tests with the 30-30 gummy tips I believe. If I remember right he wasn't overly impressed.

I've only bought one box of them in .45 Colt and have only punched holes in paper. All I can say is that from my Marlin 1894 Cowboy all 5 shots hit the paper target.

Joe

[gundownunder]

Well, with the pointy tip they should be ballistically better.
Maybe they will turn our inadequate 100 yd short range 357s into superior 110yd long range 357s.

[Jason_W]

I wasn't all that blown away by the terminal performance of the factory round out of my carbine.

If they made a heavier .357 LE (158 to 180 grain) bullet made of stouter stuff, it might get a .357 levergun close in terminal performance to a .35 rem at 100 yards. Could be useful in places like Indiana that now allow Pistol cal carbines for deer hunting, but not rifle rounds.

[tman]

it works for the 30wcf. maybe the .35. i'd rather hornandy brought back the .444 marlin 265 flatpoint. i'd like to see a .356wcf. loaded to LIGHT MAGNUM specs. with the 180 gummy, 200, gummy and a 250 flatpoint. 44 and 357 gummies don't make sense, to me, anyway

[86er]

I've not had good luck with various calibers loaded with the red gummy tipped bullets. The performance was inconsistent. The accuracy was good. I think Hornady is selling these cartridges to non-reloaders much more than they are selling the components to reloaders. Hornady also teamed up with Cabelas to sell scopes that have ballistic reticles matched to the various calibers firing LeverEvolution ammo. The rifle cartridge scopes are calibrated to 300 yards and the pistol cartridge scopes are calibrated to 150 yards. I have a friend who shoot a 35 Remington with Remington Core Lokts exclusively. He was convinced many years ago by his Dad and Uncle that is was a 100 yard maximum range gun for hunting. He is now convinced by Hornady advertising that he can shoot 250 yards if he uses LeverEvolution ammo. He went to the range and re-sighted his rifle for 200 yard (it had been set dead on at 100 yds for over 20 years). When I asked him if he ever shot the Remington ammo at 200 yards he innocently said "No". So he has full faith in Hornady that their ammo doubles the effectiveness of his 35 Remington. His scope that has not budged zero is 20 years is no longer good enough. Now he must have the Cabelas LeverEvolution Lever Action Scope so he can take advantage of his "new" 35 Remington. (This guy has also shot a deer every year that I have known him, with his old set-up). He would probably be shocked to find out the Remington Ammo will shoot a little lower at 200 yards and he could have set up his rifle for 200 yard shooting long ago. This is not a dumb guy. He is not easily lead or mislead. However in this instance Hornady got through to him. I suppose there are hundreds of thousands of guys just like him that have new-found faith in their 30-30's. 35's, etc. Sorry I cannot give any direct information on the 357 Mag. I know people that have shot them and they state good accuracy but nobody has hunted with them in my presence yet.

[retmech]

As you can see by Hornaday's own specs this bullet is a scam. If you look at the ballistic coefficient for the "gummy tip" and look at the BC for the standard 140 gr HP you will see the regular HP has a slightly higher BC and therefore will be slightly better at any range. The 158 gr HP is even better.
Using Hornaday's BCs in the ballistic calculator here is what you get with the gun zeroed at 50 yds and a velocity of 1700 fps..
140 gr Gummy tip down-3.44@ 100 yds and -11.91@ 150 yds
140 hp---down 3.38@ 100yds and -11.67@150 yds
158 hp---down 3.21@100yds and -10.92@150 yds
http://www.hornady.com/store/.357-38-CAL/

[COSteve]

Not interested in them as my 158grn JSPs work just fine.

[n2t]

I bought a few for my 35 rem, only cause it's the only 35 cal rifle bullet available in three stores localy. I will also be shooting some pistol bullets out of the 35 more often till I can get someone to order me some rem core locs without huge shipping costs. But..if I were to own/shoot a snubbie .357 mag for defensive reasons. I think those 140grn bullets would be nice. A bit heavier than the standard 125s but not giving up much to the 158s in a short barrel, and maybe gaining some speed, and with the pointy tip, no way for odd/heavy clothing to gum up a hollow point. I think that's about the only real use of the things in pistol cal.

[bdhold]

I think Hornady is phasing them out already. A few months they were out of stock at Midway and Cheaper than Dirt and both had notes no backorders because they would not reorder. Sportsman's Warehouse is also closing them out.