Has anyone used the Hornady FTX ammo in their lever gun? I bought some for a recently acquired Model 92. I know that they were designed for a lever gun but the tips seem awfully hard to me and I am wondering how much harder they would get as the temperature falls below freezing.

Dave - I have used them in my Marlin 45/70 guide gun, and they are real "thumpers" on deer. I have never hunted with them in cold conditions, but I have never had any problems with them either. As much as I hate to hunt with factory ammo, these rounds clover leaf 3 shots at 100 yards, so I hunt with them. I am not a fan of all the Hornady bullets, but the FTX is a real keeper.

They shoot accurately and do fine in cold weather. I shot 7 deer with the .308 Marlin Express version and found them to be way too soft for my liking. On every shot the jacket and core split. Ranges were from 40 yards to 130 yards and deer were 100 to 150 pounds, not too big, just good eaters.
I will not use them again!

Buckeye
I have had similar exeriences with the Hornady JSP in factory ammo. However, they are accurate and never failed to kill the game when shot with .243 and .308 and even hogs, deer and pronghorn with my .405 WCF. However, when I took a nilgai with the .405, the recovered bullets gave me concern about using them on heavier game.
I switched to North Fork for bigger stuff like water buffalo and bison and am very satisfied with the results.

I always want and exit wound. I figure if they don't shoot through a 100 pound doe, I don't want to use them. I switched to the 150 grain Barnes X Flatnose. A really good bullet for the 308 ME.

Are not these bullets revolver bullets with a plastic tip stuck in the hollow point? I have never had a bad experience with a Hornady or original Barnes bullet.

Use them in reloads in my 94 carbine 32 Special. They are more accurate, shoot 2" flatter @100 than 170s flat noses and no problem with tip hardness at 30 below in a light rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by Ole Miss Guy:
Are not these bullets revolver bullets with a plastic tip stuck in the hollow point? I have never had a bad experience with a Hornady or original Barnes bullet.

They make them in many rifle and handgun calibers. They are accurate and with the tip are a good ballistic coefficient. However, they are cup and core and I don't think they are interlock design. They always fall apart for me!
here is a link,
http://www.hornady.com/store/s...goryid[2]=381&page=2

Since you did not tell us anything about your specific applications and experiences, it's hard to respond. Perhaps you can "fill in the blanks" ?

IME and everything I have read by folks who used them, there has been no "falling apart".

Used within the parameters specified by the intended cartridges (using the 160 gr .308 specifed for the 30-30 in a 300 Weatherby would not be advised) they work just fine.

In my 32 Special 94 carbine, tests on ballistic media, jugs of water and layers of 1" pine boards show performance just the same as the Hornady 170 gr cup and core flat point. Shot one deer through the heart with one at 60 yards. He went 50 yards and piled up. Blind man could have followed the blood trail.

In almost six decades of hunting, I've yet to have any Hornady bullet fail.

Ok , I shot 7 deer between 30 yards and 130 yards using the gummie .308 ME in a Marlin XLR. All shots are on the point of the shoulder. I like to break both shoulders and take out the heart with my shot. The area I hunt, has my cabin, a 150 yard clear cut area around the cabin and the deer walk off the hill behind it into my fire zone and pass right in front of me. Very easy hunting.
At the shot, the deer instead of falling dead right there, take off running. After tracking them down and putting in a finisher. I find on cutting them up that the bullet has broken up on the shoulder joint and not completely penetrated the deer. In a couple cases, the heart was not even taken out. No exit wound on any deer.

As you can see these are just good eaters, not monsters but the bullet fails!
On the other hand, I shoot Sierra Game kings in 165's in my .308 Winchester and have killed 131 deer in 1 shot with that load in a Remington 700. The same shot placement results in Dead Right there! The Game King is certainly not known as a bullet that is especially hard.

Guess I'd be talking to Hornady. Assume you are using the 160 for the Marlin (ME ?) and not the 30-30 ?

I seem to recall a story in Successful Hunter where Boddington (?) killed a good elk at under 200 with the same combo as your's with a behind the shoulder shot.


If you want to shoot deer through both shoulders (I agree that's smart with any big game)and given your short ranges, I'd switch to the 170 .308 TSX flat point hollow point.
They will break both shoulders and probably go on through. I have shot them in everything from a 303 Savage to a 300 H&H (to prove a point) and in all cases, on Whitetail size Mulies, from 30 to 250 yards it was "bang, flop" and no recovered bullets.

Nice set up you have there. I'd be sitting on that porch with my 1885 45-70, 68 gr of 2F and a 330 gr Gould Hollowpoint (cast). There would be no tracking, little meat damage and two holes.

You might want to try the 130 TSX in your 308. All I use in my 99s 300 Savages and it is sub MOA and kills like the hammer of Thor.

I bought the .308 marlin its 1st year of production and also bought a case of the gummie ammo for it. So, it is the 308 version ( yes 160 gr) of the bullet not the 30-30. I have shot 3 boxes of the gummie stuff and am now reusing only the cases. At some point, I'll dump the rest of the gummie stuff. It's a varmit load in my book. The reason for my shot placement is the fact that that cabin sits on the high point of my grandfather's farm when he was alive. There is 80 acres and this is the only spot that has been cleared off in almost 40 years. To say that the saplings and vegetation is thick is an understatement. So, if the deer does not drop dead right there--- you have a very good chance of not finding it if it runs farther than 100 yards.
The worst part of this whole deal is that I bought 3 boxes of gummie in 44 mag, 45/70, 35 Remington and 30-30 when it came out, just because of the ballistic hype. I have not shot any of it. Its just good for paper punching in my book and with the change in impact from 'normal' ammo --- not worth the time to re-zero. At some point, I'll have a table at a gun show and get rid of it.
I like the 150 Barnes FNX, expensive but really puts down the game--- nothing wrong with BP either. I took a deer from the cabin with a 92 in 44-40 using black 2 years ago. IT works just fine.

Buckeyeshooter,
Just guessing that your cabin is not in Ohio? I wish centerfire rifles were allowed for deer in Ohio. Someday, maybeeeeeeee.
Jim

Nope, I quit hunting in Ohio before the turn of the century. I really dislike using a shotgun and slugs! The farm is near Grayson, Kentucky about 1 1/2 hours each way from Columbus.