Marlin 450 Leverevolution 325gr Ammo

[daisygordoninc]

Has anyone hunted moose with the Marlin 450 and used 325gr Leverevolution ammo. I know the factory load is pretty powerful, I have shot it but not hunted with it. What do you think?

Gordon

[7.62 Precision]

I know of people who have hunted moose with the .45-70 Leverevolution ammo. I don't really remember any specifics though, just heard people mention it in passing.

I would think that it would work pretty good for moose, caribou, elk, deer, etc. I might not choose it for a brown bear, but it would probably work on a brown bear as well.

[Old Time Hunter]

Pretty much overkill, but it will definitely work.

[Blaine]

Over at MarlinOwners, there were hunters that thought the 325s opened up pretty fast, and might come apart on hard bones like shoulders. That 450 is equivalent to a 45-70, and with a properly constructed bullet will take anything you would ever want to shoot with it. If I were going to use a light .458 bullet for a premium hunt, I'd load up some of my Nosler Partition 300s at a brisk 1900 fps or so....

[Tactical Lever]

Have not used them in .450, but used them at the lower pressure loading in 45-70, and they appear to open up pretty fast. Would not want them for anything heavyish.

[jkbrea]

I've killed three elk with 45-70 Leverevolution ammo from my Marlin. They are very accurate. First was a cow from about 100 yards. It only walked about 10' and dropped. I found the bullet against the hide on the opposite side. Here's a link to a post I made here with a pic of the elk and recovered bullet. Second was a calf at 125 yards that just dropped. Last was a 5x5 bull at about 35 yards. It ran uphill about 50 yards and needed another shot. It was dark so I didn't recover the bullet. Elk are pretty tough so I wouldn't hesitate to use it on moose.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4115&p=49698#p49698

[Blaine]

I've killed three elk with 45-70 Leverevolution ammo from my Marlin. They are very accurate. First was a cow from about 100 yards. It only walked about 10' and dropped. I found the bullet against the hide on the opposite side. Here's a link to a post I made here with a pic of the elk and recovered bullet. Second was a calf at 125 yards that just dropped. Last was a 5x5 bull at about 35 yards. It ran uphill about 50 yards and needed another shot. It was dark so I didn't recover the bullet. Elk are pretty tough so I wouldn't hesitate to use it on moose.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4115&p=49698#p49698

Can it be that experts at MarlinOwners are wrong? It's what I get for relying on info not from family.

[Tactical Lever]

I've killed three elk with 45-70 Leverevolution ammo from my Marlin. They are very accurate. First was a cow from about 100 yards. It only walked about 10' and dropped. I found the bullet against the hide on the opposite side. Here's a link to a post I made here with a pic of the elk and recovered bullet. Second was a calf at 125 yards that just dropped. Last was a 5x5 bull at about 35 yards. It ran uphill about 50 yards and needed another shot. It was dark so I didn't recover the bullet. Elk are pretty tough so I wouldn't hesitate to use it on moose.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4115&p=49698#p49698

Can it be that experts at MarlinOwners are wrong? It's what I get for relying on info not from family.

Well... Probably not. Or maybe.

I guess it depends on what your goals are. I would want an exit wound. I admit that I have not used the FTX bullet to kill anything but a coyote, but that performance made me think "varmint bullet". And it did not seem to penetrate very far in my very informal testing either.

I did not consider the Winchester/Nosler Combined technology to be a very tough bullet either, but it did kill a pretty big brute of a black bear very convincingly in a "warm" handload.

Penetration, or rather over penetration was a consideration, which is why I used it, rather than some Speer Hot Cors that I had on hand as well.

In the Nosler reloading manual, a guy used a 45-70 in a Marlin to knock over 2 Cape Buffalo. The first shot went through the shoulders of a big bull and killed the cow on the other side. The bullet was found underneath the skin on the off side of the cow! That's performance! Though it would probably not be a very fast killer on smaller, less tough ungulates.