Shot a whitetail buck in the 05 season with my Ruger Super Blackhawk 3 screw 7.5" 44 mag. About 25 yards, iron sights, entry and exit holes, he ran very little and wadded up. That 44 really did the job. Love the handguns, might shoot another deer that way this coming year.

 

I bought some of the Hornady leverevolution for my .45/70 and they're OK. I really haven't noticed anything special about them as I always shoot THROUGH the front shoulders and have had no problems using any ammo. Since the .45/70 is a bit on the overkill side, I tend to use the Winchester 305gr .45/70 Hollow Points. They work great, make nice entry and exit holes(depending upon how far away the deer is. Usually they're far enough away where there is no exit wound, and the bullet expands inside the animal, which is what you want)and I haven't had a deer run over about 10 yards with one of them in him. I do like the idea of the Hornady improving the range of my .45/70 however the majority if not all of my shots are 60yds or less so unless I take it with me when I goto Colorado this year, I can't justify spending almost twice as much money on the Lever Revolution ammo.



This is an ENTRANCE shot from a .45/70 Winchester 305gr Hollow Point into an 8pt buck. The shot was taken at about 15yds away. It is a rather graphic photo, so don't look at it if you feel you might be upset by it.

Big Hole

 

The old but reliable 45-70 does make a big wound channel for sure. I agree that close range work with this calibre does not require the new Hornaday ammunition. Hard cast lead has been my choice for years with good results.

That's a nice buck, wonder how the difference in Eastern and Western count got started. Out here that would be a three point. If it had three on one side and two on the other it would be a "three by two". We never count the brow tine. Any way you count them they still eat mighty good. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Here's a better picture of that deer. Yep, no matter how many pts they have, they still taste GR8!

8PT Buck

 

Thats a nice mount. Great addition to the decor of any room IMO. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Never been able to convince my wife we need a big set of Elk horns above the front door. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img] She never complains how I decorate my gun room which is nice cause it's a very hunting, fishing and reloading area. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Very nice buck newbruterider.The Leverevolution is probably better for a caliber like the 30-30 that suffers from energy as opposed to your 45-70.I am not usually impressed with ammunition and its effects but the through and through shot on this 3 point was much better than what i have seen in the past from a 30-30 and with very minimal tissue damage.I almost always load my own but the Leverolution and its pointed soft tip bullet are superior to what i can handload for velocity and downrange ebergy so in this case off the shelf ammunition was a good thing.

 

thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words. That was the second buck that I had mounted since I began hunting 5years ago. The first was a 12-pt that I shot with a .308 180gr. I bought the 45/70 because I wanted something short and compact. The .308 is more of a long range gun the way I have it setup, and it's HEAVY!!! Hands down, if I could only have one rifle (and live in North America) it would be the .45/70. With the exception of the range, you can drop anything on the continent with it!

Savage .308