Ammo for lever rifle

[AEA]

My Henry "Big Boy" .357 feeds .38 Specials just as well as it feeds .357 Magnum ammo. I'll admit that I stick with flat-nose bullets, though. Just to be on the safe side...

This brings up another possibility with my post above about brass length.......

If I am correct about the shorter LEVERevolution brass to include shorter pistol calibers, then a re-loaded .38 special normal bullet MAY cause a problems in a rifle chambered for both .38/.357. BUT, the slightly shorter brass reloaded with a normal bullet in .357 should work fine since the gun is capable of cycling both cal lengths.

Hopefully the re-loaders will weigh in on this thread.

[The Annoyed Man]

When I said pointed ammo, I was talking about FMJ and similar HARD, pointed bullets - I'm perfectly familiar with Hornady's SOFT-tipped offering, thank you VERY much

I'm sure you are. I wasn't sure C-Dub was. That was for his benefit. Sorry if I rubbed you the wrong way.

[AEA]

I understood that Andy, my postings were for people that have no experience with the LEVERevolution ammo, just for their information.

[O6nop]

LEVERevolution ammo is indeed nice. Some folks change out their follower in the tube to one with a deeper dimple in the middle to accommodate the rubberized point of the bullet.

But there is a drawback with this ammo that many are not aware of. The brass cases of LEVERevolution ammo cannot be reloaded with standard round nose or flat point ammo.

This is because the LEVERevolution brass is slightly shorter than "normal" to achieve correct OAL for the pointed round.

You can buy LEVERevolution bullets that reload fine in this brass but "normal" bullets will be shorter in OAL if reloaded into LEVERevolution brass which could cause feed problems in the rifles. Could also increase possibility of an overcharge in the shorter case.

If you don't reload, then none of this means anything to you and will not affect you.

EDIT: Now I want to emphasize that this MAY not be as critical in the shorter pistol calibers as it is in say the 45-70 Govt. cal. I do not really have any first hand experience in this and I am not a re-loader. But in my travels searching for ammo for a 45-70 Govt. Marlin Lever (when I owned one) I found this info concerning the difference in length of "standard" Starline Brass and LEVERevolution Brass being shorter. Maybe a few re-loaders will chime in here to comment.

Now this needs clarification to me, your OAL is going to be the same no matter how long the case is, right? It just won't be seated as deeply into the case. Pressure might be affected, but not that much.