45-70 and Hornady flex tips

[Tennessee Hayre]

I took my grandson out to the woods to hunt and shoot some guns this passed weekend and shot up a box of Hornandy flex tips and captured some bullets we fired into a tree, (cut it down actually with bullets) and all the bullets recovered mushrumed perfectly. I was amazed at how well those things worked out. I am now a believer in that ammo. (Good Stuff). Now I just need to take a deer with it. I have been using 300 grain softpoints up to this point.

[BlueStateSaint]

There's a post on Marlinowners.com which was cross-posted from 24hourcampfire.com of someone who (supposedly) was shot with a .45-70 Flex-Tip. Yes, he or his shooting buddy did something stupid. The guy who got shot had a hole under his left shoulder blade, and the angle of the bullet caused it to travel under the skin to the nape of his neck, where it exited. It took out a lot of flesh. Don't know how the bullet didn't hit anything vital, but he's one lucky idiot.

Single-shot firearm supposedly, put leaning against an ATV with a loaded chamber, and the hammer back. Always empty a firearm before you put it down.

[Streetstar]

My only knock on these is they act a bit like a varmint bullet --- they expand so quick they sometimes dont exit. I shot a big doe with one - no exit wound (did not recover the bullet as it just made an awful mess out of things and i didnt feel like picking through it )

have heard reports of someone shooting a coyote with one with the result being a volleyball size exit wound ( definitely a sign of rapid expansion -- like a varmint bullet ) So the bullet will obviously blow through a 40 pound dog , but may not exit a bigger animal. That said, they make such a mess inside that they wont run far.

I like 'em for whitetail and Oklahoma size hogs --- not sure if i will try them on anything bigger or not though

[Idiot]

The 45/70 Government bullet does not need to expand at all to be effective. In fact, I think an expanding bullet negates one of the 45/70's main virtues - penetration.

I have no problem what so ever with modern bullets and a hunter's desire to improve his chances in the field. But I find myself wondering why Hornady would put a very abbreviated point on a bullet with no real chance of achieving flat trajectories and then hamper its terminal ballistics by making it expand. I understand flex-tip bullets on the 30-30 Winchester and perhaps other cartridges that may benefit from both improved trajectory and expansion, but to ruin an otherwise perfect short to moderate range big game stomper like the 45/70 with a flex-tip fast expanding bullet seems silly.

I got all excited about Hornady's LeverEvolution offering in 30-30 Winchester until I shot them. They shoot fine, but their point of impact was more than a foot above standard 30-30 ammo which meant I had to dedicate a rifle to their exclusive use. I sold my stash of LeverEvolution stuff at a loss and went back to the tried and true standard 30-30 Winchester ammo.

So, I'm glad so many are pleased with the new 45/70 Government flex-tip ammo, but it seems a big step backwards and one I'll not take.