I’m a first-timer to this forum and looking for feedback regarding an unnerving experience I had with the new Leverevolution ammo in my 1895M 450 Marlin. I used the new Hornady LeverEvolution 450 ammo on a Colorado elk hunt in October 2006. I took the gun to the range a couple of times before the hunt and also “checked my zero” at the outfitter’s lodge before using it on the hunt – no problems at any time with the new ammo. I shot an elk opening morning and it went down. However, as we approached it, it got up and struggled off a short distance, requiring a follow-up shot to finish the kill. Fortunately, one follow-up shot did the trick because the gun jammed when I tried to chamber another round for a possible third shot. The gun jammed in the open lever position, unable to extract the next round out of the feeding tube. The new round was partially extracted, but so thoroughly stuck in the feeding tube that neither my guide nor I could budge the round either back into the feeding tube or out of the feeding tube. Later at the lodge, I had to use a screwdriver, placing the tip against the top of the base of the round and pound on the base of the screwdriver to back the round out of the feeding tube. I was a little nervous, but it did the trick and the action works just fine now. One very peculiar thing about this incident is how the casing from the round fired prior to the jam (the follow-up round that finished off the elk) was deformed. The mouth of the casing has a cloverleaf shape that obviously corresponds to the nose design of an unfired bullet. Nobody I have talked to has ever seen a casing deformed like this, including the Marlin firearms rep (35 year employee) I spoke to on the phone. I sent a letter to Hornady last month but haven’t heard from them yet. I called them last week, but the guy I talked to said he hadn’t seen the letter and he was the only technician there that day. My only working hypothesis is that the powder load in the deformed round was much higher than the designed maximum limit. Does anyone have a better idea what might have happened? Thanks in advance for any feedback.

I wonder if it had a bad crimp possibly causing the bullet to slide back into the casing before you fired it. I don't know if that would cause higher chamber pressure or not??? Seems like it could to me though. Let us know what you find out.