In terms of terminal performance, we always intended for this cartridge to be completely legitimate for anything in North America out to 400 yds." The statement, sent to me by e-mail from Hornady Chief Ballistics Scientist Dave Emary, would ordinarily not have been surprising in a discussion about a high-power center-fire hunting rifle. What's intriguing, though, and surely incomprehensible for some, is that Emary was referring to the company's newest lever-action cartridge, the .338 Marlin Express.

Brainchild of Emary, and sibling to the .308 Marlin Express, the cartridge's predecessor, the .338 Marlin Express was designed to duplicate .30-'06 Sprg. performance- with a 180-gr. bullet-and to closely approximate that of the .338 Federal-all from a tubular magazine-fed lever-action rifle. Lofty aspirations, to be sure, given the numerous challenges imposed by the firearms that would house the cartridge, Marlin's Model 338 MXLR and 338 MX-derivatives of the Model 1895.

To attain these goals, Emary resurrected technological innovations utilized in recent projects. "This cartridge was envisioned after the .308 Marlin Express as a way to make use of all the technology-propellant and projectile-that came out of the LEVERevolution work and the .308 Marlin Express and to get everything possible from a lever-action rifle," said Emary.

Revisiting the Past
Traditionally, tubular magazine-fed lever-action rifles have been relegated to short-range "brush" work, and for good reason. In order to prevent an accidental discharge due to a primer strike during recoil, the cartridges they chambered featured ballistically inferior flat- or round-nose projectiles that experienced rapid velocity loss, thereby negatively affecting external and terminal ballistics.

In 2006 Hornady unveiled its FTX bullet-loaded in the company's LEVERevolution (March 2006, p.30) ammunition line-to combat this performance-robbing variable. The projectile's red elastomeric polymer tip allowed these cartridges to be used in tubular magazine-fed lever-action rifles without the risk of an accidental discharge. Under recoil the tip compressed so as not to set off the primer against which it rested, but quickly returned to its original shape. The spitzer profile also significantly increased the projectile's ballistic coefficient, particularly if it had a boattail base, resulting in better downrange performance. Besides enhancing external ballistics, the tip helped initiate expansion.

Like Hornady's InterLock bullets, FTXs featured a mechanically "locked" drawn gilding metal jacket and 3 percent antimony lead core. However, the FTX's interlocking ring was positioned closer to the bullet's ogive, halting expansion at that point and resulting in additional weight retention. Typically, FTXs retain 70 to 80 percent of their original weight....

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