Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Anyone shot anything with the new ELD-X?

Title says it all. On game performance anyone?

I was wondering the same thing. I've got some loaded 208's ready to try at the range , then hopefully, a few hogs.

My hunting partner and I killed 3 deer with a .308 shooting 200 grn ELD-X bullets this last fall. Shots averaged about 80-100 yards. At that distance impact velocities should have been 2300 Fps or less. One DRT, and the other two ran a bit. While it killed fairly well I have to say there was more blood shot then I've ever experienced. One deer was on a steep hill going up. The angle made the shot impact between the shoulder blades. This was the DRT. I lost almost all the back straps, and the animal was blood shot from his neck to his rear end. Serious amounts of trimming!

I'm used to having some blood shot, as I like using softer bullets when hunting deer. I really don't want to track them, and really like the way Ballistic Tips kill. I have to say the ELD-X's blood shot all 3 deer about 2-3 times more than my experience with Ballistic Tips.

I retrieved the bullet from the deer shot between the shoulder blades and it was in two pieces. A small chunk of the core, maybe 50-60 grains, and the other part was just the rear cup.

Thats not good.

Pretty much the results I expected from a tipped, unbonded and fairly thin jacketed cup-and-core bullet. The only place they make sense to me is where expectations are for really long shot opportunities, probably over 600 yards. Where closer opportunities are the norm I'll stick with NF, TTSX and AB.

Interesting. It must have slipped past me that they were not bonded. Silly me just went and assumed that they were. Definitely worrying. I think i've fallen victim to the whole high bc hype when 95% of my shooting is under 500. May as well shoot a 125 SST at 3400fps and neck shoot deer. But logical thought isn't fun.

I can't find the link, but saw where someone else had used them out of a 300 WBY on deer. Afterward they tested them in ballistic gel. At magnum speeds and at around 200 yards or less they came apart. At 30-06 and 308 speeds they did fine as well as at longer ranges (200+) with the magnums.

Based on what I've read they are probably no better or worse than Nosler Ballistic tips on game. But are almost 1/2 the cost with slightly better BC's. I've only experimented a little with the 200 gr bullets and accuracy was very good.

Sounds like they perform similar to Long Range Accubonds.

Just from the sectioned bullets they look like they would perform like the SSTs. Sounds like they may be more frangible.

It's ironic that the A-Max generally does well on game but when a new game bullet is designed it doesn't hold up to the target bullet, melting tip and all.