Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 6.5 CM HDY 143 ELD-X Load

Has anyone figured out the powder, and amount of same, that Hornady is probably using in their 143 gr ELD-X Precision Hunter 6.5 CM ammo? My new rifle sure likes that stuff!! Thanks in advance.

Not a clue what Hornady is using, but 41.7 gr. H4350 and an OAL of 2.797" - 2.801" duplicates the factory ammo performance from my 22" barrel.

Take one apart. Post some pics.
Also I like measure base to ogive vs COAL

Yea, I forgot that. In the above recipe I'm using BTO (Sinclair) of 3.038"

FLpanhandle,

Bought my first 6.5 CM in 2010, which was before Hornady introduced the ELD-X. But at that time they listed the load used on the ammo box, and for 140 A-Maxes is was 41.5 grains of H4350. Have usually found somewhere around that work with bullets around 140 grains in the half-dozen Creedmoors I've owned or tested since then.

In fact in one of those rifles, a Ruger American Predator purchased used from the Campfire Classifieds, I decided to try 41.5 H4350 and the 140-grain Berger Hunting VLD. Didn't work up the load, just loaded it and shot it--and the very first 5-shot group at 100 yards measured .33 inch.

Mule Deer - I have looked all over the HDY box and apparently they no longer post the powder charge and type powder used. I do see MV=2700 fps and bullet trajectory out to 500 yds. I'll load up a few with 41.5 gr of H4350 and and see how that works. The above comments also suggest that 41.5 gr H4350 works. The differences are 140 gr Vs 143 gr and 22" Vs 26" barrels. If this looks pretty good, then I'll do a full scale load work up. Thanks

Yeah, Hornady quit putting the load on ammo boxes maybe 2-3 years after I bought that first 6.5 CM. Don't know why....

Wonder if Hornady is having trouble getting the powder they want, in the quantities they want

Just like the rest of us?

Or the price of the powder they can get, has gone up dramatically in price...

just like for the rest of us?

I’ve found RL-16 hard to beat with 140 grain bullets in the CM mine likes 41.5 grains.

FWIW - I've had excellent results with the 143 ELD-X and IMR 4350. 41.5gr and 42.0gr in Lapua cases both shot under 1.5" @ 400yds. The groups were repeatable. Velocity is in the 2,700fps range.

Aviator -I have noticed a number of people using RL-16; however, I don't have any of that powder. I do have quite a bit of IMR4350, & H4350. Do you still fly? I am retired A-300.

Charlie-NY - I'll certainly try the IMR4350 as you suggested. I have used IMR4350 successfully in my 30-06 & 243 for years, so hope my 6.5 CM likes as well..

The original labels were:

140 grain A-Max @ 2.810" OAL, 41.5 grain H4350, F210M primer

120 grain A-Max @ 2.715" OAL, 39.0 grain Varget, F210M primer

IIRC, they were a tad too hot for some factory barrel chambers, and they dialed it back just a bit? Not sure.

I did save a couple of the original boxes just for grins though...

How much powder compression?

A T3X allows you to seat long, sleek bullets into oblivion, so not much IME.

Yep still flying got a few years to go. I fly a Corporate CE-650. RL-16 is a hard one to find but I have been seeing it more here lately.

The reason Hornady no longer puts the load on the box is they no longer use H4350 and use a non canister powder not available to the public. One of the original requests of the guy who helped develop the creed was they use a canister powder and put the load on the box.

I believe they quit putting it on the box when powder supply became spotty. They addressed having to find alternative powders on their podcast.

Like many of us have had to do. Over the past few years I've changed several loads I'd used for over a decade, even longer. The only real positive is that I found some powders I hadn't used, that are working out just fine.

Guy

My latest load for the 143 gr. ELD-X is 44.0 grains StaBALL 6.5. Across 10 shots the 22" factory barrel delivered an average MV of 2,721 fps, S-D of 4.6, and E-S of 12 fps.

Tomorrow I'm firing a series of 143 gr. BondStrike / StaBALL 6.5 loads and see what happens.

tag

I have a Leupold CDS dial on a used CDS scope that says 143 ELD-X on it if someone could use it

41.5 H4350 or 42.5 RL-16 is what I'm using in mine with 139 - 143 grain bullets.

42.3 RE16 & the 143 Hornady will run right at 2,800 fps in my 24" Bartlein. I have shot numerous .5moa groups at 400yds and an occasional .25moa at that distance. At the moment, the 143 is producing slightly smaller groups than the Berger 140 Hybrid which shoots very well in my rifle.

I pulled down a factory load the other day and it had 41.5 g of a stick powder in it. The color and sticks didn't quite match h4350. Of the powders i have on hand it looked like RL16.

Recently I pulled down rounds from 2 different lots of Hornady 7prc 180 eld match ammo and they had completely different powders in them. That explained why they shot different and one lot was 75 fps faster than the other. One looked like rl25 or 26 and the other was ball like staball hd.

One of Hornady's big pushes with Creedmoor and prc rounds is the availability of match grade factory ammo. Given that it would be nice if they could use the same powder lot to lot but they are probably having supply issues like everyone else.

Bb

Hanco, Do not misunderstand this as a request. I am only asking for information as I am happy working with the original moa dials on the scopes. I have never even asked for custom dials. If and when I decide to make adjustments beyond my maximum point blank range, I will work in MOA.

I have two (I think) VX 2 3-9x40 with CDS and one VX 3i 3.5-10 x 40 with CDS. Do you know if the dials are interchangeable?

PM Sent
Rex

I don’t know

Mailed dial out to a man last Saturday, sorry

Thanks Hanco

Worked out my 143 grain Norma BondStrike / StaBALL 6.5 load.

43.9 grains get me 2,751 fps from a 22" barrel with an S-D of 11.0 and an E-S of 24.
BTO (Sinclair) of 3.055" and a OAL ~2.790"

Will be testing this out on next season's Elk.

I've never seen any 143 bondstrike bullets anywhere, but I have seen ammo.
Interesting!

Add your notify to the list. It's how I got mine.

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/87798

Question, how can your BTO be longer than your COL?

Just a guess, but his BTO may include the 1" of the Sinclair nut (assuming it was the nut type of comparator).

Bingo. Yup

In my load notes there will be something like 3.220" S-nut or 3.155" H-comp for 308 Winchester cartridges about 2.8" long.

Ah, I always zero mine out before taking a measurement.

Yes RL- 16 is now $60/lb.....

Thanks

I have used a number of different lots of Hornady factory 6.5 creedmoor ammo with the 153 ELD-X. Although they shot fairly accurately the velocity was 100- 150 fps slower than most any of the good 'book' loads.
I sure wouldn't try to duplicate that factory ammo when you can do so much better since you're handloading it anyway.

I'd try some RL26 with that bullet, it's what I use.
I'm sure it's not picky!

I'm just waiting for a nice 10F - 15F degree morning (my typical Elk hunting dawn temperatures) when I can test my spiffy, new 143gr. BondStrike / Staball 6.5 load. Send some rounds down range and capture data.

Then compare them against the load data I captured building the load around ~50F degrees.

Probably have to wait until late January, early February before I can haul the gear out.