Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 75 amax vs 75 eld-m

I’m running out of amax’s. Is the eld-m the bullet to go to for long range prairie dog shooting?

only thing to watch out for is the twist on your rifle...

the 75 grain ELD-M won't stabilize in a one in 9 twist.. it needs a one in 8 twist..

They also make a 73 grain ELD-M to stabilize in the one in 9 twist barrels..

I tried the 75 ELD-M in several of the 1 in 9 twist barrels and it threw them all over the place
and many were hitting the target side ways at 100 yds...

saving those for my 1 in 7 twist 22.250

tried the one in 9 twist friendly 73 grainers and those worked just fine...

have fun...

FWIW, I'm pretty happy with 73's in my 1 in 9 CZ. If I draw a WY antelope tag this year, I'll be using them.

I have 8 twist 22-250 ai. Just wondering if they expanded like a varmint bullet or not. I thought I had read that they didn’t expand much.

Thanks Hutch

I don't think you can depend on a match bullet to expand violently like a varmint bullet does. I would be afraid of richochets and have chosen not hunt with match bullets.

I used the 75 eld-m in an 8 twist 22-250 on prairie dogs last year. They work OK but the expansion isn’t violent and the kills are sort of undramatic. I think I’m going to stoke it with 55 ballistic tips this year like my other 22-250 and leave the long range stuff to my 6mmBR shooting 105 amaxs.

FWIW,

might not be explosive for prairie dogs and stuff... but for hunting game animals..
people Always seem to overlook the tried and trued 75 grain BTHP from Hornady...

its more accurate and less finicky....

if accuracy is a problem with the 75 ELD, they also make an 80 grainer...

it is the most accurate of the ELD 22 cal bullets I've played with... equal to
the accuracy of the 68 and 75 gr BTHPs....

definitely worth the time in a faster twist 22.250...

mine is not an AI, but has a one in 7 twist...

To anyone interested

I bought a box of 75gr A-Max just before they were discontinued. I've never loaded any and don't plan to since I can't get any more of them. I'd love to trade them for a box of 75gr HPBT.

I've been trying to decide whether it would be worth it to try the ELD in 223. I've had excellent accuracy and terminal effects on deer with the 68 hpbt, and I have many, many of them on hand. I doubt the ELD will better the accuracy or terminal performance I've already seen.

Do these shoot well in a 1:9 .223?

I've been debating whether it was worth holding out for a 1:8 gun, but I was thinking the 1:9 might work with the Hornady 75 bthp and the 77 SMK's since they are relatively short bullets. As I would mostly prefer to shoot slower loads. Still full power.
I referenced the 77SMK also because there's a couple of inexpensive factory loads that use these. I know the Hornady bullets are quite a bit less expensive to buy though.

Works fine in any 223 I've ever tried it in with a one in 9 twist there Dollar...

Thanks Seafire. That will make finding a rifle I like locally much easier.

My pleasure.. good luck with your project...

A 9 twist will stabilize a 77 gr mk?

in one or two of mine with 1 in 9s... but I do have to lean on it some at the powder scale...

funny, that is for the 77 gr SMKs... where as the 80 grain Sierra MKings, they seem to have no
problem with...

go figure...