Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 300 LRH & 212 gr ELD-X, 50 yard high velocity water jug test

March 3rd, 2016
Was out looking for pressure in my 300 Long Range Hunter with
Reloder 33 and WS2 coated Hornady 30 cal. 212 gr ELD-X bullets

Blasted some water jugs at 50 yards going 3200 fps plus , got it on video !

So Swamplord...what do you think?

Seems penetration was 4 jugs? They sure made a mess.

I know you also use Barnes on those moose.

Cool test, the 212 looked much better than the 200 ELD X at 3000FPS.

4-5 jugs at over 3200 is pretty decent really. Seems like they are very accurate. Thank you for posting those.

This is what my response was on another forum and my opinion hasn't changed in the last day or so, lol ! just my opinion man, it don't mean nuthin in the real world !
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What this test confirmed for me is that the Hornady 212 gr ELD-X bullet performs much like the 200 gr Nosler Partition ! About 13 years ago I did an identical test with the 200 gr Partition at similar velocities from the 7.82 Warbird with cookie cutter results as far as water jug blow up, how many and bullet expansion/deformation.......... One of the reasons I shied away from the Partition all these years and packed the 200 gr Swift A-Frame as a defensive and close range hunting bullet on my solo hunts in Alaska, I still want to see an A-Frame/Scirocco 30 cal offspring around 200 gr !

nothing wrong with the 212 gr ELD-X as a hunting bullet, even up close in controlled, properly placed bullets on non dangerous game that runs away, I'll use it on moose at 10 yards and out, yes sir ! but I will not pack it as a first round choice in areas I hunt.................... I feel the same way about Berger Hunting and Hybrid bullets,

I really wanted to see more weight retention up close at these velocities but then again high velocity water tests are pretty destructive bullet tests, although it gives us an idea of what may happen if your bullet hits the big bone you were trying to avoid......

The 212 gr ELD-X bullet is very accurate at high velocities and coupled with the nice BC's, guaranteed expansion.... it should be a decent long range hunting bullet,

the water jug test was to satisfy my curiosity of how it will do up close on a brown bear charge and it didn't pass the test , but I gotta say 3200 + fps can tear many bullets apart at 50 yards......... Maybe at 300 Win Mag/300 WSM velocities it will not shed so much weight and penetrate deeper........ I am loading the 220 gr ELD-X with RL33 as I type this , from 92.0 gr up to 98.0 gr, bullets are coated with WS2 as well and will be shot into water jugs at 50 yards, hoping the 8 gr heavier and longer bearing surface will show more weight retention over the 212 gr ELD-X ......

seems there may not be the perfect do all at all range big game hunting bullet available just yet, at least for where and what I hunt

I'm back to dual bullet carry , well... never abandoned the idea

Thanks! All sounds reasonable to me.

Interesting comment on the 200 NPT.I always thought they penetrated well but never had a 30 cal magnum that drove them to 3200 fps either.

I DID have 200 gr 30's that would take the heat of 3200 fps....just never had that much cartridge and not the BC of those Hornady's. They called the Bitterroots. So I can understand the 200 gr Aframes.

I am one of those believers in big frontal area and high weight retention.

Cool.

I've done similar tests with defensive handgun loads. Never tried it with a rifle.



I'm thinking the 143 gr ELD-X is going to be my first choice for my 6.5 Sherman Shortmag when I get it together. But that's for deer and smaller critters, things that run away rather than attack. Maybe a hog here and there, and they might run at you now and then.

But I too am looking for that bullet for my 8mm Rem Mag for bigger game that will fly right and expand reliably at long range, yet hold together to stop that annoyed bear at close range.

Tell me again what your LRH is. Isn't a 300 LRH pretty similar to a 30 Nosler? . . . But you made it from a RUM?? Am I remembering that correctly?

This is a pic you posted on another forum:

Sure is purdy!
I'm getting the itch for a 32 Nosler.
(We talked before about my ideas for necking a 375 Ruger down to 8mm.)

My Precision Rifled Ordnance (PRO) and Long Range Hunter (LRH) wildcats are all off the 300 & 338 Norma Mag, also use the Lapua mfg .423 Dakota brass and cut down 338 Lapua Mag brass, which I have case forming dies to make cases with, very easy process ..... the PRO series have more case taper, longer necks and standartd throats for all bullet weights per caliber, the LRH series are maxed out case dimensions and throated for the heaviest, highest bc bullets for caliber per cartridge, duplicating 338 Lapua Mag capacities but with zero bullet impact into powder space and still function in 5 round AICS and Accurate mag systems ,

They are not off the 300 RUM, 338 RUM or 375 Ruger as some have suggested ,

I developed the 8mm Long Range Hunter at the same time as the 7mm, 300, 338 and 375 LRH cartridges, the 8mm LRH has 112.0 gr case h20 capacity which is optimum to drive the new 225 gr MTH bullets I had commissioned from Cutting Edge as a special order which are now available to all on their website, Since the CEB 225 gr MTH bullet is of a bore rider design, no special throat requirements were in order and the 8mm LRH is capable of working with all the 180-250 gr conventional bullets in standard 1:10 twist .323 caliber barrels , later on I had CEB make me the 256 gr 8mm bullet with a .750 bc but it requires 1:9 twist barrels, that bullet is for my new wildcat 8mm Vampyre (.323/500 Jeffery) with 145gr h20 capacity to drive these bullets, but thats another story .......

The 8mm LRH is capable of 3250-3300 fps with the 225 gr MTH bullets and is truly the coolest actual long range capable 8mm cartridge/bullet combination, a fella could build one and never need another rifle for big game in North America,

consider it as a melting pot product of the 300 RUM and 338 Lapua Mag, the cool factor is off the charts ! ]photobucket[/url]

I made a poster some time back to show how the new 8mm Cutting Edge bullets have opened up new possibilities with the awesome but neglected .323" bullet caliber , with proper 8mm bullets we won't need all the 30's and 338's

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Very innovative, high tech stuff...bullets and cartridges both.

The 212's were fairly easy to make shoot good, my initial test loads were a search for velocity/pressure with Reloder 33 and I had the Magnetospeed attached to record velocities with every single load, seating depth was .028" off the lands and is about the usual .025" - .030" jump I use when working with a new powder/bullet combo, once I know where the pressure is I can adjust powder charges and play with seating depth to find best accuracy, this was one of those great moments when you find the "node" without any effort at all, proof of a very well made bullet is if it will maintain that accuracy with the same bullet from different lots and dates of manufacture, consistency is crucial in replicating a good load, Hornady bullets have always shot very well in my guns, liking what I have seen with the ELD-X so far ...

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Swamplord... I am intrigued with your post...is it possible to get any information possible on the 300 LRH ? I would like to compare it to the 300 Norma Mag / I am wanting to start a new rifle build in a 30 cal to shoot heavy high BC bullets for a long range elk sledge hammer. Any info would be greatly appreciated on the 300 LRH as I cannot find anything on brass or dies etc etc