Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles ELD-X for a 338-06 ?

I was curious if anyone has any experience with the Hornady 230gr ELD-X in a 338-06? I'm curious on the accuracy and what they might do on whitetails ? I have several bullets that will no doubt work for my purposes but the ELD-X line has me wondering.

I shoot this bullet in mine, never recovered one, DRT is REAL!

https://www.barnesbullets.com/produ...sx-fb&attribute_pa_rounds-per-box=50

I use the 200 gr SST in my 338 06 AI.

Its is VIOLENT on deer.

Looks like you have two "no" so far and unfortunately I am also a "no." Have two 338-06 but have never used that bullet. Looking forward to hearing about it. I hope somebody chimes in with experience with it.

Cheers,
Rex

I have never used a ELDX in my 338-06. For deer hunting, I wouldn’t hesitate one bit if it shot well in my rifle.

If I recall correctly, Jud found them to be very soft in a 338WM, so I bet they’ll do well on deer at a slightly slower speed. It’s an interesting option in that caliber.

I like the Nosler 180 grain and Barnes 160-225 grain in my 338-06 AI. It’s a Ruger M77 tang safety from yesteryear. The 225 grain Speer are good too. I have never tried the ELD bullets, but I say go for it. One of my favorite things is to try other bullets. I know It’s easy to say that for 22 cal, but 338 cal bullets are over a $1 a piece sometimes, so when I experiment with them, it is usually a small experiment with maybe 2-3 powders and 100 or less bullets. It can get expensive fast but you may find what you’re looking for.

It took me 25 years to get on Facebook, and I’ve found it’s valuable for joining reloading groups and things like and not for other social motives. There is a group called the "338-06 Shooters" on there and is very useful for us.

Have never used the 230gr ELD-X out of my 338-06's. Interested to see what information comes up.

Well Ben,

I can tell ya from folks I know who have used it on elk.. and it did just fine in bringing down the animal...

not a big sampling, but the ones who used it were happy with it...

SO I am sure, that there is no deer that ever walked anywhere, that it wouldn't do the job on just fine...

I think it leans of the side of overkill vs just barely meeting specs...

With a tough bullet just don't give it too much velocity, where it will zip thru before having a chance to open up...

I did that once in Minnesota with a 300 Win Mag and a 200 gr Sierra, that zipped right thru the deer and I ended up losing it in one of those northern swamps... bullet evidently meant for elk.. too tough.. although if the bullet had entered the deer so 300 yds out, it would have slowed down enough, that it could have opened up more easily...

I've always used 200, 225 or 250 gr RN bullets from Hornady in my 338/06.. either bullet with a charge of 50 grains of 4064, will give a MV of 2500 fps, and anyone of those SP bullets will have pretty much the same POI at 100 yds....and minute of deer out to 250 yds...with no problems..

never had to adjust my scope on the rifle when using that charge...but changing bullet weights...

have an old 2 x 7 Leupold shotgun scope on top of the rifle.

Are you serious?

Please clarify, that statement does not make sense to me or match what I have seen.

With a tougher bullet, you want more velocity, and less velocity for a softer bullet.

yeah, not what I was thinking either at the time...

I've never used those bullets, but my guess is that they'd be very destructive at Whitetail distances. I've shot a few pigs and deer with the 225 Accubonds and they are very destructive, accurate as hell, but destructive. I'm talking baseball size exit holes. Of course I'm assuming that the AB and ELD-X would perform similarly. I'm no expert ballistician so take that with a grain of salt.

I've had good luck with 180 Accubonds and 185 TTSX or TSXs for deer and pigs. That'd be my choice for Whitetails. I save the heavies for bigger game.

BTW, I used the 225 ABs on deer because I was deer hunting in Brown Bear country at close range and needed a bear load just in case. I'd bet your idea on the 230 ELD-X would be a good choice in a situation like that.

So I called Hornady. I spoke to a gentleman named Gary. I explained my intentions about the ELD-X in my 338-06, and he told me in theory it should work because the ELD-X line was designed to expand down to about 1600fps but he also explained that I wouldn't realize the full BC benefit of the bullet due to the 338-06 not being able to really push that bullet like it would in a Win Mag, RCM, or a Lapua. He also informed me that the 230 ELD-X is quite a bit longer than the 225 SST and I might get into a case crowding situation even if I loaded to max mag / throat lengths.

I still might try them down the road at some point but I think I'll tinker around with something else in the meantime.

I'm pretty confused by Gary's statement that you "wouldn't realize the full BC benefit" due to lower starting speeds than the bigger-cased .338 cartridges. That makes no sense to me. Being restricted on available starting velocity is a huge reason to use a high BC bullet, particularly if that bullet is designed to expand al low speeds.
A 24" 338-06 should launch the 230 ELD-X at ~2700 FPS - the same speed a 6.5 CM launches the 143 ELD-X. Nobody complains about the velocity and BC combination of the 6.5CM and I think you'd reap the same benefits in the 338-06. The BC of the two bullets are functionally identical, and Hornady got 2700 FPS with 5 different powders in the 11the edition manual.

Just my two cents,
Rex

P.S., the 338-06 and 338 RCM are just about the same capacity and velocity. Anything good for one is good for the other.

If you look at Sierra G1 figures, you will see that they quote different G1's according to the velocity range that the projectile is travelling at.

I was thinking the same thing Rex. That 230 should be the cats meow in the 338-06.

How about one of the Hornady CX offerings 185 or 225 grain? Id like to see the results of a 338 all copper yet good expanding copper projectile. My expectation would be super terminal performance yet minimal meat loss.

Rex, your right on everything you said. I should expand more on what I was told. Basically Gary told me that the ELD-X was designed to be a long range bullet for longer range shots and he was more or less telling me without actually telling me that due to the lower velocities of the 338-06 that it wasn't quite what many would consider to be a longer range cartridge. I informed him that most of my hunting would be done inside 400yds and he said it would no doubt expand but that there were lots of other bullets that would meet my needs.

I really want to try them but I hate to buy a box or 2 only to have them not pan out.

FWIW, I tested some 225gr SST earlier this year with AA4350 and got right at 2600fps. That was the only powder I tried. My rifle is a Rem 700 30-06 rebored by JES with a 22in 1 in 10 twist.

Interesting. One of my two 338-06 rifles is a 19" barrel and it will do 2600FPS with RL-15.5 and the 225 SP Interlock. I have just begun working with that powder and was happy to reach this goal on the first range trip.
That rifle is a 1903 Springfield that I bought for $100 as a rusty bore 19" carbine and had JES rebore also, like yours.
Rex