Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters I will not use a 175 ELD X on game again

I have had great luck with the 143 ELD-X. I just killed a big mule deer with it this weekend. 630 yards. Bullet took out the spine and exited. No meat lost
I've had exits in every animal incuding elk at 250 yards.
2950 fps.

I shot a couple deer with ELDxs, both died where they where standing

Congrats on the Elk! And, that's some nice shootin, Guy.

Oddly enough the two animals I've seen shot with the 6.5mm 143 both stopped the bullet--but the specific circumstances definitely played a role.

One was a big mule deer buck in northern New Mexico, and the load Hornady's factory for the 6.5 Creedmoor. The range was just about exactly yards (I lasered it after the fact), with the buck standing in some Gambel's oak which blocked much of his broadside body. The only clear shot was the "high shoulder", and he dropped right there, then rolled around 30 feet down the steep slope. The bullet broke shoulders and the spine, and was found under the hide on the far side, retaining 60% of its weight. (The boned meat weighed exactly 100 pounds, indicating a live weight of around 300.)

The other was an even larger-bodied buck taken by my hunting partner with the same Hornady load at 311 yards, lasered before the shot. The buck was quartering away to the left, and the buck jump-kicked at the shot, then trotted 30-35 yards and fell over. The bullet had landed in the middle of the left ribs and was found under the hide of the right shoulder, just missing the the shoulder bone. It retained 75% of its weight.

I think if we framed things according to impact velocity, we'd be better off.

Drop_point, yes and that’s why I always want to know what the range is/was when having these discussions.

Also, what weight bullet is being talked about. I started this thread talking about the 175 gr ELD X. Comparing it to another weight ELD X or caliber does not give me any useful data. And to a lesser degree, what critter was shot.

I am looking to support my experience with a 175 gr ELDX .284 fired from a 7 PRC or 7 PRC velocity window. Impact on my cow Elk resulted in a splat at 247 yards.

I have not called Hornady to relay my experience, but plan too.

I'd be curious what they say.

A poster here said that the tech he spoke with did not recommend the ELD X for Elk and suggested the CX bullet instead.

People want super high bc and easy accuracy and that is accomplished with thin, concentric jackets and sleek pointy ogives. Hornady has figured out these features are more important to a lot of hunters than anything else. Both of these traits are not conducive to controlled expansion or weight retention. The eldx tries to bridge those traits into a hunting bullet but they will never be “tough”. Probably why Hornady recommends CX in some circumstances

Thicker jackets, bonding, and more complex bullet design can solve this problem but you will reduce BC some and the bullet will be more finicky to shoot as the bullet is more complex. The more complex and more steps in the design the harder it will be to keep things concentric and balanced. If want a bonded high bc bullet shoot an ablr or TA. It will likely have a little lower BC since longer for weight and may be harder to get to shoot but likely not come totally apart even if soft to expand fast and thin jacket at nose. Hornady has said over and over in various articles/podcasts they did not bond the eldx on purpose since bonding requires thicker jacket and in their process at least result in bigger groups.

Lou

That was me. That makes me doubly curious......

Certainly. The trouble is that impact speed is largely unknown and unmeasurable. Muzzle speed, however, is measurable and typically known. If everyone keeps diligent records about atmospheric conditions and shot distance, I would agree that impact speed is more relevant to terminal performance.

I have a couple of boxes of them
I'm still gonna work up fast.load for them. I shoot most everything thru the ribs we will see I'll bet at 2850-2900 at the muzzle that 200-400 they won't be a problem..mb

Ask yourself “Why are the store shelves full of Hornady products and woefully under stocked with other brands?”

👆

I sold a friend a #1 in 280 Remington a few years back- result of his first elk hunt with ELDX bullets- 175's I think was a cow at 742 yards, one shot.
He has since shot more moose and deer and elk with it with no issues and loves the bullet. He hand loads though, no factory loads.
Cat

With our shotmarker targets as long as it is supersonic,we get the velocity at the target.
Only a few Members I know want to shoot on them however, preffering to shoot steel at various distances .
Cat

Not so easy in the field on game.

If you can range the animal or even estimate its distance however, and you know your loads and drops, there is not much issue regarding velocity if the loads have been checked with the shotmarker targets.
What I have found however, (especially with the Shotmarkers) is many shooters do not want to shoot at a target on the range, simply because hitting a 3MOA steel is much easier to accept that actually seeing where the danged bullet went- or didn't, several times ! People just seem to have a hard time accepting that they are not really as good as they thin they are.
I don't use the ELDX bullets but know several hunters that do. I prefer monolithics. :>)
Cat

If a hunter knows the atmospheric parameter values, the muzzle speed, and the range, he can figure out impact speed. My point is that it’s much simpler to record the muzzle speed and range only, so most guys won’t be able to talk in terms of impact speed.

It's sorta amazing since an IPhone ap is about 5 dollars to get you speeds out to whatever you want. Yet figuring out impact speed bests us

Within reason of course.