180 ELD-M problems

I had the same issue with my 8 twist 280 ai .. 2 out of the five shot group didn't hit the target while the 3 that did were inside a half inch in the bulls eye.. I did see a couple pin holes.. Hmmm?
Next five shots had four in the target but also more pin holes that had to be bullet fragments. That was enough and I no longer load them.. I might add that I had no problems with my 9 twist 7 mag, but no longer have it.. Weird..
I have some loaded at reduced powder and I'll see if that works, but I'm probably with you, to just abandon them and shoot other bullets. The 175's are great and accurate. Learned a lot. thanks for all posts
 
I have some loaded at reduced powder and I'll see if that works, but I'm probably with you, to just abandon them and shoot other bullets. The 175's are great and accurate. Learned a lot. thanks for all posts
Reduced load or not, shoot at a target where you can actually see an impact. This reminds me of a hunt with an acquaintance a few years ago. He was shooting a .270 Win using factory ammo. He sighted his rifle the day before but ran out of ammo. He purchased another ammo with the same weight but not the same lot/brand, hoping it would impact the same. He took 5 shots at an antelope <300 yards and missed. Luckily, he had an opportunity for another shot. My other buddy and I were watching it unfold. Another friend hunting with him handed him his rifle to harvest the antelope. The moral of the story is always to know your POI, regardless.
 
You want a heavier than 175gr bullet with a thicker jacket? Try the 180 Hyb or 184 Hyb.
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Never heard of a Berger having these "Hornady" issues.
Is it possible that the more supported nose/meplat of otm style jackets resist high rotational forces better? Maybe it has nothing to do with brand A vs B.

If the op's rifle is 8 twist at 3160fps =284400rpm.
 
Hard to justify that as a hunting bullet, eh? I'd hate for one to hit skin and ribs if they dissolve in turbulence.
Plenty of better choices thankfully.
Eh, it still melts a pretty gigantic hole if that's your thing. It's still a lot of inertia and SD even if it starts shedding weight immediately. That shed weight is violent in the extreme. I think it's a perfectly viable wounding theory if you take your shots with that in mind. If a gun shoots it, it's accurate and predictable. Plenty of people still getting exit holes on deer. Tons of retained energy. It's not for everybody but it has a lot of a thing some people have a lot of success with, especially starting at the distances the majority of hunting bullets start to fall out of reliability.
 
Is it possible that the more supported nose/meplat of otm style jackets resist high rotational forces better? Maybe it has nothing to do with brand A vs B.

If the op's rifle is 8 twist at 3160fps =284400rpm.
That's beyond Me! But an interesting thought.
I've heard about 180ELDM issues for several years, I've never heard of Berger or anybody else having that issue with heavier for caliber.

Some lightweight varmint bullets in faster
twists, yes of course they will disintegrate.
 
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My 7 SAUM with a 9 twist running 180 ELDM at 2920 was absolute magic for a few hundred rounds. Next thing I know, I'm not seeing impacts past 400 yards. They'd shoot 1/2 MOA at 400 and just disintegrate at some point after that.

Why did that bullet start going weird on me? No clue. I just know it did and changing to a different bullet made the problem go away. I may revisit it next year, but for now I'm just running 195 EOL and being happy with what I'm seeing.
 
My 7 SAUM with a 9 twist running 180 ELDM at 2920 was absolute magic for a few hundred rounds. Next thing I know, I'm not seeing impacts past 400 yards. They'd shoot 1/2 MOA at 400 and just disintegrate at some point after that.

Why did that bullet start going weird on me? No clue. I just know it did and changing to a different bullet made the problem go away. I may revisit it next year, but for now I'm just running 195 EOL and being happy with what I'm seeing.
Guessing it may have something to do with throat condition after a "few hundred rounds".
 
My 7 SAUM with a 9 twist running 180 ELDM at 2920 was absolute magic for a few hundred rounds. Next thing I know, I'm not seeing impacts past 400 yards. They'd shoot 1/2 MOA at 400 and just disintegrate at some point after that.

Why did that bullet start going weird on me? No clue. I just know it did and changing to a different bullet made the problem go away. I may revisit it next year, but for now I'm just running 195 EOL and being happy with what I'm seeing.
That is a tough one, I'd be tempted to blame batch or barrel age. I wanted to get 2800 out of my saum but it didn't even get close, that's some great numbers. One plan for the summer was to move them from .1 off to .01 and get a different powder, but maybe I'll just stick to the slow lane so I can keep using these things.
 
Guessing it may have something to do with throat condition after a "few hundred rounds".
Hardly even shows fire cracking and no signs of a carbon ring. 300 rounds out of a SAUM is certainly not many and I was pretty surprised to see bullets quit reaching the target. Even more strange, they'd make it to 400 and pop somewhere after there....

I still LOVE the 180 ELDM and it was an absolute elk killing machine for the first few years I used it.
 
Is it possible that the more supported nose/meplat of otm style jackets resist high rotational forces better? Maybe it has nothing to do with brand A vs B.

If the op's rifle is 8 twist at 3160fps =284400rpm.
284,400 is fairly moderate for RPM. I have heard a lot of issues for SOME people of the 180 ELD-M coming apart. Even at lower velocity and slower twist rates. Not sure why, as the ELD-M is not that thin of a jacket.

I have shot the 180 Hyb in my 1:8" 28 Nos @ 3260 (293,400rpm) with no issues. And a 175 Elite @ 3300 (297,000rpm).

Plus I have numerous rifles pushing Bergers (both hunting and match) and Sierras (TMK & SMK) anywhere from 300,000 to just over 331,000rpm. None have come apart during flight.

It might have to do with composition of the jackets, and not just thickness.
 
It could be the alloy Hornady is using. Even though the thickness is the same the hardness might not be. Litz had an interesting article about why guns speed up and throat wear fire cracking.
 

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