Bore Driver ELDX Results on elk

I had a muzzleloader elk tag this year and was wanting to extend my effective range. The bullets I had been previously using were the limiting factor, due to lower b.c. and/or weight. The eld x intrigued me but there was little to no experience with it when I asked around. They claim expansion as low as 1,600 fps. With a muzzle velocity at 2095 and the elevation I would be hunting it put the limit to 300 yards, which with open sights was more than good. They shot awesome out to 300 and a little farther, but I was leery at further ranges without much info.

I was fortunate to harvest a very large bodied mature bull (340 class) at 160 yards, very much broadside. The bullet entered into the muscle of the front leg just above the heart. No leg bone or rib was hit. Expansion started very soon. Shrapnel was found in leg muscle, bullet entered cavity, destroying both lungs, but never got to the off ribs. Bull died quickly and only went 20-30 yards.

Hard to not like the result, but after investigating I am far from sold on them. If I had hit heavy bone in the leg, or even a rib, how would have the results differed? At close range (under 50 yards) or at extended ranges (pushing 300), what would happen?

Small sample size, I know, but based off limited info I thought I'd post.

Jeff

Perhaps you are the first to report on this bullet. I looked at Hornady's website. It is a cup and core bullet. You may be right that the bullet might fragment if it hit bone. IMO BC isn't the only thing to consider.

My two friends and I use the Rem 700 Ultimate MZ with the arrowhead breech plug and Blackhorn 209. We tried Thor bullets for a while and had good performance on elk. Then we discovered the 320 gr Fury bonded bullet called the Universal. It has a higher BC than the Thor bullets and is easier to push down the bore. It may not have the BC of the ELDX bore rider but BC isn't everything especially within 300 yds.

Last cow elk I shot with the 320 Fury Universal was at 225 yds. My spotter told me I missed when snow kicked up behind her. Then we heard the thwack of the bullet. . No time to range it. Did a survey a few minutes earlier, knew the gun would be -5.5 low at that distance. Hit in right leg/shoulder just above the elbow went through sternum area exited with 1 1/2"" hole. She ran 40 ft and died of internal blood loss. ( 320 gr Fury muzzle velocity 2196 fps )

My friends are getting similar results with their bonded 320 gr Fury bullets. All of us are very happy with the accuracy. Fury says the G1 BC is .260 which matches our comeups. If you are worried about the bullet holding together you might want to give the Fury a try.

They are very accurate out of my Knight UL Muzzy but I have yet to take anything with them. I did see they are now offering the same bullet in .45

Imperial Bull said:

I had a muzzleloader elk tag this year and was wanting to extend my effective range. The bullets I had been previously using were the limiting factor, due to lower b.c. and/or weight. The eld x intrigued me but there was little to no experience with it when I asked around. They claim expansion as low as 1,600 fps. With a muzzle velocity at 2095 and the elevation I would be hunting it put the limit to 300 yards, which with open sights was more than good. They shot awesome out to 300 and a little farther, but I was leery at further ranges without much info.

I was fortunate to harvest a very large bodied mature bull (340 class) at 160 yards, very much broadside. The bullet entered into the muscle of the front leg just above the heart. No leg bone or rib was hit. Expansion started very soon. Shrapnel was found in leg muscle, bullet entered cavity, destroying both lungs, but never got to the off ribs. Bull died quickly and only went 20-30 yards.

Hard to not like the result, but after investigating I am far from sold on them. If I had hit heavy bone in the leg, or even a rib, how would have the results differed? At close range (under 50 yards) or at extended ranges (pushing 300), what would happen?

Small sample size, I know, but based off limited info I thought I'd post.

Jeff

Click to expand...

Where did you see expansion down to 1600? I think that's the case for standard rifle bullets. I listened to one of the hornady podcasts on the 340gr bore driver and I thought the engineer that designed it was shooting pronghorn past 300yds. (Good info and worth 10 mins to listen to it). I realize that's not an elk. But my thought is that expansion will probably occur down near 1000-1200fps. If you take away the gigantic tip its basically a 50 cal pistol bullet. I used to shoot Parker match hunter 275s. They did great inside 100 yds but would not expand well or at all on longer shots. But man were they accurate.. I put one of the 340s through about 18 inches of whitetail a couple weeks ago. Impact velocity was probably around 1700 fps. Seemed to work well. Single data point for me as well. The 340s are really accurate though. I bought 15 or so packs of them they shot so well.

I've killed four whitetail deer using the H340ELDX bullet. All at 70 yards or less.

I've gotten a lot of penetration on some of those deer with 18"-24" of penetration (some were nearly facing me head on) and managed to recover two bullets.

Expansion is clearly evident, to the point I'd say the bullets are on the softer side. Internal damage is tremendous. None have went more than about 25 yards.

On elk, I'd certainly avoid the shoulder but would not hesitate to use the 340ELDX on an elk.

I will say I'm pushing these bullets pretty fast compared a typical inline. Mine is the Rem 700 UML with Arrowhead breechplug running 107.5 gr by weight of BH209 for over 2050 gps MV.

That also makes the bullet expand more so than what a typical inline would get at lower MV.

I love the bullet and have stockpiled a good number of them.