142 ABLR vs 143 ELD-x vs 140 Elite Hunter

[moosekiller99]

143 eld-x in 6.5 Creedmoor. My rifle likes this bullet.

 

[skipglo]

Hello, New to this forum, first post here. Did a little searching, didnt find what I was after, sorry if this is redundant.

Working up a 6.5 creedmoor long range deer hunting load. Started with 143Eldx, but have only been able to get them down to 3/4 MOA @ 100-200 yards, even after tuning seating depth. Hoping for better. Thinking of trying either the berger 140 elite hunter or the 142 accubond long range. What is the consensus on this forum about accuracy of those bullets, and what are ya'll experiencing with terminal performance of them? This will be used on whitetail out to 600 yard for now but maybe out to 1000 some day. Are there any other high BC options I am missing?
Thanks!

What's your seating depth you settled on

 

[25WSM]

I find on the 147 that between jam 10 to off 20 is the zone. Those zero size groups were 10 off and 13 off.
And my 2850 is with a 29 inch barrel and show no pressure at all.
Shep

 

[MarshMello]

Your .045 seating depth looks to have promise. What barrel contour and how fast are you firing your strings? Are the outliers your last shots? Ran into a similar issue with a thin barrel. Groups opened up as the barrel heated up. If this is a hunting rig, give your barrel time to cool equally between shots. My 6.5 node is similar. 2770 41.5 H4350 143eldx .040 off lands and velocity flat spot was from 41.4 to 41.6 so I just settled in the middle. Norma brass and Fed 210m primers though so not apples to apples comparison. ABLRs are a different animal. I couldn't get as tight of groups with my gun but as always ymmv.

 

[Greasegun]

Slightly off topic. Rem 7-1/2 are about as hard as I've found. I run them in everything I can. If you are having cratering problems and are NOT overpressure. It can be fixed. What size is your firing pin? .062 is the ideal size. Anything larger and things go wonky. Gretanrifles does this service and now all the new custom actions come with the same .062 Fp. Works very well

I am not sure of the firing pin diameter. I do know that switching from rem 7 1/2 to CCI 41 completely fixed the cratering. Im not noticing any other pressure signs. I have considered the gre-tan service, but since the primer solved the cratering I didnt go that route. Ill try CCI 450 next, see if it has more consistency over the 41. To note, the berger factory ammunition comes in small primer lapua brass. It did not crater the primers either. Berger would not tell me what primers they used, but that ammunition shoots awesome. Better than my reloads so far at short range.

 

[Greasegun]

Your .045 seating depth looks to have promise. What barrel contour and how fast are you firing your strings? Are the outliers your last shots? Ran into a similar issue with a thin barrel. Groups opened up as the barrel heated up. If this is a hunting rig, give your barrel time to cool equally between shots. My 6.5 node is similar. 2770 41.5 H4350 143eldx .040 off lands and velocity flat spot was from 41.4 to 41.6 so I just settled in the middle. Norma brass and Fed 210m primers though so not apples to apples comparison. ABLRs are a different animal. I couldn't get as tight of groups with my gun but as always ymmv.

Wow that load is amazingly similar. What kind of results do you get and what rifle?
Its a savage 10ba stealth, medium/heavy profile.

The outliers were actually the 1st shot in every single group. The 1st shot would come in a little low. I was letting the barrel cool a few minutes between strings, but less that a minute between shots. It was 50 deg so seems odd that a few minutes cooling would make that big of difference but who knows.

Curious, what do you see in the .045 groups over the .040? (Note, there are 2 groups of each) The .040 had a slightly lower mean radius.

Thanks!

 

[Greasegun]

Kind of comparing Apples to Oranges, I use all three Bullets in my 6.5 Creedmoor but where they really shine is in my 26 NOSLER pushing all three around 3,520 fps over Retumbo and Fed 215m primers and 2,725 fps over H4350 over BR4 primers in my 6.5 Creedmoor! The Creedmoor likes a small jump .024 the 26 Nosler crammed into the lans! Both are between 0.120" and 0.153" at 200 yds. As long as I have not had too much coffee in the am!!! I would say push them a little harder, stretch out your rounds start at 0.020 and work back if that does not work try reducing the load and touching the lans, but first change primers!!!!

3520fps! Did I read that correctly!? Awesome!

How much to reduce if touching lands? What about if just like .002 to .005 off? Reduce for that or no?

 

[Greasegun]

Try the Hammer Hunter bullets. I've shot a lot of bullets over the years and many are good. I have good loads using both the 143 gr ELD-X and 140 gr Berger Elite Hunter in my 6.5 CM but these Hammers blew me away when I tried them. They are taking things to the next level in accuracy, ease of load development, and top terminal performance. This is typical group I'm getting with 124 gr Hammer Hunter in front of max load of VargetView attachment 161450

Never heard of that, thanks for the tip, Ill look them up.

 

[MarshMello]

Your .45 has just the 2 outliers. One way to evaluate it is to drop the outliers, assume shooter influence and look at it again before making too many changes to the load. Those 8 shots have a pretty consistent POI. Could that first shot be something other than the load? Settling in? First shot recoil anticipation? Getting that first feel for the trigger each string? I can't say but those next 4 shots are very consistent POI across both groups. There are so many variables but if that was my target I would probably want to rule out my influence in the results and try that load a couple more times focusing on form before moving on. I've moved on too soon before when a single load didn't stand out as exceptional and kicked myself for not seeing it the first time. I'm not saying to ignore the worst shot as a rule..that won't work. Just when you're in a spot like this, it's one perspective to consider.


That load was in my MPA , 24" barrel. I used almost the exact same load in my stock Ruger precision except that one liked .020 off the lands. Both were consistent .5s with the 143 eld-x. It's a capable bullet. I use it in my 6.5 PRC as well with sub .5s regularly in that gun. It's been a good performer among the hunting bullets for me. My creedmoors both love the Berger 140 Hybrids as well but from your post title it looks like you are developing a hunting load.

 

[Greasegun]

My son and business partner both have CT Carbon Edge Fierce Rifles in 6.5 Creed. They both use RL-17 powder, my son gets about .5 MOA at 2720 fps using 41.5 grs RL-17, Lapua brass, CCI BR-2 and 142 Nosler Accubond (20"Bbl). He shoots about 100+ deer a year as ranch manger and wildlife biologist (Culling and harvest plans on big ranches) and says the Accubond is very deadly on WT deer--usually DRT 1 shot kills. He has no love for the 143 ELD-X and hasn't used the Berger much on game but said its seems to be a pretty good killer as well...just went through a period where we couldn't get 'em (the Bergs) so developed his best load with Nos ABLRs.

This is great info. Thanks! That is a lot of experience talking. What is his maximum shooting distance? Why no love for Eldx, accuracy or terminal performance?

 

[Greasegun]

Your .45 has just the 2 outliers. One way to evaluate it is to drop the outliers, assume shooter influence and look at it again before making too many changes to the load. Those 8 shots have a pretty consistent POI. Could that first shot be something other than the load? Settling in? First shot recoil anticipation? Getting that first feel for the trigger each string? I can't say but those next 4 shots are very consistent POI across both groups. There are so many variables but if that was my target I would probably want to rule out my influence in the results and try that load a couple more times focusing on form before moving on. I've moved on too soon before when a single load didn't stand out as exceptional and kicked myself for not seeing it the first time. I'm not saying to ignore the worst shot as a rule..that won't work. Just when you're in a spot like this, it's one perspective to consider.


That load was in my MPA , 24" barrel. I used almost the exact same load in my stock Ruger precision except that one liked .020 off the lands. Both were consistent .5s with the 143 eld-x. It's a capable bullet. I use it in my 6.5 PRC as well with sub .5s regularly in that gun. It's been a good performer among the hunting bullets for me. My creedmoors both love the Berger 140 Hybrids as well but from your post title it looks like you are developing a hunting load.

Awesome, thanks for the help. Do you do any bullet sorting with your 143 eldx's? Yes, long range hunting load. Many have said just use the ELDm or berger target for hunting, which may be fine, but I feel more comfortable using a dedicated hunting bullet (but it does need to hit the target!)

 

[Greasegun]

What's your seating depth you settled on

.040 or .045". have also not tried <.01 or touching. hunting load so nervous about touching.

 

[cajun]

I am not sure of the firing pin diameter. I do know that switching from rem 7 1/2 to CCI 41 completely fixed the cratering. Im not noticing any other pressure signs. I have considered the gre-tan service, but since the primer solved the cratering I didnt go that route. Ill try CCI 450 next, see if it has more consistency over the 41. To note, the berger factory ammunition comes in small primer lapua brass. It did not crater the primers either. Berger would not tell me what primers they used, but that ammunition shoots awesome. Better than my reloads so far at short range.

The 41 and the 450 are basically the same primer.

 

[keithcandler]

41 is not a magnum primer

do not be NERVOUS about touching the lands!!! Been doing it for 40 years!