143 ELD-X Kill

[hunter67wa]

Well I shot a whitetail buck 332 yards 6.5 creed impact velocity around 2250. Hi shoulder rib on way in through the spine and rib on way out. Bullet underneath hide. No lead left in it. First pic will be entrance then interior then exit.

 

[agrodgers]

First, congratulations! Second, what damage did it do to the internals? With it being a high hit, did it hit the lungs? I.e. was there significant damage internally or just a straight through. Thanks.

 

[hunter67wa]

Chest cavity full of coagulated blood. Sheered top of lungs off.

 

[hunter67wa]

Well I'm concerned with the performance of the bullet and am thinking of going to the Accubond if it shoots.

 

[agrodgers]

That was my concern as well. I had other issues with them shooting well in my rifle (6.5 CR ABolt II) and had to switch (see https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/horizontal-stringing-over-distance.202567/). I did get the AB's to shoot well so that's what I've gone too. Specifically my concern was the performance over a wide range of distance/velocity. Based on a lot of the threads, they have done well out at med to long distances, but there wasn't a lot of info on close ranges (<=400yds). This is where I take a majority of my shots with the occasional 500+. I've loaded some up for my 30.06 as well (178gr) to see if I can extend it's performance a bit further but am still working on that load. Bottom line though is terminal performance for me. If I can't count on it to do it's job on the animal +99% of the time then I don't care if they look good on paper.

 

[Mcarso1]

I had a 250ish kill on Monday with 143eldx and it was slight quartering behind shoulder with same type entry and exit was quarter to fifty cent piece size. All mush inside . Knocked him down, got up went 25-30 yds collapsed. I was pleased with performance, my first harvest with this combo.

 

[agrodgers]

While guns are like men and women, they like what they like, the AB's have shown to be more forgiving in the rifles I have loaded them for. I shot this a couple weekends ago. 6.5CR; AB 140gr; RL26 48.2gr; 200yds. There are 4 shots in that group...not 3 (ignore the lower left, different rifle). I like the Accubonds a lot, I've shot 20ish elk with them (300WM - 180gr) and they have performed perfectly every time as long as I've done my part.

 

[agrodgers]

I had a 250ish kill on Monday with 143eldx and it was slight quartering behind shoulder with same type entry and exit was quarter to fifty cent piece size. All mush inside . Knocked him down, got up went 25-30 yds collapsed. I was pleased with performance, my first harvest with this combo.

Was that a quartering too or away? I.e. how much bone was in the way? My concern has been with the quartering too shot where you may have to go through the shoulder more.

 

[Barrelnut]

I don't think that is bad performance. It did hit quite a bit of bone. Think the bullet would have exited, if not for the spine. It is really just a cup and core bullet with a fairly small diameter.
I shot a deer at 40 yards (high shoulder) this year with the old 140 Amax in a 6.5 Creed. Bullet went through the scapula and hit 2 ribs and lodged in the offside shoulder. All was left was about the same amount of the empty jacket.
I have had good results though with the Accubond in a 25-06. I would like to see how well a 140 Accubond works in a 6.5 Creed.

 

[Slick8]

Well I'm concerned with the performance of the bullet and am thinking of going to the Accubond if it shoots.

I'm thinking the same thing with most of my deer shots at less that 400 yards. I have a new custom rifle shooting 1 inch consistently at 300 yards. Still need to complete load work up with the load.

I made 4 head shots this week at 120-200 yards and a shoulder shot at 410 with a 143 ELD-X with a MV of 2610. These were two small WT doe (80ish pounds), two hogs (120 and 150) and a Fallow spike (105). The Fallow was at 410 broadside and no pass through. Perfect hit and I saw him go down within 20 yards of the hit.

I've tried the Bergers, ABLR and now the ELD-X with similar results. A good shot equals a dead animal very quickly...but if they run you won't likely have a blood trail.

In looking at the ballistic charts, the extra BC is really nice on the little creed due to low MV but in reality it makes little difference under 400 yards on an animal.

I'm thinking of going back to the original AB for most of my hunting and will develop a target load with Bergers for the creed.

I'm planning a big 30 cal build and while fascinated by the 215 Berger will likely look hard at the 200 grain NOS AB.

 

[Mcarso1]

Very slight quartering to but tucked it in behind shoulder, no shoulder blade hit but rib on each side!

 

[CMP70306]

I shot one this year at approximately 50 yards with the 143gr ELD-C at around 2640 MV. Bullet entered behind the left shoulder but he was quartering away so it exited through the middle of the right shoulder. Deer flipped over with a Bah and never got up, it was bloodshot around the entrance and the shoulder was unfortunately lost due to the damage. For deer size game it does pretty well in my opinion though apparently it is susceptible to sticks.

Tried to shoot through a hole in the thicket at the neck but I hit a branch. When the deer picked its head up at the shot I'm not sure which one of us was more surprised but he only ran 20 yards into a clearing where I hit him behind the shoulder. I did find the stick I hit through just to prove to my brother I didn't just miss.

 

[hunter67wa]

I have harvested two trees that way. lol. Well this week has been interesting as I switched to 6.5x55 with a can shooting 155 Lapua Megas out of on old Swede. I can tell you two things. If you want to anchor deer right now without questions use this combo or bullet, if you want to eat the whole deer don't. I have shot 3 whitetail does and it has bloodshot them pretty well but it is like Thors hammer. When your in a field with 200 deer and shoot they all look at Lucie and go what happened till the second one goes down then they are like wait something fishy going on around here. Oh ya you will not retrieve a bullet as it exits with a 2 inch hole. Ranges 158, 254,242.

 

[1Moose]

Here are entrance and exit photos from a pronghorn this year from 260 Remington with impact velocity at 2380 FPS (140 yards, so very light loads and muzzle velocity so my son can practice with this rifle). Very quick death. Another pronghorn from rifle at 160 yards yielded identical results.