143 ELD-X Kill

[jacobdewey]

My buddy shot his mule deer with my 6.5 Creedmoor at 520 yards shooting the 143 eldx.

Velocity was 2165. Double lung, no bone. Recovered under the offside hide. Took 2 steps, stood there like nothing happened for about 10 seconds then tipped over dead.

 

[Barrelnut]

^^^^ Nice! ^^^^
Kinda looks like 2165 might be a good speed to base the max distance on with the bullet.

 

[hunter67wa]

Could be, but I do a ton of testing on handgun ammo and what's funny is if a companies bullet doesn't mushroom and stay together they don't sell ammo. My deer was bang flop. But what concerns me is the bullet is coming apart not staying together. The bullet was made to fly but its properties as good killing round is questionable.

Let me explain. We have all had good kills with it. But because of what we have recovered tells me that anything other than a perfect shot could get dicey. I would not shoot elk with them. I would shoot elk with the Bergers cause I have had great luck with those and have also the 155 Megas. I would shoot elk with the Megas without question cause I cannot keep those in a deer at any angle.

Don't get me wrong our rifles like the Hornady bullet a lot but the only reason I went to them was cause of cost over the Bergers but I think it is time to try the Accubonds. Lets see what we get. I have one week left of season maybe I will run to town and by some Accubonds and shoot a doe and see.

 

[1Moose]

I had started working up an accubond load for the possibility of elk out of a similar concern the 143 ELD-X might be too fragile. With minimal work so far was starting to look solid in my rifle but not yet great. Not sure if I'll finish that project as I'm going to give the Hammers a try.

 

[Kimber7man]

I don't think you'll have problems with a 140 accubond. But you might find it in the offside hide just like the 143 ELDX. I hear good things about the 139 Scenar, that is what I'm working up in my 6.5 SAUM now

 

[hunter67wa]

I just want the bullet to stay together even though I have had great luck with the Berger. I'm being cheap. lol

 

[hunter67wa]

Maybe I will try the Game Changer also

 

[Gravel Road]

I've shot four deer in the last two years and have found the 143 ELDX inconsistent for me.
First one was a small buck broadside at 200 that performed perfectly with a small entrance and a nice sized exit hole-ran 20 yards.
Second was a doe at 235 yards that didn't perform well in my opinion. Trashed the internals but never exited-ran 30 yards. Couldn't believe it didn't exit
Third was a doe that performed perfect. Lung shot that hit the offside shoulder, broke the bone and exited-ran 30 yards.
Fourth was a medium buck that a couple inches back, taking out some lung and liver and exiting the ribs far back and hitting stomach. Ran 150 yards, stopped and appeared to start to walk off so a shot to the neck put him down. This one was weird. The entrance hole was huge with hydrostatic shock evident for 6 inches+ in all direction. Small exit hole. If you didn't know better you would bet money that the entry/exit holes were reversed. I can't imagine that hitting one rib would cause that much meat to be inedible.
All in all, the results are so varied I don't trust the bullet. Not that it's bad, but with todays excellent bullets, why bother. I'm going to try the Sledgehammers. That should give a good consistency and a nice exit.
Here's a pic of the doe heart shot from a few days ago. Sometimes they work great

 

[hunter67wa]

I agree and in the pics I posted the entrance hole was much bigger.

 

[mjkten]

I'm wondering if the Nosler Partition has become passe for you guys. I have killed a number of deer with the 140 gr NP out of a 6.5x55 with neat entry hole, slightly larger exit, great blood trail and no more heart/lungs.

 

[Gravel Road]

I'm wondering if the Nosler Partition has become passe for you guys. I have killed a number of deer with the 140 gr NP out of a 6.5x55 with neat entry hole, slightly larger exit, great blood trail and no more heart/lungs.

The partition is never passe for me. A 200 gr partition is the only bullet I've used in my 300 Weatherby for the last 25 years or more. It's a slammer.
Never tried the 140, but did kill a dall sheep with a contender in 6.5 JDJ with a 125 partition.
Thanks for the reminder. May have to give them a try, because I love the way partitions perform on game.

 

[Pdvdh]

Only read the 1st three Posts.

A contrary tale. A friend shot a 9yr old Dall ram this past August with his 6.5 Creed. Was using the Hornady 143gr ELD-X, and hit the ram in the pocket just behind the front shoulder at a distance of ~65yds. Ram was quartering away, but not quite even a full quarter. The ram stayed on his feet and walked further away.
Friend's trying to figure out how he could have missed. The ram stops again another 20yds farther away. About the same quartering profile, this time he shoots it farther back, behind the diaphragm angling into the lung area. The ram walks away and he loses sight of it after it goes maybe 10-15yds farther.
He walks over and finds it dead where it went over the rise and out of view.
Bottom line, the first bullet splatted into the meat between the rubs and the shoulder. Never got inside the ribs.

My friend is DONE with this bullet. Now calls them paper bullets. Showed me pics of his hunt and ram.

 

[hunter67wa]

Haven't forgot about the partition. I used those and grandslams forever with great luck. Just tried something new wit a better BC. I bought Accubonds today

 

[CMP70306]

Had two at camp this weekend hit with the 143gr ELD-X, one was hit at 150 yards and the second at 250 yards. The close one was hit in the lungs just in front of the diaphragm and destroyed the lungs, deer buckled then got up and ran 30 yards before dropping. The second was a running deer at 250, it was a little low and far back but it bisected the diaphragm and the deer made it 80 yards which was most likely because it was all ready running.

Both were caliber sized holes and both exited with little bloodshot meat around the entrance or exit.