147 ELD-M or 156 Berger EOL

[Overkill338]

What about the 153 A-Tip?

 

[codyadams]

What about the 153 A-Tip?

I haven't heard anything about them that carries much weight either way....rumors they are a harder alloy, rumors they work great, stories like "I saw a post on FB where a guy shot a deer and they worked perfect", yata yata. But nothing too comprehensive or with more than one or two animals being shot. I haven't been actively looking much though, I plan on sticking with the 156's exclusively in my 6.5's from here on out unless I start to see negative performance from them.

 

[Mram10us]

Great info guys! I have my 6.5-284 shooting great out to 1351 yesterday, but might have to take a look at the 156s since I'm almost out of 147s. I'll go search for your load data to try. Again, great info guys!

 

[MTLIVIN]

Thanks for all the real world feedback fellas. If I was just shooting deer and speed goats I'd be happy w the 147s, but with bear and elk on the menu at times I think I will go for the extra weight and fragmentation of the 156. Plus, I trust bergers on a shoulder hit more than the Ms, I aim for the crease but a bad wind call can catch ya.

 

[rockwallraider]

I saw some good outcomes from the 156 EOLs this season. Loaded our PRCs and CMs this year with 156s. Very easy to find accurate loads for and good consistency. Still had a couple of hunters using 142 ABLR and 147 ELDM and all were successful. My nephew used a 147 to squarely hit the shoulder of a coues and not penetrate the rib cage at 560 yards but a follow-up shot was very effective. A 156 from one of the CMs dropped a big 6x6 bull with one hit at ~500 yards and another took a nice coues at 460.
The 147 and 156 are ballistically similar when loaded near max for the same cartridge, but I believe the 156 is better designed for hunting. Attached a picture from the 156 EOL/CM shot from my 13 y/o grandson at 460 yards showing entrance just behind the front shoulder and exit through the opposite side shoulder (top right). Dropped like a rockView attachment 165329

Man that hole looks identical to the whitetail I shot at 325 with the 156 out of my sherman ss. pretty impressive terminal results. i would not hesitate to shoot an elk with the 156.

 

[Elk Fire]

My 6.5 Sherman short whacked quite a few deer this year with the 156. Shot several last year with the 147 eldm.
There was very little in common between the two in terminal damage. In my experience the 156 was substantially more damaging. Especially when bone was encountered.

 

[codyadams]

My 6.5 Sherman short whacked quite a few deer this year with the 156. Shot several last year with the 147 eldm.
There was very little in common between the two in terminal damage. In my experience the 156 was substantially more damaging. Especially when bone was encountered.

I would concur....

147 eld-m double lung on a pronghorn @ 400ish:

156 EOL double lung/top of heart on a cow elk @ 845:

 

[Overkill338]

I haven't heard anything about them that carries much weight either way....rumors they are a harder alloy, rumors they work great, stories like "I saw a post on FB where a guy shot a deer and they worked perfect", yata yata. But nothing too comprehensive or with more than one or two animals being shot. I haven't been actively looking much though, I plan on sticking with the 156's exclusively in my 6.5's from here on out unless I start to see negative performance from them.

If it is for hunting, why not use the ELD-X ? I still can't wrap my mind around people intentionally using Match/Target bullets on animals. I'm not going to argue about it either way. Just don't understand, that's all.

 

[Mram10us]

If it is for hunting, why not use the ELD-X ? I still can't wrap my mind around people intentionally using Match/Target bullets on animals. I'm not going to argue about it either way. Just don't understand, that's all.

I have used 225 and 180 eldm on animals because of the heavier jacket and they shot great. I've had very good results, however the 300gr smk out of my edge were very inconsistent. I understand what you're saying to a point

 

[codyadams]

If it is for hunting, why not use the ELD-X ? I still can't wrap my mind around people intentionally using Match/Target bullets on animals. I'm not going to argue about it either way. Just don't understand, that's all.

I personally won't be trying the A-Tip. I tried the 147 because of the extra energy, less wind drift, and good terminal performance reports I was hearing about it, some target bullets have been proven in the past to work well for hunting, the 215 Berger Hybrid Target comes to mind, so I thought the 147 may work good as well. Also nothing else out at the time was as good for stretching the legs on a 6.5, even the heavier matrix bullets lost out due to lower bc. I tried them, didn't like them. The 156 came out, offering the best of everything that I wanted out of a 6.5 bullet, and has worked great. Also not looking to argue, just stating my thought on it. I will say, the 143 eld-x performs very similar to the 147 eld-m from photos I have seen of the eld-x's performance, the m may fragment slightly less. I also recovered several of the eld-m's, and none had core jacket separation, which leads me to wonder if the interlock ring of the x is really neccessary....though I never recovered any bullets from very high velocity impacts, save one animal all were 400-980 yards. I think close range high impact velocities is where the ring would come into play.

 

[KTP]

This is why I read on this forum! Excellent information and I appreciate guys like Greyfox, Cody, and others that take the time to post quality information! The downside is, it always makes me envious of you guys that live in the west!!
Carry on....

 

[25WSM]

Yep me too. I live in PA and it's one buck and your done. If I shoot him in archery then the rifle is out. Can still get a doe tag and use the rifle on it. But it's not the same. I did live in WV for awhile and killed 21 deer in 3 yrs with all the tags you get. Oh by the way I shoot the 147 eldm and it works on deer good. Since my shots are 300 and closer I might try the lighter Barnes bullets.

Shep

 

[rgvt4]

What about the 153 A-Tip?

not sure on the 153's but there is a terminal performance review on some of the .30 cal atips on long rang only forum with posted results.

https://www.longrangeonly.com/forum...-230-gr-tip-terminal-performance-reports.html

 

[Overkill338]

I personally won't be trying the A-Tip. I tried the 147 because of the extra energy, less wind drift, and good terminal performance reports I was hearing about it, some target bullets have been proven in the past to work well for hunting, the 215 Berger Hybrid Target comes to mind, so I thought the 147 may work good as well. Also nothing else out at the time was as good for stretching the legs on a 6.5, even the heavier matrix bullets lost out due to lower bc. I tried them, didn't like them. The 156 came out, offering the best of everything that I wanted out of a 6.5 bullet, and has worked great. Also not looking to argue, just stating my thought on it. I will say, the 143 eld-x performs very similar to the 147 eld-m from photos I have seen of the eld-x's performance, the m may fragment slightly less. I also recovered several of the eld-m's, and none had core jacket separation, which leads me to wonder if the interlock ring of the x is really neccessary....though I never recovered any bullets from very high velocity impacts, save one animal all were 400-980 yards. I think close range high impact velocities is where the ring would come into play.

I won't even use the ELD-X. Not sure if you remember around July or so, I posted about Hornady telling me that it wasn't a good choice for big bears or intended to be used under 400 yards. Just seems like a lot of "buts" in a description for me. I always admired the Partitions. Nothing fancy, but boringly reliable.