208 ELDM, 300 WM. Hunting approved?

[Joefrazell]

Since you asked, I'll respond.
Price plays a role in nearly every decision. Sometimes you need to pay more when the circumstances justify it. The OP is shooting a 300 WM. This cartridge is very often not a high volume cartridge like a 223. The barrel life usually doesn't allow for 2000 rounds and is pricier to shoot than a 270/308. The original inquiry was about shooting animals. The requirements to kill paper is ever so slightly different.
What I'm not thrilled with in the discussion is the price difference part. Midway has both bullets mentioned in stock and on sale. 208 hornady reg price $41, 210 berger reg price $56. This is per 100 bulets. A whopping $15 saved per 100 shots. That's a $3 per box savings. You could save more than that buying bulk/ on sale. Is that really enough to justify risking bullet performance? I'd suggest accuracy, application, and bullet construction are far more important than the small difference in price.
As for bulk Winchester Remington and the like, they all have their place. Rabbits, deer and coyotes don't need much, but if you were hunting grizzly bear on foot, would you let $15 per 100 bullets influence your decision?
If the bullet fails and the animal is never recovered, was it worth it?
Let me be clear, I have nothing against hornady bullets and use the sst + ftx bullets. Curious why the OP is shooting a match bullet vs. the hunting line of X bullets.
Good luck, I'm done and won't be commenting any further.

I don't think he was trying to be cheap here. I think he's more just using his brain. Why spend more money on something if there's no advantage to it. I do agree that he should look into the eldx over the m but to be honest, I doubt anything he shoots will ever know the difference. I shot a bear with a 215 berger this year. Why not the 210 vld? Because the hybrid shoots better in my rifle. That bullet expanded and came apart into several pieces and absolutely devastated the insides of the bear and made several exit holes. He made it 2 steps after it flipped him over. From what I could tell it worked just like the vld. To me the only way a bullet fails is if it doesn't expand at all but I've never actually seen this.

 

[entoptics]

What I'm not thrilled with in the discussion is the price difference part. Midway has both bullets mentioned in stock and on sale. 208 hornady reg price $41, 210 berger reg price $56. This is per 100 bulets. A whopping $15 saved per 100 shots...
If the bullet fails and the animal is never recovered, was it worth it?
...Curious why the OP is shooting a match bullet vs. the hunting line of X bullets...

First, cost was not much of a factor in choosing the 208 ELDM. I chose it because it shoots better than any other bullet I've tried. 2nd, I haven't shot any animals with it, let alone lost one. I'm simply asking for information.

That being said, $15 per hundred = $150 per thousand. Based on my powder receipts, I've put >2500 rounds through my 300 win mag. I'm on my second barrel, which has nearly 1000 rounds through it (halfway through a 2nd 8lb can of H1000).

When the ELD-X came out, I hoped to switch over to it for all shooting. Unfortunately, neither the 200 or 212 will shoot well through my rifle.

I've also read all over the interwebs that the ELD-X is awesome/terrible on game. I've read that the 168 AMAX is awesome/terrible on game. I've read Bergers are awesome/terrible...

Personally, I shot a deer with a 200 gr GameKing, high double lung, complete pass through. It ran 250 yds and I had to shoot it again. 30 Seconds earlier, my buddy shot another buck with a 150 NABLR from a 7mm-08 at 400 yds. Bad shot hit just in front of the leg in the low neck. Bullet completely grenaded and penetrated less than 10". But still DRT. The year before, I shot a deer with a 178 AMAX at a weird angle. It blew through the ribs, severed the spine, liquified the top half of the lungs, and never exited. DRT.

The above is not enough data to claim the 178 AMAX is the best, or the 150 NABLR and 200 SGK are terrible.

Philosophical discussions, without data to back them up, hopefully won't further derail the original intention of my post, which is to hear from some of the hundreds of experienced hunters who congregate on this great forum. If anyone else has experience with the 208 ELD, bad or good, please share, to help me make an informed decision.

 

[Artiefishing]

Just started reloading 300 win mag and getting ready for mule deer or elk hunt next year. Have tried verity of powders, bullets, primers and lengths to lands. Not having much luck with this caliber but with 308 and 6.5 creedmoor I have used bthp, amax, eld-m and eld-x to take several whitetail. I say use it if you can shoot it. The biggest thing is your confidence in your ability with it. I am the new guy and hope I haven't over stepped.

 

[entoptics]

...but with 308 and 6.5 creedmoor I have used bthp, amax, eld-m and eld-x to take several whitetail. I say use it if you can shoot it. The biggest thing is your confidence in your ability with it. I am the new guy and hope I haven't over stepped.

Things get a little testy around here sometimes, but I'm pretty new too, and have never worried about "overstepping". As long as you're civil, the folks on here are pretty tolerant and helpful.

I agree with the "confidence" thing. Any bullet I've hunted with in the last few years went through a couple hundred rounds of careful documentation. Since I hunt mostly deer, over the course of several weeks, I figure out the distance I'm capable of staying in the vitals 9 outa 10 times, with a cold bore and "hasty setup" with the gear I would be carrying. Whatever distance that is, I subtract 10-20% for "buck fever", and that's how far I'll shoot. A load that groups in ideal conditions at 3/4 MOA will usually put me at ~550 yds, and a ~1.25 MOA load seems to lower that to ~400 yds (add 100 yds for elk). I'm just not good enough with wind and/or field positions to shoot any further.

I will say, if I'm convinced it's lethal enough, the 208 ELDM would probably give me confidence out to ~700 on an elk. That sucker bucks the wind, and ballistic software seems to always be spot on.

Here's last season's practice sessions plotted on a deer vital picture. 270 Win Marlin X7 with 140 Accubonds. Not near as accurate as my 300 Win, but after testing, I was confident out to 400 yds with it. A couple of the low shots were due to a bad zero early on, which the testing exposed and allowed me to correct.

 

[bowkill02]

I ran into a situation a few years ago when I couldn't get the desired results with the Berger 215 hybrid. So like you I opted to give the 208 eld-m a go. Load development was a breeze, and my confidence grew. I have taken game with this combo and I feel confident I will not change my setup ppl anytime soon. I haven't taken elk sized game but on northeastern deer it has done well.

 

[Timnterra]

I have had nothing but great results on every animal I have shot with every red tipped Hornady bullet. I've shot SST, Amax, eldx and eldm and all of these bullets had very similar results. All these bullets expanded violently and killed emphatically. I don't subscribe to the need for an exit hole and think that a bullet should expand and leave all its energy in the chest cavity of the animal. I've shot elk and deer from 70 to 1000 yards and never lost an animal. Only one required a second shot and that was my fault, for misjudging the wind, not the bullet's fault.

 

[Canhunter35]

Haven't used a 208 on an elk. But I shot the 140gr Amax out of a 6.5x284 on deer and it was devastating.

Shot 5 whitetail deer with 168gr Amax with my .308 and only one ran (hit through the lungs) and he made it about 30 yards, chest cavity was jelly. Only had one where the bullet did not pass through and it was lodged into the offside shoulder.

Shot a red stag spike with the same .308 168gr Amax from 70 yards. I tucked it in right behind his shoulder. He barely flinched, turned away from me... and tipped over.

I'm sure that a bullet nearly 25% heavier and going 15% faster will do just fine on elk and most definitely deer as long as your shot placement is good.

IMO the 168amx/eldm is the best deer hunting available for the 308, but individual bullets within a line of bullets will perform differently, but I would not hesitate to go hunting with the 208. Berger's started off as match bullets too, just saying

 

[IdahoCTD]

I haven't killed elk with a ELD-M but have killed numerous elk with 140 Amax's out of a 6.5-300wm at 3230fps and 1 with a 162 Amax out of a 7-300wm at 3265fps. Only one went more than 10ft and it was a hard quartering away shot that went low and clipped the belly and brisket. That elk went about 150yds with intestines hanging before I could catch it and finish it. IMO the Amax's perform better on game then Berger's. About half the time an elk shot with a 215 Berger will run 50+yds before piling up. The 6.5mm Bergers act the same way only worse. Not so with any I've hit in the vitals with a Amax. 10ft is about max for those. When your hunting cow elk in a big group and it runs off, if you don't hear the impact or see it, it's annoying. We had that happen on a cow I shot at 600yds down in UT. I did hit her and got her but had I missed and known it I could of shot another. I shot a big bull with a 215 at 75yds that whirled and mad dashed out of sight for 50-60yds. He acted like he was never hit even though you could see and hear the hit. The best performance I've had with a 215 Berger was this year on my AK moose. Shot him through the front shoulder at 250yds, he collapsed and barely kicked. That is pretty rare on a non spine shot moose.

I have a bunch of 208 Amax's that I'm going to be trying out in short barreled 300wsm this year, provided it shoots them well. I bought a TBAC Ultra 9 suppressor to try as well. One place we hunt elk is usually sub 500yd shots (most closer to 200-250) and there are usually multiple bulls. So I'm trying the suppressor route to see if we can kill more than 1. Typically once a shot is fired they run full tilt for the timber. I've watched several elk get shot with a suppressed rifle and many times the others stand around, I've just never tried it myself. I do still have a cow tag for Jan. and Feb. so if I get a chance to spin the barrel up on the 300wsm soon and can get it dialed in I'll shoot it for my cow hunt less the suppressor, which is still in jail. I do know where to get a good muzzle brake in the meantime.

 

[Zman99]

I have found the 208 eld-m to preform the same as the amax. Both are devastating on game. Deer, elk, antelope all drt. Those were between 90-650 yard shots at 300wby speeds

 

[Christian Wiseman]

Shot a decent mule deer buck this year at 587 yards with a 208gr eldm dropped him where he was standing. He didnt even take a step just put his head between his shoulders and fell on top of his head.

 

[JohnCZ]

For those outside of the US, I am in Australia where Bergers are about a $1 plus per projectile however availability is annoyingly terrible at best, so why develop loads when you may not be able to get bullets. At least the Hornady bullets are available, as are the standard Nosler, Speer etc.. Mountains of pigs, goats and lots of smaller deer species are shot with target bullets here in Australia, no drama. There are exceptions where premium bullets are used for sambar, red and buffalo but outside of this, target bullets are fine. An 80kg deer shot with a 30cal 208gr ELD-M doesn't get back up, hell a 243win bowls them over.

 

[Double Dropper]

Pricing these bullets in Canada a box of 100 Berger 215 are about $100/100 canadian and the 208 ELDMs are about $57/100 not night and day in the dollar range but I cannot get the Berger 215 to group as consistent as the 195 or 208 grain ELDMs. Shot placement is number 1 all day. I would prefer sometimes to use a bonded bullet but its hard to go away from the precise shot placement a selected bullet offers. Elk might change my mind and I will be using 200 grain Accubonds for these creatures, but for black bear, deer, antelope, thinking the most accurate acceptable bullet the groups the most consistent will be my choice. The 300 win mag has lots of power.

 

[Christian Wiseman]

750 yard shot on a elk. The bull didn't move except straight to the dirt. Thats the exit hole. 300wm pushing the 208 at 3050

 

[Canhunter35]

I've used the 212 eldx with great effect on moose and elk. Haven't used the 208 on game, but I wouldn't be afraid to try it