225 ELDM TESTED 30/375 S.I.

[elkaholic]

I have been pretty impressed with the new line of ELD bullets by Hornady, and the Match bullets particularly. I think they have a huge potential for long range hunting and so I loaded some up in my 30/375 S.I. A lot of you know that I have been making my own bullets for several years BECAUSE there were not any really good killing bullets for long and extreme range. I am in the process of switching to the ELDM because I think they are building basically what I wanted, and was building myself. A high b.c., super accurate bullet that would expand reliably at long range. BINGO! I think Hornady may have accomplished that and I can BUY theirs cheaper than I can MAKE mine. Anyway, here are the results of some initial testing with the 225 ELDM. I have already tested the 147's in my 6.5 SST with very good results.
I loaded up rounds to chrono from 86 to 89 grains of RL33 at a coal of 3.710" which is about .010" off the lands. I also loaded 85.5, 86.5, and 87.5 to shoot for group at 100 yards and then do a mini ladder at 652 yards. Below are the results so far. I did not quite reach max with the 89 gr. load at 3095'. With a b.c. of .391, that is a HAMMER at long range with a bullet that will expand down to around 1300 fps. It looks like I may end up with a good load in the 3050' or so range that will be easy on my brass. The 87.5 grain load does not show on the target because they were the first 2 fired and I misread the wind by 2 minutes. They measured 1.375" apart with very little vertical and would have been right in the group with the 2 lower charges for less than 4" total spread among the 3 loads at 652 yards. It took 10 moa. I am pretty sure I pulled one shot with the 87.5 load at 100 yards.

 

[7mmShooter]

That's awesome Rich, I'm sure they'll work very well

 

[Idaho Trecker]

Looks like they are working just as good for you as they have me in my 300SS. I'm really cursing the 1:11 twist on my 300 dakota since it won't stabilize these.

 

[elkaholic]

Looks like they are working just as good for you as they have me in my 300SS. I'm really cursing the 1:11 twist on my 300 dakota since it won't stabilize these.

I would try it and make sure. Sometimes it will surprise you although you may still have problems at more extreme range......Rich

 

[gohring3006]

I was extremely impressed with the 225 in my 300 Weatherby.
I was running them 2980fps hex coated.

I'm not sure where I'm going next with them, I'm thinking maybe 300 Norma or 30-338 Lapua. Heck as slick as they were in my Weatherby, I might even go with a 1-9 twist 300 win mag. I can't decide.....

 

[elkaholic]

I shot some this evening at 880 yards into a 5 gal bucket of clay. They first passed through a piece of T-111 siding and penetrated to the far side of the bucket. Both shed the jacket and made a large wound cavity in the clay. The 225 cracked the bucket on the far side. The 225 was fired from my 30/375 S.I. at 3040 mv and the 147 was fired from my 6.5 SST at 3110 mv.

 

[elkaholic]

I was talking to someone last night, and some may ask, how is that good performance? Fair question! First of all, Over the period I have tested this type of bullet (A-max, ELD, or my own design), I have found a good deal of penetration and damage. Sometimes the core will still be intact under the same conditions, but this time it was not. Secondly, I have experienced often that when there is a void between impact areas (in this case sheeting and then about 4" before impacting the bucket) you will likely see much more deformation of the bullet and quite often, tumbling which causes the core and jacket to become more likely to separate. If I had fired the bullet into just the clay bucket, more often than not, there would still be some amount of core left in the base of the jacket. The same is true from MOST of the bullets I have seen recovered from animals, where there is no void. Some amount of core is intact depending on velocity and what all was impacted. This is why I like heavy for caliber bullets when you want to go with easily expanded bullets. The real test will be on animals this fall, so please report your results pro and con......Rich

 

[Deleted member 46119]

Sorry Rich, please what is a 30/375 S.I.?

 

[shawnb]

Hey rich. Im also testing them in my 30/375 ruger with 40deg shoulder. I made it to 79.8gr of retumbo and stopped. Both rifles use the same data and they are cloverleafing at 100 consistently. No chrono data yet. They seem like a slick bullets.

We are going to stick with retumbo, but if i can find some n570 that may be a good powder to test also.

 

[elkaholic]

It is a 30/375 Sherman Improved based on the 375 Ruger case and "Shermanized" in the usual fashion. Case capacity is 96.4 grains.....Rich

 

[elkaholic]

I think N570 would give great results! I wish I had some.....Rich

 

[elkaholic]

I was talking to someone last night, and some may ask, how is that good performance? Fair question! First of all, Over the period I have tested this type of bullet (A-max, ELD, or my own design), I have found a good deal of penetration and damage. Sometimes the core will still be intact under the same conditions, but this time it was not. Secondly, I have experienced often that when there is a void between impact areas (in this case sheeting and then about 4" before impacting the bucket) you will likely see much more deformation of the bullet and quite often, tumbling which causes the core and jacket to become more likely to separate. If I had fired the bullet into just the clay bucket, more often than not, there would still be some amount of core left in the base of the jacket. The same is true from MOST of the bullets I have seen recovered from animals, where there is no void. Some amount of core is intact depending on velocity and what all was impacted. This is why I like heavy for caliber bullets when you want to go with easily expanded bullets. The real test will be on animals this fall, so please report your results pro and con......Rich

Here is a 225 ELDM fired at approx the same velocity into the same bucket of clay without first passing through the T-111 with a void before contacting the bucket. I think it depicts what I was saying earlier......Rich
Oops! forgot to get the pic up

 

[huntinherrrington]

What velocity do you "MAX" out at with the 225's before sign of overpressure? How many grains of powder?
I'm thinking about getting Greg at SPR (bugholes.com) to do a 30/375 S.I. to go along with my 300 Sherman he done for me.

 

[elkaholic]

What velocity do you "MAX" out at with the 225's before sign of overpressure? How many grains of powder?
I'm thinking about getting Greg at SPR (bugholes.com) to do a 30/375 S.I. to go along with my 300 Sherman he done for me.

I ran some 230 Bergers at 3178 one time with 90 grains (I think)? I was at 89 with the 225's the other day and not maxed. I don't think you would want to run them at over about 3150' with RL33. N570 should do at least that as well and apparently with better temp sensitivity.........Rich