Are the Eld x bullets that bad

...here's a recovered one from an elk. Worked .
20230113_180221.jpg
 
So are the 162 grain Eld x bullets that bad? Sure see slot of negative comments about them.
Not 162 ELD-X but 200 ELD-X out of his 300 WM. My hunting buddy shot a very nice bull elk and almost lost it. He put 2 rounds through the lungs at 400Y+. The bull managed to run back into the timber over a 1000Y; that is correct. Four of us looked for over an hour to no avail. Another hunter above us was watching and nice enough to tell us where the bull had expired. There was a spec of blood 5Y yards where he passed. We found 2 tiny holes in the lungs without a pass-through, and the bullet did not expand. He also shot a muley buck at 200Y and was able to run 400Y; the same result as his elk, no expansion.

He was using factory ammo. He sent the remaining box to Hornady, and they did not find anything wrong with them. My buddy stopped using them. I have over 300 .30 cal ELD-X that I hesitate to use on a game after his experience. The bottom line is that we all have varying experiences and need to know which is best suited for our intended purpose. Some people here and elsewhere have a better experience with the M over the X.

Good luck!
 
I will say on the 162s. I did try them in my 7saum and could not get under 1in with that bullet and rifle. Went to Sierra and tmk were .25 and GC were .4 but both were not impressive on game. I have some hammers to try when time allows. Maybe there is something with caliber weights and design. My 300wm is an animal with the 212s never tried a 200s though. 6 & 6.5s both performed great on antelope and deer.
Adam
 
At some point every bullet has had a bad expereince with someone. I had a 110 grain eldx come apart in a whitetail at close range out of my 257 weatherby. The deer dropped (appeared dead) and when i climbed from my stand and half way to him (he was at 50 yards) he stood up, not going far fast but required another shot?

I have had the same experience in that caliber with a pronghorn and an accubond. Moving that fast close range things happen, both animals were easily recovered.

I'm a believer in hornady products, however I'm also a believer in many others. Most of my hunting rifles are weatherby's so factory offerings are somewhat limited, I've found that many of my calibers offer the scirocco line from swift and I've not had a bad word to say about them.

I know people who swear by ELDX and they are accurate as expected in what i've shot. There are extreme cases like mine and others with no expansion will leave you scratching your head. The nay sayers will always out weigh the pros on website reviews, how many millions of animals were humanely taken with these bullets, hey there's maybe 100 reviews? :) I'm sure you will find them to be accurate and effective, hornady is a great manufacturer founded by hunters as many are.
 
I only have a small sample but I had geat success with a 212 ELD-X out of 300 WM dropped a small bull without a step at 300 yards with a frontal shot. I don't have any pictures of the bullet it was a low priority in the dark quartering it to get it out of there. But I wouldn't hesitate to continue using it.
 

Recent Posts

Top