Are the Eld x bullets that bad

[tooth doc]

I have seen bad posts about Berger's and Hornady. I have a buddy using the 143 ELD x in a 6.5 PRC and has had good luck with them. Took a mule deer and a bull elk with them no problems. I would say like anything else there are good and bad days of production. I am trying the ELD x in my 6.5 PRC and 28 Nosler because I couldn't get the Beger's to shoot in either one. Hate to say it but believe we just have to trust what we get. Though you could test the lots in ballistic gel or something similar to animal bone and tissue and see how that lot performs.

started with 195 bergers out of my 28. switched to 143 hammer hunter after incomplete penetration with bergers, a must for me. the hh at 3560 killed, with extreme prejudice from 280 to 1046 yds on a big zebra stallion. blue wildabeast at 780, blesbuck at 550. I love the this load and bullet. shoots .25 moa in my rifle. usually I have been a heavy for caliber gut but steve at hammer convinced me to try the 143 instead of the 177. still doing 2200 over 1000 yds. hits like. well , A HAMMER!

 

[bomberodevil]

I had a poor experience with a 162 ELD-X on a cow elk last season in my 7mm Rem.

Can you please give us more info? How did it fail, what was the range, approximate impact velocity, location of impact, pass through or no, wound channel description? Thanks, I enjoy learning.

 

[Laelkhunter]

These are 162gr ELDX mushrooms at long range….

Steve. What were these recovered from? Game animals or something else?

 

[Calvin45]

What I've been hearing is they foul a bunch. No idea if that's true.

I'll say the reason I haven't tried them and see no need to is they're neither fish nor fowl to use an old expression…don't think they're the best for shoulder punching a moose up close and I'm not confident in how much damage they do at distance. This applies to all bullets I know but the thing is that hornady markets them as being a true all range all game bullet and I don't think they're quite there. No doubt they work. But at the end of the day they're a high bc cup and core bullet with a thick jacket…still just a cup and core on heavy bone, and still a conventional "hunting" bullet at distance (much like the newish Sierra gamechanger/tipped game king). A compromise that in my absolutely zero experience opinion (so who cares? ) isn't a win.

I love the eld m. No thick jacket, blows right up if you want violence at distance.

For closer range hunting I like monos, and honestly more traditional boring soft points.

I still beleive the closest thing to a true all range all game bullet is the federal trophy bonded tip and the newer federal terminal ascent. From what I've seen they mushroom hard even at low velocity and with that solid shank I'd have zero hesitation about taking a shoulder shot on an elk or moose at close range.

 

[best defense]

So are the 162 grain Eld x bullets that bad? Sure see slot of negative comments about them.

I tried some ELD bullets for a 600 yard competition. They did not do well. Not that I'm a super accurate marksman, but the ELD bullets could barely keep the hits on the target. I was using 6mm bullets. If you want a suggestion, try Berger bullets, but make sure the bullet weight matches the twist in your rifle.

 

[cajun]

If I ever find a bullet that has 100% positive reviews online I'd buy it. But it's a unicorn. Too many variables.

 

[Buckfishing]

So are the 162 grain Eld x bullets that bad? Sure see slot of negative comments about them.

200gr shot nice through son's 300 win encore, shot poorly through my 300 win legendary arms.... no feedback for impact performance

 

[The Sol]

Last year ten 1st time youth elk hunters were successful using the 143 gr ELD-X out of my 6.5 PRC. 6 were 1-shot kills. All hunts were done through Rocky Mountain Heroes Foundation (www.rmheroes.org)

 

[bengineer]

I (my son, really, and his first elk) had a great experience with a 162 sst last year on a cow elk. Not the same bullet, but pretty close. 200 yds, broadside shoulder, standing. Hit nerve plexus above heart and she fell forward never to get up again. Bullet found against off side shoulder knuckle weighing about half. Lungs were hit hard and a couple pieces hit the heart, leaving small bruises. No bone hit on the way in.

 

[kgunz11]

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 just got back from Africa and I'd have to say I'm more worried about them expanding too quick/easy vs not expanding at all. For Africa, I'd like a little tougher bullet I think.

I was shooting a 7mm 175eldx at 2975fps.

Everything I shot died instantly and fell in its tracks. I don't rely on a bullet to make up for poor marksmanship skills.

 

[dogz]

It's all in the definition of "fail"! memtb

So true............then again there is recovery by SH luck

 

[Xescane]

Out of my Savage 300 win mag the 200 grain and 178 grain are absolutely deadly out to 800 yards. So far I have not been able to recover a whole bullet. Just lots of chunks. Now saying that in my weatherby 6.5 creedmoor they aren't accurate enough to even bother hunting with. I have no idea how the expansion is in that gun. In my Ruger 6.5 creedmoor they are excellent bullets but absolutely grenade every time.

 

[archeratlrg]

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!

My hunting buddy shot a raghorn bull at a hair under 200yrds using factory hornady 300 Win mag. I believe they were 180gr but may have been in the 165gr range. Two bullets behind the shoulder, 1 fragment made its way to the offside rib cage and broke a rib. A few fragments were found in the lungs. Everything else had just made mush of the onside ribcage. Just proved out the horror stories I had heard about them up to that point. I have several hundred in 7mm and 30 cal that I'll be ditching soon.

 

[squirrelslayer]

I just got back from Africa and I'd have to say I'm more worried about them expanding too quick/easy vs not expanding at all. For Africa, I'd like a little tougher bullet I think.

I was shooting a 7mm 175eldx at 2975fps.

Everything I shot died instantly and fell in its tracks. I don't rely on a bullet to make up for poor marksmanship skills.

I believe a lot more in statistical analysis than what I see on the misinformnet.