ELD-M/X what’s the difference?

[Tony Landino]

I had exact performance results last year on 2 deer. Neither had an exit, struck soft tissue on both, neither left blood trail. One at 75 yds the other at 200yds. This was out of a 6.5 creedmoor. I have since switched to 140 gr sierra bts. Aint looked back.

I shot a large waterbuck in Namibia approx. 250 lbs last year at 240 yards with my 300WM and 200gr ELD-X Ammo. Went down like a rock and stayed down

 

[Bravo 4]

with my 300WM and 147gr ELD-X Ammo.

I do believe ya got your bullets or cartridges crossed somewhere.

 

[Tony Landino]

I do believe ya got your bullets or cartridges crossed somewhere.

Yes I did. Sorry. I believe 147 grain is what I shoot in my .270 WIN. The 300WM ELD-X is 200gr.

 

[Plinker147]

The X has more copper in the base, as the the jacket it goes down the shank it gets thicker and has more in the base. The M's jacket walls stay consistent all the way down the shank and through the base. The X's will/should hold together in the shank part than the M's. This also why the M's are easy to get to shoot because they are more consistent and easier/ repeatable to make (I suppose). As the jacket wall thicken and changes it is harder to be consistent.

This is the reason LRAB's are hard to get to shoot. The jacket wall thickness changes during the entire length of the bullet which makes it hard to repeat that process precisely,so slight variations bullet to bullet.

The jacket walls in EDLM and Berger's stay consistent throughout the bullet and is why they are more consistently accurate. This is why target bullets often shoot better than bonded type hunting bullets.

If you can take cross sections of several of these top bullets and compare side by side you can see what I'm talking about and seems to support my theory.

 

[sea2summit]

I've seen identical performance from both X and M. At high velocity impacts very shallow explosive wounds with no exit. Poor performance in my opinion. Below 2600 FPS I see good results. Solid expansion solid penetration down 2000 fps. From 2000 to 1700 fps expansion is good enough and lots of penetration. These results are with 162 x and m started at 3190 fps as well as 208 and 212 started at +-3300 fps.

pictured is an ENTRANCE wound on a 156lb 8 point cull. Bullet did not exit or break the far shoulder on a broadside shot. High shoulder hit impact velocity 2871fps 162eldx. Broke the entrance shoulder and the deer ran ~150 yards with no blood trail this was a really hard tracking job due to no blood trail The field was full of deer just breaking dawn and I had no idea where he ran I came back a few hours later and found it after an hour of looking View attachment 173797

Haven't shot the X but this is a 130 M out of a .260. Would have hit at about 2200 @300 meters. Exit side photos, no exit wounds on the hides.

Sorry, not sure what's up with the wrongwayz photo.

 

[Tony Landino]

For hunting I shoot ELD-X's in my 300WM, my 6.5 Creedmore and my .270 WIN, . It's the only hunting ammo I use except in my .375H&H in which I use Hornady 300gr DGS or 300gr DGX.

 

[dennisinaz]

I have killed several elk with the 143 ELD-X from 220 yards to 510 yards from a 6.5-284 and 260AI, The closest bull was 220, muzzle velocity was 2950 ish. Expansion and complete penetrate, double lungs, clipped the spine. Died in his tracks. The 510 yards bull also dropped at the shots, bullet exited, bullet expanded. I guess if I were shooting them at 20 yards it might be hard on the bullet.

 

[dougduey]

The ELDM is basically the replacement for the Amax. It has a slightly thinner jacket than the ELDX. The M can be a great killing bullet, especially at longer ranges, but can blow up at close ranges due to high velocity. The M tends to be great once you get down to 2600 fps (which can be 150 or 300-ish yards depending upon the cartrige), otherwise you want to shoot them in the neck or rear lungs (this is mainly on thick skinned animals where you'll get more resistance which is the cause of the "blow up"). The X is a little more stout of a bullet, hence it doesn't have the same "blow up" issues as the M. Set your max distance to where the bullet reaches 1800 fps. Best basement velocity performance is at 2200 fps.
I've been doing some major research on both these bullets lately. There can be quite a difference in them from caliber to caliber.
Another bullet that's getting high praise for performance is the Tipped Sierra Matchkings. It seems to fit right between the ELDX and the ELDM as far as jacket thickness.

 

[YZ-80]

I've developed 2 really good shooting loads with the 143 ELD-X out of the little Lapua and almost have one nailed down for my 24" Crudmore. 2740ish out of the Lapua and my hunting ranges for deer are anywhere from a buck 75 to 425. Hope they do as well as the 123 SST does as far as DRT. They certainly shoot better. Time will tell.

 

[Deleted member 103481]

Notice the copper jacket thickness differences, and the interlock ring. Contrary to popular belief x is not bonded, just mechanically locked with a larger amount of copper tapered in the base

 

[Kingsgr8]

Haven't shot the X but this is a 130 M out of a .260. Would have hit at about 2200 @300 meters. Exit side photos, no exit wounds on the hides.
View attachment 198019
View attachment 198020
View attachment 198021
View attachment 198022
View attachment 198023
Sorry, not sure what's up with the wrongwayz photo.

No exit wounds on the hide - were you able to recover the bullets? I'd sow what was your thoughts/impressions?

 

[dougduey]

I've developed 2 really good shooting loads with the 143 ELD-X out of the little Lapua and almost have one nailed down for my 24" Crudmore. 2740ish out of the Lapua and my hunting ranges for deer are anywhere from a buck 75 to 425. Hope they do as well as the 123 SST does as far as DRT. They certainly shoot better. Time will tell.

Use RL26 with the 143 ELDX in your Creed. I have a 24" Proof, and settled on a load doing 2953 fps. I never hit pressure but did run out of case capacity. I never thought I could basically get the same speeds as my 6.5-284 with the Creed, but RL26 is just magic.

 

[YZ-80]

Use RL26 with the 143 ELDX in your Creed. I have a 24" Proof, and settled on a load doing 2953 fps. I never hit pressure but did run out of case capacity. I never thought I could basically get the same speeds as my 6.5-284 with the Creed, but RL26 is just magic.

I may try that if I can find a pound of the stuff. Been using RL-15 and got it shooting pretty good at 37.2 grains. I wanna try RL26 in my .243 too!

 

[Kmccord]

Use RL26 with the 143 ELDX in your Creed. I have a 24" Proof, and settled on a load doing 2953 fps. I never hit pressure but did run out of case capacity. I never thought I could basically get the same speeds as my 6.5-284 with the Creed, but RL26 is just magic.

I have a new 6.5 Creed and I have a pound of RL26, what is the starting load in a Creed with this powder for either 140 Berger or 143 ELD-X?