ELD X shape, not a fan?

[Ross1147]

So last night I decided to finally open up a box of 200 grn ELD Xs to start working up a load for my 300 WSM. It has a longer than SAAMI throat (had smith use longest reamer he had (only .088, I wanted longer but used what was on hand and to be fair getting a custom freebore was new to me) and a defiance XM action with defiance bottom metal so no issues with Mag length.

In the picture from l to r I have 180 Berger EH, 190 Nosler ABLR, and then 200 Hornady ELDx. The Berger is seated right at the lands which puts the shank/base intersection just fwd of the shoulder/neck intersection. The ABLR are seated .050 off the lands with lines the shank/base and should/neck intersection up perfectly.

Then I get to these ELD Xs...I have to seat these jokers so deep into the case it looks like they're touching the primer on the other side (exaggerating just a little). The COAL is still over SAAMI specs but it just looks dumb.lol. I've never seated a bullet this deep before and had it shoot worth a dang.

So this hit me thinking maybe I need to have the chamber reamed out a little to lengthen the FB? But if I do that there's no way I could get those Berger's anywhere close to the lands and have them stay in the case? So now I'm thinking I should forget the ELDs and get back to focusing on the ABLRs. Just love the price of the ELDs and everyone seems to love them?

What would y'all do? Just shut up and shoot?lol

 

[jcoop]

I had the exact same experience with my wsm and ELDX 178s. Had to stuff them way deeper than I did with the 190 ABLR. But my rifle won't shoot the ABLR, and it loves the ELDX (one of the first groups was .3" and all were under .5") . My extreme spread is less than 10fps, velocity is not horrible at 2950 and it all fits in the mag. I have no reason to change anything but do agree it looks goofy. After working with them I now love the eldx.

 

[Canhunter35]

I'd try them out before jumping to conclusions. I can seat those 200eldx at magazine length in my 308, cant remember the jump, but it's a lot, and they shoot great.
The 212s are a lot racier and longer nosed than the 200s

 

[Ross1147]

Well that's good news. I've got a few loaded up with the Berger seating depth test. If they shoot good at a large jump that's going to look real dumb because they will be seated even deeper.

Side note, the ABLR shot pretty good out of my gun with RL17. Haven't adjusted the seating depth at all, still in the process of fine tuning it. Also got them up to 3000 FPS without pressure signs. Stopped there due to the horror stories of RL17 not showing anything until boom.

Here's a group from the ABLRs. There is a 3 shot group then I adjusted the scope for the hit on the right.

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

I would let the target tell me how its gonna perform as is - if it shoots, who cares what it looks like.

 

[MAF47]

Ross1147, my 300WSM chamber is also longer throated (a bit more than yours) and I experienced the same issue with the 200 ELDX. Actually, the first box had a different shape (ogive similar to a hybrid profile), while the second box had a fat tangent profile, with the same problem of seating depth as in your thread.
The box was the same, but the bullet was different!!! What happened with Hornady?
I am very disappointed, because the first batch was very good, as confirmed by the very small group at 550m=600yds range, but the second batch is in a corner of my shelf.
Supposing that the fatter ogive is the current production, (I don't think Hornady announced this changement of the ogive shape), I'm still trying to search the first lots of ELDX 200 in the shops of Europe...

 

[LongBomber]

Personally I would run the LRAB, decent accuracy that you are showing. Although its a bit more $$.

My 300wsm has a sammi length throat, I run the 200.20x or 230 otm in mine. Both shoot very well, even though they are seated pretty deep. I was thinking of having a smith put the freebore out a bit, at least get the 200.20's so the boattail is at the base of the neck.

 

[Danny Butler]

View attachment 131321 So last night I decided to finally open up a box of 200 grn ELD Xs to start working up a load for my 300 WSM. It has a longer than SAAMI throat (had smith use longest reamer he had (only .088, I wanted longer but used what was on hand and to be fair getting a custom freebore was new to me) and a defiance XM action with defiance bottom metal so no issues with Mag length.

In the picture from l to r I have 180 Berger EH, 190 Nosler ABLR, and then 200 Hornady ELDx. The Berger is seated right at the lands which puts the shank/base intersection just fwd of the shoulder/neck intersection. The ABLR are seated .050 off the lands with lines the shank/base and should/neck intersection up perfectly.

Then I get to these ELD Xs...I have to seat these jokers so deep into the case it looks like they're touching the primer on the other side (exaggerating just a little). The COAL is still over SAAMI specs but it just looks dumb.lol. I've never seated a bullet this deep before and had it shoot worth a dang.

So this hit me thinking maybe I need to have the chamber reamed out a little to lengthen the FB? But if I do that there's no way I could get those Berger's anywhere close to the lands and have them stay in the case? So now I'm thinking I should forget the ELDs and get back to focusing on the ABLRs. Just love the price of the ELDs and everyone seems to love them?

What would y'all do? Just shut up and shoot?lol

I had my gunsmith push the throat on my .300 Win with a CIP reamer out to 200...my 208 ELDs are fine now. Had same problem... you and I both know you can't get any longer than the mag allows. I'm probably the only fool that chambered my bbl to fit The seating depth for the mag length.

 

[Deleted member 107796]

Dang, I have yet to dial in a good ELDX load and need to try this deeper seating. Trying 7WSM and 270 hasn't worked for me yet with this bullet.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I couldn't give a crap how it looks in the case as long is it shoots good. We've had good luck with the eld line

 

[djfriesen]

I couldn't give a crap how it looks in the case as long is it shoots good. We've had good luck with the eld line

Agreed, as long as the deep seating doesn't keep me from getting the charge I need.

 

[MAF47]

Personally I would run the LRAB, decent accuracy that you are showing. Although its a bit more $$.

My 300wsm has a sammi length throat, I run the 200.20x or 230 otm in mine. Both shoot very well, even though they are seated pretty deep. I was thinking of having a smith put the freebore out a bit, at least get the 200.20's so the boattail is at the base of the neck.

LongBomber, if I want to get the best by the 300WSM a longer throat is a must. A friend of mine is shooting with a SAAMI chamber, but the same cartridge (bullet/powder charge) with a deeper seated bullet gives him only "decent" groups...

 

[bigngreen]

A short throat on a WSM just cripples them!! They need a .200+ throat to start realizing what they are capable of for both accuracy and velocity.

 

[LongBomber]

Mine shoots quite well with the short throat, but it may pickup speed with a longer throat. I doubt that it will do much better than accuracy wise than it does now- 10 shots into 1.5" at 300y, no matter what the throat is cut to. With the 200.20x and a 24" barrel my accuracy load is at 2826fps with h4831. I can get to around 2875, but the es is higher and the groups at 1000 are no where near as flat.