I know they have a great BC and usually very accurate. My question is how do they do on game, specifically elk. Thanks
Hornady 180 ELD on game?
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dirtytough
Well-Known Member
I've only used them on deer. Right at 3000 fps from a 1-8 twist. Range from 40 yards to 550 yards. Not really impressed. Everything has died. But we have had horrible blood trails even when shooting something perfectly broadside in the lungs.
Well.... Poop
D
Deleted member 25294
Guest
They're great
use with confidence just know that at close range they aren't a substitute for a bonded bullet.
I've taken many deer and elk with a variety of ELDM's from 70 to 940 yards, they simply work, and in my personal experience expand more reliably than Bergers at LR.
Not my experience at all...
I shot my Muley last year at 430 yards with a 180 ELDM from my 7 WSM and it was absolutely awesome!
The lungs and heart were complete mush, and the exit hole was about 4"
Helen Keller could have followed the blood trail... All 30 yards of it
You can see a little of the blood trail below
dirtytough
Well-Known Member
On 12 or 13 deer and antelope the results were always mediocre for us.
Last year @418 yards, buck is broadside in half an inch of snow. I watch the bullet hit it perfect. I watch the deer run 30 yards into a ravine and disappear. We walk over and can't find any blood. I follow the disturbed snow to the brush in the ravine and still no blood. Maybe I'm not on the deers trail? I walk to the top of the ridge and walk the edge of the brush 50 yards below where the deer ran. Still no blood. Now I'm second guessing what I saw when the bullet impacted the deer.
I walk to the top of the ridge again and walk away from the ravine in the direction where the buck was standing when she shot. I get right above where it was and see the buck laying dead on the other side of the ravine. About 70 yards from where it was originally hit.
I shot a buck at 30-40 yards. Broadside. Shot through both lungs. I could see the air leaving his chest. Took almost a minute to die. Not much damage and a small exit.
My dad was shooting a 168 Berger at 2960 fps. 413 yards. Almost exact shot my wife had except his gun is shooting slower and 5 yards closer. Hit in the same spot and destroyed the deers insides. The buck never took a step. It just dropped.
My gun shoots the 180 ELD really well. I'm to busy to be working up more loads for it. But I don't want to lose an elk or oryx with poor bullet choice.
I believe it was Cody that documented like 19 kills with the 147 ELD. Pretty good read.
Blackaj I'm glad they work for you. I really wanted to like them. That's why I used them another year even after subpar results the first year.
Last year @418 yards, buck is broadside in half an inch of snow. I watch the bullet hit it perfect. I watch the deer run 30 yards into a ravine and disappear. We walk over and can't find any blood. I follow the disturbed snow to the brush in the ravine and still no blood. Maybe I'm not on the deers trail? I walk to the top of the ridge and walk the edge of the brush 50 yards below where the deer ran. Still no blood. Now I'm second guessing what I saw when the bullet impacted the deer.
I walk to the top of the ridge again and walk away from the ravine in the direction where the buck was standing when she shot. I get right above where it was and see the buck laying dead on the other side of the ravine. About 70 yards from where it was originally hit.
I shot a buck at 30-40 yards. Broadside. Shot through both lungs. I could see the air leaving his chest. Took almost a minute to die. Not much damage and a small exit.
My dad was shooting a 168 Berger at 2960 fps. 413 yards. Almost exact shot my wife had except his gun is shooting slower and 5 yards closer. Hit in the same spot and destroyed the deers insides. The buck never took a step. It just dropped.
My gun shoots the 180 ELD really well. I'm to busy to be working up more loads for it. But I don't want to lose an elk or oryx with poor bullet choice.
I believe it was Cody that documented like 19 kills with the 147 ELD. Pretty good read.
Blackaj I'm glad they work for you. I really wanted to like them. That's why I used them another year even after subpar results the first year.
bigngreen
Well-Known Member
The 180 has really mixed results, I don't know for sure what happened on an elk I shot, never will but that's the first elk I've shot and not recovered in a LOT of years, another guy I trust who test bullets pumped a cow elk full of them and not one made it I to the chest, it was a mess!! Major change from the Berger's, going back for sure!!
D
Deleted member 25294
Guest
Yep I read it and it's nothing like I've experienced with the 147's
I'm up to 5 big game kills with those bullets in my 6.5 saum.
Two were bull elk one at 375 yards, the other 940.
My only gripe with these bullets is that they explode on bone at close range, just as I've seen with Bergers.
I'll post any negative results with ELDMs if I ever experience any.
I'll be trying out the 225's for elk this fall
I'm up to 5 big game kills with those bullets in my 6.5 saum.
Two were bull elk one at 375 yards, the other 940.
My only gripe with these bullets is that they explode on bone at close range, just as I've seen with Bergers.
I'll post any negative results with ELDMs if I ever experience any.
I'll be trying out the 225's for elk this fall
Creedmoor shooter
Well-Known Member
I'll be using the 180s this season. I have alot of faith in the eld-m line. We've shot quite a few deer with the 140 from our creeds and I've shot 2 with the 162 from my 7mm. They generally dont leave a blood trail because they usually dont exit or the exit is small because most of the bullet already came apart inside. I dont really care about blood trails because everything dies in sight. Insides are always tore up.
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Will I be better served with the 175 ELD-X???????????
DT400
Well-Known Member
You didn't specify the "X" or "M" version. Personally I wouldn't use a match bullet on game. Will it kill sure, a solid chunk of non expanding iron can kill but not necessarily quickly or ethically. I am more for a quick and ethical kill so I would use a bullet designed for proper expansion on the intended game with-in the design characteristics of the bullet. The "X"'s are said by Hornady to be very good at holding their weight and expanding at "all practical ranges", but doesn't specify what they mean by "practical"
My $.01
Darrell
My $.01
Darrell
Creedmoor shooter
Well-Known Member
I watched his review on the 180 eld-m. Pretty devastating results.
