Hornady 6.5C 143 ELD-X performance issues

[archp625]

Hunting/Shooting is kinda like golf to me. If you are not confident in your equipment than you wont be as successful. Change it up and increase your confidence and it will all come together.

 

[d500lnn]

And Running a Savage Stealth factory chassis rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor with a reworked trigger and the factory 143 ELD-X Ammo. Decided to forgo reloading for it this deer season because this ammo is consistently sub half MOA in my rifle, yields consistent single digit SD's, all while exceeding the factory ammo velocity a bit.

I spent the last few days deer hunting in Indiana with very perplexing results. I'm wondering if anyone else is seeing eFed inconsistent terminal performance like I did. Read on....

First deer: average medium sized doe, lasered range of 285 yards, good feeling shot off a Magnum Tripod in a pop-up blind in a 3mph half value wind, held 1/3 up and just behind the shoulder broadside in a harvested bean field. Spun at the shot, tail Rey CE camped down tight, and typical panic nt blood trail but not outstanding run back into the brush 10 yds away. Figured first deer down with this set up. I figured wrong. The field. Followed a terrible small droplet every few feet blood trail for over 1/4 mile before we list it. Only thing that makes sense is a bullet that didn't expand.

Second deer: good medium sized doe standing broadside at 302 yds with no 60!discernible wind. Same hold, doe ran over 140 yds with a double lung hit before falling. Very small caliber sized exit would. Decent blood trail after 35 yds but nothing outstanding until the last 25 yds or so. Luckily we could see her laying in the field.

Third deer: larger than average doe standing broadside at 314 yds, no wind. Shot felt very good, but deer ran about 60 yds before going into a treeline. No blood ever found at all. And I don't believe I missed it.

Fourth deer: 4 year old spindly 6 pt at 257 yds broadside. Mule kick at the shot and ran 35 yds before ducking back into the trees. Blood trail was phenomenal (my 6 yr "00 could have towed it), deer ran a total of 45-50 yds. Double lunged, with jellied lower lungs and missing top of the heart. The difference? I took my 6.5 Grendel out using Hornady 123 SST ammo.

Fifth deer: Stayed With the Grendel and shot a 150+ doe at 180 yds that left a huge blood trail and only went 50 yds after the double lung hit.

So, am I wrong to think the 143 is not performing? The 123 SST in the Grendel is obviously performing. What has anyone else seen?

Great feedback. I've heard and witnessed similar myself. My personal kills have all been dead on impact. Try the ELD-M. Thinner jacket and it will excite much like your SST.

 

[vernw]

Thanks again To all that took the time to give their input! As for my use, I'm going with a different bullet, as has been said already: if the confidence isn't there don't bother messing with it. I'll try to work up some loads with the LR Accubond and Barnes LRX. May consider trying one of them Hammers as well. I don't mind single loading if the accuracy and performance warrant using it. But I know I'd always be wondering while taking a shot with the 143 ELD-X if it was going to "do its job", and that's not conducive to making a good shot. I've thought about using the 147 ELDM but Hornady is telling me not to do it. They say it does great sometimes, and not so great other times. So for the same reason I'll use my 147s on paper and steel.

Again, thanks for all the info and assistance!

 

[Never ffp]

I have killed 3 bucks with the 143gr eldx from my 6.5 creedmoor and only found blood on one of them .the biggest buck was approximately 250ish lbs and the shot was 317 yards .he was tending a doe and the shot felt great . He made over a 600 yards from the shot and it took two days to find him.the shot was every so slightly back but zero blood is unacceptable.back to the 300 wm and back to bang flop .i shot a nice buck at 287 yards last week with a 200gr terminal ascent and it was bang flop .

 

[Stk]

Shot a bull at just under 100 yards with the ELDX out of a 6.5 PRC. Put it right behind the shoulder, missing the large shoulder bone. He went another 100-150 yards before piling up at the bottom of the next hill. There was fresh snow on the ground...not a drop of blood until he started to go down, about 5 yards from where he died. Shot was perfect, double lung. Glad I didn't hit the shoulder on the way in since the jacket had completely separated from the lead core. I found the jacket just under the offside hide.

 

[TRG65]

Posted last year about the 6.5 ELD-M performance and had the same results this year. All of the 6.5 ELD-M shots continue to just drop. The lungs get shredded and turned into pulp, but it is not a bullet that gives exits at least not on the deer we have shot. Over the last few years, I have shot several deer with my 338 WM using 200 SST and 230 ELDX (2860 fps). On this year's buck, I didn't even get an exit with the 230 ELDX on my buck. It was a pretty sharp quartering away shot, but there was enough soft tissue for even that big heavy bullet to not come out. On pure broadside or shoulder shots before I've always gotten large exits. Generally one quarter if not two are mostly ruined for meat, but there is no tracking involved. That is my goal and a trade-off I'm willing to make. When there is tracking, it is usually pretty easy. However, this year's buck, even where it was laying, I didn't find blood on the ground other than around its nose and mouth.

 

[SteveBurton]

Double post

 

[Tex_Hunter]

Sounds like you are much more confident and proficient shooting with your Grendel than you are with your Savage. Based on the information provided and my own personal experience I am left thinking it was one of two things:

1) shooter error

2) bad lot of ammo escaped QC, maybe call Hornady with the Lot# information and see if they had issues reported on that lot?

I've killed close to a dozen deer and two VERY large feral sows with the 6.5 Creedmoor and 143gr ELD-X out of three different rifles using handloads and factory Precision Hunter box ammo from multiple different lots and manufacturing dates as far back as 2015. The only animal that has not died by this combo was an outright clean miss (verified by friend who was spotting). Shots have been at ranges from 150yds out to around 465yds some have been ideal shot placement, some have been terrible (ie. gut shot, yes I'll own it), all have died within 50yds of where they were standing and all except for one have been complete pass throughs with the typical massive internal trauma you would expect from a plastic tipped non-bonded hunting bullet. The only recovered bullet was on the offside shoulder of a 250lbs+ feral sow that I hit square on the near side shoulder, that shot broke the near side shoulder, ribs on both sides, and carved out a decent chunk of spine (hit it a little high) and broke the offside shoulder. The core and other smaller fragments created a ragged exit wound and the base/jacket was literally sticking out of the hole in the hide.

Shooting from field improvised positions is a different story, no matter how good you can hit pieces of paper. If you had recovered all of those deer and all of them had ice-pick wounds or something else indicative of a bad bullet then we'd be having a different conversation.

 

[deaddownrange]

I have heard from another hunter I know who is a good hunter and a good shot who said he had poor results with the 143ELDX, I however have never had poor results, even with less than perfect shot its been bang flop for me, am I lucky? I dont know but I'm sold for now!

 

[6.5BR]

Perfect placement with a less than perfect bullet for hunting can be DRT........but is is the best practice? Bullet construction, impact velocity, shot angle, and what the bullet runs into, or has to get thru to destroy vitals is all part of it. For me, the 130 Accubond has been my Go To bullet, I have killed near and far in the 6.5, it expands, holds together and penetrates, like the 95 BT in 6mm. I have drilled shoulders of bucks, going in, and out the opposite and hide........at 100 yds from a 260. I would not try that with the Hornday ELD line, that's just me. Normally I go for behind the shoulders but I wanted to test the bullets out, and the 6mm 95 BT did the same. Ran about 40 and 60 yds respectively. Both mature 8 pt bucks.

Strongly recommend avoiding heavy bone with soft bullets, on the contrary, if you run a mono, going for shoulder shots will enhance expansion. Good hunting folks.

I would offer one thing, you don't have the have the highest BC bullet to kill.......sometimes there are many other better options for hunting. As mentioned above, shot placement in the field is not always 'target perfect'........animals move, as often does the muzzle before the bullet exits.

 

[vernw]

Again, thanks for all the responses! Definitely seeing some mixed results. I opted to use the Barnes Long Range bullet for this year but never got the chance to test out the terminal performance. All I saw was a coyote, two spotted fawned, and a lactating nursing doe.

Also picked up some Hammer Absolute Hunters but didn't have time to work up a load before leaving. Will hopefully resolve that issue once I find some Varget powdey. May try some of the Accubond as well.

Again thanks for all the replies and I'll report back my

 

[Deleted member 115360]

So, in the deer you recovered the bullet performed well, but the one's that you never found, you blame the bullet?

There is no evidence here to blame the bullet. You have to hit them correctly before they die. If you double lung one or penetrate the heart, they will die quickly, no matter what cartridge you hit them with. If you had tracked one a mile and recovered it with a well placed shot and then could report on bullet performance, then you might have something. You have dead deer and wounded deer that ran away, that's far from good evidence of bullet failure.

 

[Deleted member 115360]

I've killed at least 20 whitetail with the same bullet from ranges between 10y and 550y and they all died really quickly. I had one doe a few years ago run 300y straight up a steep hill, but when I gutted her, her heart was jelly. Sometimes you just find one with more will to live than most.

 

[vernw]

You need to go back and review what I've said. You missed that I had pencil sized entry and exit holes with a pencil sized hole through the lungs on a recovered doe that ran over 100 yards with little to no blood trail until just before falling. Luckily I was in a position that I could watch this and actually see her fall.