Hornady ELD-X Official Thread

[mgood]

I suppose you could use gold in place of lead.

 

[Michael Eichele]

I suppose you could use gold in place of lead.

Lol!! Or platinum. Even better. Or osmium but that would probably destroy a barrel in short order.

 

[Jud96]

Since depleted uranium is not likely to become commercially available in the near term....you need to work with what you have....willing to bet others will follow California's lead...not promoting it, just acknowledging it.

Who would want to follow what California does???

 

[coyotezapper]

Don't be afraid to back them further from the lands. The 212 shot okay up close to the lands, but when I got them to around .095 off, my .6 MOA groups tightened to .3 MOA at my 330 yards. I'm also using retumbo to get them up to just shy of a comfortably pressured 3100 fps in a 28" Krieger 5R.

+1. People get too caught up in thinking that you have to jam bullets. I start at magazine length and then seat them deeper until I find a good seating depth window - usually around .020" in length ( not jump but window where the bullet shoots equally as well within that window) and do final seating at the long side to allow for throat erosion. These windows can start anywhere from at lands to .100" or more off lands. Pick a place to start and then jump them in .010" increments until you see this window start and end. If the powder charge has already been established this is an easy process. If I run out of case capacity then I will change to a faster powder and do it again if needed, but that is rare.

 

[mdk777]

Well, we live in a country that is in the process of regulating out of existence the lowest cost source of electric power...that makes up 60% of our entire power grid (coal)...if they are willing to destroy a large section of the entire economy...do you think they will spare lead?...off topic somewhat I know

 

[Don Titus]

Have you tried just touching the lands?

I tried H1000, H4350, RL22 and H4831sc in my Rem 700 in 300 WM, shooting 200 and 212 ELD-X. My most consistently accurate groups were with the 200's: 73 gr. of , Fed 215 primers; .008" off the lands (3.600" COL) ...five 3shot strings @ 100 yds =.295"; best three shot group was .50". Average velocity was 2850.

 

[bullelk6]

Oregons tri sexual governor is trying to implement lead free in the state right now. All the sportsmen in the state need to get together and rally against her.

 

[Don Titus]

I tried H1000, H4350, RL22 and H4831sc in my Rem 700 in 300 WM, shooting 200 and 212 ELD-X. My most consistently accurate groups were with the 200's: 73 gr. of , Fed 215 primers; .008" off the lands (3.600" COL) ...five 3shot strings @ 100 yds =.295"; best three shot group was .50". Average velocity was 2850.

Correction : my best three shot group was .150"...

 

[Don Titus]

oregons tri sexual governor is trying to implement lead free in the state right now. All the sportsmen in the state need to get together and rally against her.

i tried h1000, h4350, rl22 and h4831sc in my rem 700 in 300 wm, shooting 200 and 212 eld-x. My most consistently accurate groups were with the 200's: 73 gr. Of , fed 215 primers; .008" off the lands (3.600" col) ...five 3shot strings @ 100 yds =.295"; best three shot group was .50". Average velocity was 2850.

corection: Best three shot group was .150"...

 

[Jud96]

Just bought 2 boxes of 200gr ELD-Xs at Cabelas this weekend along with a couple pounds of IMR 7828 for the .300 Win Mag. I have them seated at 3.578" and that's .020 off the lands in my Remington 700 LR. I am going to try this and see what happens. I forgot to re-adjust my seating die for the 200s and loaded them to the same length as the 208gr A-MAXs. With the 200 grainers that was about a .010 jam into the rifling and my .300 didn't like that. When I loaded them it didn't dawn on me that the 208s have a different ogive and I felt a little resistance closing the bolt with the ELDs. I gave them a whirl anyways and only shot about an 1.5" group at 100 yards. The rifle is capable of under half MOA with the A-MAXs so I am shooting for that with the ELDs.

I shot 75.0gr of IMR 7828 and have no pressure signs and got an average of 3070fps, an ES of 47 and a SD of 17. The velocity really surprised me, the 208s were going 2900fps and I was expecting to be around 2950-2975 with the 200gr ELDs. I am going to shoot the same load with the adjusted seating depth and see what happens. I found my node with the A-MAXs at 74.0 grains and I am going to work up and down in .2 increments from 75.0 grains with the ELDs and see if the accuracy and ES improves. Would like to get at least half the ES and SD of what I am seeing now or better.

 

[RH300UM]

Just bought 2 boxes of 200gr ELD-Xs at Cabelas this weekend along with a couple pounds of IMR 7828 for the .300 Win Mag. I have them seated at 3.578" and that's .020 off the lands in my Remington 700 LR. I am going to try this and see what happens. I forgot to re-adjust my seating die for the 200s and loaded them to the same length as the 208gr A-MAXs. With the 200 grainers that was about a .010 jam into the rifling and my .300 didn't like that. When I loaded them it didn't dawn on me that the 208s have a different ogive and I felt a little resistance closing the bolt with the ELDs. I gave them a whirl anyways and only shot about an 1.5" group at 100 yards. The rifle is capable of under half MOA with the A-MAXs so I am shooting for that with the ELDs.

I shot 75.0gr of IMR 7828 and have no pressure signs and got an average of 3070fps, an ES of 47 and a SD of 17. The velocity really surprised me, the 208s were going 2900fps and I was expecting to be around 2950-2975 with the 200gr ELDs. I am going to shoot the same load with the adjusted seating depth and see what happens. I found my node with the A-MAXs at 74.0 grains and I am going to work up and down in .2 increments from 75.0 grains with the ELDs and see if the accuracy and ES improves. Would like to get at least half the ES and SD of what I am seeing now or better.

With the bullet jammed you will increase pressure. More pressure=more velocity.
There is no room for the gases to escape in front of the bullet. The ES will be erratic as well

 

[parshal]

With the bullet jammed you will increase pressure. More pressure=more velocity.
There is no room for the gases to escape in front of the bullet. The ES will be erratic as well

The only time I jammed bullets in the lands pressure went up and velocity went down.

 

[slickyboyboo]

Midway still has a bunch of ELD-Xs, available in their seconds sale.

Factory Second Bullets - MidwayUSA

 

[dfanonymous]

I've been testing and getting my dope all worked out for a few months. I would like to see ballistic gel testing to see about weight retention and expansion at different long range distances. I've been limited to water jug testing however. A 714y it dismantled two 1 gallon water jugs (each 4 inches deep, one stacked behind the other for a total of 8 inches about.) I mean dismantled...like if i had a picture, you wouldn't be able to tell they were water jugs. At 1266y, I used the same model experiment but the bullet impact went low and blew up the first one and down to the ground missing the second all together, since they were placed on a stand. I've been using this as a way of cheaply, and inaccurately experimenting with the loads ability to produce hydrostatic shock at distance, as well as jacket separation, and minimal penetration. Things I found in other rounds, like the Hornady match grade 195gr bthp, was that while very accurate when through the jug at 1122y like a hot knife through butter...no hydrostatic shock...just a small hole and exited as another small hole. The Superformance, 180gr SST, however decimated a jug at 1200 and something yards, but not nearly in the same capacity as the eld-x...it was about a four in exit...but kind of hard to tell since its plastic under pressure by compressed water. Problem I had with that, was the majority of the jacketing was in the first jug. Safe to say weight retention was a no go.
I was shooting out of a R700 LR in .300 win mag, and the eld-x is the .200gr. great accuracy that IVE noticed...however I chrono'd my MV with it...and it very well could have been me, or the weather conditions the day i did it, but here were the results.

4.2876 fps
3.2801 -
2.2878 -
1.2856 -
@ 96 degrees, baro 29.74

I'll probably retest soon, because i deleted the first shot i took which was 2856...which for a 26 barrel in the summer time heat is unlikely.