Hornady ELD-X Official Thread

My water testing sounds much like yours. I do think you will see much better weight retention at distance in flesh than you are experiencing in water. That has been my experience over the years and it also proved true when I used wet clay vs water............Rich
 
Unfortunately, I couldn't get the 200gr ELD-Xs to shoot in my .300 Win Mag. I tried a lot of different powder charges and seat lengths and groups averaged 1.5 MOA at 100 yards. I was beginning to think it was my rifle but I tested loads with other bullets and those shot under 1/2 MOA and had a .250 group with 175gr SMKs. I was very disappointed to say the least and I am not quite sure why I was having trouble when a lot of others are having great success with them.

Next I am going to buy some of the 208gr ELD Match slugs and give them a try. From what I have read, they are just the A-MAXs with the new Heat Shield Tip. My rifle loved the 208gr A-MAXs so I am keeping my fingers crossed the ELD Matches will be no different.
 
I've read all the suggestions on barrel twist but I coulda swore I read on here that the Davidson's had shot the 175grn 7rm out of factory barrels with success. I've loaded and shot some out of mine and was wondering if anyone else had gone ahead and tried it?
 
I've read all the suggestions on barrel twist but I coulda swore I read on here that the Davidson's had shot the 175grn 7rm out of factory barrels with success. I've loaded and shot some out of mine and was wondering if anyone else had gone ahead and tried it?
 
Jud96 said:
Unfortunately, I couldn't get the 200gr ELD-Xs to shoot in my .300 Win Mag. I tried a lot of different powder charges and seat lengths and groups averaged 1.5 MOA at 100 yards. I was beginning to think it was my rifle but I tested loads with other bullets and those shot under 1/2 MOA and had a .250 group with 175gr SMKs. I was very disappointed to say the least and I am not quite sure why I was having trouble when a lot of others are having great success with them.

Next I am going to buy some of the 208gr ELD Match slugs and give them a try. From what I have read, they are just the A-MAXs with the new Heat Shield Tip. My rifle loved the 208gr A-MAXs so I am keeping my fingers crossed the ELD Matches will be no different.
Click to expand...

What is your bbl twist rate?
 
I am always curious to see the experiences others have with new bullets. I am very puzzled when there are posts that say they cannot get a bullet to shoot well. I am not going to tell someone their methodology is wrong but I have had no problems getting any of the newer bullets to shoot not only well but in some cases phenomenally well including the ELD-X and the LRAB.

When I first started testing Berger VLD's the common suggestion was that these bullets had to be jammed to shoot well. Even with that being said I stayed with my normal load method and was able to find loads that were sub half moa in customs and half moa in factory rifles without much effort. These tests were done with 6mm's, 7mm's and 338's with multiple samples. EVERYTHING was jumped and none were jammed.

When I first started testing the Nosler LRAB the common opinion was that this bullet will not shoot at all. I bought 7mm 150, 168 and 175 and decided to see for myself. The only samples I have so far for these are out of two customs. The 150's I loaded in a 7mm-08 AI mountain rifle and this load is a consistent half moa load. The 168 I loaded in a standard / sporter weight 7mm RSAUM and this load shoots in the 1's as in .1" ( My 3 Gre'tan Rifles are one holers ) No factory rifles tested yet with these bullets but I have no doubt they will shoot well.

When the ELD-X came out, as with all new bullets they were hard to get a hold of. But finally I got a hold of some 6.5mm 143's. I tested these in a semi custom Savage 11 6.5 CM mountain rifle and the load is sub half moa. I have the 7MM 175's that I will be testing in a 28 Nosler and the 30 cal 212's I will be testing in a 300 WM once the builds are complete and will eventually switch over to the 7mm 162 ELD-X's in my son's 7mm-08. He is currently shooting / hunting with the 162 Amax with great success and I am anxious to do a head to head comparison. The 162 ELD-X will be a whole new load work up.

So, I often get asked what seating depth each of these bullets like and the answer is simple - they are all different. I shoot more Bergers than any of the others but the jump ranges from .020" to 120" and everywhere in between. And this goes with the other bullets as well. I have found in my limited testing that all rifles are different and they have to be tested individually. Maybe I'm just unlucky but I have never been able to get one load that worked equally as well in another rifle. It may have been ok but never as precise as the rifle it was worked up in. I remember when I bought my GAP NT 6.5 4s and I was making notes to what everyone was using as load data out of the same GAP built rifles with same reamer or reamer specs and their loads were only just ok - usually in the .6" -.7" range. When I did my normal load work up I was able to get it shooting 1/4 moa. So now when I am asked for load data the only thing I give out is Quickload data based on the ideal powder burn rate for the given bbl length and what the max velocity / pressure will be for that bullet, powder and bbl length combo will be. The rest is up to them and their chronograph.

All of this being said, be patient and methodical in your load work up and you will find a good consistent load for the ELD-X or any of the other great bullets we have at our disposal.
 
all,

I just spent about 2 hours reading a lot of this forum in the hopes of seeing some recipes that would work for me. I've had moderate luck @ 1 MOA @ 100 yards but no consistency.
I am a total rookie to reloading. started this spring with the purchase of a 300 RUM. the cost of factory ammo @ $80/box was the driving factor. I'm reloading for $26/box.

Learning to reload on a 300 RUM has been interesting. also reloading 10mm.

Equipment:
rem 700 Long Range Stainless steel 26", 1-10" barrel, Terminator 2 muzzle brake
vortex viper hs-t 6-24x50
tally one piece rings
RCBS rock chucker supreme
neck size only die
200gr ELDX
Retumbo and H1000
CCI 250 primers
norma brass
all shooting from sand bags on a solid bench @ approx. 3,000'

I started out playing with powder charge only, retumbo, COL 3.600- i started at 90 gr and went up .5gr at a time looking for signs of pressure to get my max load. i went all the way to 95gr before i saw ejector pin marks. hornady max 93.6gr, nosler max 91.5gr, richard lee max 95.5gr. who do you trust?

I played with that for about 75 rounds getting nothing good only to find out my scope was moving... tally rings need to be lapped in! lapped the rings in, and i actually put down some form-a-gasket in the rings since i didnt have any sticky tape i hear some people use. scope hasnt moved since.

so starting all over with the recipe now... dam rings.... played with powder charge some more splitting the 1gr jumps into .5gr jumps all retumbo 90-95gr. i had some groups that put 2 @ .25" but the third would fly to 1-2" off the group.... second shot everytime. i never let my barrel get too hot so id spend 1 hour to shoot 12-16 shots @ 3 shots per recipe. Bought a trigger pull gauge, factory pull was 4.25lbs.... tore the gun down and adjusted the trigger down to 2.5lbs.

got tired of that not working and buried my head into reloading books and forums and found out i needed to find my lands and my jump. bought the COL gauge and modified case and found out these remingtons have super long throats... my lands are at 3.781" with the 200gr eld-x. no they are waaay too long to fit my mag well... guess i have a single shot rifle now... found out that i can get the first one in the mag with the tip reaching out into the loading ramp so 1 +1 now... i can live with that. it seemed crazy to redo my head spacing or modify my receiver and mag well to accommodate the longer loads. i really started logging all my variables now.

so i stared playing with seating depth. went with 3.770", 3.750", 3.730", and 3.710" 4 of each 91gr retumbo. this was done on some old brass i got from a friend. case says RP on it.
3.710"[email protected]" [email protected]"- one flyer
3.730"[email protected]" [email protected]"- one flyer
3.750"[email protected]" [email protected]"-gun hated that length
3.770"[email protected]" [email protected]"-sounds promising but not good enough

my buddy loves H1000 so i guess ill do the exact same test as above with that.
3.710"[email protected]" [email protected]"-one flyer
3.730"[email protected]" [email protected]"-gun hated that length
3.750"[email protected]" [email protected]"-one flyer... thought i had something there
3.770"[email protected]"[email protected]"-gun hated that length too....

so im heading into the backcountry on an elk hunt in two weeks at this point so i need to pick one and test powder charge! so i go out this morning, only change in variables is i changed from RP brass to Norma brass and its been hot all summer and this morning was 37F. powder temps were still room temp since they were in the house/truck unless they cooled down in the 45min to shoot 15 shots. i cleaned the barrel also after about 80 shots. i loaded up some fouling rounds with IMR7828SSC and sent 3 of those downrange before i started this test. i was gonna use that powder when i couldnt find retumbo or H1000 last spring...

so the exact load above, my choice of the best load ive seen, that shot 1.0" (91gr retumbo 3.710") was my choice for this years hunting season shoots groups below.
i finally borrowed a chrono just to see.
3.710"91gr [email protected]" [email protected]"2940-3050fps- what the hell? it shot 1.0" last week!
3.710" 92gr [email protected]" [email protected]" 3068-3119fps
3.710" 93gr [email protected]" [email protected]" 3187-3212fps


i cant be playing with a rifle that is so picky that temperature and brass will change from 1.0" 4 shot groups one week to 4.0" 4 shot groups the next....

i'm pretty much ready to put it away, grab the trusty old .270, get some shots in and take that into the backcountry next week... im out of time for this year...

any information for a rookie struggling with this would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Brandon
 
brandrin said:
all,

I just spent about 2 hours reading a lot of this forum in the hopes of seeing some recipes that would work for me. I've had moderate luck @ 1 MOA @ 100 yards but no consistency.
I am a total rookie to reloading. started this spring with the purchase of a 300 RUM. the cost of factory ammo @ $80/box was the driving factor. I'm reloading for $26/box.

Learning to reload on a 300 RUM has been interesting. also reloading 10mm.

Equipment:
rem 700 Long Range Stainless steel 26", 1-10" barrel, Terminator 2 muzzle brake
vortex viper hs-t 6-24x50
tally one piece rings
RCBS rock chucker supreme
neck size only die
200gr ELDX
Retumbo and H1000
CCI 250 primers
norma brass
all shooting from sand bags on a solid bench @ approx. 3,000'

I started out playing with powder charge only, retumbo, COL 3.600- i started at 90 gr and went up .5gr at a time looking for signs of pressure to get my max load. i went all the way to 95gr before i saw ejector pin marks. hornady max 93.6gr, nosler max 91.5gr, richard lee max 95.5gr. who do you trust?

I played with that for about 75 rounds getting nothing good only to find out my scope was moving... tally rings need to be lapped in! lapped the rings in, and i actually put down some form-a-gasket in the rings since i didnt have any sticky tape i hear some people use. scope hasnt moved since.

so starting all over with the recipe now... dam rings.... played with powder charge some more splitting the 1gr jumps into .5gr jumps all retumbo 90-95gr. i had some groups that put 2 @ .25" but the third would fly to 1-2" off the group.... second shot everytime. i never let my barrel get too hot so id spend 1 hour to shoot 12-16 shots @ 3 shots per recipe. Bought a trigger pull gauge, factory pull was 4.25lbs.... tore the gun down and adjusted the trigger down to 2.5lbs.

got tired of that not working and buried my head into reloading books and forums and found out i needed to find my lands and my jump. bought the COL gauge and modified case and found out these remingtons have super long throats... my lands are at 3.781" with the 200gr eld-x. no they are waaay too long to fit my mag well... guess i have a single shot rifle now... found out that i can get the first one in the mag with the tip reaching out into the loading ramp so 1 +1 now... i can live with that. it seemed crazy to redo my head spacing or modify my receiver and mag well to accommodate the longer loads. i really started logging all my variables now.

so i stared playing with seating depth. went with 3.770", 3.750", 3.730", and 3.710" 4 of each 91gr retumbo. this was done on some old brass i got from a friend. case says RP on it.
3.710"[email protected]" [email protected]"- one flyer
3.730"[email protected]" [email protected]"- one flyer
3.750"[email protected]" [email protected]"-gun hated that length
3.770"[email protected]" [email protected]"-sounds promising but not good enough

my buddy loves H1000 so i guess ill do the exact same test as above with that.
3.710"[email protected]" [email protected]"-one flyer
3.730"[email protected]" [email protected]"-gun hated that length
3.750"[email protected]" [email protected]"-one flyer... thought i had something there
3.770"[email protected]"[email protected]"-gun hated that length too....

so im heading into the backcountry on an elk hunt in two weeks at this point so i need to pick one and test powder charge! so i go out this morning, only change in variables is i changed from RP brass to Norma brass and its been hot all summer and this morning was 37F. powder temps were still room temp since they were in the house/truck unless they cooled down in the 45min to shoot 15 shots. i cleaned the barrel also after about 80 shots. i loaded up some fouling rounds with IMR7828SSC and sent 3 of those downrange before i started this test. i was gonna use that powder when i couldnt find retumbo or H1000 last spring...

so the exact load above, my choice of the best load ive seen, that shot 1.0" (91gr retumbo 3.710") was my choice for this years hunting season shoots groups below.
i finally borrowed a chrono just to see.
3.710"91gr [email protected]" [email protected]"2940-3050fps- what the hell? it shot 1.0" last week!
3.710" 92gr [email protected]" [email protected]" 3068-3119fps
3.710" 93gr [email protected]" [email protected]" 3187-3212fps


i cant be playing with a rifle that is so picky that temperature and brass will change from 1.0" 4 shot groups one week to 4.0" 4 shot groups the next....

i'm pretty much ready to put it away, grab the trusty old .270, get some shots in and take that into the backcountry next week... im out of time for this year...

any information for a rookie struggling with this would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Brandon
Click to expand...
Try the 220 ELD, the longer bearing surface helps with long throats. I have a 300 Weatherby that was picky. I tried the 225 BTHP, Sub Moa now..
 
gohring3006 said:
Try the 220 ELD, the longer bearing surface helps with long throats. I have a 300 Weatherby that was picky. I tried the 225 BTHP, Sub Moa now..
Click to expand...

i bought the 212's today. ill try a few of them in the morning. not sure what jump to try first. I read in this forum that .060" and .095" worked for folks.
 
Had the exact same problems in my Remington 700 Long Range in .300 Win Mag. Tried 4 different seat lengths from in the lands to like .060 off and had the same groups you are getting. Also tried powder charges in .2gr increments from 74.0gr to 75.0gr where the 208gr AMAXs had their node. I've never seen this much inconsistency ever before. Having issues with the 208gr ELD Match bullets as well. This really disappoints me because Hornady has always been my go to bullets. I think my barrel is just finicky because I couldn't get 190gr SMKs to shoot under 1/2 MOA but the 175gr SMKs with a random middle of the road load shot 1/4" groups. The next option for me is to tinker with the 208 ELD-M some more or try some old school 200gr Sierra GameKings. If this doesn't work than I'll have to find some other routes to go haha.
 
Jud96 said:
Had the exact same problems in my Remington 700 Long Range in .300 Win Mag. Tried 4 different seat lengths from in the lands to like .060 off and had the same groups you are getting. Also tried powder charges in .2gr increments from 74.0gr to 75.0gr where the 208gr AMAXs had their node. I've never seen this much inconsistency ever before. Having issues with the 208gr ELD Match bullets as well. This really disappoints because Hornady has always been my go to bullets. I think my barrel is just finicky because I couldn't get 190gr SMKs to shoot under 1/2 MOA but the 175gr SMKs with a random middle of the road load shot 1/4" groups. The next option for me is to tinker with the 208 ELD-M some more or try some old school 200gr Sierra GameKings. If this doesn't work than I'll have to find some other routes to go haha.
Click to expand...

it may seem crazy but im trying to get to 1 MOA at a grand... i dont think thats ever going to happen with the way things have been going.... i'm just out of time! i need to get a load worked by next weekend and im switching bullets.... i guess there is always that few hours after work everyday...
 
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