Hornady ELDX Performance

[PredatorSlayer]

Hey all
New to the site. Just wanted to let you all know what my experience was with this bullet. 7mm rem mag 162 hornady eldx. 269 yards mule deer broadside in the crease, perfect placement.
Deer went 30 yards and dropped. Perfect? Not really. When I looked at entrance which was perfect placement. There was stomach grass coming out of the entrance? No exit. After cleaning and skinning it was apparent that the jacket and core separated at contact. The core turned right into body cavity and exploded. Essentially gut shooting my deer from the heart. All that was found was the shell of the jacket on off side. These bullets are unpredictable and have a dangerous behavior. The core could have went anywhere, as it was ejected from jacket free to go wherever. A wandering bullet can not be safe.
FYI

I've killed 2 elk, 2 mule deer and an antelope with an eldx bullet. Only passthrough was on the antelope. All were a couple steps and done. I didnt really pay much attention to what happened with the jacket and lead core, I just wanted a quick clean kill and thats what they gave me

 

[BH107]

Hey all
New to the site. Just wanted to let you all know what my experience was with this bullet. 7mm rem mag 162 hornady eldx. 269 yards mule deer broadside in the crease, perfect placement.
Deer went 30 yards and dropped. Perfect? Not really. When I looked at entrance which was perfect placement. There was stomach grass coming out of the entrance? No exit. After cleaning and skinning it was apparent that the jacket and core separated at contact. The core turned right into body cavity and exploded. Essentially gut shooting my deer from the heart. All that was found was the shell of the jacket on off side. These bullets are unpredictable and have a dangerous behavior. The core could have went anywhere, as it was ejected from jacket free to go wherever. A wandering bullet can not be safe.
FYI

Wait, the bullet you just shot a deer with is dangerous? A wandering bullet? ***?

As for the bullet coming apart, that's what it is designed to do. They are intended for long range and max fragmentation at lower velocities where your normal bonded bullet wouldn't expand at all.

These threads crack me up. None of these results are new, and plenty of info out there to support when and why it happens. If you really are prepared for long range opportunities then this can be a draw back when a closer shot presents itself, but it still got the job done.

 

[BH107]

I don't know about the eldx, but can tell you what happened to me about 8:00 am this morning with a eldm. I had a 6.5 creed built for my kids off my old 5r mill spec 308. I went with a 20" proof barrel. So we could use a can one day. With the shorter barrel I wanted to keep the bullet lighter to raise MV. So the smith set it up for 140 eldm. Thing shoots lights out. So today I shot a buck at 250 yards. Dropped in it tracks. Never moved. I got down and went to get the truck. Got back to the deer 30 min later, to find it still alive. It makes me sick. The Bullet exploded in the shoulder. Looked like slivers of glass went in the cavity. I can tell you one thing. I will never use a match Bullet on game again. Not fair to the animal. Deer was shot dead center shoulder.

2 thoughts here.

First it sounds like you should have gone and recovered your animal before going to the truck. Your assumption that the deer was dead led to its suffering, not the bullet. Same thing can happen with any bullet.

Second, shot placement is key with those types of bullets, and square shoulder shots are not ideal. I killed my bull elk at 400yds and a big mule deer at 525yds this year with 142gr SMK, putting my shots just behind the shoulder where the bullet went off like a grenade in the chest cavity. The elk fell right back into the bed it had just stood up from and the deer went 20'. Scrambled heart and lungs inside and no lost meat in the shoulders, exactly what I was expecting and why I chose that bullet.

 

[gusd]

ELD M atch "target bullet"
ELD X hunting bullet.
Go to Hornady's website they explain the difference

 

[FURMAN]

Don't like "match" bullets? Don't use them. The only way you know(think you know) they are match is because the manufacturer labeled them that way. I have lost count of how many animals I have killed with "match" bullets. Most never took another breath let alone step. There is no way I am just lucky with the number of game I have either taken or witnessed.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

ELD M atch "target bullet"
ELD X hunting bullet.
Go to Hornady's website they explain the difference

The ELDM has proven itself to be an awesome hunting bullet.

 

[FURMAN]

Bonded bullets are just not as accurate period. Can they shoot? Yes, but on average they will NEVER compete with cup and core. I personally prefer my bullet to come apart rather than stay together because of the kills I have witnessed the coming apart puts animals down faster.

 

[gusd]

Not saying that the ELDM doesn't work just saying the manufacturer did not design it to be a hunting bullet.

 

[gusd]

All animals I killed have no idea what bullet/gun I used.
But I know from experience that bullets designed for hunting work the best.

 

[FURMAN]

All animals I killed have no idea what bullet/gun I used.
But I know from experience that bullets designed for hunting work the best.

See you using the word "know" is INCORRECT because in my experience it is the exact opposite. Use what you like but don't be spouting off that "match" bullets are inferior because it is just not true.

 

[gusd]

Go to Hornady's website and see the difference in bullets. One is designed for hunting and the other is for target shooting.
I never said the M's don't kill. Because they do. I'm just saying the X's work better because that is what they were designed for

 

[FURMAN]

Go to Hornady's website and see the difference in bullets. One is designed for hunting and the other is for target shooting.
I never said the M's don't kill. Because they do. I'm just saying the X's work better because that is what they were designed for

Yes I read what you said and I have seen the exact opposite. The bullet was NOT designed for hunting it simply has a thicker or thinner jacket depending on the intention.

 

[gusd]

Match bullets are inferior. By definition they are target bullets

 

[FURMAN]

Match bullets are inferior. By definition they are target bullets

It is clear you have no clue.