Specific Hornady ELD-X Performance

[arturo1113]

I had a bad experience with a 7mm and Berger 168 on an elk. He was slightly quartering toward me, and I put two into him. Based off sightings on private a few weeks later, it appeared I hugged too far forward and they didn't get past the shoulder...

I had a 30 Nosler built for other reasons, but that elk was in the back of my mind. I am currently using 212 ELD-X with great accuracy at about 3070. I took three antelope and a mule deer this year with great results, I want other's experience.

What have you seen with the 212 or other ELD-X on larger game like elk or bigger?

 

[arturo1113]

I used the 178 grain ELDX in a Winchester 70 300 Win Mag for 7 different elk. The bullet performed flawlessly. Only recovered one bullet and even after hitting bone was in one piece. I was impressed with its performance and it is my go to bullet from here on out. I have used Accubonds with excellent performance also. Not a fan of Barnes because they can pass through without expanding. Never have nor would I use a Berger on elk.

 

[Wolf76]

Two thoughts:
The 168 berger is very light for a 7 mag. Bergers require heavy for cal loading to really function as they should.
The 215 berger is vastly proven to be a killer in the big 30 cals on elk and most everything else. My buddy killed 2 elk with 1 shot with this bullet (cool, but also got a ticket). I never had the 212 eldx shoot well for me.

 

[blaser270mag]

I am looking forward to move from berger 30 215 Hybrid to hornady ELDM 225g .... because it has a better BC..

In both 300 win and 300 wby mag

And close ranges with Barnes 168g ttsx..

Could you help me to find out if this is a good decision??

Thanks

 

[coop2564]

I had same as others on 143gr eldx
Shot pronghorn at 80yds bullet blew up on just ribs and did not exit he was DRT tho! Pronghorn at 268 yds passthru DRT. Whitetail buck at 177 yds passthru ran 20yds! At close range they fragment badly! Im sure the larger ones may be better just from more mass!

 

[Craveman85]

I've found in sorting eldx bullets that they are very inconsistent. I was getting .3" groups with flyers opening them up to almost 1" till I started sorting them. I just bought 500 and dusted them into 6 groups based on weight and length to ogive. Its a bit of work but my 260 is throwing .25" from a bench with my current group of bullets . I found nosler accubonds to be very consistent but had 2 fail to expand at close range . Just penciled right through the hearts.

 

[elkaholic]

I've been reading (and writing) posts on this forum for years and it always comes back to the same place. There is no perfect bullet and even strong disagreement on the favorites. I think there are some basic guidelines to use for different animals at given distances but even then, the same bullet will even act differently with a slightly different hit and neither do animals always react the same with the same hit. It sure keeps Lens forum interesting though

 

[Matno]

Shot a 5x5 elk center chest with a 143 ELD-X last year at 35 yards. Ran about 70 yards but left a blood trail a blind man could follow. No exit wound.

 

[30dirty]

I had a bad experience with a 7mm and Berger 168 on an elk. He was slightly quartering toward me, and I put two into him. Based off sightings on private a few weeks later, it appeared I hugged too far forward and they didn't get past the shoulder...

I had a 30 Nosler built for other reasons, but that elk was in the back of my mind. I am currently using 212 ELD-X with great accuracy at about 3070. I took three antelope and a mule deer this year with great results, I want other's experience.

What have you seen with the 212 or other ELD-X on larger game like elk or bigger?

 

[30dirty]

Its because bergers suk

 

[dana bodnar]

I had a bad experience with a 7mm and Berger 168 on an elk. He was slightly quartering toward me, and I put two into him. Based off sightings on private a few weeks later, it appeared I hugged too far forward and they didn't get past the shoulder...

I had a 30 Nosler built for other reasons, but that elk was in the back of my mind. I am currently using 212 ELD-X with great accuracy at about 3070. I took three antelope and a mule deer this year with great results, I want other's experience.

What have you seen with the 212 or other ELD-X on larger game like elk or bigger?

168-G Berger out of a 7mm is a nice set up if your load development and your shot is in the kill ring.I have shot many animals with Berger bullets and they have all delivered massive energy and very fast humane kills. When hunting larger animals such as elk heavier bullets like the 210-g Berger and the 212-G eld-X are the perfect bullet and the longer the shot the better they act and respond.

 

[dana bodnar]

I don't have any experience with .30 cal ELD-X bullets but I did witness a 143 ELD-X fail on an elk this last season.
My buddy shot a beautiful 6x6 at 240 yards with his 6.5 Creed, the first shot caught him center shoulder and the bull took off.
I watched my friend make a great follow up shot on the run that double lunged him, he was very lucky that he got a second bullet in him because the first hit the heavy leg bone and shattered to pieces.
They're good bullets but not for close range shoulder shots.
I'm going to post a few pics from my testing of close range impacts with bonded and non bonded bullets.

6.5 creed way to small foe Elk That's a great Deer or Antelope rifle but a bad choice for Elk past 200-yards.

 

[esorensen]

Elkaholic is correct. No perfect bullets, and marginal/poor shots happen. I have had great luck with both the Berger/JLK/SMK as well as the AMAX/ELDX/M in various calibers and distances. Best advice is to shoot the most accurate and heavy bullet you can, and work on narrowing limitations elsewhere.

I'm using more polymer tipped bullets these days, as I feel they will still perform terminally at a lower speed than the BTHP fare. That said, close shots and long shots along with quarry are all factors. Knowing my personal limitations and those of my chosen projectile are my preferred recipe.

 

[dougduey]

In 2017, I killed a nice NM 5x5 bull with the 200 gr ELDX in my 300 WSM. Shot was only 100-105 yards. Placement was mid body along the front edge of the front leg. He dropped like he was hit by lightning!! No tracking needed!! Exit wound was about 1.5 "
About 3 weeks ago, I killed a cull buck (whitetail) on a friend South Texas ranch with the same rifle/load. Shot placement was the same as my elk and distance was about 150 yards. Same result. He dropped right where he was standing....game over. Exit wound was about an inch.
Muzzle velocity of this load is 2952 fps. I've been very pleased with the results.

That being said, I have changed to Hammer Bullets in all of my rifles for hunting. Super accurate and devastating performance from an all copper bullet.
I have too many ELDX, Accubonds, Partitions, BT's that I need to use and already loaded up. But, if it's a big time hunt, I only use the Hammer Bullets now.