140 gr. ELD-M Hunting Success

[PPace07]

I'm curious to hear some stories about any hunting success with the 140 gr. ELD-M in a 6.5 Creedmoor. What are the results you guys have seen?

I've been researching and reading some things about guys hunting with them, but I wanted to hear a few more ideas before I decide on a bullet to work up a load with.

 

[VernAK]

Hunting what?

 

[PPace07]

Mostly mule deer and antelope and maybe a spike or cow elk here and there. I plan to build something bigger before any other elk hunt.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

6.5 Creedmoor/260 for Deer, Elk, and whatever else.....

Seeing that the 223 thread is such a success, I thought maybe I would start one for the Creedmoor/260. Seems like people are asking a lot about using them and various bullets, especially for elk. I've used mine for the last few years almost exclusively. I have some pics of bullet damage, albeit...

www.rokslide.com

There should be a few 140 eldm kills in there, along with a bunch of 143 eldx, berger, etc.

 

[General RE LEE]

Personally I’ve killed one deer with the 147 grain ELD-Ms going 2650 from the muzzle. Complete pass through with good expansion DRT.

I would choose the 143 ELD-X over the 140 ELD-M though.

 

[PPace07]

Personally I’ve killed one deer with the 147 grain ELD-Ms going 2650 from the muzzle. Complete pass through with good expansion DRT.

I would choose the 143 ELD-X over the 140 ELD-M though.

What powder do you have behind that 147?

 

[slowelk]

H4350 is the go-to for normal velocity creedmoor loads. Unless you're trying to push velocity near PRC speeds with a normal length barrel, or get normal velocities in a shortie barrel, I wouldn't use anything other than H4350.

 

[PPace07]

I think I was avoiding the 147 gr. bullets because I thought they would be moving too slow, and I thought I wouldn’t get decent expansion. I’ll do some more research into those.

 

[bgipson]

I'd avoid the 147 at all costs. We ran them in my cousins .260AI for a season and the only consistency across a dozen animals (antelope, mule deer, and elk) was inconsistencies. 1 antelope got double lunged and dropped, another ran 300 yards before it piled up, and a 3rd took 2 hits that both penciled through and took a while to die. He hit a bull elk twice and it piled up nicely and his wife hit a cow double lung and she ran over half a mile in rugged country. Fortunately we never lost anything but we worked a lot harder recovering animals that year than the years we ran Berger 140's or other bullets.

 

[General RE LEE]

What powder do you have behind that 147?

41.2 grains H4350.

 

[General RE LEE]

The ELD-Ms have a thinner jacket than the 143 ELD-X. They will expand rapidly so slower velocities are better. Also the 147 ELD-M has a very high BC and sectional density so it will perform at long range even though it might be moving a tad slower than ELD-X

There are numerous positive reviews of the 147 ELD-M out there and a few negative. I would shoot behind the shoulder boiler room type shots.

Here is the doe I killed at about 150 yards. Blew her heart completely in 2 and complete pass through. First pic is exit hole.

 

[bgipson]

I don't know the etiquette of linking to another forum but I highly recommend anyone considering the 147 ELDM to look through this.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/th...-game-a-lot-of-shot-videos-and-photos.208832/

 

[General RE LEE]

I don't know the etiquette of linking to another forum but I highly recommend anyone considering the 147 ELDM to look through this.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/th...-game-a-lot-of-shot-videos-and-photos.208832/

Good thread and I believe there was another lengthy thread on here.

 

[General RE LEE]

I don't know the etiquette of linking to another forum but I highly recommend anyone considering the 147 ELDM to look through this.

https://www.longrangehunting.com/th...-game-a-lot-of-shot-videos-and-photos.208832/

Wow I somehow missed your thread on the Long Range forum. I probably will stick with 143 grain ELD-X.

 

[PPace07]

I think I was avoiding the 147 gr. bullets because I thought they would be moving too slow, and I thought I wouldn’t get decent expansion. I’ll do some more research into those.

Thank you all for your input. Keep the suggestions coming if there are more!

 

[vonb]

 

[General RE LEE]

These are good videos. I think at the end of the day the 143 ELD-X is a good compromise between the 140 and 147 ELD-Ms and is a purpose built hunting bullet.

 

[Formidilosus]

These are good videos. I think at the end of the day the 143 ELD-X is a good compromise between the 140 and 147 ELD-Ms and is a purpose built hunting bullet.

How does the target know whether the bullet was purpose built for hunting?

 

[General RE LEE]

How does the target know whether the bullet was purpose built for hunting?

I don’t know about the target but I would assume bullets built for hunting will perform on average better than a target bullet. I killed a doe no problem with the 147 ELD M but a 143 ELD-X May statistically over many kills perform better.

 

[Formidilosus]

I don’t know about the target but I would assume bullets built for hunting will perform on average better than a target bullet. I killed a doe no problem with the 147 ELD M but a 143 ELD-X May statistically over many kills perform better.

The target doesn’t know the difference of what the bullet was made for. You have to shoot the bullet and measure the wound. You could shoot a thousand animals each with the 140gr ELD-M and 143gr ELD-X and wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between them. The 147gr ELD-M has a thicker jacket at the nose, and tends to need more velocity to upset than either of the other two.