143 Grain ELD-X: Yay or Nay

[jbaker]

Love them!

143 at 3070 fos


Killed an oryx at 450 yards and an elk at 250 yards

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[Wetwork]

What did you end up doing for this season? That sounds pretty complicated but if it works for you then great!

After lots of plinking...my Tikka 6.5PRC really likes the factory 147 Hornady ELDMs. Out to 700 yards I can cold bore hit my 8 inch gong. I"ve been trying hard to get a reliable hand load but couldn't get what I wanted with Barnes, Hammers or the Bergers so I stuck with with the 147s. I'm not finished on the handloads just need more messing around. Its really hard to find a round that does 100 to 700 yards with only minor meat loss and good groups. Filled my buck tag with a easy 250 yard shot and just flopped him, one and done. I could not get factory 143's to group good enough with the PRC so I use them as sighters and to double check my chrono's working.
My elk season got into a moral issue so I didn't fill my cow tag. My lady filled both her tags and basically with my buck filled our freezers. She got her buck and her cow with her 6.5 Creed shooting factory 127gr Barnes.
Well I woke up this morning, unused tag in my backpack and I watched 200 elk just tear up my yard. Some bold cow was standing on my deck looking in the front door window. I could have chucked a spear out my bedroom window this morning and filled my cow tag. As I type this I can hear the elk coming in again...cheeky bastards.-WW

 

[plentycoupe]

They were super accurate in my creedmoor but were underwhelming on the two deer I shot with them. Both deer died but neither had an exit and both bullets separated. Each animal went about 75 yards with no blood trail. My muzzle velocity was 2800….

They were super accurate in my creedmoor but were underwhelming on the two deer I shot with them. Both deer died but neither had an exit and both bullets separated. Each animal went about 75 yards with no blood trail. My muzzle velocity was 2800….

Bullets designed to seperate…performed as advertised!

 

[Flyjunky]

Does the 143 work, seems like it works for these guys

 

[TradLife406]

I'm a fan of them in my PRC. Only issue is they are super soft. So keep them off the shoulder or you'll be picking fragments out of the meat.
I've killed out to 725 with them and my PRC.


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[General RE LEE]

Bump

 

[Hnthrdr]

I like em, dropped a big bodied muley last season at 490 from a 20” 6.5 cm went for shoulder and he dropped like a rock never got up. Massive wound channel, lost part of back strap and some front quarter

 

[Duh]

The only thing I don’t like about the 143 eldx is sometimes biting into a frag of bullet because it’s killed so well haha. I’ve DRT’d a pile of armor plated bull elk, deer, and antelope with the 6.5 creed and have solely shot that bullet for hunting. I have somewhere in the ballpark of 28-30 big game animals killed with it. Shots have been from 20 yards out to 975 yards. It flat out kills for me so I’ve never tried anything else for the 6.5 manbun.

I’ve even cleanly killed with it on the bottom end of impact velocity (was an impact speed misunderstanding on my part).

I didn’t start documenting my kills until after I joined rockslide and wish I’d have taken more pictures but my experience has all been great lethal carnage from that bullet.

This is a bullet taken from the off side hide of a mature bull elk at 450ish yards. He never took a step.

My wife even pulled a @trapperpin and shot a moving, hard quartering away muley in the ass at approximately 380 yards. It destroyed the joint socket and killed the buck (he was wounded from a liver shot so she was sending lead). We crunched on some bone and bullet fragments on that buck but we ate. This is what we walked up on.

 

[Bc45]

Never shot anything “big” with the 143eldx but I have some axis deer down with it. Closest shot was 25 yards farthest was 520 yards. All went down within 30 feet. The closer shots of course didn’t have as good of blood or exits but the farther ones had nice exits and lots of blood.

 

[MosAZ]

My sons and I have shot 4 deer and 6 with the 143eld-x and never had a problem with a single one. Some shots were out to 650 yards.