143gr ELD-X Unreliable?

[enbhunts]

We field dressed the deer; Heart and liver were not damaged at all and the lungs showed minimal damage. Small entry and exit wounds through the deer. I do wish I had taken pictures and spent more time piecing the story together. Lesson learned there.

Here's some of the carnage on my wife's recent buck with the 143 eldx

 

[ElPollo]

We field dressed the deer; Heart and liver were not damaged at all and the lungs showed minimal damage. Small entry and exit wounds through the deer. I do wish I had taken pictures and spent more time piecing the story together. Lesson learned there.

Yeah, that is not the result I would expect from three ELDX or ELDM in a row, particularly at close range. Three in a row would make me wonder if you got a bad batch. I would want to throw some more out of that box at some Knox gelatin to test them.

 

[Archer86]

Between my kids and my self we killed 8 animals last year all with 143 eldx out of a 6.5 creedmoor except 1 animal was shot with a 147eldm not a single animal went more then 10ft and all took 1 shot ranged from 60 yards to 450 started using them probably 5 years ago and have never had a issue. They have proven reliable to me.

 

[Matt5266]

I've shot 2 antelope and 2 mule deer bucks with 143X out of a 6.5 creed. Shots were all between 100 - 300 yards. I had no issues.

 

[Chainshaw]

143g out of a 6.5cm is about all my guide friend uses on the bison that he takes people hunting for. If the hunter wants to use his rifles, that is what they get.

 

[Weldor]

Interesting! My 6mm creedmoor with the ELD X is a meat destroyer for sure. Don't have ant pic's, but my hunting buddy hit a Texas buck at 230 yards plus or minus. The hit was high spine just forward of the shoulder. The bullet was in pieces along the spinal colunm, even found the red tip. Dispatched with pistol shot. I was suprised the bullet didn't shatter the vertebrae, just took a big chunk out of it. He' since used same 308 load and dispatched plenty of critters without incident.

 

[BCsteve]

143g out of a 6.5cm is about all my guide friend uses on the bison that he takes people hunting for. If the hunter wants to use his rifles, that is what they get.

I'm assuming he wants head shots on bison?

 

[Chainshaw]

I'm assuming he wants head shots on bison?

Behind the shoulder, right in the boiler room shots. He has killed hundreds of them with the 6.5cm ELD-X

 

[mtlivin]

That’s pretty cool with the bison hunts, crazy how effective that combo can be.

I had an experience this fall with a 143 eldx opening up faster than I’d prefer on a cow elk, impact about 2700fps. Wife hit just in front of the shoulder crease, 1/3 way up, about 3” into the shoulder muscle only. I had blood clots everywhere from explosive expansion when I quartered it, all the way down to the shank of that onside shoulder (between hide & meat). Never seen that before. Had great results with about 5 other deer & bear w that bullet.

That cow only went 30 yards, but found zero bullet damage to offside ribcage. Would have preferred a bit slower expansion. I went with a 1:7.5 twist on that 6.5PRC barrel, maybe extra rotational velocity is causing faster expansion? It’s a 19” barrel so only pushing 2800 fps at barrel so I don’t think it’s too fast of a spin.

 

[TradLife406]

I used the ELDX in my 6.5 PRC for three seasons. What i noticed is the bullet is very violent. It'll make a huge entry wound and blow out the back.
They worked every time.

This year I started reloading and went to Berger. First few deer were with 140 elites. My kid 10 ringed her buck at 325. He went down instantly. Never had a Hornady do that.

I was able to load up the 156 elites to a 20 shot average of 2999.5 fps with a mean radian of about .30 with 20 shots. 24" barrel.

Shot my buck with this load at 750. Bullet went through all the major plumbing at the top of his heart. He was dead in a couple seconds. Bullet went in behind the front shoulder. He was slightly quartering away and I was above him. Bullet broke his offside leg above the elbow.

The biggest difference with the Berger and the ELDX is the Berger doesn't start coming apart on the entry. It goes in then grenades and dumps all its energy into the chest cavity. You can hardly see the entry but the exit on whitetails can be very violent.

If I didn't had load I'd still use the precision Hunter.

But pushing that 156 at the same speed as the 143...

 

[LONE HUNTER]

I've killed 6 Mule Deer and an Antelope with the 143eld X. Between 225 and 700 yards. All seemed to work as advertised. Unless a bone was hit they seemed to leave a moderate size entrance wound and a golf ball sized exit. They were all shot out of a creedmoor though. MV of 2700 so all moderate to slow impact velocities.

 

[Okie_Poke]

My first use of the ELDX was this year. 143 from 18” Creedmoor at 2600 fps. Sample of two deer and three bullets. First was a shot at 75 yards on a whitetail buck. He was quartering to me sharp and took the first bullet at the neck/shoulder junction. He dropped at the shot but flailed a bit so I put another in his shoulder to keep him down. It turned out to be unnecessary, but daughter was with me and I didn’t want a rodeo. Both bullets expanded dramatically. Neither exited but I recovered the shank of the second in the offside hide. I was worried the first would penetrate to the guts and make a mess, but it didn’t really. Tore his neck and shoulder up pretty bad though.

Second was a whitetail doe at 30 yards. I shot her on the right shoulder. She ran maybe 40-50 yards before piling up within sight. Again, no exit wound and dramatic expansion and damage. Bullet completely disintegrated in the deer.

I’m going to keep using them some more, I think. But butchering those deer reminded me why I stopped using SSTs out of my ‘06 years ago: bullet shrapnel everywhere and lots of meat damage. I know I make it worse by shooting them on the shoulder, but I hate tracking deer. Which is why I think I’ll keep using them a bit longer—dramatic expansion and quick kills so far.

For comparison, I shot a buck last year with the same rifle and 129 interlocks at about 30 yards, similar to this year’s doe. He ran 50 yards or so before piling up, but I had an exit wound and some blood to follow. I’m still deciding what’s preferable.

 

[Boltgun]

From our group running ELDx: (meaning I have seen the wounds personally)

6.5 PRC:
3x Kudu 250-375yds
4x Impala 60-505 yds
3x Whitetail 40-180 yds

6.5 CM:
1x Kudu 465 yds
1x Impala 65 yds
2x Pronghorn 225-310 yds
9x Whitetail 30-210 yds


I’m sure there are more. All rounds have performed as desired. Only downside is the occasional bullet fragment veering off course and ending up doing excess damage where it wasn’t intended. (Backstraps, puncturing diaphragm, etc.)