.270 Elk bullet choice - 145 ELD-X or 130 GMX?

[dingle]

Subject says it all. Never hunted with the ELD-X before. Reading reviews on the ELD-X's terminal performance on elk has me thinking I might be taking a risk using it on a bull. Is this a well-founded or overblown fear?
Bull tag, hunt starts in 3 weeks, mostly conifer forests with openings. Personal hunting range limit is 350 yards and I don't mind passing on marginal shots .270 Win Tikka T3x with a 4.5-14x50. Factory ammo is my only option, both Precision Hunter 145 grain ELD-X and Full Boar 130 grain GMX are in hand and it's hard/impossible to find anything else at this point. If it counts for anything, the Precision Hunter flies tremendously for me at the range well past my hunting limit on a windy day.
I know I'm overthinking it, but how much? Am I risking a slow demise on a bull with a boiler room shot? Or am I just trying to sabotage my confidence in the ammo, despite its accuracy, at the worst possible time?

 

[CoStick]

I use 129lrx in my .270, but dropped an elk in its track with a .308 and 150 gmx.

 

[Westmjk]

I'd stick with whatever you are more accurate with. I don't see any issues with the plan(s) you have here.

 

[PathFinder]

ELD X, no contest. You'll get something more than a pencil stab for a wound channel and it shoots well in your rifle.

Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

 

[Oakman]

I researched this topic earlier since I am using the same Caliber. here is what I found:
-It depends on barrel length/twist and distance of your target,
-If you use > 140 gr then you need longer barrel and more twist to stabilize the bullet further than 300ft
-I found 140 more accurate for my use beyond that distance but not further than 450-500ft.
-I tested 5 different rounds and the best were: Federal Premium 140 gr, then Sig Sauer Elite Hunter 140 gr.

This is my personal observation and test results, I am no expert. Maybe you will hear better information for more experience members here

Hope this helps

 

[SDHNTR]

GMX is a great bullet. I've killed lots of critters with them and zero complaints. At .270 speeds, you'll get good expansion, not a pencil hole. Buddy shot a huge lead cow (I've seen many bulls with smaller bodies) last year with a .270 and a 130 GMX. Straight lung hit. Lots of blood and a half dollar sized exit hole. DRT. I'd use whichever is more accurate, but if it's a toss up, I'd use the GMX personally.

 

[Wrench]

I researched this topic earlier since I am using the same Caliber. here is what I found:
-It depends on barrel length/twist and distance of your target,
-If you use > 140 gr then you need longer barrel and more twist to stabilize the bullet further than 300ft
-I found 140 more accurate for my use beyond that distance but not further than 450-500ft.
-I tested 5 different rounds and the best were: Federal Premium 140 gr, then Sig Sauer Elite Hunter 140 gr.

This is my personal observation and test results, I am no expert. Maybe you will hear better information for more experience members here

Hope this helps

Every 270 I've ever seen will stabilize a 150 just fine. I can spin up the 150lrab which is pretty stinking long for a 270.

With that said, the 270 win is magical in that all bullets are designed to work in it's velocity window. Were it a magnum, the rules change....but the win will kill with everything from ballistic tips to tsx's.

 

[sndmn11]

GMX

 

[Gila]

GMX is a great bullet. I've killed lots of critters with them and zero complaints. At .270 speeds, you'll get good expansion, not a pencil hole. Buddy shot a huge lead cow (I've seen many bulls with smaller bodies) last year with a .270 and a 130 GMX. Straight lung hit. Lots of blood and a half dollar sized exit hole. DRT. I'd use whichever is more accurate, but if it's a toss up, I'd use the GMX personally.

Killed the bull in the avatar with a GMX at 200 yards. One shot and he went down. BUT the exit hole was the size of my thumb. The GMX needs at least 2000 ftps to expand at all. Unless you are using a load that zips out at 3200 fps at the snout, I wouldn’t use it on elk. i would opt for the ELD-X myself.

 

[jlaner0408]

If you’re looking only at factory stuff, don’t rule out the federal terminal ascent ammunition if you can find it.

But in all seriousness, if you’re within 350 yards, I wouldn’t worry too much about any of the options that have been listed.

 

[Gila]

If you’re looking only at factory stuff, don’t rule out the federal terminal ascent ammunition if you can find it.

But in all seriousness, if you’re within 350 yards, I wouldn’t worry too much about any of the options that have been listed.

I agree...with a good shot to the vitals, the .270 will put down any bull, I am confident about that.

 

[Pasayten]

I've got two boxes of Federal Premium 150 gr patitions for sale in the classifieds right now. Regularly $59 a box selling them both for $100. Good elk round for a 270 win

 

[Wickedpissa]

Another gmx vote here. Really not even close in my opinion. Barnes would be better. Check out monos vs lead on the tube. Bunch of New Zealanders testing expansion. Or just google. Not giving up much if anything. Maybe accuracy depending on rifle?

 

[mcseal2]

We shot 4 whitetail with the 143gr Eld-x. Two with a 264 win mag, two with a 6.5 Creedmoor. All died quick, so the bullet did not fail. On the two bucks where the bullet hit bone soon after entry (shoulder one one, rib on the other) the bullet did not exit and we recovered no large fragments, just a few jacket pieces.

Just something to consider if you use it for shot placement. Personally I had good luck with the 140gr Accubond from my 270 when I elk hunted with it. Now I use a 300 win mag with 180gr Nosler E tips.

 

[sndmn11]

We shot 4 whitetail with the 143gr Eld-x. Two with a 264 win mag, two with a 6.5 Creedmoor. All died quick, so the bullet did not fail. On the two bucks where the bullet hit bone soon after entry (shoulder one one, rib on the other) the bullet did not exit and we recovered no large fragments, just a few jacket pieces.

Just something to consider if you use it for shot placement. Personally I had good luck with the 140gr Accubond from my 270 when I elk hunted with it. Now I use a 300 win mag with 180gr Nosler E tips.

That is exactly why my family switched to gmx/ttsx/etip/lrx a few years ago. That metal goes somewhere. We have also seen some really big holes from those bullets and critters died within 0-50 yards.

 

[Laramie]

Either will work fine. The GMX will have slightly better close range performance where the ELD-X slightly better performance in the 200-400 yard range. Both will kill am elk just fine if you do your part. For what it's worth, I have seen elk taken with both in the last couple years.

 

[dingle]

Thank you to everyone for the input. It's especially nice to hear the 143 6.5/264 anecdotes. And thank you Pasayten for the 150 Partition offer, as well as another Rokslider who offered up boxes of Federal 140 Accubonds in private. You guys are great, and I'd be taking you up on the offers if I hadn't gotten in touch with Unknown Munitions yesterday to place an order for 50x 140 Accubonds that they said they'd be able to get out to me ASAP as a favor. Just outstanding all around.

At this point, Plan A will be the Unknown 140 Accubonds if they arrive in time and I get to shoot them. I'll bring the ELD-X and GMX as backups, favoring the ELD-X because I shot it last and I'm personally confident in its flight in my rifle out to 400.

This dodges a final verdict on the original debate but there might not be a clear answer: Both ELD-X and GMX out of a .270 would do the job but each comes with its own drawbacks (potential for fragmentation, lost bullet material, no marginal shots up close vs mono copper that might be too hard for its own good at the longer ranges) that I'd have to be ok with.

Thanks again for your time, and even bigger thanks out there to the Roksliders who offered to help me out with more universally trusted ammo.

 

[20DYNAMITE07]

My brother-in-law uses the ELD-X in his 270 Win Tikka... and I use the GMX in my 270 Win Sauer 100... I wish I could tell you which kills better, but for 3 years in a row we haven't seen anything to shoot at

 

[Dark timber]

Considering your max range if 350yds. I’d go with the GMX for sure. The ELD-X becomes a real killer at ranges beyond your max. I’ve seen very poor performance on close shots the the ELD-X.

 

[mlevimadden]

I just started hunting with a 270 shooting 145 gr ELD-X this year, so I have very limited experience with the bullet. But of the 3 animals (sheep and 2 pronghorn) so far, I have been impressed with performance from 50 yds to 300. The 50 yd shot was a pronghorn in the front shoulder and still completely passed through the animal with a 3" exit wound.

I have shot ELD-X out of my 300 win mag for 3 years now and have killed around 15 critters with it without a failure with my furthest shot being 400 yds and most being around 200 yds.

I switched from Barnes for better BC's and expansion.