JiminAZ
FNG
Re the 143 ELDX, if exit wound/blood trail is important to you, I'd think twice.
The 143 ELDX is a truly deadly bullet - dumps all its energy inside the animal. My recovered bullets are just the base of the cup with a little lead inside. Inside the damage is devastating with little shards and fragments going everywhere. (This is 6.5 CM)
First Kaibab mule deer buck shot with it - 327 yards quartering away entered behind right shoulder deer bounded twice and piled up dead. No exit.
Second Kaibab mule deer buck - 125 yd he was getting up off his bed, moving uphill and away, shot just to right of spine at back of ribcage (line would have exited the brisket) and down he went. 15 sec or so later trying to get up with a paralyzed back end he pulled broadside and put one just behind the shoulder DRT. No exit.
Third AZ cow elk first shot a bit high at 110 yd or so, ran 15 yds and stopped/got wobbly. Son put a second shot in the boiler room and dropped right there. No exit.
You may get an exit with whitetails but I wouldn't count on it. But if you place the shot right the deer isn't going far.
As I understand it, odds of an exit increase as you get past 300 yds. Lower velocity causes the bullet to hold together better.
Just for contrast, my kids have shot 6+ mule deer with a 243 and the Barnes TTSX. All passed through. A couple dropped right there (one was spine shot), a couple went 25 yds or so, and a couple ran about 75 before piling up. Other than the spine shot animal, they were heart/lung shot. Exit wounds were pretty small.
The 143 ELDX is a truly deadly bullet - dumps all its energy inside the animal. My recovered bullets are just the base of the cup with a little lead inside. Inside the damage is devastating with little shards and fragments going everywhere. (This is 6.5 CM)
First Kaibab mule deer buck shot with it - 327 yards quartering away entered behind right shoulder deer bounded twice and piled up dead. No exit.
Second Kaibab mule deer buck - 125 yd he was getting up off his bed, moving uphill and away, shot just to right of spine at back of ribcage (line would have exited the brisket) and down he went. 15 sec or so later trying to get up with a paralyzed back end he pulled broadside and put one just behind the shoulder DRT. No exit.
Third AZ cow elk first shot a bit high at 110 yd or so, ran 15 yds and stopped/got wobbly. Son put a second shot in the boiler room and dropped right there. No exit.
You may get an exit with whitetails but I wouldn't count on it. But if you place the shot right the deer isn't going far.
As I understand it, odds of an exit increase as you get past 300 yds. Lower velocity causes the bullet to hold together better.
Just for contrast, my kids have shot 6+ mule deer with a 243 and the Barnes TTSX. All passed through. A couple dropped right there (one was spine shot), a couple went 25 yds or so, and a couple ran about 75 before piling up. Other than the spine shot animal, they were heart/lung shot. Exit wounds were pretty small.
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