7mm 175 gn ELD-X on Elk?

[TheCoyote]

Anyone have any experience hunting Elk with the 175 gn. ELD-X?
I just built up a load for my brand new 7 PRC and I am shooting the 175s 1/2 MOA at 3075 fps.

I was very proud of this load but my buddy assures me that if I shoot and Elk in the shoulder it will just splatter and I will never find it. If I have a marginal hit, same thing, I will never find it.

Now most of the complaints online are that they hammer everything at close rage and damage a lot of meat. However, I have not heard that they are ineffective at actually killing the animal.

Has anyone actually killed an Elk with a 175 ELD-X. And more importantly, has anyone LOST an elk that they shot but could not recover?

 

[Hoosker Doo]

162 ELD-X did great on 2 elk last season at 500 yards out of a 7 mm Rem Mag with a MV of 2,965 fps. The first was behind d the shoulder halfway up. Bullet passed thriugh. She dropped, struggled for a bit, but never made it back to her feet.

The second we thought was hit on the first shot (actually wasn't). A follow-up was marginal and broke the pelvis where it connects to the spine and exited. It anchored her to the spot and allowed for a quick killing shot. Not what you hope for, but the elk died fairly quickly with no tracking.

 

[TheCoyote]

My concern is rapid expansion without penetration.
Would you be hesitant to take quartering or frontal shot with it?

 

[zrodwyo]

My wife and I have killed several elk with the 175 eld-x. Your friend doesn’t know what he is talking about.

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

I have just started running them in my 7x57 (albeit at much lower muzzle velocity), as it's the only bullet with the BC to get to 500 or so yards with enough velocity to git er dun that I can get to shoot sufficiently accurate to reach that far (otherwise I'd be using Accubonds or similar). I too am nervous about taking them elk hunting after some misadventures with NBTs back in the day, but still gonna do it. Accuracy Trump's almost everything.

 

[TNHighlands]

Your buddy doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

My concern is rapid expansion without penetration.
Would you be hesitant to take quartering or frontal shot with it?

Not one bit. On the other hand I've been with a buddy on late cow hunts using Accubonds out of a 300 Win Mag when there wasn't enough damage or expansion. First year, cow at 250-300 broadside. 3 shots. We walk up and she jumps up an takes off. Never found her.

Second, similar situation, same setup. Between 3-5 shots in the elk (after being hit she went running up hill). After getting on her again and getting a shot in her to put her down, we saw that there were 3 shots in the lungs, but they were penciling through. Maybe it was a bad lot of bullets, but that was the day he switched to ELD-X and has never looked back.

 

[MuleyFever]

Anyone have any experience hunting Elk with the 175 gn. ELD-X?
I just built up a load for my brand new 7 PRC and I am shooting the 175s 1/2 MOA at 3075 fps.

I was very proud of this load but my buddy assures me that if I shoot and Elk in the shoulder it will just splatter and I will never find it. If I have a marginal hit, same thing, I will never find it.

Now most of the complaints online are that they hammer everything at close rage and damage a lot of meat. However, I have not heard that they are ineffective at actually killing the animal.

Has anyone actually killed an Elk with a 175 ELD-X. And more importantly, has anyone LOST an elk that they shot but could not recover?

1. Your buddy doesnt know what he is talking about.

2. You wont find a bullet that people have not lost elk with.

 

[Hydra6]

I run 162 ELDX in 280AI. Never shot an elk but multiple mule deer and antelope. I shot an antelope in the chest head on and the projectile fragmented in the chest area (DRT) but the bottom half of the projectile went the length of the antelope and was recovered under the hide at the tail. Did same with same results with large mule deer.

 

[LongWayAround]

It will go through a bull elk shoulder easily.

 

[doc holiday13]

I read lots of post about people saying their ELDX bullets "failing" despite the animal dying and being recovered.. Soooo I'm not sure what the failure is exactly. A bullets job is to kill. If a pass thru is a requirement, then an ELDX might not meet your requirements, but it will kill if properly placed

If I shot an animal with an arrow and the animal died but the arrow broke, would it be declared that my arrow failed? By some it would be. Having the arrow stick 6" into the dirt after a pass thru is nice, but not a requirement.

 

[TheViking]

Send it and don't overthink it.

 

[Dave Thomas]

Does your buddy have any experience with the eldx or is he just repeating something he saw on the internet?

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Not an elk but killed a water buffalo with a 178 gr ELD-X from a 308 Win. One shot behind the shoulder and it almost flipped over backwards; put another round through the sternum to dissuade a charge.

Unsure on live weight but it bent a 3/4" gambrel and netted over 550 pounds of meat.

 

[cuerro viejo]

No body needs a buddy that dumb

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

Despite my opinion that the ELD-X is a less-than-perfect (compared to an Accubond or a Partition or the like), for hunting that might reach past the 250 yard mark or so, I'll take a less-than-perfect bullet that shoots like this out of a lightweight hunting rifle over a more perfect bullet that's closer to 1.5 to 2 MOA.

Pic is the most recent 5 round group - if you laid the last five 5 round groups of this same load over each other, they're the same size or smaller, and same POI relative to how the scope was dialed when they were shot).

I figure that no bullet is good enough to make up for poor shot placement - and bullet going where you point the crosshairs is a significant part of bullet placement.

 

[TheCoyote]

Sounds like the overall sentiment is that it would definitely penetrate but will probability make a bloodshot mess out of anything in its path.

If you are hunting to fill the freezer and would be upset about a lost front quarter then maybe stick to the Accubond.

I know a lot of people confuse the ELD-X with the ELD-M too…

I shot a deer through both lungs with a Accubond at 400 yards and it zipped right through. Dime sized hole on both sizes. We did find the deer but he went 600 yards down a wash before he piled up.

 

[Skibness92]

I haven't shot an elk with an ELD-X. But I have had great luck with 162 grain ELD-X's on white tail and mule mule deer.

 

[LongWayAround]

Sounds like the overall sentiment is that it would definitely penetrate but will probability make a bloodshot mess out of anything in its path.

If you are hunting to fill the freezer and would be upset about a lost front quarter then maybe stick to the Accubond.

I know a lot of people confuse the ELD-X with the ELD-M too…

I put a 147 eld-m through the opposite shoulder blade of the pictured one. No bloodshot mess. Trimmed a little, ate the rest. Same story with a cow last season.

My personal opinion is that the fastest path to a full freezer is an animal being dead right there.

 

[wapitibob]

I won't shoot an elk in the shoulder, regardless of bullet. Frontal is my favorite and preferred. Second option is broadside and several inches back of the crease.
If the 175 is concerning, try the Berger 180 hybrid or 195 eol. I have only heard good things about the 180's and big game.