Anyone using Hornady ELD Match for LR hunting?

[justin davis]

Ttt

 

[Wiscgunner]

The 180 ELD-M's worked great in my 7 Sherman Shortmag on 3 Caribou this September. 251yrds, 391yrds, 493 yrds. Exits the size of a tennis ball.

Entrance


Exit

 

[Jon Boy]

I've had some time with the 180 eldm this season out of a 7/08 and 7 STW. 2 antelope, a deer and an elk, all in between 200 and 500 yards, far from long range but I was more skeptical at close range with them than long range. Hoping to have another deer before end of season. These are all strictly my experiences and shouldnt be taken for gospel.

What I've found is, if you hit major bone at a variety of impact velocities expect violent and massive trauma and if it's a shoulder or hind quarter expect to lose nearly all of it to blood shot. If major bone is hit on the entrance expect a massive entrance wound and 50-75% of that size as the exit. If bone isn't hit expect exactly what wiscgunner posted above. A .284 entrance and beautiful baseball sized exit.

A mule deer I witnessed get shot in the ham and exit the ribcage (impact velocity of 2423) there was a basketball entrance and soft ball exit middle of ribs. It made a mess. With that knowledge I held a good distance back from my bulls shoulder knowing good and well it would toast the shoulders at 300 yards (impact velocity 2359) what I got was what I call perfect bullet performance out of 2 quick shots with a dead bull in seconds. .284 entrance in, hit a rib and opened nicely and 2 baseball sized exits. Dead bull in 10 or 15 seconds. Didnt need the 2nd one as he was wobbled but always cheap insurance. Pictured you can see the exit wounds.

Any how I think there best use for a variety of hunting ranges is in heavy for caliber projectiles at moderate to slow muzzle velocities. I know most people roll their eyes at me when I tell them I run a 180 in a 7/08 but for the distances I hunt I think it's great performing bullet with a high BC to buck wind when longer shots are needed. But I still feel comfortable shooting an elk inside 100 yards. The STW seemed a bit too splashy at closer distances.

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[Jim Carr]

Out of the 300 ultra +p at 700 yards the 225 eldm put a large bull moose down in a hurry on my father in laws hunt.

 

[Whitey375]

Using the 225gr ELD-M in the 300 RUM I have taken a large bodied mule deer at about 110 yards, a roughly 250# bear at 498, and a spike Roosevelt at 150-175 yards. Combined distance they've traveled after being hit is 4-6 feet.

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[JonRush]

I’ve found the ELD match to be more consistent than the X, & not near as finicky. On whitetail, the Match performs beautifully in 300WM & 6.5CM. Can’t speak on larger game.

 

[desertcj]

anyone used the 162 ELD M from 7mm rem mag to kill Muleys? So far it sounds like .284 is a glitch in the matrix and doesn’t kill.....

I've only shot the 180gr Eld-M out of my 7 mm Rem mag, but it definitely killed what it hit!

 

[desertcj]

Just curious what your twist rate is on the barrel of that 7mm rem?

1 in 8"

 

[Jon Boy]

anyone used the 162 ELD M from 7mm rem mag to kill Muleys? So far it sounds like .284 is a glitch in the matrix and doesn’t kill.....

I've used them in a 7/08 going 2750 mv and 2 animals. They were pretty explosive at 250 on a mule deer buck but still had a large exit.
I wouldnt want to run them super fast and I think that's where guys see problems with the .284 eldms. The 180s would probably work real nice in a 7 Remy.

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[Rowdy]

I've shot the 162 ELDX out of a 7mm WSM running @ 3240 fps. Shot a goat @ about 200 yards, hit 3 times behind the shoulder, got exits. Big entrance, smaller exit, ribs and lungs were destroyed. Shot a black bear on the point of the shoulder quartering towards me about 250 yards. He required one more shot. Don't feel that I got the penetration I could have if I'd have run them slower. Loaded up some 162 ELDM's @ 3150 OTM and shot two black tail bucks, both broadside in the lungs, both close to 150 yards, ribs broke going in and the far side, both bullets found under the hide. Only indicator that either had been shot was the bullet bulge under the hide, outside of that I couldn't find an entrance or exit from fragmentation. Really the cleanest most bloodless scene I've ever experienced killing anything, no blood from the nose or mouth and lungs were destroyed. Both deer dropped at the shot and never moved again. Two small samples really of these bullets but that's my experience the ELDM's worked great for keeping capes. I think I'll continue to use the ELDM's for goat, sheep, deer and caribou but I'll probably move up to the 180's for anything larger.

 

[huntsman22]

147 eldm at 428 yards....

 

[mt100gr.]

Here's a 147eldm leaving at 2795fps from a Creedmoor. Impact on a mule deer buck at about 225 yards behind the near shoulder. Found the bullet under the hide on the offside shoulder. Zero blood on the ground but that's not a concern with a hole like this. The recovered bullet weighed 75.8grains.

 

[Lrt307]

I have been shooting 7mm ELD M 180 last couple cow hunts and have some interesting finds. Both cow elk that I shot had caliber sized penetration thru 3/4 ths of the lungs. Then opened up to quarter sized wound channel breaking offside rib and lodged jackets between hide and offside ribs. The real interesting find to me this year was the result between a berger 180 hunting vld and eld m 180. A close friend of mine went with me on a cow elk hunt. We both have identical custom cloudpeak gunwerks 7mms running brux 1:9 barrels. Both guns loads are very similar velocity wise. I run adg brass with 70 grains retumbo with the eld m @ 3058 fps. He runs the berger with 71 grains retumbo 3075 fps. Both guns are tack drivers. We pulled up on a ridge in the general vicinity of a herd I had spotted earlier. We hiked over the next ridge and there they were. About 30 head of cows and a few small bulls. I ranged them with my g7 rangefinder and they were 625 yards. I let my buddy setup first. He went high shoulder and dumped his cow drt. The herd would not leave. I decided well I better shoot one also. I setup my rest and went high shoulder. Elk just soaked it up. The herd ran off but the cow I shot was hunched up. I thought it was gonna fall but started walking the opposite direction of the herd. I shot it again and this time it went down. It was still alive and I had to shoot it in the head. While gutting them shot placement was nearly identical on 1st shots high shoulder. The berger went in probably 5-6" and did mass destruction lodging jacket on far side hide. The eldm same thing caliber size hole thru majority of animal and quarter sized wound on farside. In this case I was dumbfounded how much better the 180 vld berger performed. I am going to give the eld m another shot today or tomorrow. I normally hunt with one of my custom 300 rums and a berger 215 which is pretty much devasting when it high shoulders an elk.

 

[6.5pmprlover]

Hey guys so i have a question i pumped out some 143 eldx rounds but i have the 140 eldm dialed in for the rifle an i am curious if anyone has taken elk with the eldm i feel like bergers hunting round is the same as a eldm an so do a few other people i know of but what are your opinions do i go for it or do i go re sight my rifle in for the eldx

 

[Sako300]

I have a question. I am currently reloading up some rounds for my 338 lapua.
1. 285 eld-m
2. 270 eld-x
3. 265 lr accubond
4. 300 accubond
Out of the four grains of bullets and designs, if they all shot 1/2 moa, which bullet would you shoot for an Elk hunt. Shot ranges could be 50/50 on inside 300 yards(maybe closer) or further ranges 400-900 yards. What do you guys think? Remember they all shoot 1/2 moa!

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

I have a question. I am currently reloading up some rounds for my 338 lapua.
1. 285 eld-m
2. 270 eld-x
3. 265 lr accubond
4. 300 accubond
Out of the four grains of bullets and designs, if they all shot 1/2 moa, which bullet would you shoot for an Elk hunt. Shot ranges could be 50/50 on inside 300 yards(maybe closer) or further ranges 400-900 yards. What do you guys think? Remember they all shoot 1/2 moa!

There is no single bullet that is perfect under any and all conditions under all distances. You are going to have to choose and accept the limitations.

The Accubond is the toughest bullet on your list. It will also run out of steam the fastest from those on your list. It will be better suited for shots not at the outer range of your listed distances.

If the shots are more likely to be on the longer side, then go with one of the other three. If you go with one of these and the target appears much closer than expected, change your point of aim to something softer like the ribs and not the shoulder.

 

[Sako300]

Thankyou for your response! I appreciate it. I guess I would have one other question and this would be for guys with close range, higher velocity shots on elk experiences
1. does the 270 grain eldx perform the same as the bonded nosler accubond 265 long range at close up shots? I understand there maybe somewhat explosive exspansion close up, but will the long range bonded acccubond retain more lead and not shed its lead core like a eldx or eldx? Velocities from muzzle velocity are 2825 FPS. Any first hand experience with the these bullets will be appreciated! I understand the bullet won’t act like a standard bonded or tougher copper bullet? Were the game recovered at these close ranges? Were any game lost?

 

[wind gypsy]

Remember they all shoot 1/2 moa!

But do they all shoot 1/2 moa at distance?

 

[Sako300]

Let’s say for now the 270eldx and 265 nosler lrab shoot 1/2 moa on target. We all know there are always margins of error in hunting scenarios. So let’s say we shot 1/2 moa at the range and we had a solid shoulder hit because we rushed the shot at 200 yards. Would one or the other bullet perform better? Any experiences would help with these heavier grain low velocity rounds for elk. At this point I’m thinking of going 300 gr accubond standard that has a bc of .720 and has a velocity of 2100 FPS at 1000 yards. Even if it shoots 3/4 moa, I think that round will expand from close to far. Muzzle velocity would be 2675fps.

 

[WRO]

Thankyou for your response! I appreciate it. I guess I would have one other question and this would be for guys with close range, higher velocity shots on elk experiences
1. does the 270 grain eldx perform the same as the bonded nosler accubond 265 long range at close up shots? I understand there maybe somewhat explosive exspansion close up, but will the long range bonded acccubond retain more lead and not shed its lead core like a eldx or eldx? Velocities from muzzle velocity are 2825 FPS. Any first hand experience with the these bullets will be appreciated! I understand the bullet won’t act like a standard bonded or tougher copper bullet? Were the game recovered at these close ranges? Were any game lost?

I personally hate accubonds..

They kill, but not fast enough and I've seen my fair share go from a good spot to a shit one in the time it takes to die..

I think out of 12 animals I've killed with eldms, 11 were DRT, one died 5 yards from where I shot it. That's between the 147s and the 225s.

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