ELD-M, ELD-X, TMK, Berger: Which reliably exits?

[ResearchinStuff]

Yep. And do you get that with dang-near guaranteed certainty? Shoot something manageable enough to put the bullet right where you want it every time. That takes practice and full understanding of the weapons system and the animal you are hunting. It also means passing up some shots. Not everyone is capable of that due to time, money, or other factors. As soon as you are capable of being completely honest with yourself, humble enough to keep learning, and learning from your mistakes, you will become a more effective hunter.

Sweet post unrelated to anything in this thread.

Bullet diameter holes through the heart work, but not nearly as quick as oversized holes through the heart, and that's why my Barnes experiment is over.

 

[amassi]

Who tracks pigs?





P

Especially in thornbrush. On to the next one


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[ThatDUDE]

Lots of good thoughts and points. My friends wife’s bull that was shot with the 140 ELDM was shot in a big open meadow. He didn’t take more than a step.

My wife shot a cow elk a few years back. It was out in a wet meadow. She anchored it with two shots from the 150 ELD-X. So no tracking was needed.

My buddies bull in the really thick Cedars this year just had me thinking there are times an exit would be nice.

Seeing the two examples I have with the ELD-X and ELD-M make me appreciate the ability of those bullets. All the threads on Rokslide give plenty of evidence regarding the lethality of match bullets.

I guess I just want a perfect combination, and like most things “perfect” doesn’t exist.

 

[hereinaz]

So true. We are all looking for perfect, lol. When we find what we love, we always want it to do more…

ELDx is the closest cause the front is match and the back is interlock. There is an Exo podcast with a Hornady ballastician talking about it.

 

[HandgunHTR]

Sweet post unrelated to anything in this thread.

Bullet diameter holes through the heart work, but not nearly as quick as oversized holes through the heart, and that's why my Barnes experiment is over.

Sorry, I meant to quote the post right above yours (the one that said in order to put them right down, you need a CNS hit). My bad.

 

[H80Hunter]

I’ve had great results with a .243 and the 80 grain Barnes. However, I wasn’t super impressed with the 120 TTSX at 6.5 CM velocity. I know it’s well known copper needs velocity. Ive landed on “copper only when required, or when shooting a light cartridge relative to the size of the intended animal.” Or if you can drive it fast.

I’m all in on the 147 ELDM this year so we’ll see how it performs. It’s crazy accurate out of everything for me so I have full confidence.

 

[DangerRanger]

I like exits, I’d imagine some of it is where you hunt. On my western hunts when it’s wide open or woods are sparse with little underbrush I don’t care. On eastern whitetail hunts where they are going into hell holes that are briar patches and creeks and just so much crap you can’t see in front of you and it’s always dark when you’re looking I like to follow buckets of blood.

I’m shooting 130tmk this year on whitetail and I expect exits. 143 eldx exited without issue.

My understanding from this forum was that tmk and eldx draw out the temp cavity into more of a football shape than the balloon that is the eldm cavity. My impression was this leads to slightly more controlled upset and more exits. No idea how true that is

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Sorry, I meant to quote the post right above yours (the one that said in order to put them right down, you need a CNS hit). My bad.

That makes so much more sense lol

 

[Mike D Texas]

That has not been my experience in the few I've shot with barnes. Punctured, yes, jelly, no. Seemed to act like a very fast field point.

With lower velocity rounds, that has been my experience as well. But when driven over 3000fps MV the results I’ve had are pretty dramatic and definitely destroyed the internals.

No doubt monos like Barnes need to be drove fast for the most effectiveness.


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[Mike D Texas]

Sweet post unrelated to anything in this thread.

Bullet diameter holes through the heart work, but not nearly as quick as oversized holes through the heart, and that's why my Barnes experiment is over.

Did you catch the pics above?


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[ResearchinStuff]

My experience has been bullet diameter holes. 165 tsx, 300 win mag, mv ~2950, 3 deer <100 yards. Maybe that's a great bullet out of a RUM or a 30-378, but I'll never know.

 

[Wildhorse]

Never had to watch an animal go further than 20 ft with an accubond had wound channels that were pass throughs even after going through a shoulder as well as a neck and spine with very very little meat damage and loss. 270 weatherby mag 338 win mag 270 win 30.06 and 243 have had nothing but great luck with them and accubond bullets have seen good results from the ELDx bullets friends use but all have been great shots and medium distances 200-400 yards have seen eldm bullets completely fail when used at distances from 150-680 yards. Thin jackets and open tips are not designed for use on game animals. I personally want my bullet to not fragment and blow apart I want it to maintain its mass create deep wound channels and not shed the jacket I want a thick jacket that peels and cuts as it goes through and that performance has been the ticket for myself as well as many many other hunters for a very long time in reliable and ethical kills. I've seen a lot of animals shot with thin jacketed match bullets require extra hits that would not have been needed with a properly designed hunting bullet.

 

[Thegman]

I shoot Barnes for a few reasons.

My hunting style is anywhere from 50-250yd stand hunting for whitetails, to 600yd open prairie shots on elk and mulies.

I want a bullet that can hit bone and still exit. The perfect broadside shot isn’t always available and sometimes I need to go through a shoulder.

Every animal I have shot with a Barnes bullet has died very quickly. Mostly bang flops or in a couple cases the deer ran 40yds into the bush and died. Great blood trail on all animals.

Every time the lungs have been turned to jelly. I’m talking pieces falling out when gutting.

When used within the proper velocity ranges, copper bullets are very devastating.

Here is the entrance and exit on a young WT buck taken with a 130gr TTSX shot out of a Tikka 308. Entrance was just behind the shoulder on the left side of the deer, exit is mid body.

Years ago, I had very similar results running 130TSX out of my 30-06 @ 3,100 fps, at least on "smaller" animals (deer, black bear and a small grizzly). Huge entrance like this, big exits and short, but big blood trails. All shots were within 100 yards though, so velocity was still pretty high. The short blood trail from the grizzly looked like someone was dumping blood from a 5 gallon bucket. One of the fastest killing bullets I've ever used.

All that said though, later that year I used it to take a big bodied fork moose at about 60 yards. He actually went back to feeding after the first shot, no reaction whatsoever. Thought I'd missed. Shot twice more before he went down. All three shots hit and could be covered with the palm of my hand and all three passed through. Any one would have killed him, but I was just surprised by the lack of any reaction to the first shot. I guess that just illustrates nothing is 100% predictable with anything we use.

As for not needing a blood trail for anything that goes less than 50 yards, as others have said, I think that's location specific. I've had deer run less than that distance in thick stuff with no blood trail that were tough to find. That was generally with 30 caliber bullets. Blood trails with anything aren't a sure thing, just up the odds I guess with some bullets over some other bullets. Interesting to hear people's results either way.

 

[jpmulk]

I was wondering out of the ELD-M, ELD-X, TMK, and Berger bullets which caliber and bullet reliably exit?

I am sold on the performance and trauma of match bullets. However I also like the idea of an exit for an additional blood trail.

I see lots of guys killing animals with the 22 cal and 6mm. I also see many of them post there was no exit and not much blood at times.

Is there a combo that gives the best of both worlds?

Educate me please.

researching the different types of bullets, their construction, and intended use helped open my eyes a lot. Research the difference between cup and core, mono metal, and bonded bullets.

 

[JGRaider]

Accubond is the easy answer, and if you're convinced to go the "match" bullet way, a Lapua Scenar, easily over anything Hornady.

 

[Thegman]

Accubond is the easy answer, and if you're convinced to go the "match" bullet way, a Lapua Scenar, easily over anything Hornady.

I need to try out the 125 Accubond in my HAM'R. Maybe this fall's moose...or maybe I'll use the 77TMK...so many bullets, so little time.

 

[JGRaider]

I've taken my Tikka 695 7Mag to Africa 5 times and taken 60'ish head of plains game with the 160 gr Accubond. As you probably know, African animals vitals are a little more forward than NA game animals. I intentionally shot through shoulders for heart shots. No surprise at all it has been a reliable and deadly performer. These are a small sample of the 10 or so bullets that did not exit, from springbok through wildebeest (tougher than heck) sized animals. You cannot go wrong, ever.

 

[DJL2]

The AB is doing a good job shedding weight to enhance wounding for you ;-). Just like the Partition (or SST), come to think of it.

 

[JGRaider]

The SST can't be mentioned in the same sentence as the partition and accubond. These impacts were from 100-150 yards, running 3100fps at the muzzle with a healthy dose of Retumbo. Obviously at those speeds, and impacting bone, you will get some weight loss. Funny how you missed the fact that the other 50 AB's exited.

 

[DJL2]

Oh, I agree… the SST is a much better and less expensive option, much like the other bullets mentioned in the thread.