ELD-X issues

[Blcktail56]

Last year on a mule deer hunt my sister used my gun to shoot a buck at about 340 yds. 7 rem mag shooting a 162 grain ELD-X going about 2950. The buck was quartered to us so she put it right on his shoulder and touched it off. Entered the point of the shoulder hit bone and we found the bullet had traveled up the bone into backstrap. Core of the bullet was elongated and jacket was gone. We were able to stay on the buck she got another one in him and killed the buck but in worse tracking conditions the deer might have been lost. Very little blood, very little damage to the meat especially for what we found of the bullet and no penetration into lungs or anything beyond shoulder. I of course lost the bullet and never took any pictures of it or weighed it. Has anyone had this type of issues with this bullet? Everyone swears by the match bullets but in a way I’m scared of them. Especially after this experience. Theoretically the match would be worse but what I read that is not at all the case

 

[Braaap]

Was there an upward angle to get shot? I’ve had great results with 143 eldx and 147 eldm.

 

[Seeknelk]

Ive seen some weird things with bullets. Buddy shot a cow elk at 500 with a 180 accubond , same shot as yours, quartering too. I killed it 10 minutes later with my 06 shooting 178 eldx thru the lungs at 630. His bullet has somehow slid up the T of the scapula and was caught on top of the backstrap! Bullet was slightly bent.
Buddy shot a bull at 810 with 300 wthby and 210 accubond LR, frontal thru brisket and up into heart(shooting steep uphill) found bullet simply banana shaped.
Same buddy shot a mule deer in neck at 80 yards, bullet. 180 accubond, 300wsm, bullet didn't even exit the neck and was also just bent sorta banana like.
All that just to say, sometimes weird shit happens.
Had great luck so far with 140 eldm in our family. Haven't used eld x.

 

[180ls1]

Theoretically the bullet with the thinner jacket that is more frangible would do a better job expending in this scenario, which is the match bullet.

 

[Blcktail56]

Was there an upward angle to get shot? I’ve had great results with 143 eldx and 147 eldm.

No maybe slight uphill but not enough to get that. It was damn close to flat

 

[Blcktail56]

Ive seen some weird things with bullets. Buddy shot a cow elk at 500 with a 180 accubond , same shot as yours, quartering too. I killed it 10 minutes later with my 06 shooting 178 eldx thru the lungs at 630. His bullet has somehow slid up the T of the scapula and was caught on top of the backstrap! Bullet was slightly bent.
Buddy shot a bull at 810 with 300 wthby and 210 accubond LR, frontal thru brisket and up into heart(shooting steep uphill) found bullet simply banana shaped.
Same buddy shot a mule deer in neck at 80 yards, bullet. 180 accubond, 300wsm, bullet didn't even exit the neck and was also just bent sorta banana like.
All that just to say, sometimes weird shit happens.
Had great luck so far with 140 eldm in our family. Haven't used eld x.

For sure they do weird stuff. My biggest problem is that’s the only animal that I’ve seen killed with that bullet. I’ve only had the gun a few years and live in CA where we have to shoot copper so the others I’ve shot with it have been copper. Don’t trust them at distance and don’t shoot them unless I need to so when I go out of state I shoot real bullets. Those sound very similar to my experience. I feel good that if I have broadside or quartering away shots I will be fine with them but am just scared to shoot anything in the shoulder

 

[hunterjmj]

Bullets do weird things at times. My buddy and I went back to NC pig hunting and he shot a pig broadside at 200ish yards and the pig was drt. The bullet went in behind the shoulder went up through the brain and the hide stopped on its forehead stopped it. this was back in 2012 and I have no idea what bullet it was other than it was a 223. I have shot only match bullets since 2015 and have had nothing but dead animals. There is enough data to support how lethal they are. Make good shot placement and let the bullet do the work.

 

[Blcktail56]

Theoretically the bullet with the thinner jacket that is more frangible would do a better job expending in this scenario, which is the match bullet.

Exactly. But expansion wasn’t really the problem. The core was all I really found and it was elongated or like Seeknelk said banana shaped. So penetration was more of an issue

 

[Blcktail56]

Bullets do weird things at times. My buddy and I went back to NC pig hunting and he shot a pig broadside at 200ish yards and the pig was drt. The bullet went in behind the shoulder went up through the brain and the hide stopped on its forehead stopped it. this was back in 2012 and I have no idea what bullet it was other than it was a 223. I have shot only match bullets since 2015 and have had nothing but dead animals. There is enough data to support how lethal they are. Make good shot placement and let the bullet do the work.

That definitely tops mine lol that is wild. With the match bullets do you have to be real careful about shooting a quartered to animal in the shoulder? Concerning that it would hit bone and solid meat and just come apart with no penetration. Especially inside 200. I have read great things about match bullets but can’t seem to find anyone saying they blow through shoulders

 

[Braaap]

Here’s a pic of two of the same bullet from the same animal at the same distance. These are Bergers but good example bullets doing weird things.

 

[hunterjmj]

That definitely tops mine lol that is wild. With the match bullets do you have to be real careful about shooting a quartered to animal in the shoulder? Concerning that it would hit bone and solid meat and just come apart with no penetration. Especially inside 200. I have read great things about match bullets but can’t seem to find anyone saying they blow through shoulders

I killed a cow elk last year with my 223 shooting 73 eldm at 315 yards facing towards me. Went in the brisket, took a chunk of heart and lung out. She flipped over backwards and was dead. I also killed a whitest maybe 50 yards with the same setup which hit the knuckle at the bottom of the scapula, took out the lungs and got caught in the offside hide. It shattered that knuckle and kept on going.

 

[180ls1]

Exactly. But expansion wasn’t really the problem. The core was all I really found and it was elongated or like Seeknelk said banana shaped. So penetration was more of an issue

Hmm, sometimes weird stuff happens. How stable was the bullet?

 

[Blcktail56]

I killed a cow elk last year with my 223 shooting 73 eldm at 315 yards facing towards me. Went in the brisket, took a chunk of heart and lung out. She flipped over backwards and was dead. I also killed a whitest maybe 50 yards with the same setup which hit the knuckle at the bottom of the scapula, took out the lungs and got caught in the offside hide. It shattered that knuckle and kept on going.

That sounds like what I wanted to hear. I know a few close friends and family member that have had success with them but trying to get a little more feedback. Especially close range stuff honestly. They are proven as a long range bullet which is what I wanted but I’m certainly not above jump shooting something either. I want something that does it all.

 

[hunterjmj]

Best way is to kill a few animals with match bullets to see results for yourself. I hunt with a few guys who think nosler AB's are the only way to kill elk. The match bullets just seem to work with one shot and with many dead before they hit the ground. I've killed a bunch of elk with core lokt and fail safe bullets in the past but they didn't perform as well as the match bullets I've used.

 

[mtnbound]

Last year on a mule deer hunt my sister used my gun to shoot a buck at about 340 yds. 7 rem mag shooting a 162 grain ELD-X going about 2950. The buck was quartered to us so she put it right on his shoulder and touched it off. Entered the point of the shoulder hit bone and we found the bullet had traveled up the bone into backstrap. Core of the bullet was elongated and jacket was gone. We were able to stay on the buck she got another one in him and killed the buck but in worse tracking conditions the deer might have been lost. Very little blood, very little damage to the meat especially for what we found of the bullet and no penetration into lungs or anything beyond shoulder. I of course lost the bullet and never took any pictures of it or weighed it. Has anyone had this type of issues with this bullet? Everyone swears by the match bullets but in a way I’m scared of them. Especially after this experience. Theoretically the match would be worse but what I read that is not at all the case

Glad you didn't lose the buck. I had a similar shot with a 308 a couple of years back, but I aimed lower, and the ELDX performed as usual with great penetration and damage. You can find all kinds of bullet failures on RS. The truth is, it can happen. I wouldn't worry about a sample size of one.