Favorite 6.5 PRC bullet for elk?

[WCOPP]

Curious why the insistence on match bullets, ie ELD-M's as opposed to the ELD-X's? I have a tikka t3x 6.5 prc and was recommended the ELD-X for hunting elk, mainly cows for my purposes, and they've shot great out of my rifle although I haven't compared them to much.

Better BC and cheaper

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Curious why the insistence on match bullets, ie ELD-M's as opposed to the ELD-X's? I have a tikka t3x 6.5 prc and was recommended the ELD-X for hunting elk, mainly cows for my purposes, and they've shot great out of my rifle although I haven't compared them to much.

The elk can’t tell the difference between the ELDM and the ELDX.

They are called Extremely Low Drag Match bullets because calling them Extra Lethal Deadly Murder bullets wouldn’t make for good PR for law enforcement agencies and the military.

Check out some of the various threads on bullet performance and decide for yourself if you can tell whether the dead animal was hit by an ELDX or an ELDM.

 

[Buglebrush]

ELDM 147 have been Hammers

 

[bigunit]

ELDM 147 have been Hammers

Any details? How many elk? I have a 6.5 creed that really seems to like these. Mv2630. Im trying to decide between them and the 127lrx at almost 2900fps.

 

[bow_dozer]

156 Bergers.

 

[mad_angler]

Curious why the insistence on match bullets, ie ELD-M's as opposed to the ELD-X's? I have a tikka t3x 6.5 prc and was recommended the ELD-X for hunting elk, mainly cows for my purposes, and they've shot great out of my rifle although I haven't compared them to much.

Some folks think that the -M's actually perform better on game...

But both bullets seem more than capable.

Most of these discussions are not really needed. There are a great number of bullets and calibers that are quite capable of killing elk. I doubt if the differences are really significant enough to justify the discussion. Pick a reasonable bullet that your gun shoots well. Then, go kill elk.

 

[HunterGatherer]

I recently purchased a 6.5 PRC rifle and have been shooting the ELDX factory ammo and I’m not impressed by the consistency. Muzzle velocity is varying by as much as 60fps from round to round and I recently had a jam because of a flawed neck ( big protrusion). They also burn pretty dirty. If you’re a reloader and can make them more consistent, I think the bullet itself is probably fine but I’ll be loading a copper bullet once this season is over. I realize there’s a lot of mono bullet haters these days but I prefer them over lead.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I recently purchased a 6.5 PRC rifle and have been shooting the ELDX factory ammo and I’m not impressed by the consistency. Muzzle velocity is varying by as much as 60fps from round to round and I recently had a jam because of a flawed neck ( big protrusion). They also burn pretty dirty. If you’re a reloader and can make them more consistent, I think the bullet itself is probably fine but I’ll be loading a copper bullet once this season is over. I realize there’s a lot of mono bullet haters these days but I prefer them over lead. View attachment 951605

60 FPS from round to round? What do your groups look like? Sounds like pretty good ammo. What brand is it and where can I find some?

 

[HunterGatherer]

60 FPS from round to round? What do your groups look like? Sounds like pretty good ammo. What brand is it and where can I find some?

Really ? 60fps is good ? Most are within about 20fps but then every once in awhile there’s a lower one. The test target they sent with the rifle was .49 MOA but I’m getting closer to 1-MOA. That one jammed round was enough to convince me that I won’t buy any more Hornaday factory ammo. You can’t put “precision” on the box and then have one that looks like the pic

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Really ? 60fps is good ? Most are within about 20fps but then every once in awhile there’s a lower one. The test target they sent with the rifle was .49 MOA but I’m getting closer to 1-MOA. That one jammed round was enough to convince me that I won’t buy any more Hornaday factory ammo. You can’t put “precision” on the box and then have one that looks like the pic

I agree that the messed up round is problematic. But as far as velocity consistencies are concerned, 60 FPS isn’t terrible.

How many rounds were in the group on that test target?

I’m getting consistent 10-shot groups with my Tikka 6.5 CM that measure under 1 MOA out to 300 yards using the 140-grain Hornady match ammo. This is the report from the last box I shot. Only a little better than what you report.

Maybe my expectations for factory ammo are too low? But if you are shooting 10-shot groups under an inch at 100 yards, that’s really good factory ammo.

 

[HunterGatherer]

I agree that the messed up round is problematic. But as far as velocity consistencies are concerned, 60 FPS isn’t terrible.

How many rounds were in the group on that test target?

I’m getting consistent 10-shot groups with my Tikka 6.5 CM that measure under 1 MOA out to 300 yards using the 140-grain Hornady match ammo. This is the report from the last box I shot. Only a little better than what you report.

Maybe my expectations for factory ammo are too low? But if you are shooting 10-shot groups under an inch at 100 yards, that’s really good factory ammo.

Or maybe my expectations are too high . Honestly I’m not shooting any 10 round groups simply because that’s $25 per group and I had no intention of shooting this bullet beyond this season - just not enough time from when I got the rifle to the start of the season to develop a proper hand load so I committed to just shooting the factory Hornaday and then working on a load this winter. I don’t expect that my hand loads will be significantly more accurate but I’m sure I can make them more consistent.

 

[RaggedHunter]

140 Berger Elite Hunters have performed great on elk for me.