Have you hunted with ELD Match bullets

[FoggyScope]

They kill well. 3 years using them now for me. In my experience they work similar to a partition when shot heavy for caliber. From 100 to 550 yards ive seen similar things with a 147 out of a creedmoor. Front half fragments and the rear half mushrooms and stays together. The buck i shot last year was quartering away and i slipped in in front of the rear quarter, it went the whole way through and broke the opposite quarter shoulder. An antelope I shot broadside left a 4 inch hole in the opposite side. Expansion and penetration. I do try and stay off of shoulders for meat damage reasons.

 

[coyotekilla]

I've used a 6.5 cm 140m on whitetail out to almost 400 yds with great results. Would definitely repeat.

Have never hunted elk or simular, to me elk is where 1 starts wanting penetration. I've heard bad on the eldx 143 on whitetail.

Some of the concern with the m involves impact velocity. Feeding it to a 264 and shooting 50 yards may have different results than using a 6.5 grendel at 400.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

I primarily hunt with a 7mm Rem Mag, so I opt for ELD-X with the thicker jacket thinking it might hold together better on a close range shot that's pushing 3,000 fps (I once shot a buck high shoulder/spine shot at 70 yd with an SST that made football sized hole on the entry).

But I wanted to test out the ELD-Ms, so last year I shot a couple whitetails woth the 223 and 73 gr ELD-M. The doe was 420 yards and quartering away. Entered at last rib and broke opposite front shoulder. She ran 50-70 yards and died. The buck was at 280 broadside. Entered behind the shoulder and also severely shattered the opposite humerus. He ran 40 yards and stopped, lifted his head and tipped over.

I was impressed with that small 73 gr bullet. If you're doubling the mass by going up in caliber, I don't see any problem whatsoever.

 

[WVELK]

I primarily hunt with a 7mm Rem Mag, so I opt for ELD-X with the thicker jacket thinking it might hold together better on a close range shot that's pushing 3,000 fps (I once shot a buck high shoulder/spine shot at 70 yd with an SST that made football sized hole on the entry).

But I wanted to test out the ELD-Ms, so last year I shot a couple whitetails woth the 223 and 73 gr ELD-M. The doe was 420 yards and quartering away. Entered at last rib and broke opposite front shoulder. She ran 50-70 yards and died. The buck was at 280 broadside. Entered behind the shoulder and also severely shattered the opposite humerus. He ran 40 yards and stopped, lifted his head and tipped over.

I was impressed with that small 73 gr bullet. If you're doubling the mass by going up in caliber, I don't see any problem whatsoever.

Were you not happy with the ELD Xs? It seems like several people get the ELD Ms to shoot better?

I have been surprised at the overwhelming number of responses to this question and the number of people that seem to love the ELD Ms.

 

[DangerRanger]

I used 178 ELD-M's on my once in a lifetime WY Commissioners tag elk hunt in 2020. I chose the ELD-M's because it was the most accurate of all the ammo I tried out of my rifle. I was anticipating 500yd plus shots in very windy open country.

This is a picture of my bull after the .300WM 178 ELD-M hit him just in front of his front shoulder at over 300 yards. He was dead on his feet after the first shot but I put 2 more in the same spot for insurance as he was on a very steep hill. I was solo and I didn't want to have to pack him up any further than I had to.

I've since killed 2 more elk and a couple large mule deer with 143 ELD-Xs out of my 6.5CM at 300-400 yards.

ELD-M's and ELD-X's work great for me given the windy open country I hunt in with most shots beyond 300 yards. If I was to go back home to MO to shoot a whitetail at 30 yards out of tree stand I'd use a different bullet.

View attachment 885967

That’s awesome, funny enough seen multiple whitetail killed inside 50 yards with a 6.5 eldm (and tmk for me) and no issues either. Worked great.

 

[flyfisher117]

I have not. But may soon because I was not happy with the 143 eldx out of a creed.

I have witnessed what the 208 eldm does out of a 300 win though.

 

[Hoosker Doo]

Were you not happy with the ELD Xs? It seems like several people get the ELD Ms to shoot better?

I have been surprised at the overwhelming number of responses to this question and the number of people that seem to love the ELD Ms.

No. I use and like the ELD-X in my 7 mag and 6.5 creedmoor. They have been very consistent on game. I wanted to use my 223 on whitetails, and with my 1-9 twist, 73 ELD-M is the biggest I can go. The smallest ELDX in .224 is 80 gr.

 

[bpitcher]

My son dumped two Mulies last year with the 140 out of his 6.5CM. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again and I'll be shooting the 108s out of my 6 at game this year.

 

[fmyth]

That’s awesome, funny enough seen multiple whitetail killed inside 50 yards with a 6.5 eldm (and tmk for me) and no issues either. Worked great.

No meat loss from bullet fragments? I shot a mule deer in the chest at 50 yards and had bullet fragments in a large portion of the meat and lost much of one front quarter. I could have shot it with an 60 cent S&B soft point and had less damage. If I am going back to MO to hunt on our family farm all of my shots will be within 100 yards. At that point none of the advantages ie. long range accuracy, high BC, low velocity expansion of the ELD-M or X make any difference and are likely to be a detriment to my meat harvest.

 

[CTXhunter]

108 ELDMs (2500 FPS MV) have killed a number of deer out to about 250 yards. Big golf ball exits with dramatic blood loss. Nothings gone farther than 40ish yards

 

[DangerRanger]

No meat loss from bullet fragments? I shot a mule deer in the chest at 50 yards and had bullet fragments in a large portion of the meat and lost much of one front quarter. I could have shot it with an 60 cent S&B soft point and had less damage. If I am going back to MO to hunt on our family farm all of my shots will be within 100 yards. At that point none of the advantages ie. long range accuracy, high BC, low velocity expansion of the ELD-M or X make any difference and are likely to be a detriment to my meat harvest.

No

If you shoot stuff in the chest straight on yeah I’ve seen it happen with an fmj so I could see it.

The only time I’ve found a bullet fragment from a match bullet was a 215 Berger on a whitetail at 50 yards. It was also clear to see during cleaning

 

[General RE LEE]

I've heard bad on the eldx 143 on whitetail.

143 ELD-X is an excellent hunting bullet. I've killed numerous whitetail with them and have recovered all of them.

 

[diverc18]

Here’s some exits from the 147s. Haven’t shot any elk but plenty of axis deer and goats as close as 25 yards out to 525. Would not hesitate to use on elk

 

[Skibness92]

Great Information on this thread I have not hunted with M's but it looks like it may be worth a try...

 

[West2East]

I have only got one deer so far with the 147's out of a 6.5 CM. 330 yds and it went right down in its tracks. Albeit, it did proceed to roll 200yds to the bottom of the canyon but the bullet did it's job. I just didn't realize the other side was as steep as it was when I shot.

 

[WVELK]

Great Information on this thread I have not hunted with M's but it looks like it may be worth a try...

No shortage in responses. When people are saying they shot a deer with a match bullet, I am not really intrigued. But, when someone starts talking about shooting multiple elk or moose with them, I am all ears.

I noticed that Gunwerks loads a lot of the hunting ammo they sell on line with ELD-Ms.

 

[Gettin’by]

ELDMs have been great for me at killing Deer and elk. 108’s and 147’s. Won’t be switching to anything else anytime soon

 

[Weldor]

Yep, a few deer and red sheep, axis. They do murder for sure. But some meat damage and bloodshot should be expected.

 

[ktm450]

I have not. But may soon because I was not happy with the 143 eldx out of a creed.

I have witnessed what the 208 eldm does out of a 300 win though.

Can you say more about the 208 ELD-M experience. My rifle loves them and I am struggling to get accuracy from other “hunting” bullets in that weight range.

 

[MT-nuffgun]

No shortage in responses. When people are saying they shot a deer with a match bullet, I am not really intrigued. But, when someone starts talking about shooting multiple elk or moose with them, I am all ears.

I noticed that Gunwerks loads a lot of the hunting ammo they sell on line with ELD-Ms.

I believe the owner of outdoor life killed a bull moose with a 88 eldm out of a 22 arc AR last season. There is a video floating around somewhere. Steve from exo mountain gear killed a big caribou and moose with a 6cm shooting the 108 eldm. There are videos on both those kills on YouTube and also pictures on this forum somewhere.