Hornady 145 ELD-X in 270 win reviews?

[ebauer1]

That has been the most accurate factory load out of my ruger hawkeye by far. I've shot 6 hogs and two whitetail bucks with it, everything dropped where it stood except for one of the bucks was a frontal that maybe went 20 yards down a creek bottom and one of the larger boars was hit behind the shoulder and made it about 50 yards.

Great preformance on everything except for one of the bucks. No idea how it happened, but the bullet entered broadside neck, then turned and traveled up the neck and stopped just under the off side hide. It didn't expand at all the tip just bent over. I still have it laying around somewhere i'll see if I can find it.

 

[mcseal2]

Sounds like they have their issues like many bullets. I've shot Bergers for years in my 264 win mag and always got by great with them. I do check the tip each time I load one into the rifle to make sure it's not deformed or smashed closed.

At this point I have 6 boxes of the 145's and a customturretsystems tape on the way for my scope turret. I'll probably shoot most of these bullets practicing before the hunt and be careful on shot angle during it. I'll go for lungs, stay off the shoulder if at all possible. I may do some more experimenting on bullets after when I have more time. I always loved the 140gr Accubond from my old 270 win and 270WSM. If these don't perform great I may go back to them despite the cost.

Last thing I want is to have a kid lose a deer once they start using this rifle. Their shot placement may not be as good with adrenaline spiking, I may want a bullet I expect an exit from.

 

[Leaf Litter]

I just got back from Africa, and used a 24'' barrel 270 Win with 145gr ELDX Precision Hunter ammo for plains game.
In two weeks of hunting I was able to gather alot of data. It would take about 7 years worth of hunting out west for the same sample size.
I will never be buying ELDX ammo again, if the bullet hits bone it does not penetrate and fragments to pieces.
The worst performance was a 130 yard shot on a Waterbuck, broadside, right on shoulder, ABSOLUTELTY no penetration into the chest cavity.
I will be shooting solid coppers from here on out for anything beyond varmints.

I had the same thing happen two years in a row on upper midwest whitetails with cup and core bullets. Both were 45° quartering towards shots that I put right on the money to pass through the shoulder and vitals. Both bullets hit thier mark, detonated (ruining every ounce of meat on that front quarter), and never penetrated the body cavity. Follow up shots were 100% necessary on both animals to make killing shots.

I'll never hunt with cup and core bullets again, it's molecular bonded or copper from here on out. I use the 145 ELDX for target shooting because they're cheap.

I'll never preach to anyone saying they can't use a certain bullet, but I know for a fact how s#!tty it feels wounding an animal to go and suffer. Humans are advanced enough and bullets cheap enough to make responsible choices when it comes to hunting.

$0.02