Hornady 340gr .50cal ELD-X Bore Driver

[cowboy300]

I shot a bull last year with these at 285yds and got plenty of expansion. Muzzle velocity was 1900fps.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

I shot a bull last year with these at 285yds and got plenty of expansion. Muzzle velocity was 1900fps.

Good to hear. How’d you like the performance?

 

[cowboy300]

In my experience it’s a pretty soft bullet and I hit the bull in the absolute worst spot you can. I dead centered the shoulder knuckle and if failed to penetrate to the vitals. There was a hole I could put my fist in under the hide and the knuckle was destroyed but the bullet didn’t get into the chest cavity. I had to finish him off with another shot. If it would have been in the shoulder blade or back a little more it would have been a lot better results. I had great results and fast kills on deer and antelope last year with the same set up.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

In my experience it’s a pretty soft bullet and I hit the bull in the absolute worst spot you can. I dead centered the shoulder knuckle and if failed to penetrate to the vitals. There was a hole I could put my fist in under the hide and the knuckle was destroyed but the bullet didn’t get into the chest cavity. I had to finish him off with another shot. If it would have been in the shoulder blade or back a little more it would have been a lot better results. I had great results and fast kills on deer and antelope last year with the same set up.

Bummer. Thanks for the info. I’ll be using them for cow elk and deer this fall so I’ll try to stay above that knuckle on the elk as much as I can manage with iron sights.

 

[ElDiablito]

In my experience it’s a pretty soft bullet and I hit the bull in the absolute worst spot you can. I dead centered the shoulder knuckle and if failed to penetrate to the vitals. There was a hole I could put my fist in under the hide and the knuckle was destroyed but the bullet didn’t get into the chest cavity. I had to finish him off with another shot. If it would have been in the shoulder blade or back a little more it would have been a lot better results. I had great results and fast kills on deer and antelope last year with the same set up.

That’s a long shot and a tough spot to penetrate. Glad you got him. Looks to me like a good reason not to try them on elk. I’ve been saying this since they came out - not a great elk bullet.

 

[AZ_Mike]

Seems like this thread is dead but I have muzzy tag this year and have been doing some testing. I have a load combo of 75gr of BH209 by weight, Hornady 340gr Bore Driver and the CCI Magnum Shotshell Primer No. 209. 1,920FPS with an SD of 6.1 across a 10 shot group. Hit at 500yds with an Accura LRX. I won't hun at that distance but it is good know the ballistic and gun are to that distance. Please take this as an FYI max load and use at your own risk. Primers show a slight firing pin cap impression on them.

 

[ElDiablito]

Please take this as an FYI max load and use at your own risk. Primers show a slight firing pin cap impression on them.

That’s about 95 grV. You’re a long way from a max load of 120grV.

 

[AZ_Mike]

With the CCI Magnum shotshell primer 120gr by volume is way too hot of a load. I went to 82gr by weight and was at 2,208 FPS and melted the primer to the firing pin housing....

 

[ElDiablito]

With the CCI Magnum shotshell primer 120gr by volume is way too hot of a load. I went to 82gr by weight and was at 2,208 FPS and melted the primer to the firing pin housing....

Sounds like you’ve got something else going on…

You should only be at about 1900 fps with that bullet and 120 grV.

https://hodgdonpowderco.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/2023-MDATA.pdf

Are you cleaning the plug - drilling the carbon out of the flash channel?

Is your scale messed up?

 

[AZ_Mike]

Everything is good. I am not an idiot.... You might reconsider your approach and start loading by weight instead of volume. Volume is not accurate at all. I would never load that amount of powder with CCI Magnum primer and 340gr bullet. In fact I would never encourage anyone to load that amount of powder with CCI Magnum Primer. I am getting 1,920 FPS and an SD of 6.1. I am hitting consistently out to 500 yards on a 10" disc. There is no reason to push any harder. Just because Hodgdon says it can be done doesn't mean you have to do it.... I want consistency shot to shot not random max velocities that create misses

 

[resident vs nonresident]

Seems like this thread is dead but I have muzzy tag this year and have been doing some testing. I have a load combo of 75gr of BH209 by weight, Hornady 340gr Bore Driver and the CCI Magnum Shotshell Primer No. 209. 1,920FPS with an SD of 6.1 across a 10 shot group. Hit at 500yds with an Accura LRX. I won't hun at that distance but it is good know the ballistic and gun are to that distance. Please take this as an FYI max load and use at your own risk. Primers show a slight firing pin cap impression on them.

Thnx for sharing.
I also have LRX.
Have been shooting Hornady 290gr boredriver , BH209 78gr by weight w/ Federal 209A primer. I’m averaging just few fps short of 1,900FPS
I’m little surprised you’re getting extra 20-30fps but using 3gr less BH209 and on a heavier bullet.
I have few packs of those same 340s saved for when I do elk muzzy hunt so haven’t tried them in my rifle yet. But good to know that they shoot well

 

[AZ_Mike]

Thnx for sharing.
I also have LRX.
Have been shooting Hornady 290gr boredriver , BH209 78gr by weight w/ Federal 209A primer. I’m averaging just few fps short of 1,900FPS
I’m little surprised you’re getting extra 20-30fps but using 3gr less BH209 and on a heavier bullet.
I have few packs of those same 340s saved for when I do elk muzzy hunt so haven’t tried them in my rifle yet. But good to know that they shoot well

It is the Primer. CCI Magnum Shotshell 209 primer makes a huge difference. With the Federal primer I was running 84 grains by weight and getting 1,980 FPS but Sd's were big 40+ FPS shot to shot with lots of smoke out of the barrel. The CCI Primer and lower charge weight at 75gr got close to the same velocity but single digit Sd's and almost no smoke out the barrel. Good luck and happy hunting.

 

[FrontierGander]

Seems like this thread is dead but I have muzzy tag this year and have been doing some testing. I have a load combo of 75gr of BH209 by weight, Hornady 340gr Bore Driver and the CCI Magnum Shotshell Primer No. 209. 1,920FPS with an SD of 6.1 across a 10 shot group. Hit at 500yds with an Accura LRX. I won't hun at that distance but it is good know the ballistic and gun are to that distance. Please take this as an FYI max load and use at your own risk. Primers show a slight firing pin cap impression on them.

You literally can not judge primers coming out of a cva muzzleloader simply due to the fact that the break actions have unlimited ( actually none ) headspace. It's not like a cartridge rifle which actually has set head space. The primers will always have some marks on them.

 

[FrontierGander]

Factory cva set up


My old way of shiming the firing pin bushing outward. Notice the primer and bushing mating up nicely. Now days, cva enlarged the screw driver slot so large, now the primers tend to get stuck in that area.


After adjustment

 

[ElDiablito]

Everything is good. I am not an idiot.... You might reconsider your approach and start loading by weight instead of volume. Volume is not accurate at all.

Uhh huh….

Weighing is fine if you want to do it that way. I do for some of my rifles. Which lot of powder are you using? And, did you throw a bunch of volume loads first to get an average weight for whatever lot of powder you’re using?

 

[AZ_Mike]

Uhh huh….

Weighing is fine if you want to do it that way. I do for some of my rifles. Which lot of powder are you using? And, did you throw a bunch of volume loads first to get an average weight for whatever lot of powder you’re using?

I tried volume measure years ago and there is way too much variance in the charge weight. SD's were not consistent. I pre-weigh and tube my charges before I hunt or shoot at the range. I chrono and doppler radar every shot so I know the true velocity at the muzzle and down range. Weight measure is the most accurate for long range shooting. I have done extensive primer testing and burn analysis and there is a huge difference in primers so you cannot just take a blanket approach to any primer will work with a given powder charge amount. Let's just agree to disagree with methods for finding a good node for accuracy and call it good. I am not looking for an extended conversation. Happy hunting/shooting.

 

[ElDiablito]

I tried volume measure years ago and there is way too much variance in the charge weight. SD's were not consistent. I pre-weigh and tube my charges before I hunt or shoot at the range. I chrono and doppler radar every shot so I know the true velocity at the muzzle and down range. Weight measure is the most accurate for long range shooting. I have done extensive primer testing and burn analysis and there is a huge difference in primers so you cannot just take a blanket approach to any primer will work with a given powder charge amount. Let's just agree to disagree with methods for finding a good node for accuracy and call it good. I am not looking for an extended conversation. Happy hunting/shooting.

So, how do you account for changes in the weights of different lots of B$209? You can’t use a weighed charge of Lot 39 and then use the same weight from Lot 43, for example, and expect the same velocity.