Hornady describes difference between ELD-X and ELD Match

[jimh406]

Hornady just had a podcast on Youtube that describes the difference between the ELD-X and ELD Match. Some of you might be interested to know their take. NOTE: it was more about what the differences are instead of saying what people should use.

 

[EastHumboldt]

My initial reaction when I saw it was 56 minutes was “ Good God… 56 minutes to talk about 2 bullets?” But I watched the whole thing and it was pretty informative. Coulda been a little more concise, but I didn’t get bored.

For those who don’t have the time, my takeaways:

ELDX bullets are specifically designed for hunting, with a wider min max velocity window where they perform as designed. They are repeatedly lot tested to ensure that they perform and expand as designed.

ELDM bullets are designed to be accurate. That’s all. They are tested for accuracy but not controlled expansion. That’s why Hornady doesn’t recommend them. They are pretty much guaranteed to grenade at higher velocities due to their much thinner jackets.

Shot placement kills no matter what projectile you are shooting.

Hollow tipped match bullets behave erratically on impact.

Aluminum tipped bullets also behave erratically on impact.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

My initial reaction when I saw it was 56 minutes was “ Good God… 56 minutes to talk about 2 bullets?” But I watched the whole thing and it was pretty informative. Coulda been a little more concise, but I didn’t get bored.

For those who don’t have the time, my takeaways:

ELDX bullets are specifically designed for hunting, with a wider min max velocity window where they perform as designed. They are repeatedly lot tested to ensure that they perform and expand as designed.

ELDM bullets are designed to be accurate. That’s all. They are tested for accuracy but not controlled expansion. That’s why Hornady doesn’t recommend them. They are pretty much guaranteed to grenade at higher velocities due to their much thinner jackets.

Shot placement kills no matter what projectile you are shooting.

Hollow tipped match bullets behave erratically on impact.

Aluminum tipped bullets also behave erratically on impact.

Good summary, thank you.
They also seemed to elude to 2700 fps being the upper limit of the M's performance and mention that it can work really well at lower velocities which I thought was interesting. They definitely went at the HPBT projectiles being a bad idea and spent some time on that.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Good summary, thank you.
They also seemed to elude to 2700 fps being the upper limit of the M's performance and mention that it can work really well at lower velocities which I thought was interesting. They definitely went at the HPBT projectiles being a bad idea and spent some time on that.

Yeah I didn’t know that about the hollow point and A-tips.

 

[UnckleBob]

My initial reaction when I saw it was 56 minutes was “ Good God… 56 minutes to talk about 2 bullets?” But I watched the whole thing and it was pretty informative. Coulda been a little more concise, but I didn’t get bored.

For those who don’t have the time, my takeaways:

ELDX bullets are specifically designed for hunting, with a wider min max velocity window where they perform as designed. They are repeatedly lot tested to ensure that they perform and expand as designed.

ELDM bullets are designed to be accurate. That’s all. They are tested for accuracy but not controlled expansion. That’s why Hornady doesn’t recommend them. They are pretty much guaranteed to grenade at higher velocities due to their much thinner jackets.

Shot placement kills no matter what projectile you are shooting.

Hollow tipped match bullets behave erratically on impact.

Aluminum tipped bullets also behave erratically on impact.

Roughly speaking, the profit margin per bullet to Hornady must be pretty close if they sell people an Eldm bullet vs an Eldx bullet. I don't see why they would exaggerate or even lie.

 

[Pharmseller]

ELDM bullets are designed to be accurate. That’s all. They are tested for accuracy but not controlled expansion.

Since they weren’t studied for controlled expansion is it accurate to say no data exists to disprove their use as a hunting bullet?

Anecdotal information supports the ELDM as a fine hunting bullet. Preferred, even.

 

[EastHumboldt]

Since they weren’t studied for controlled expansion is it accurate to say no data exists to disprove their use as a hunting bullet?

Anecdotal information supports the ELDM as a fine hunting bullet. Preferred, even.

I wasn’t really taking a position, mostly summarizing the podcast. I’ve been around here long enough to know that a lot of people use ELDMs and TMKs very successfully.

However I’ll note a point of agreement between us. 7-08 is the shit!

 

[Pharmseller]

The guys I know who hunt with them say the M stands for Murder.

 

[streamerfish]

It was a bit of a wordplay for sure.....

They have done terminal testing on the ELDM, and probably still do to some kind of extent. But they don't do regular quality control testing on the ELDM for terminal performance, because its not needed. At least for selling it as a match bullet to the public. soo...have they done testing, yes, do they know how it performs, yes. But it isn't part of their "regular" testing due to use case.

As I wrote on the other thread, they clearly know that its a popular choice, they have spoken on the S2H podcast a few yrs ago. They have heard the whole ELD Murder....they even made reference to it.

While not recommended explicitly, they more or less admitted that it probably has good terminal performance, especially at moderate speeds, and medium to smaller sized game (deer, antelope).

 

[HairyScandinavian]

Since they weren’t studied for controlled expansion is it accurate to say no data exists to disprove their use as a hunting bullet?

Anecdotal information supports the ELDM as a fine hunting bullet. Preferred, even.

That does seem like a fair assessment.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

It’s almost like they wanted to say ELDMs work great in a hunting application…but then they wussed out.

 

[UnckleBob]

Since they weren’t studied for controlled expansion is it accurate to say no data exists to disprove their use as a hunting bullet?

Anecdotal information supports the ELDM as a fine hunting bullet. Preferred, even.

Even if it works most of the time, it doesn't mean that it is a better hunting bullet than the Edlx.

When they designed the two bullets, it is hard to believe they accidentally made the Eldm better than the the Elda, which they spent a lot of time optimizing it for hunting.

They clearly said the Eldx was a better hunting bullet because it performs over a much larger range of velocities and shot angles.

 

[HuntHarder]

It’s almost like they wanted to say ELDMs work great in a hunting application…but then they wussed out.

That's what you got out of that?

I think they did a good job of explaining the actual differences and letting the hunter make his own decision. Their lack of QC makes either a tough sell for me.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

That's what you got out of that?

I think they did a good job of explaining the actual differences and letting the hunter make his own decision. Their lack of QC makes either a tough sell for me.

Sure. They’re getting closer to admitting they work well on hunting applications. In the past it was “DON’T USE ELDMs FOR HUNTING!” The message has changed.

 

[RogerC11]

Seth said you would be doing yourself a disservice if you used bthp design for hunting. Isn't that what all berger bullets are? Plenty of kills with those bullets.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Seth said you would be doing yourself a disservice if you used bthp design for hunting. Isn't that what all berger bullets are? Plenty of kills with those bullets.

I caught that dig as well.

 

[HuntHarder]

Sure. They’re getting closer to admitting they work well on hunting applications. In the past it was “DON’T USE ELDMs FOR HUNTING!” The message has changed.

Yeah, some guys care what bullet makers say. I have never cared, just use what I want to use. Best perk of reloading is using whatever combo you want.

 

[Pharmseller]

Even if it works most of the time, it doesn't mean that it is a better hunting bullet than the Edlx.

When they designed the two bullets, it is hard to believe they accidentally made the Eldm better than the the Elda, which they spent a lot of time optimizing it for hunting.

They clearly said the Eldx was a better hunting bullet because it performs over a much larger range of velocities and shot angles.

How can they make any claim based on hunting performance if they haven’t studied it?

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Yeah, some guys care what bullet makers say. I have never cared, just use what I want to use. Best perk of reloading is using whatever combo you want.

Agreed!

 

[HuntHarder]

How can they make any claim based on hunting performance if they haven’t studied it?

I thought they tested their bullets in gel?