Hornady ELD-X

[Kotaman]

Here's my ELD X list:

*Stone SHeep - 458 yards DRT - Recovered bullet intact perfect performance.
*Bighorn Sheep - 425 yards DRT - Recovered bullet intact perfect performance.
*Fannin Sheep - 148 yards DRT - small entrance massive exit. Bullet blew up.
*A few Whitetails - various yardages all dead. Most had small entrance, quarter sized exit.
*Black Bear - (2) - Like they were struck by lightning.

These were all out of a 6.5 PRC with the exception of one deer that I shot with a 6.5 creed. I've had the ELD M perform similarly out of a 7 LRM. I have yet to recover a ELD M though. I agree, you have to shoot what you have confidence in, but in my limited sample, I see nothing wrong with the ELD X and will continue to shoot them.

 

[Z9Y9]

Eld-x from Mossberg Patriot in 338WM shooting factory 230gr --- 2 bull moose.

First moose Sep of 18 at 110 yards, I missed just under the heart on a trotting broadside. took a chunk from his chest about the size of a cantaloupe leaving the heart nearly exposed to air. No bullet recovered.
Moose dropped on the spot, but got up and charged when we got close. Finishing shots from a 44mag and a 300rum shooting barnes 180ttsx at 10ft.

Moose number 2)
Small bull this year recovered bullets. 408 yards quartering away, first shot hit just behind last left rib and stopped in hide of front right armpit. fragments chewed up liver and clipped the bottom of right lung. Second shot hit the spine broadside and snapped it clean in half.


bullet on the left hit spine. both were together in the offside hide. both sepperated later when I was cleaning them in a water bottle.

 

[excaliber]

Those bullets looked perfect from Moose #2. Couldn't ask for much more. Moose #1 must have been a pucker moment for sure.

Eld-x from Mossberg Patriot in 338WM shooting factory 230gr --- 2 bull moose.

First moose Sep of 18 at 110 yards, I missed just under the heart on a trotting broadside. took a chunk from his chest about the size of a cantaloupe leaving the heart nearly exposed to air. No bullet recovered.
Moose dropped on the spot, but got up and charged when we got close. Finishing shots from a 44mag and a 300rum shooting barnes 180ttsx at 10ft.

Moose number 2)
Small bull this year recovered bullets. 408 yards quartering away, first shot hit just behind last left rib and stopped in hide of front right armpit. fragments chewed up liver and clipped the bottom of right lung. Second shot hit the spine broadside and snapped it clean in half.


bullet on the left hit spine. both were together in the offside hide. both sepperated later when I was cleaning them in a water bottle.

 

[Overkill375]

3 cows and a six point bull all with my 178 eldx’s and my 30-06 no complaints here. Also deer and antelope nothing over 300 yards

 

[Z9Y9]

3 cows and a six point bull all with my 178 eldx’s and my 30-06 no complaints here. Also deer and antelope nothing over 300 yards

good to know. I have a box of the Precision Hunter in 178gr for my Tikka in 30-06. Havent pulled the trigger on game but plan on it. Hopefully in september I'll have more info and pics for this thread.
Seems like guys shooting smaller caliber get mixed results.

 

[Indian Summer]

If something isn’t broken I leave it alone. This year’s bull was at 405 yards. Used a 200 grain Accubond at 3100 fps at the muzzle from a 300 RUM. Took out the top of the heart and bottom of both lungs. He dropped to the ground like an army tank hit him, slid down the hill about 20 feet and never so much as flinched a muscle.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

I switched to the 143 grain out of my .270 Win this year and can put a 5 shot group in a .6MOA hole at 100 yards. I was getting great grouping out to 450 which is as far as I had the ability to shoot at paper.

I shot 2 deer with the round in the same day.

The first, a buck, was shot at exactly 300 yards. Found hair at the point of impact. No blood at all in the fresh snow. He entered a hub and I quickly lost his tracks among all the other tracks. while walking back to my gear I noticed him laying among some weeds and put another round into him. Very minimal blood in his bed, and what I saw was possibly from the second shot. I walked his tracks back searching for blood and I didn't find a single speck. The first shot punched a hole through the back of his shoulder blade and exited an inch behind the diaphragm on the far side. It never expanded.

The second, a big doe, was shot at 75-100 yards. Hit a rib on the way in and took of the top of her heart. I have never seen a deer bleed to immediately or violently. she ran about 60 yards and when she hit the ground globs of blood squirted out of the entrance hole and landed on her face filling the upturned ear. I have killed a lot of deer and have never seen anything like. I took a video of the tracking job to keep as a reference.

I don't know why the results were so drastically different but I don't like that I can get a good hit on a deer and not have the round expand. It's not like the first shot was at very close ranges.

Over the summer I was smacking steel at 830 yards so I'm inclined to stick with it.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

The 162 Grain ELD-X comes out of my 28 Nosler at 3,240 FPS. It maintains 1,250 ft lbs of energy at 1,000 yards. I know long range killing isn't super popular with a lot of guys on this forum and I don't talk about it much because I do absolutely believe in getting in as close as possible to the animal... With that being said, that little ELD-X pill has been DRT on everything I have shot with it. so far It's a very satisfying and also somewhat oddly relieving feeling being 1,200 yards out and watching an animal drop like it was struck by lightning.

 

[Sridge]

I've had decent results so far. 3 bulls over 200 yds with 200 gr out of a 300 RUM at around 3300, they seem pretty devastating so far and similar performance to an accubond from my experience. Also killed 2 antelope this year with 110 gr out of a .2506 at around 3100 with good results.

 

[Glory]

I have killed a fair number of deer with the 143 Eldx and the 147 Eldm. All deer were dead and looked like they’d been shot with a lead, non bonded bullet. You gotta know that if you hit bone with one, you are gonna have a mess.

 

[goathunter]

I've never seen an Accubond blow up on the shoulder in the dozen years I've used them ever since switching from Hornady Interbonds for this exact problem. I've never even heard that claim before. They've performed great for me in alot of different cartridges, I have alot of faith in that bullet.

Put it this way I've never seen an internet thread this long questioning the performance of the Accubond, but I don't venture out much.

I did shoot an antelope this year with a 110 ELD-X with my 25-06. Muzzle velocity was about 3050 so I was a little nervous but it did its job, complete pass through, quite a bit of damage. I think I determined it was going about 2700 at impact. More damage than you would see with the 110 accubond, so it must've blown up a little.

I don't think I'd use them for anything but antelope or whitetail, which is a bummer I had high hopes and they shoot great.

 

[KurtR]

Have had a few accubomb blow up one from a 264 win mag every bullet has failed at one time or another just need to talk to enough people

 

[goathunter]

Have had a few accubomb blow up one from a 264 win mag every bullet has failed at one time or another just need to talk to enough people

Ya I guess no bullet is perfect, and there are alot of variables. I've shot Barnes TTSXs the last couple of years and they seem to need a well placed shot to expand properly but when you do they hit like a hammer. If not perfectly placed I've had to take follow up shots. So I've been looking to go back to Accubonds. I'm interested in Swifts also, and it's tough to beat a Partition. I do want to like the ELDXs, I got a box of 100 them ready to load for my 25.

 

[Crowmangler]

Interesting thread... I used Hornady 154 SST's but wanted a bigger bullet for elk so I switched to the 162 ELDX for my 7mm RM. It does group better at longer ranges for me. My only 2 examples:
Shot a big bodied Muley at 80 yds broadside. Went thru front shoulder (no bone) thru vitals & massive exit wound. Dead in a matter of a few seconds. Couldn't ask for anything better than that.
Also killed a whitetail buck quartering away at 150ish yds. Entry was slightly behind the last rib & found the bullet under the hide of back shoulder. Only bone hit was a rib. He only went about 30 yards but not a drop of blood.
By the looks of the recovered fragments that same shot on a big bull elk would make me real nervous. I may have to give the Barnes a try.

 

[Paladin]

Only reason I don't shoot the ELDX is that my Barrett .308 likes the Barnes TTSX a little better. To me, both good bullets, both widow-makers.

 

[pacoalcracker]

There is a pretty solid reason that the Partition is the bullet all others attempt to measure up to. Its been working quite well for a long time, and their Accubond is going to be just like its daddy someday. Hornady bullets, all of them are on the soft side with the exception of the GMX. I like the 150gr Hornady Interlock for deer though, in my 06 and did shoot a moose with a 300 Win mag and 180gr Interlock at 50yds, which retained 105gr of weight. It was good enough on that day though. On anything bigger than deer, its Partitions or Accubonds for me.

 

[tshunter]

I love ELDX bullets. They have performed very well for me. They also are not fussy with seating depth like others.

 

[wind gypsy]

Interesting thread... I used Hornady 154 SST's but wanted a bigger bullet for elk so I switched to the 162 ELDX for my 7mm RM. It does group better at longer ranges for me. My only 2 examples:
Shot a big bodied Muley at 80 yds broadside. Went thru front shoulder (no bone) thru vitals & massive exit wound. Dead in a matter of a few seconds. Couldn't ask for anything better than that.
Also killed a whitetail buck quartering away at 150ish yds. Entry was slightly behind the last rib & found the bullet under the hide of back shoulder. Only bone hit was a rib. He only went about 30 yards but not a drop of blood.
By the looks of the recovered fragments that same shot on a big bull elk would make me real nervous. I may have to give the Barnes a try.
View attachment 142646

The 175 7mm is a little splashier than ideal at 2840 FPS MV. The 162 at magnum velocities would be pretty far down my list of ideal bullet choices for elk.

 

[Watrdawg]

This year I shot 2 decent sized doe within 20 minutes of each other with 178gr ELDX in .308. Two totally different outcomes. 1st Doe was 165 yards out and I couldn't find a drop of blood at all where she was shot. I searched for about 15 minutes and then went back to my stand to get my back pack. When I came down another Doe snorted at me from behind me at about 50 yards. I shot her top of the heart and both lungs and she went straight down and didn't budge. I went back to where the first deer was hit and went into the brush down a deer trail. About 30 yards in I finally find a small speck of blood. I mark the spot and keep going down the trail. She was piled up about 20 yards farther in. The shot was a heart lung shot and no exit wound. The 2nd Doe also did not have an exit wound. Both Doe were definitely dead deer and neither went far or were DRT but no blood trail to follow at all basically. I very easily could have lost both deer. I don't like not having some type of blood trail to follow if need be. I've shot quite a few deer with a 165gr Accubond out of this rifle and have always had great blood trails to follow if they went anywhere. Probably going to ditch the ELDX.

 

[Tahoe1305]

For what it’s worth, I’ve shot 4 various game with 143 ELDXs this year with good results.


Mountain Goat ~180yds entered below shoulder, out neck...exit hole was soda can sized. Dropped straight.

Axis Deer ~150 yds Heart shot, dropped straight exit hole about silver dollar size.

Mouflon Sheep ~200 yds, heart shot took two steps, exit hole size of silver dollar again

White tail ~210 yds, missed a bit high (3” above heart), minimal blood at impact site, looked 20 yds away and started tracking large blood trail. Found 150 yds away no exit wound but also was in a rush and never found bullet.

I’ve been happy with results. Shooting handloads from tikka 6.5 Creedmoor at 2875fps.