Hornady ELD-X

[Tahoe1305]

I will cross post what I experienced recently from another thread on here about my new 7 WSM I built.

Was able to shoot a small buck this weekend at about 80yds. Impact velocity should have been about 3100fps with 162 ELDX.

Deer walked 10 feet and dropped. Seemed great. I noticed when I approached though one drop of blood at entrance(just aft of shoulder center mass) and no exit wound. A fairly large protrusion on the opposing side where I am guessing the remainder of the bullet lodged. When I field dressed him it was a complete mess. I am guessing fragments must have made it back in the guts. I am glad he dropped because there was no blood and tracking would have been rough. It was such a mess field dressing I didn’t think to dig around to find the bullet.

I have shot about half dozen other various animals (deer, sheep, goat) with my 6.5C and 143 ELDX with all impacts between 2500-2600fps and they performed perfect (2-4” exit hole and lots of blood, all nearly dropped on spot).

Chatting with others on the forum seeing similar results with the 7RM and other faster rifles, I think the ELDX performs poorly that fast. I haven’t found the top end yet but guessing impacts over 2800fps or so will have similar “blow up” results. This theory won’t apply to all, but that’s been my experience coupled with what I’ve read.

Still like the bullet. Shoots well. Affordable. Kills game. But like most has limitations that need to be respected. Plan to shoot 175s and slow them down to about 3000fps or a bit slower and see how they do next.

 

[Wyattblu48]

I’m in this same debate rn. I shoot a 300 wm with 190gr nosler accubond lr Bullets and I love them, but that’s just too much for deer. I just bought a 6.5 and I’m trying to figure out bullets. Im leaning towards 147 gr Hornady or 142gr nosler accubond lr


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[SDRuger21]

Have shot 2 whitetail bucks with a 6.5 CM, 143 ELD-X, at 250 & 150 yards. Did the job on both deer, both ran about 50 yards after the shot. Neither had any blood trails.

 

[Dos Perros]

Just adding another data point for folks to consider: shot a big old mule deer with the Hornady Precision Hunter .308 178gr ELD-X. It's out of a braked short barreled rifle. Distance was 330 yards and estimate velocity was just a touch under 2058 ft/s (rifle was chrono'd at point blank and this velocity is calculated with an app). He was broadside and I couldn't have hit him more perfectly, in line with the rear side of the front leg but about 1/3 up the body and a few inches above the humerus, in the ribs double lung. He jumped out of view immediately so couldn't tell what precisely happened but we found him about 30 yards from where he was standing. Complete pass through, smallish exit wound, and not much blood, but think he died very quickly. I'm going to keep shooting this bullet.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

I shot another doe this weekend. .270 145gr. 210 yards shot the top of her heart off and she went 50 yards. small entrance with .75 inch exit. I saw her laying there before I got the point of impact. I had to follow the blood trail backward to get close to POI because it was such a light blood trail.

It's bizarre. It seems like its either a bucket load of bleeding or next to nothing with this round.

 

[Ctitus25]

Shot my blacktail buck with 178gr ELD-X out of my 30-06 at 370yds, passed through both lungs and broke the offside shoulder. Buck only went about 10 yds before piling up.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

I wanted to add a few more data points. Just got back from another weekend in the white tail woods. 3 hunters shooting ELD-X from .270 win and .280 rem.

One doe shot at 30 yards in the heart had gut matter in the shoulder pocket (what I call that small area behind the shoulder where the shoulder rides over the rib cage) despite having an entrance hole well forward of the diaphragm. Fragmentation is the only possibility. 30 yards recovery. No blood trail.

Another doe shot at 125 yards with identical result. Gut matter outside of the rib cage on the entrance hole side. I've never seen it done with another round so I can't say for sure that it's unique. DRT not much external blood.

A large bodied buck shot broadside for a double lung shot at 175. No exit and an opened stomach when I gut him. Again, a fragmented bullet is the only possibility. 40 yard recovery. Zero blood.

2 other doe were shot broadside and had a clean passthrough with decent expansion. Only 1 of 5 deer had an easily trackable blood trail. 3 out of 5 had opened guts despite none having poor shot placement or angle.

I tried so hard to like this ammo but I will be going back to Nosler Partitions next season.

 

[TheCougar]

Shot 3 bulls this year with 7mm 162 ELDX. 70 yards, 300 yards, and 650. All were dead within seconds. All had follow up second shots because the opportunity was there, but based on the wounds we found, the first shots were lethal. I didn’t really do an autopsy to figure out Bullet retention. I do know when we were breaking down my son’a bull (300 yards), we found two entrance holes and two exit holes that weren’t linear. Plus there was a mess of blood shot meat all over the shoulder, brisket, and neck. I interpolated this to mean there was quite a bit of frag going on and the bullets probably tumbled and changed direction at some point, based on exit wounds. We also killed 5 antelope and 2 more deer with ELDX (mix of 6.5, 7mm, and a 300). All were DRT. After my experience this season, I wouldn’t hesitate to use them. I was a little worried, but they did really well.

 

[Texasbuckeye]

I dont understand, dead is dead, and sounds like all animals recovered....and easily. I guess beggars can be choosers.

I shot a WT buck at about 80-90 yards with my .300wsm and 200gr eld-x bullets. The shot rang and i initially thought the buck should be running some so i took a second to look around and see where he was going...no where. He dropped right where he stood. Double lung. On dressing him i may have had some minor stomach contents on opening him, or that could have been my mistake, but nothing terrible. I did have a finger sized entrance to the rib cage and a more rhan finger sized exit opposite.
Dead deer, dead elk. No complaints from me.

 

[TheCougar]

I guess I’m a little conflicted after reading more comments in this thread. The ELDX has fragmented a bit more than I would like, but it does absolutely drop the hammer on animals. It’s like a little grenade going off. Yes I’d like more penetration, but the bullet is accurate and cheap (so I can practice and be more proficient). I’ve shot monolithics before and not been impressed by the super small pencil holes and complete lack of internal damage. If someone can show me bullet that is as consistently accurate, and doesn’t cost a fortune to shoot, I’d absolutely try it. Maybe Accubonds, but this things are stupid expensive and hard to find even before COVID.

 

[bsnedeker]

I guess I’m a little conflicted after reading more comments in this thread. The ELDX has fragmented a bit more than I would like, but it does absolutely drop the hammer on animals. It’s like a little grenade going off. Yes I’d like more penetration, but the bullet is accurate and cheap (so I can practice and be more proficient). I’ve shot monolithics before and not been impressed by the super small pencil holes and complete lack of internal damage. If someone can show me bullet that is as consistently accurate, and doesn’t cost a fortune to shoot, I’d absolutely try it. Maybe Accubonds, but this things are stupid expensive and hard to find even before COVID.

I'm in the same boat. Flatlander's post specifically has me questioning my choices. I also had guts hanging out of the exit wound of the last doe I shot and the shot was perfectly placed through the vitals (entrance wound on shoulder, exit wound middle of ribs). I just honestly thought that was the result of blasting a doe with a 300WM but now I'm wondering....

 

[TheCougar]

I'm in the same boat. Flatlander's post specifically has me questioning my choices. I also had guts hanging out of the exit wound of the last doe I shot and the shot was perfectly placed through the vitals (entrance wound on shoulder, exit wound middle of ribs). I just honestly thought that was the result of blasting a doe with a 300WM but now I'm wondering....

Based on what I saw, I understand the concern, especially when the bullet is moving fast. What’s the alternative? The ELDX is a shooter in every rifle I’ve tried them in. Frustratingly consistent and accurate. I’ve tried Partitions and in addition to being stupid expensive and/or hard to find even in Federals, they just aren’t as accurate or consistent. Accubonds were solid, and they have better mass retention, but I gave up paying the premium. Honestly, if I reloaded, I’d probably shoot those, however.

 

[Formidilosus]

I wanted to add a few more data points. Just got back from another weekend in the white tail woods. 3 hunters shooting ELD-X from .270 win and .280 rem.

One doe shot at 30 yards in the heart had gut matter in the shoulder pocket (what I call that small area behind the shoulder where the shoulder rides over the rib cage) despite having an entrance hole well forward of the diaphragm. Fragmentation is the only possibility. 30 yards recovery. No blood trail.

Another doe shot at 125 yards with identical result. Gut matter outside of the rib cage on the entrance hole side. I've never seen it done with another round so I can't say for sure that it's unique. DRT not much external blood.

A large bodied buck shot broadside for a double lung shot at 175. No exit and an opened stomach when I gut him. Again, a fragmented bullet is the only possibility. 40 yard recovery. Zero blood.

2 other doe were shot broadside and had a clean passthrough with decent expansion. Only 1 of 5 deer had an easily trackable blood trail. 3 out of 5 had opened guts despite none having poor shot placement or angle.

I tried so hard to like this ammo but I will be going back to Nosler Partitions next season.

What is it that you expect from high velocity impacts with a lightly jacketed bullet specifically designed to upset at low velocities?

Of course it’s fragmenting.

 

[flatlanderhuffandpuff]

What is it that you expect from high velocity impacts with a lightly jacketed bullet specifically designed to upset at low velocities?

Of course it’s fragmenting.

I'm not at all surprised it's fragmenting but I am surprised at the range of internal damage. It's one think to have the bullet not retain weight for penetration, it's another for it to spread so radically upon impact. It's essentially unusable at close range which would disqualify it for most hunters. I would hate to be in the back country with a carcass that had it's guts leaked all over it for a few days.

If your goal is to have a dead animal It will certainly do the job. If the goal is to do it cleanly there are better rounds.

 

[Formidilosus]

I'm not at all surprised it's fragmenting but I am surprised at the range of internal damage. It's one think to have the bullet not retain weight for penetration, it's another for it to spread so radically upon impact. It's essentially unusable at close range which would disqualify it for most hunters. I would hate to be in the back country with a carcass that had it's guts leaked all over it for a few days.

If your goal is to have a dead animal It will certainly do the job. If the goal is to do it cleanly there are better rounds.

Clearly they do work at close range. If it has too much tissue destruction for you, then yes another bullet will do less. Of course it will do less all the way out. It will kill slower, animals will move farther after hits, and it will stop upsetting at closer ranges. There is no free lunch.

 

[TheCougar]

Another data point... 6.5CM 143 ELDX at 100yards on a whitetail buck. Entrance wound was on the shoulder (unintentional). I lost 75% of that shoulder. It was a mess of broken bone and tissue - definitely worse than a bonded Bullet. The offside exits wound was small and behind the shoulder, with very little meat loss, but I did find several fragments of the bullet while I was butchering. The bullet works, but I did lose a bit of meat off the buck. If they bonded that bulled, it would be perfect. As it is, maybe I’ll try the Accubonds if I can find them ever again.

 

[Calbuck]

Another kill with 162 ELD-X this year in Idaho. Shot a mule deer buck at roughly 100 yards, broadside, lung shot. 7 rem mag, rough velocity 3000 FPS. This deer dropped in his tracks. Through and through, damage was liquefied lungs and a bit of damage to offside backstrap. These things have yet to cause me any concern. Everything I’ve shot them at is now dead and didn’t go anywhere.

 

[mattflipper]

Both of my kids have custom 6.5 creedmoor rifles and for two years we’ve been shooting the 143 he ELDX round. During 2019 they shot several deer with them and I noticed either no blood and/or little no exit wound. On occasion they would make a shot that I know was a hit and we would find no sign of a hit. Then, I took a friend last year and let them use one of my kids rifles rifles and I witnessed them shooting a deer. The shot was a hit, the deer hit the ground then got up. Not one drop of blood. This I saw with my own two eyes. Moving to 2020, much of the same. To take their error in shot placement out of it I shot two deer with their rifle. On the first, the deer hit the ground and rambled out of the food plot. No blood and Ingrid searched for a long time. The next one I shot, knew it was a hit, based on the reaction of the deer after the shot and the report back after the shot. Again, no blood. Looked for a long time. Then grid searched. Nothing again. The next day I found the deer about 250 yards from where it was shot with a perfect entrance hole.
After all of this the gun was out away for the rest of the season until a new round can be chosen. With limited selection right now this is quite a task. We are down to having hand loads out together.
I say all this to hope that no one buys ELDX rounds for hunting. They suck.

 

[Formidilosus]

Both of my kids have custom 6.5 creedmoor rifles and for two years we’ve been shooting the 143 he ELDX round. During 2019 they shot several deer with them and I noticed either no blood and/or little no exit wound. On occasion they would make a shot that I know was a hit and we would find no sign of a hit. Then, I took a friend last year and let them use one of my kids rifles rifles and I witnessed them shooting a deer. The shot was a hit, the deer hit the ground then got up. Not one drop of blood. This I saw with my own two eyes. Moving to 2020, much of the same. To take their error in shot placement out of it I shot two deer with their rifle. On the first, the deer hit the ground and rambled out of the food plot. No blood and Ingrid searched for a long time. The next one I shot, knew it was a hit, based on the reaction of the deer after the shot and the report back after the shot. Again, no blood. Looked for a long time. Then grid searched. Nothing again. The next day I found the deer about 250 yards from where it was shot with a perfect entrance hole.
After all of this the gun was out away for the rest of the season until a new round can be chosen. With limited selection right now this is quite a task. We are down to having hand loads out together.
I say all this to hope that no one buys ELDX rounds for hunting. They suck.

Yes. I’m sure.

 

[bsnedeker]

Both of my kids have custom 6.5 creedmoor rifles and for two years we’ve been shooting the 143 he ELDX round. During 2019 they shot several deer with them and I noticed either no blood and/or little no exit wound. On occasion they would make a shot that I know was a hit and we would find no sign of a hit. Then, I took a friend last year and let them use one of my kids rifles rifles and I witnessed them shooting a deer. The shot was a hit, the deer hit the ground then got up. Not one drop of blood. This I saw with my own two eyes. Moving to 2020, much of the same. To take their error in shot placement out of it I shot two deer with their rifle. On the first, the deer hit the ground and rambled out of the food plot. No blood and Ingrid searched for a long time. The next one I shot, knew it was a hit, based on the reaction of the deer after the shot and the report back after the shot. Again, no blood. Looked for a long time. Then grid searched. Nothing again. The next day I found the deer about 250 yards from where it was shot with a perfect entrance hole.
After all of this the gun was out away for the rest of the season until a new round can be chosen. With limited selection right now this is quite a task. We are down to having hand loads out together.
I say all this to hope that no one buys ELDX rounds for hunting. They suck.

Wow, thanks for creating an account specifically to warn everyone!

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