Hornady ELDX at longer distances

Joined
Aug 14, 2016
Messages
1,462
Location
Great Falls MT
I recovered the jacket from my 143 gr ELDX from my PRC out of my loper doe.

It would appear that the core flew out of the jacket and kept on going.

Is this normal? I thought this bullet was designed to mushroom at longer ranges?

Can someone with a lot more experience explain this?

Is this normal? Interesting either way!
750 yards.
1b74089d3ffddd4b24c016533f9b83a3.jpg
4b3bc11520ef07ac9627d9db66899032.jpg


Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
1,994
Location
Phoenix, Az
We shot a bull elk with one a few weeks ago. 143 eld-x out of a 6.5 manbun. The shot was 130 yards and the core completely seperated from the jacket. The bull was absolutely hammered and only went a very short distance after the shot. I shot a caribou at 300 yards with a 145 eld-x going 3180 at the muzzle and the bullet blew right thru the ribcage and exited the bou. Wound channel was large and the bull was DRT.
 

Wapiti1

WKR
Joined
Sep 18, 2017
Messages
3,576
Location
Indiana
That looks very much like it tumbled after it hit the animal. Probably hit a rib on the way in, smashed the tip and things went haywire from there. Long range with lower rotational speed and stabilization starting to decline. If it doesn't open, it is guaranteed to tumble.

Hornady saw this in testing when they were developing the ELD line and documented it in a couple of papers on their heat resistant tip development. Of course, none of their bullets tumbled in testing, but realistically, their bullets can tumble too. It's a matter of stability, not bullet design.

What does it mean? Nothing at this point. There isn't enough info to make any conclusions. It could realistically happen with any bullet, or may never happen again.

Jeremy
 

smby

FNG
Joined
Jun 15, 2021
Messages
13
Location
Arizona
I shot 4 coues deers, 2 cow elks from 300 to 550 yards with 143 ELDX with mv of 2700 fps. All with one shot and died either instant or within a min. Expansion is fine from what I can tell. Placement is more important.
 

Tahoe1305

WKR
Joined
Jun 9, 2019
Messages
2,055
Location
CO
A bit late but shot an bull at 658yds behind facing shoulder then angled to opposing shoulder with 175. Broke through shoulder penetrated meat and stuck in hide. Down in 20yds. No blood though. A bit of fragmentation and meat damage but not too bad with that shot placement.

Running 2975fps out of 7wsm loaded a bit long. Impact should have been about 2150fps. I think inside of 300 or so the result may have been a bit more violent. Not much weight retention either.
297897D7-F4DF-4762-B0D8-747D741FB890.jpeg
 

MOBowkill

FNG
Joined
Nov 2, 2021
Messages
38
Here is a recovered Eld-x 143gr from my 6.5 PRC. Shot was front facing slightly quartering breaking the front shoulder and stopping on the opposite side flank area. Factory Hornady Performance Hunter, 60 yd shot on a whitetail.
 

Attachments

  • 39C4FE83-0D02-4F10-A0F6-1C2789A60E1D.jpeg
    39C4FE83-0D02-4F10-A0F6-1C2789A60E1D.jpeg
    136.7 KB · Views: 67

MOBowkill

FNG
Joined
Nov 2, 2021
Messages
38
Here is a recovered Eld-x 143gr from my 6.5 PRC. Shot was front facing slightly quartering breaking the front shoulder and stopping on the opposite side flank area. Factory Hornady Performance Hunter, 60 yd shot on a whitetail.
70grs final weight
 
Joined
Nov 7, 2018
Messages
1,136
Two more 6.5 143 eldx. Both pulled from mule deer. First was from 330 yards, second from 420 yards. Bullet leaving my 24” tikka barrel at 2650 fps (shooting precision hunter factory ammo because it shoots so darn well).

They’ve done well so far but wonder how they would do at longer distances and lower velocity. Brother shot a cow elk this past weekend with this setup,hit the spine and exited so we didn’t find the bullet.
be140beb7222ecef5220de2b913c4e0d.jpg

f72c33313e7ba117b282e0ace218b632.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

AC300win

FNG
Joined
Dec 24, 2015
Messages
38
Location
NE Oregon
7963BAFA-29C0-4FEA-9B80-9B02B021E5BF.jpegWhat was/is your impact velocity at that distance with your load? Curious about your observed on game performance. Pic is of a 200 grain eldx at 650 from a 300 win on a large cow elk with an impact velocity 1914 fps and 1627 ft lbs per shooter ballistics 2875 muzzle velocity. Core separated from jacket and both pieces were found behind opposite shoulder against hide. Recovered bullet was 140 grains.
 
Last edited:

FireNelk

FNG
Joined
Jun 17, 2021
Messages
56
Location
Idaho
Bullet recovered from Elk shot at 450yds with 200gr eldx out of 300winmag
 

Attachments

  • BA565709-E2E8-4318-B005-4A6C7FEB11A5.jpeg
    BA565709-E2E8-4318-B005-4A6C7FEB11A5.jpeg
    157.4 KB · Views: 19
  • A90A8E39-C140-4B67-9004-83A3713EF933.jpeg
    A90A8E39-C140-4B67-9004-83A3713EF933.jpeg
    151.3 KB · Views: 18
Top