Hornady Precision Hunter .308 178gr ELD-X pull apart

[BryanL]

Hi All. Just thought I'd share a few data points from a recent disassembly of some Hornady Precision Hunter .308 178gr ELD-X. This stuff shots 1.25 moa ten shot groups for me out of my Tikka T3x Compact Lite. I'm getting 2590 fps on average out of the 20" barrel.

COAL- 2.800"
Bullet- Hornady ELD-X .308 178gr
Case- Hornady new brass, to 2.006
Primer- Looks like Federal 210 or Federal Match (I don't have any more match to compare it to)
Powder- 44.0 grains of spherical (ball) powder of some type. There was noticeably more "balls" vs. flattened granules. It had a yellow/green/golden hue similar to varget and other hodgdon extreme powders. I compared it to Winchester 748, CFE 223, AA2520, PP2000-MR, and TAC and it did not match any of those (in color, texture, or in charge weight/FPS).

I'm sure it's some non-canister powder available only to Hornady, or it could have been something a little different like LeverEvolution. I'm working up a clone load since it shoots so dang well in my Tikka and in my M70. If anyone has any insight as to a possible powder that matches that profile (44 grains below a 178gr at 2600 fps) I'd love to hear about it.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

It’s probably a proprietary powder, but I think you could get similar speeds with several of those powders

 

[BryanL]

Agreed. I’m working on Power Pro 2000-MR as a high possibility. I also just found some Winchester Staball Match that I’m going to try. There isn’t much data and the Staball match looks much more similar to the powder in the Precision Hunter. We’ll see. Finally seeing variety and some consistency of powder availability in my area.

 

[A382DWDZQ]

I think CFE, 748, RL15 would be the best bets for speed. The load data for match seems like it is a slower velocity option than other powders. That’s just for the load data I briefly looked at.

 

[General RE LEE]

Late to the punch but Ramshot TAC gets excellent velocities with the 178 grain ELD-X. I got 2603 FPS from my 20” barrel Tikka on a 73 degree day.

 

[BryanL]

Late to the punch but Ramshot TAC gets excellent velocities with the 178 grain ELD-X. I got 2603 FPS from my 20” barrel Tikka on a 73 degree day.

Are you doing 44.0 gr of TAC?

 

[General RE LEE]

Are you doing 44.0 gr of TAC?

42.0 grains.