What bullet did you use this year?

[Chughes]

What bullet did you use this year and how did it perform?

I used the 165 grain cx Hornady bullet (copper) this year in my 300 winmag. I typically use the 168 grain vld hunters. I was worried it wouldn't expand at close range. I was pretty impressed in the performance of the cx, I shot a whitetail buck at around 80 yards away from me, slightly squatting away. The bullet expanded really well and passed through the deer. I will for sure use this bullet again.

Because I've never used or heard of anybody using it. I thought I would ask what people have had good and bad luck with this year.

 

[roadrunner]

Same as always, 140 gr Accubond. No change in performance either.

 

[walkingduckwaterfowl]

I was able to kill two whitetail bucks, one with a 7mm 175gr eld-x and another with a 6mm 95gr NBT (winchester ballistic silvertip). Both deer died with well placed shots just behind the front shoulder, but the deer shot with the 175gr 7mm bullet over 100 yards before death vs. the 95 grain NBT which went 30 yards or less. The wounds on both deer looked very similar.

 

[General RE LEE]

108 ELDM

143 ELDX

 

[Neumie]

130 CX worked great

 

[Raghornklr]

Bear -.22arc 77 TMK at 71yds surprising amount of damage lungs shredded, bear went 15yds.

MD x2 -172 and 193 yds. 175gr TGK in 6.8 western. Performance was similar to what I’ve seen from accubonds. Neither deer made it more than 10 steps

Elk- 507yds , 170gr Berger eol. What was expected from a Berger. Ton of damage to lungs and heart internals just soup,Rolled 30yds and died in sight.

 

[Sacrvrrat72]

108 ELDM
Worked great

 

[surfr716]

Shot a big heavy whitetail in montana; 22 arc, 77 gr TMK, high shoulder, no tracking needed. Also shot a big oregon blacktail; 6.5 prc, 156 berger EOL, high shoulder, also no tracking required.

other than that shot a lot of rock chucks and coyotes, mostly with the 22 or 6 arc using the eld vts, fairly impressed so far with their performance. longest shot of the year was 720 yrds on a coyote that hung up on the call, 80 gr eld vt from the 6 arc knocked him right down, one spin and done.

 

[Ucsdryder]

245 Berger hybrid. Devastating….

 

[MountainSide]

Moose with a 270 Win 145 ELD-x. Two shots from about 150 yards. One pass through.

Mature black bear with 243 Win 90gr ballistic tip. 120 yards, pass through.

Dall sheep with a 243 Win 95gr partition. 215 yards, pass through.

 

[elsb0048]

.243 win - 80g barnes TTSX

1 whitetail buck at ~190 yds, behind the shoulder, caught in hide after passing thru off side shoulder.

1 whitetail doe at 130yds a little too far back, clipped heart and tore the diaphragm. Exited just behind offside shoulder. ~1" diameter exit.

Both went about 10-20yds to pileup.

 

[waspocrew]

Mule deer buck - 215 berger
Whitetail doe - 77 TMK
Whitetail doe - 194 Lehigh subsonic

All dead within seconds. The 194 Lehigh didn’t appear to expand as it should have. Oh well.

Cow elk - 147 ELDM (should happen end of this week)

 

[thinhorn_AK]

180g accubond, it worked perfectly every time.

-aoudad 320yds
-blacktail deer 210, 260yds
-black bear 90yds
-caribou 130, 205 yds
-mountain goat 260yds

 

[WormSportsman]

Mule deer buck- 143gr ELDX, Bull Elk- 140gr accubond, Son’s WT buck-142gr Accubond LR. All performed great from 320-460 yards and are some of my favorites.

 

[bruffa]

200g ELDX for the past 4 seasons. its 7 for 7 one-shot kills ranging from 175 to 500 yards. Nothing goes more than 20 yards. Lost a lot of shoulder meat on my elk and a good chunk of backstrap on my buck this year. planning to go with a 6.5prc next year and try 147 ELDM assuming they get along with the new rifle

 

[freezerfull]

This is the first fall in quite a few years where I’ve done very little hunting. Blessed with a new baby and also have a toddler.

Killed 1 black bear back in August. Shot it with my plinking load.

150 gr. Hornady Interlock SP
300 win mag, impact over 3000 fps
Quartered away, down hill steep
Worked like a charm and made me question why I spend 3x as much on projectiles for hunts where I plan to stay 400 yards or less due to cover or terrain.

 

[ThreeOhSeven]

This season I only had to take two shots with the 175gr ELDX @~2900ft/s. Muley buck at 320 yards and bull elk at 350 both piled up DRT.

 

[hoooogan]

Mule Deer forky at 260y with a 129gr ABLR in a moderate load (2595fps MV) 18" 6.5CM. ~2175fps impact velocity.
Ran ~30 yard circle and fell. Punched a nice hole through both lungs and exit the other side.

 

[EastHumboldt]

150 ELDX 7-08 Bull Elk at 56 yards. DRT

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

First year with 175 ELD-X. 2540 FPS out of my 7x57, impact at 30 yards ish, just north of 2500 FPS. Deer ran maybe 30 yards before it hit the dirt. Bullet was as far forward as it could possibly be without hitting a shoulder. Internal damage was incredible - heart, lungs, liver, diaphragm, even the stomach, all shredded. I was pretty shocked at the stomach, given the bullet went both in and out several ribs forward of the diaphragm. So I would ballpark the swath of destruction internally at maybe 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Pretty insane, never seen a bullet do anything like that.

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, fantastic internal damage, gives me a lot of confidence this is a "hit em anywhere vaguely in the chest, and it's good to go" bullet. On the other hand, way more damage than was needed, and had I hit a shoulder, I am confident I would have lost the whole shoulder.

However, the 175 or 162 ELD-Xs is the magic sauce in my 7x57 for accuracy, and the BC of either gets them easily to 700 ish yards north of 1800 FPS/well in the expansion window, so, I'ma stick with em in that gun.