Which Bullets to use? ELD-m "Murder bullets" for everything?

[Liftman101]

I listen to Ryan talk about Murder Bullets. Most of my guns shoot ELD-m the most accurately. Is it really that easy? It would sure save money, space around the house and my time to just use ELD-ms.

My plan:
.223/5.56 77gr TMK or 73 gr ELD-m
6mm ARC 108 gr ELD-m AR rifle with a thermal for hogs
6mm Creedmoor 108 or 109 ELD-m plus some 115gr Dtacs from UM to try
6UM (When I get it) 109 ELD-m and 115gr Dtac
6.5 Creedmoor 140 ELD-m
6.5 PRC 147 ELD-m plus some 156gr EOL to try
308 178gr ELD-m I never shoot 308 anymore but my friend does. I am going to upgrade him from 150gr Core Lokt

These last 3 rifles were purchased recently because I was bored and will eventually be going to Africa next year to hunt antelope and maybe Warthogs. No dangerous game. Bigger calibers to keep the PH happy. They will never get used until right before we go.

30-06 178gr ELD-m For reference the rifle likes Winchester factory 190gr AB LR better
300 PRC 225gr ELD-m
375 H&H Hornady 300gr DGX or maybe some Barnes TSX. Just for fun I ordered a barrel for my Encore I plan to use to make a Hobbit Rifle,

Comments
I see some people say the ELD-m might not be the best for close range as they explode at high velocity. Most of what we shoot here in Florida are Whitetail and Hogs at 150 yards or less. Does that information affect the choice of an ELD-m?

I don't do necropsies or wound analysis but the only real outrageous devastating wound channels I have ever noticed were from a 6.5 Creedmoor shooting a 140gr Nosler Partition and from a 30-06 shooting a Buffalo Bore 150gr Spitzer softpoint at 3100 fps

 

[ljalberta]

You’re good to go with the ELDMs. If you want to tinker and experiment, you can, but no need.

 

[huntnful]

So far I've killed big game with the 225 ELDM, 180 ELDM, 108 ELDM and the 80 ELDM. They've proven themselves enough to me that I have no desire to change at all. They shoot accurately, without a ton of work, and they kill extremely well. I have some copper bullets just because I have to, but I shoot, and will continue to shoot ELDM's for everything else.

 

[Weldor]

I've had the eld-x destroy a ton of meat out of a 6mm CM, switching to eld-m to see if there is a difference. So far for me plain old flat base soft points work great. I hate bloodshot meat. Flat base works good at those ranges. Question does your PH like the 6.5 prc? Thinking of going over, for plains with my prc.

 

[Liftman101]

A 6.5 PRC was my plan until I decided to order a 6UM. Any excuse for a new rifle. The PH likes 30 Cal preferably at least 30-06 for larger animals but they will allow you to take anything because of all the shooting at smaller game. They used a .22 WMR last time to shoot lots of small critters. I will see what he thinks when I want to shoot a 6UM at something big. If Ryan was not joking, he plans to shoot a giraffe with a 6UM next month. That will be a test.

 

[Liftman101]

I have never killed anything with an ELD-m. Mostly ELD-x and random hunting bullets. I always buy ELD-m to test my rifles and to shoot at the range anyway so this would simplify my life.

FYI, my 6 Creedmoor is my go to rifle and it loves the Sierra Gamechanger TGK 100gr. They have worked well. IMO better than the ELD-x.

 

[Juan_ID]

As has already been stated, I don’t think there’s any reason not to use the eldm in whatever size you need. Not a large sample but we’ve killed 7 or 8 mule deer and elk with the 147 out of a 6.5 creed. 1 deer with a 108 anywhere from 55-550+ yards with zero issues. They’ve all died very quickly. Planning to use 80 or 88 a fair bit this year on some deer and elk.

 

[pacoalcracker]

It going to be interesting on how Ryan makes out shooting a giraffe with the 6UM. The bulls are VERY large, VERY thick and pretty difficult to put on the ground. Much larger than an Alaskan moose and much tougher. I'm pretty sure that unless its a head shot its not going to happen with one shot and they do not react to a bullet from anything very quickly. Ive seen them take more than 5 shots at close range in the vitals with a 500 S&W and it took awhile to get him to the ground. They are not elk. I sure hope he isnt using murder bullets.