Who’s used the 75 ELD-M on game?

[turbo406]

Shot a few coyotes from 200 to 678 yards and from i can tell they should be killer on larger game, make a helluva exit hole.

 

[Schmo]

That’ll do!

 

[Chris in TN]

Being the cheapskate that I am, I see that 77TMKs are going for $40+/100 before tax/shipping. I found 75ELDMs for $63 (all in) for 200. So I just bought 200 to try. I will probably get more TMKs for semi-auto use but for the bolt gun I'm gonna at least try the 75eldm.

I sure wish those unbranded 77TMKs were still available at unbranded prices. Don't remember if it was Creedmoor Sports or American Reloading or....ehhh, whatever, don't guess it matters as they're all gone now.

 

[Formidilosus]

Being the cheapskate that I am, I see that 77TMKs are going for $40+/100 before tax/shipping. I found 75ELDMs for $63 (all in) for 200. So I just bought 200 to try. I will probably get more TMKs for semi-auto use but for the bolt gun I'm gonna at least try the 75eldm.

I sure wish those unbranded 77TMKs were still available at unbranded prices. Don't remember if it was Creedmoor Sports or American Reloading or....ehhh, whatever, don't guess it matters as they're all gone now.

To save .9 cents a bullet- less than a buck for a season of killing for almost everyone, you chose to not use the best terminally performing bullet?

 

[Schmo]

To save .9 cents a bullet- less than a buck for a season of killing for almost everyone, you chose to not use the best terminally performing bullet?

I’m not the one trying to save the .9 cents, but the 75 still performs well, has less bearing surface so can be pushed faster, has better wind numbers because of a significantly higher BC. So, why not? If I’m not going to run the 75 out of my 223, then it’d probably be the 88 TMK

 

[Formidilosus]

I’m not the one trying to save the .9 cents, but the 75 still performs well, has less bearing surface so can be pushed faster, has better wind numbers because of a significantly higher BC. So, why not? If I’m not going to run the 75 out of my 223, then it’d probably be the 88 TMK

Because while the ELD-M does ok, the TMK is absolutely the high water mark in consistent .224 bullets terminally. The small increase in BC, nor less bearing surface overcomes the difference in terminal performance, nor do either really change the hit rate.

The 88gr TMK does all of the above.

 

[Schmo]

The 88gr TMK does all of the above.

The 88 out of my 18” 223 @ 2700 fps…

 

[Chris in TN]

To save .9 cents a bullet- less than a buck for a season of killing for almost everyone, you chose to not use the best terminally performing bullet?

It's April. I hope the 200 75ELDMs I just bought are long gone before next deer season.

 

[Schmo]

It's April. I hope the 200 75ELDMs I just bought are long gone before next deer season.

Amen to that

 

[Pilsner]

Been using the 75 grain ELD-M on our small southern whitetails and big ol hogs with good results. High shoulder shots are normally a Bang!Flop. event for the deer. Hogs get head shot.

 

[glock233]

It was ok, but I prefer the 80 grain ELDX and ELDM. Or the 77 TMK. Similar bullets but overall better.

 

[Chris in TN]

My 75ELDMs showed up the other day. Since then I have learned that:

-Both my Lee and RCBS seater plugs leave a ring on them, where they do not with the TMKs or H75BTHPs. It's not just a rubbed spot, it actually can be felt running a fingernail across the ogive. Like a DTAC 'nosering' almost, just smoother. Accuracy testing won't really be done until I get that fixed. If all goes well I'll have it fixed as soon as a glob of JB weld dries. If not, I'll just live with the ring - it would be a false economy to buy a fancy VLD seating die or stem just to save a few bucks on bullets. But I shot a handful anyway at 100 yards and a few at 225 and they seem to shoot the same (both accuracy and POI) as the 75BTHPs.

Here's the unexpected hangup: I expected them to shoot faster than the 75BTHP for any given pressure based on the sleeker shape and less bearing surface. That may still be true but this morning I learned that they make significantly less pressure than the 75BTHP - to the result of the same charge of Varget seated to 2.365" or so making about 2790' with the BTHP but only about 2690' with the ELDM seated to 2.395", which required a different die setting than the 77TMK. I could seat them deeper - way deeper - and maybe mitigate that, but that seems dumb. Or I could add more powder, but they're already going to take up more of the powder space than the BTHP, and the current charge of Varget is awfully crunchy already, so if I had to add a grain I fear that I'd be in the realm where it was possible to see bullets pushing back out of the case, which I've seen with other rifles (specifically my 6.8 using a very full case of a relatively slow powder). So I won't be trying that. I could also go to a faster powder (I have Benchmark) but I'd rather save that for 2.26" loads.

I checked and found that I can still get the 600-count boxes of the Hornady 75BTHP for range use at a much lower price than the TMK and still lower than the ELDMs. That appears to be the 'easy button' going forward; buy the 600-count boxes of 75BTHPs for plinking, buy 77TMKs for hunting, load the TMKs to 2.395" which will feed smoothly in my rifle (I tried 2.400" and had one mild hangup), then load the 75BTHP for plinking and let its OAL fall wherever it is (about 2.365") and not worry about the rest. One die setting, no special seating stem needed. Case full of Varget (to the bottom of the neck), seat bullet, shoot.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Here's the unexpected hangup: I expected them to shoot faster than the 75BTHP for any given pressure based on the sleeker shape and less bearing surface. That may still be true but this morning I learned that they make significantly less pressure than the 75BTHP - to the result of the same charge of Varget seated to 2.365" or so making about 2790' with the BTHP but only about 2690' with the ELDM seated to 2.395", which required a different die setting than the 77TMK. I could seat them deeper - way deeper - and maybe mitigate that, but that seems dumb. Or I could add more powder, but they're already going to take up more of the powder space than the BTHP, and the current charge of Varget is awfully crunchy already, so if I had to add a grain I fear that I'd be in the realm where it was possible to see bullets pushing back out of the case, which I've seen with other rifles (specifically my 6.8 using a very full case of a relatively slow powder). So I won't be trying that. I could also go to a faster powder (I have Benchmark) but I'd rather save that for 2.26" loads.

Perhaps you could play with a different neck tension and/or a crimp on your neck.

 

[Jordan Smith]

My 75ELDMs showed up the other day. Since then I have learned that:

-Both my Lee and RCBS seater plugs leave a ring on them, where they do not with the TMKs or H75BTHPs. It's not just a rubbed spot, it actually can be felt running a fingernail across the ogive. Like a DTAC 'nosering' almost, just smoother. Accuracy testing won't really be done until I get that fixed. If all goes well I'll have it fixed as soon as a glob of JB weld dries. If not, I'll just live with the ring - it would be a false economy to buy a fancy VLD seating die or stem just to save a few bucks on bullets. But I shot a handful anyway at 100 yards and a few at 225 and they seem to shoot the same (both accuracy and POI) as the 75BTHPs.

Here's the unexpected hangup: I expected them to shoot faster than the 75BTHP for any given pressure based on the sleeker shape and less bearing surface. That may still be true but this morning I learned that they make significantly less pressure than the 75BTHP - to the result of the same charge of Varget seated to 2.365" or so making about 2790' with the BTHP but only about 2690' with the ELDM seated to 2.395", which required a different die setting than the 77TMK. I could seat them deeper - way deeper - and maybe mitigate that, but that seems dumb. Or I could add more powder, but they're already going to take up more of the powder space than the BTHP, and the current charge of Varget is awfully crunchy already, so if I had to add a grain I fear that I'd be in the realm where it was possible to see bullets pushing back out of the case, which I've seen with other rifles (specifically my 6.8 using a very full case of a relatively slow powder). So I won't be trying that. I could also go to a faster powder (I have Benchmark) but I'd rather save that for 2.26" loads.

I checked and found that I can still get the 600-count boxes of the Hornady 75BTHP for range use at a much lower price than the TMK and still lower than the ELDMs. That appears to be the 'easy button' going forward; buy the 600-count boxes of 75BTHPs for plinking, buy 77TMKs for hunting, load the TMKs to 2.395" which will feed smoothly in my rifle (I tried 2.400" and had one mild hangup), then load the 75BTHP for plinking and let its OAL fall wherever it is (about 2.365") and not worry about the rest. One die setting, no special seating stem needed. Case full of Varget (to the bottom of the neck), seat bullet, shoot.

A VLD stem is pretty cheap.

Can you seat the ELD-M longer and add more Varget? Around 24.5 gr usually hammers in a few .223s my shooting partners and I have tried it in.

 

[Chris in TN]

Perhaps you could play with a different neck tension and/or a crimp on your neck.

You're probably right, but that quickly gets out of the realm of stuff I care about.

The end goal here, for me, is to have a dirt simple ammo-production process that is as economical as possible (I have to stay within a budget that includes clothes, hunting expenses, and so on, not only for myself but also for three kids) and as painless as possible. It's pretty clear that moving forward I could just buy 600 Hornady 75BTHPs and 100 77TMKs at a time, and that would handle a whole lot of practice and hunting, at a very reasonable price per round average. Also, it would allow me to continue using the same two projectiles I've been using for magazine-length 5.56 loads. I was halfway hoping the ELDM would make it easy to tell bolt gun ammo from semi auto ammo at a glance, due to tip color, but that isn't a huge big deal either, really.

That isn't me saying the 75ELDM is a bad bullet in any way. I'm just reporting on what I'm seeing as I learn a bit about them.

 

[Chris in TN]

A VLD stem is pretty cheap.

Can you seat the ELD-M longer and add more Varget? Around 24.5 gr usually hammers in a few .223s my shooting partners and I have tried it in.

Replacement stems for Hornady dies are very reasonable. Redding only makes them for their expensive micrometer dies (which I don't buy) and RCBS doesn't seem to make them at all, at least not for their regular dies. Hence I'm experimenting right now with JB Weld, and I've learned to temper my expectations on such projects. Maybe it works, maybe not.

I can't seat them any longer due to mag length (2.4" in a Tikka M595) and that would be counterproductive anyway if velocity is a concern. I'm already well above the charge weight you listed, too.

If these were the only bullets I could get, yes, I'd make them work. I enjoy a bit of light experimentation every now and then but I really do try to KISS overall, though, and I'm not sure where these fit in with that in mind.

 

[Formidilosus]

I was halfway hoping the ELDM would make it easy to tell bolt gun ammo from semi auto ammo at a glance, due to tip color, but that isn't a huge big deal either, really.

Why don’t you just load all the ammo the same?

 

[Big_wals]

Replacement stems for Hornady dies are very reasonable. Redding only makes them for their expensive micrometer dies (which I don't buy) and RCBS doesn't seem to make them at all, at least not for their regular dies. Hence I'm experimenting right now with JB Weld, and I've learned to temper my expectations on such projects. Maybe it works, maybe not.

I was dealing with a ring while seating 80 eldms, I seated a bullet in an empty piece of brads, chucked it in a drill, and polished the stem with stropping compound on the bullet. Worked great, just clean your die with brake klean or something similar afterward.

 

[Chris in TN]

Why don’t you just load all the ammo the same?

Because in this case having compatibility between bolt gun and AR simply isn’t a concern. Having a handful of long-seated ammo sitting around isn’t a threat to my defensive plans involving my ARs. I’m
simply loading to the magazine length at hand, taking advantage of the extra capacity, getting a bit closer to the lands (but still way off them with plenty of shank in the case neck).

I’m treating this as if my ARs and bolt gun are two separate platforms that’ll use the same brass resized the same, or as close as two different resizing dies can get, but with a dedicated die set for each, one set to AR mag length, one set to load the TMK to 2.395”. In that regard it’s no different than having two different calibers.

There’s no downside for me. If I needed to make and burn ammo at your scale, I can see where it would be simpler to just standardize everything, but at my scale, and already having two die sets, it’s simply not a bother to do it this way. It’s not really much different than having both .38 and .357. I have different die sets for those too.

Everyone has a pain threshold for ancillary tasks. This is within mine.

 

[Formidilosus]

Because in this case having compatibility between bolt gun and AR simply isn’t a concern. Having a handful of long-seated ammo sitting around isn’t a threat to my defensive plans involving my ARs. I’m
simply loading to the magazine length at hand, taking advantage of the extra capacity, getting a bit closer to the lands (but still way off them with plenty of shank in the case neck).

I’m treating this as if my ARs and bolt gun are two separate platforms that’ll use the same brass resized the same, or as close as two different resizing dies can get, but with a dedicated die set for each, one set to AR mag length, one set to load the TMK to 2.395”. In that regard it’s no different than having two different calibers.

There’s no downside for me. If I needed to make and burn ammo at your scale, I can see where it would be simpler to just standardize everything, but at my scale, and already having two die sets, it’s simply not a bother to do it this way. It’s not really much different than having both .38 and .357. I have different die sets for those too.

Everyone has a pain threshold for ancillary tasks. This is within mine.

Sure- but you still didn’t answer why?