My Results with Hornady ELD X bullets. Not Great. Pics.

I was suspect of shock until four .300 Ultras showed up last year outfitting, one Dogleg's. Zero question there's something to it as each of those critters up to grizzly collapsed as if hit by lighting. I don't think it's something you can rely on, but it's sure a neat trick that is admirably repeatable with good placement. Made my effective but rather tame 7x57 look a mite old fashioned for on game effect.
 
Not a big concern on a grizzly bear... And the lighting strike is sure an appreciated trick with the guides for a mountain goat that can go from an okay place to retrieve to the rim of hell with one death leap. The ultra fasts and shock have their place and I'm eating my hat here, spent years preaching heavy bullets and moderate cartridges. Cussed Roy Weatherby for a long time and now I'm courting him.
 


I'm a firm believer in good 'ol cup-n-core projectiles....

300wm, 190gr Hornady BTSP. Bull Moose @ 70y on opening morning of the draw season October 1.

One hit a rib, one didn't. Not much left of the lungs, and one clipped the heart.

One projectile weighed 121gr, the other weighed 122. Both were recovered in the hide on the off side.

Yes there was meat damage, but not a terrible amount. There would have been had it been hit the front shoulder!

Cheers!
 
I have seen a few reports of people being unhappy with the results of the ELD-X on game animals. in various calibers and bullet weights. If I want a higher BC bullet for big game hunting, I will stick with the Accubond LR, as they seem to hold together better. That being said, my go to hunting bullet is still the TTSX.
 
Betty-Lou said:
Right bullet, wrong distance. Or wrong bullet, right distance.
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Here's my thoughts. Unless you are hunting sheep or goats, a premium bullet should be designed to perform at any range. Or else why spend the extra money ? I am trending now towards the Barnes TSX/TTSX type projectile. I know they work at most practical ranges. A custom designed bullet made to perform at longer ranges should not fail to perform at shorter distances. Even though I never thought 87 yards was close range.

These are my thoughts and my thoughts only and are not intended to disagree or be confused with anyone else's thoughts .
 
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MustangFrank said:
Here's my thoughts. Unless you are hunting sheep or goats, a premium bullet should be designed to perform at any range. Or else why spend the extra money ? I am trending now towards the Barnes TSX/TTSX type projectile. I know they work at most practical ranges. A custom designed bullet made to perform at longer ranges should not fail to perform at shorter distances. Even though I never though 87 yards was close range.

These are my thoughts and my thoughts only and are not intended to disagree or be confused with anyone else's thoughts .
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the barnes tsx bullets are not designed as long range bullets, their BC is not even close to the Long Range ELD-X. The ELD-X's are purposely designed for long range hunting and hence should be used accordingly.

This scenario is more of a hunter fail than a bullet failure....just my 2 cents.
 
MustangFrank said:
Here's my thoughts. Unless you are hunting sheep or goats, a premium bullet should be designed to perform at any range. Or else why spend the extra money ? I am trending now towards the Barnes TSX/TTSX type projectile. I know they work at most practical ranges. A custom designed bullet made to perform at longer ranges should not fail to perform at shorter distances. Even though I never though 87 yards was close range.

These are my thoughts and my thoughts only and are not intended to disagree or be confused with anyone else's thoughts .
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He tried putting with a 1 wood, live and learn, and not a lot on the shelf at Wholesale explaining the ELD-X is meant for lower impact speeds.

Each tool has its place, the TTSX / TSX isn't the be all end all, and falls way short of the ELD-X in certain applications.
 
It worked. The percentage of hunting situations that require a bullet with a better bc than a TTSX/GMX are small, it so are the ones needing a 375...
 
Giving the OP some credit it seems Hornady does promote the ELD-X as an "All-Range" multipurpose bullet.

Hornady Manufacturing said:
Extend your range and never compromise at any distance!
ELD-X® (Extremely Low Drag - eXpanding)
The ELD-X bullet is a technologically advanced, match accurate, ALL-RANGE hunting bullet featuring highest-in-class ballistic coefficients and consistent, controlled expansion at ALL practical hunting distances.

All commonly used polymer tips in high BC bullets melt in flight.Hornady engineers discovered that commonly used bullet tip materials in streamlined, high BC bullets melt and deform. Although not a significant issue affecting moderate BC conventional tipped varmint and hunting bullets, aerodynamic heating causes BC reduction and degradation of accuracy, particularly at extended ranges (400 yds +). To counter this effect, Hornady identified a heat resistant polymer and developed the Heat Shield tip. This revolutionary new tip creates the perfect meplat (tip) with exceptionally consistent results from bullet-to-bullet and lot-to-lot.

At conventional range (0-400 yards), the ELD-X bullet is designed to continually expand throughout its penetration path. Upon impact the thin nose section of the bullet peels back and sheds material until it reaches the thick shank of the bullet jacket where the InterLock ring works to keep the core and jacket together. The remaining heavy shank of the bullet continues to drive forward and expand for extremely lethal results.

Upon contact at extended range (400 + yards), the Heat Shield tip drives backward into the carefully designed nose cavity to begin the expansion process. At these lower velocities, the ELD-X bullet exhibits conventional expansion characteristics with a large mushroom and high retained weight ensuring deep penetration and large wound cavities.

Available as component bullets or in factory loaded ELD-X Precision Hunter ammunition, ELD-X bullets are "heavy caliber" and designed for maximum ballistic coefficients, the highest levels of accuracy, consistency and extreme lethality at ALL practical hunting distances.
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hawk-i said:
the barnes tsx bullets are not designed as long range bullets, their BC is not even close to the Long Range ELD-X. The ELD-X's are purposely designed for long range hunting and hence should be used accordingly.

This scenario is more of a hunter fail than a bullet failure....just my 2 cents.
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That's real funny. However I think there are a lot of dead animals that might disagree with your "theory".
 
Available as component bullets or in factory loaded ELD-X Precision Hunter ammunition, ELD-X bullets are "heavy caliber" and designed for maximum ballistic coefficients, the highest levels of accuracy, consistency and extreme lethality at ALL practical hunting distances.

This is from Hornady. I think they failed and not the hunter. I would love to see some more real life results from actual hunters.
 
The market for long range bullets and equipment is hot right now, and much of the advertising and sales literature is read by people who shouldn't even fantasize about shooting game at the ranges where this equipment is optimized for. One can even argue a case that nobody should be doing it, but that's a whole 'nuther topic. There's a pretty good hint in the name, as ELD X does stand for extreme long distance expanding but I don't know if they do a good enough job of spelling that out. Heck, I even have a beef with specialty long range hunting bullets being put into factory ammo at all. Come-on, extreme range and factory ammo? For the sake of argument, extreme long range is often defined as 1000+, and target shooters have been using over 600 as the definition of long range for years.

There's quite a market in boutique ammo with what was considered match bullets not too long ago. I guess as long as people keep buying it, they'll keep making it.
 
Meat loss is much greater when you miss. You have meat in the freezer, I'd say the bullets and shooter did their job.

Russ...
 
Good news. Cabellas had The Barnes back in stock so I stocked up. Done.

They also had some boutique bullets from HSM loaded with Berger VLD hunting bullets ( over $ 80 / box ). I was curious if anyone has experience with the VLD hunting bullets. Wait for it.....they are long range bullets.:confused: But I am curious to here from a couple guys here who obviously have a lot of real life experience and knowledge. Not the keyboard hunters.
 
BigUglyMan said:
You cocked it up on a couple of levels...
1) You shot a moose at close range with a bullet designed for long range
2) You launched the bullet out of a magnum cambering
3) You shot a moose in the shoulder. At 80 yards. With a 300 WM. And a LR bullet.

Now you blame the bullet? You are the sole sentient being in the equation (excepting the moose, I'm sure if he had a vote he'd have been elsewhere for the test). And because of your bad decision you had to keep pumping rounds into the animal to kill it, likely destroying more meat in the process. Time to man up and retitle the thread to "My results with ####ty shot placement and an inappropriate bullet".
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I was gonna lay into ya, but BUM sums it up perfectly

I think you went wrong focusing on "premium factory." You'd be far better served with PPs or Core Lokts than the premium bullet you chose... if not just a sported .303 if that's your typical moose engagement range.

Unless you're shooting A.a.gigas regularly, or other moose from over 300 yards, .300WM is totally unnecessary. Moose die easy, .303 or even .30-30 broadside is enough within 150 yards.
 
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