143 gr. Eldx precision hunter 6.5 creedmoor

[MTLabrador]

I feel that way at times about them too. I like shooting smaller calibers so hate to give up some of the wound diameter with a tougher bullet in those cases but i also dont like the mess that sometimes accompanies hitting heavy bone like spine/femur/humerus with them.

Most of the stuff i shot with centerfires before paying attention much was with core lokts, federal power shock (blue box), or whatever cheap soft point boattails they had on the rack and I cant recall ever hitting spine or at least not noting it much. I've hit a few animals in the spine with ELDs and little parts of bullet may have exited but never a significant exit wound. It's always an immediate animal stopper though. I think Ballistic tips are tougher bullets than Eldx, I'd probably use them instead if I didn't care about BC.

I shot the 200 grain ELD-X for a season and they killed well but were too much of a good thing for my taste and ruined a lot of meat. Ballistic tips are a phenomenal all around bullet for a balance of wound channel vs penetration without excessive meat damage. Pretty similar to a core lokt in terminal performance, which I consider to be a good thing. I’ve even had great results with the .30 180 and .270 150 SSTs I’ve used. Shot this year’s buck with a 150 SST with a sharp quartering away shot that exited in front of the off shoulder, dropped in his tracks with no excessive meat loss and a 1” or so exit wound.

I do notice that the animals I shoot with all of the above bullets that might tend to fragment a little do not travel far, if at all, after the shot. They all kill extremely well.

 

[Lasiocarpa]

I prefer the eld-m. Eld-xs come apart easier in my experience.