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.

 

[Nuts]

I was definitely a 6.5 ney sayer. (Sp?) But my hunting partner of 30 years swore by it. I joked that all he had to do was pull it out and fire. Somewhere the intended game dropped in its tracks. That was the hype. We'll 3yrs later after seeing elk, caribou, moose, and countless whitetail drop I bought one. Is it for everyone. Idk. But shooting choice ammo in 142 accubond and 143 Hornady I am sold. In the hands of a competent shooter and knowing its limits a good choice. No more beating up my body with the 7mm and 338. Helpful in this process was a bad right arm/ shoulder work injury that made the magnums hurt. The kids can shoot it all day. Get good. Kill most game.

 

[coleL]

I personally am not a huge fan of ELD-X. I don't have a 6.5, but I've been using the 150 grain in a 7mm-08 and haven't had great performance. I had to shoot a cow elk 4 times at 80 yards because they kept fragmenting. Super bloodshot meat as well.

 

[Elktrack]

The ELD-X is not designed for short range. It’s a target bullet that became acceptable when people started shootin longer ranges. It’s a crappy bullet for game animals. It explodes at high velocity and does not penetrate at closer range shots. Yes, there’s a lot of dead critters that disagree with me but it’s still a sub par game bullet.

 

[slatebuilder]

My wife shot a whitetail buck this afternoon. 260 Remington with a 143eldx. The bullet smashed the onside humerus, took out the heart, smashed the humerus/scapula joint area on the exit side, and exited at 85ish yards. This is her second such experience in as many attempts with that rifle and bullet, only last year the distance was 59-60 yards. In both instances the deer dropped dead in its tracks. Very impressive wounds on both occasions.

 

[brockel]

The ELD-X is not designed for short range. It’s a target bullet that became acceptable when people started shootin longer ranges. It’s a crappy bullet for game animals. It explodes at high velocity and does not penetrate at closer range shots. Yes, there’s a lot of dead critters that disagree with me but it’s still a sub par game bullet.

It was actually designed as a hunting bullet from the very beginning. The eldm is the target bullet

 

[MTLabrador]

While they might not always have the kind of terminal performance that’s desirable for every situation, the ELD-M and Amax are both designed to be very effective killers, they’re just not marketed that way to hunters. Look at the Hornady LE site and you’ll see that those target bullets are tested to the FBI protocols for terminal performance. The .308 168 grain Amax in particular is very popular for that use.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I personally am not a huge fan of ELD-X. I don't have a 6.5, but I've been using the 150 grain in a 7mm-08 and haven't had great performance. I had to shoot a cow elk 4 times at 80 yards because they kept fragmenting. Super bloodshot meat as well.

Did they not get to/through vitals? Because fragmenting = more terminal damage.

 

[brockel]

I personally am not a huge fan of ELD-X. I don't have a 6.5, but I've been using the 150 grain in a 7mm-08 and haven't had great performance. I had to shoot a cow elk 4 times at 80 yards because they kept fragmenting. Super bloodshot meat as well.

I’ve watched a cow elk soak up four 200 grain accubonds started at 3200fps. Sometimes elk are that way

 

[coleL]

Did they not get to/through vitals? Because fragmenting = more terminal damage.

The first one was a high lung shot, the 2nd was a liver.

 

[coleL]

Did they not get to/through vitals? Because fragmenting = more terminal damage.

It hit them, just not very deep at all.

 

[brockel]

The first one was a high lung shot, the 2nd was a liver.

Lots of fragmentation into the lungs sounds like perfection to me for what I want in a bullet. This is why these bullet conversations are fun. Everyone has different expectations for what they want a bullet to do.

 

[coleL]

Lots of fragmentation into the lungs sounds like perfection to me for what I want in a bullet. This is why these bullet conversations are fun. Everyone has different expectations for what they want a bullet to do.

I like my bullets to stay together but expand and cause big wound channels and not fragment, but that's just me...

 

[Forkyfinder]

I like my bullets to stay together but expand and cause big wound channels and not fragment, but that's just me...

What do you suppose causes a bigger "wound channel" something that penetrates into the vitals and fragments with no exit - or something that makes a half dollar exit?

 

[brockel]

I like my bullets to stay together but expand and cause big wound channels and not fragment, but that's just me...

Guess it depends on what you consider big wound channels but a fragmenting bullet will always have a larger wound channels.