Hornady 340gr .50cal ELD-X Bore Driver

[ElDiablito]

Interesting you couldn't find any of the bases, as they're supposed to stick with the bullet per CO regs that they made these for. Hopefully they look at the "intent" of the design if they fall off consistently. I got some in yesterday and they do seem to pop off without much effort...

Not sure what you’re referring to in the CO regs - the “sabots” restriction or the .50 cal min (for some species)?

 

[Shō[t]gun]

Not sure what you’re referring to in the CO regs - the “sabots” restriction or the .50 cal min (for some species)?

The sabot restriction. These are supposed to be like the Federal Bor-locks where the base stays with the bullet so it isn't considered a sabot.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

I pushed these through my TC Triumph with the stock ramrod and it didn't cause any damage at all. It's a pretty sturdy tip. It only took about 5lbs of pressure the whole way down so that helps a lot. I'll update with dirty bore pressure when I get these out to the range.

 

[ElDiablito]

The sabot restriction. These are supposed to be like the Federal Bor-locks where the base stays with the bullet so it isn't considered a sabot.

I see your point but haven’t heard that argument made. My thinking is that a “sabot” takes up the space between a sub-caliber bullet and the bore. Not really how these are designed. These obturate into the rifling and the base is just there to act as a wad and to keep the bullet on the powder.

You can see the land impression on this piece of recovered jacket.



Technically, you would have to argue that the base is part of the bullet if you used these for elk as the shank of the bullet itself only measures about .499 (not .50) before firing.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

Apparently they approved the bore-driver FTX which is also .499
I can't find anything from Hornady about whether the base is supposed to stick with the bullet or fall away. It makes more sense to detach right away for consistent ballistics but I thought that engaging the rifling made it a "sabot" (ish) in Colorado which is why the bor-lock was designed the way it was. Maybe theirs had to stay with it because it did cover a portion of the bullet shank while the bore-driver is strictly a wad.

EDIT: I just listened to their podcast (I hate company podcasts) about the bullet and the skirt is supposed to fall off in the first 18" out of the muzzle and that doesn't make it illegal in CO.

 

[ElDiablito]

Yeah, the BOR Lock is basically a non-discarding saboted bullet but I think the reason CO approved it is because the bullet itself is .001 under .50 (basically full-bore) and may engage the rifling a little upon obturation.

I would hope the base is coming off these ELD-Xs.

 

[Shō[t]gun]

Yeah, the BOR Lock is basically a non-discarding saboted bullet but I think the reason CO approved it is because the bullet itself is .001 under .50 (basically full-bore) and may engage the rifling a little upon obturation.

I would hope the base is coming off these ELD-Xs.

Just updated my last post. The bases are gone right out of the muzzle. Looking forward to sending some downrange. Your results are encouraging for the velocity numbers I was hoping for.

 

[ElDiablito]

Interested in others’ results so be sure to let us know.

 

[resident vs nonresident]

I remember seeing few of the bases/skirts on the ground maybe 10-20ft in front of shooting bench

 

[ckleeves]

I shot a bunch of them this week and the bases end up about 10 yds from the muzzle out of my muzzy.

 

[5MilesBack]

I ordered some of these to try, but I also have a bunch of Fury's. My daughter will shoot whatever shoots the best for her. I also picked up some Triple Seven and some round balls so she can get some trigger time with reduced loads, without wasting a bunch of my BH and expensive bullets.

 

[buckeye_optics]

We just got our shipment this week, I haven't tried them yet but planning to this year for Colorado.

Here is the link.

Hornady ELD-X 50 Caliber 340 GR Muzzleloader Bullets (Box of 12)

 

[IrkedCitizen]

We got some in hand. This weekend we will shoot

 

[resident vs nonresident]

I decided to Hold mine till next year and not shoot them right now as I only have deer and Pronghorn muzzy tags this season. So 290 which I’ve been shooting will do just fine.

 

[WVelkhunter]

Has anyone killed anything with these yet? I've got an elk h7nt coming up real soon and these bullets shoot amazing in my encore, but I'm leaning towards a 290 Barnes because of how fragile the eldx seems to be. But, it's hard to give up the accuracy of the eldx!

 

[5MilesBack]

Has anyone killed anything with these yet?

My daughter shot her cow moose with one of these, one shot through the lungs and done.....under 50 yards. They are accurate, was impressed at the range.

She reloaded after the first shot, and then I pushed the bullet out with the powder when we got home. And in my CVA Accura V2 even at .499" there are rifling marks on the copper jackets from loading.

 

[RaggedHunter]

My buddy and I have played with these a bit. We are running them out of a paramount pro. We've been shooting both these and the Fury's doing a lot of going back and fourth on which bullet to use. The Fury's shoot very good, but so far from what I've seen, the ELDXs shoot right with them.

My buddy had a Co muzzleloader tag a couple weeks ago and he used the ELDX's on his hunt. He took a big bull 1st shot at 200, 2nd shot at 250, the bullets appeared to perform well.

I have a late November muzzleloader elk hunt coming up, and I am still on the fence as to which bullet to use. I went out shooting yesterday. at 200 yards, both the Fury and the ELDX hit the same. I stretched it out to 300, there was a pretty good left right cross wind. Both the Fury and the ELDX hit 8" to the right. The ELDX hit about 1.5" higher than the Fury at this distance. But I don't know if this can be attributed to the higher BC or just my shooting, as 300 yards is pushing the limits on my comfort zone with open sights. But from what I've seen, I'm not sure inside of 300 yards out of a paramount, that there is really any ballistic advantage to be gained by going with the ELDX, that paramount is surprisingly flat shooting. If you were shooting them out of a more traditional inline at slower velocities, this ballistic advantage may come into play more.

I have a pretty easy 1st rifle cow tag coming up in a couple of weeks. I am debating using this muzzleloader on that hunt just to see how everything works, it would be a good opportunity to get some more real world results on bullet performance, however I haven't yet decided which bullet I want to use. I'll post back with any additional results I get.

 

[Live_weighT34]

So it’s been a while since the original post BUT I have shot the eldx this fall and I’m impressed. Just shooting them out of a CVA Optima V2 with 105gr by weight BH209 and magnum 209 primers I was getting sub 2” groups at 100 yards and a 5 shot spread on a lab radar was between 1982-2075 fps. Nothing to report on how they perform on a deer or elk but they shoot amazing!

 

[Underpup2]

Interested to see if there any other on game performance

 

[Underpup2]

Interested to see if there any other on game performance

Sorry hit post on accident before I got it typed out. Anyways I'm interested in how the have preformed on game. Seems like there plenty of info on how they do on paper but what I have seen on this thread is all the info I can find on actual terminal performance. I'm mostly interested in whitetails(sized game) but all info would be nice