6.5 mm 140 ELD-M vs 143 ELD-X Dimensions?

[menhaden_man]

I've seen a bit online about good/bad/ugly on the Hornady ELD line... The two questions I had was (1) how consistent are they and (2) how are they different in size for reloading purposes. I randomly plucked ten of each and measured them while drinking coffee this morning. Figured I'd share since they're popular bullets and maybe this'll be a useful distraction to some sucker like myself.

Both rounds are pretty consistent, at least for the two lots here. The middle 80% had 0.37 grains or less in weight difference and the middle 80% of dimensions (overall length, base to ogive, and tip, the difference of the two) were within 6 thousands of an inch. The ELD-X was slightly more consistent, but probably splitting hairs.

Not sure how much the 3.3 gr difference in weight will change velocity, and the 0.057" in length seems like a bit but 0.023" in tip length (ELD-X is longer) may not amount to much. I've got a great load in ELD-X and will compare that to ELD-M over the chronograph and on paper once I quit goofing off with my son's rifle and a new 7 RM.

Maybe a waste of my time but it's good to rule things out in case I see something off. I don't have many rifles that shoot much over 3,000 fps so suppose I don't have to worry about any of these vaporizing in flight (no BS, look it up).

Measure	Stat	ELD-M	ELD-X	Difference
Weight (gr)	Min	139.90​	143.22​
	Mean	140.08​	143.39​	3.31​
	Max	140.28​	143.56​
	Middle 80%	0.37​	0.32​
OAL (in)	Min	1.375​	1.434​
	Mean	1.379​	1.436​	0.057​
	Max	1.381​	1.439​
	Middle 80%	0.006​	0.005​
BTO (in)	Min	0.745​	0.780​
	Mean	0.747​	0.781​	0.034​
	Max	0.748​	0.782​
	Middle 80%	0.003​	0.002​
TIP (in)	Min	0.629​	0.653​
	Mean	0.632​	0.655​	0.023​
	Max	0.634​	0.657​
	Middle 80%	0.005​	0.004​

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

Answers:

1.) Not very consistent just like you proved.
2.) They are different in size as shown above.

You are welcome. Have a nice day.

 

[menhaden_man]

Answers:

1.) Not very consistent just like you proved.
2.) They are different in size as shown above.

You are welcome. Have a nice day.

Knew that wouldn't take long on this forum... thanks for your thoughtful insights.

What would someone consider consistent? These don't seem too inconsistent to me but then again I've never measured my bullets to check.

And it's obvious that they're different in size, was curious from a reloading perspective in switching between the two since many of us use CBTO and charge.

 

[fightthenoise]

Looks plenty consistent to me. If they weren’t consistent, they wouldn’t shoot well, and I don’t think anyone can really argue that either of these bullets don’t shoot well considering the preponderance of evidence that they do. They are also similar enough that I would try to shoot them with the same load data before starting load development all over again. Might get lucky and save some components and time.