Looking for input on ELD-X bullet performance (w/ field pics)

[Minute_of_Antelope]

Hey guys; I’ve just gotten started reloading and I have a question on the bullet performance and whether I should be looking for more.

First, obviously it did its job because I got a bull down! But this is about maximizing performance where possible.

Shooting a 300 win mag. Getting about 2950fps at the muzzle. 212gr ELD-X

Two shots at 500 yards basically perfect placement. My question is about the bullet recovery on the opposing hide. As you can see from the pic, I recovered the bullet. The cup and core were attached to each other but came apart when I was inspecting the bullet.

I did the gutless method so didn’t do much of a necropsy, but the insides sure seemed liquidy from what I could tell.

I welcome thoughts from you guys on whether this is what I should be expecting from the ELD-X and whether that’sa good thing.

TL;DR: iz bullet gud?

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

That is the kind of bullet performance I am looking for and why I use bergers/eld. Did the elk move much from the location of shot? How long time wise til it died?

It'd be much easier to tell if you opened it up but it looks like perfect performance to me! Carry on and shoot with confidence.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Both my kills with the 143 ELD-X were complete pass throughs, no bullet recovery. Mule deer 2022 at 325 yds, first shot went lower neck, second went double lung. Golf ball sized exit wounds. Didn't go 10 yds.

Second kill was a buddy on a small black bear at 340 yds. First shot through the femur, totally blew it apart. Second shot was under the spine and over the top of the lungs. Another golf ball sized exit. Bear went 30 yds or so before expiring.

 

[Minute_of_Antelope]

That is the kind of bullet performance I am looking for and why I use bergers/eld. Did the elk move much from the location of shot? How long time wise til it died?

It'd be much easier to tell if you opened it up but it looks like perfect performance to me! Carry on and shoot with confidence.

I lost him in the trees so didn’t see how long it took to expire but he was maybe 50 yards from where he was initially hit. And I’m glad to hear it. So Bergers achieved about the same?

 

[Brandon.miller.4]

I lost him in the trees so didn’t see how long it took to expire but he was maybe 50 yards from where he was initially hit. And I’m glad to hear it. So Bergers achieved about the same?

So far, for me, yes. Not nearly as many data points as I have with eld bullets but similar performance.

 

[madcalfe]

seems like the bullet worked as intended. I've shot a fair bit of game with the 178gr eldx in my 300wsm and all have been 1 shot kills. I will say though I switch to accubonds for elk hunting cause all my elk kills have been in thick timber under 100 yards

 

[Ralphie]

At what point in the bull‘s quick death did the bullet fail?

Sorry for the sarcastic remark. I get trying to perfect performance. I like a bullet to exit, but it’s a little hard to argue that when the bull didn’t go real far and apparently died quickly.

 

[Minute_of_Antelope]

At what point in the bull‘s quick death did the bullet fail?

Sorry for the sarcastic remark. I get trying to perfect performance. I like a bullet to exit, but it’s a little hard to argue that when the bull didn’t go real far and apparently died quickly.

I’m not criticizing the performance I just don’t know enough to know whether this is optimal which is why I’m asking.

I would’ve expected an exit honestly, but at 500 yds, perhaps it’s not realistic. And I assume this is better than a bullet fragmenting?

 

[sodaksooner]

No post mortem pics, but shot my deer this year with a 178 eldx, 300wm, 3100 fps muzzle velocity. 220 yards Front shoulder hit. Bullet pretty much vaporized. very small fragments into opposite shoulder, no exit wound. Entire front shoulder gone and opposite side had some significant damage. Gutless so didn't look at the heart/lungs, but he only went 3 feet.....straight down. Great for deer, but might rethink for elk.

 

[Minute_of_Antelope]

No post mortem pics, but shot my deer this year with a 178 eldx, 300wm, 3100 fps muzzle velocity. 220 yards Front shoulder hit. Bullet pretty much vaporized. very small fragments into opposite shoulder, no exit wound. Entire front shoulder gone and opposite side had some significant damage. Gutless so didn't look at the heart/lungs, but he only went 3 feet.....straight down. Great for deer, but might rethink for elk.

Why re-think for elk?

 

[sodaksooner]

Just more to get through on an elk. Worried about penetration before blowing up... FWIW, I don't rifle hunt a lot and every deer I have ever shot has been with a 257 Roberts (117 gr Sierras) with full pass throughs and quick ends to the deer. I only remember one deer that I didn't get a pass through but it obviously never did this much damage. Just really has me thinking about penetration on a shoulder hit on an elk. Might just be overthinking it.

 

[ridensnow23]

I've heard guys complain about them saying the deer traveled far after the shot. Usually when guys complain like that it is because they're using tough bullets like a Sierra Game King. Eld is a cup and core bullet with a ballistic tip. Usually the complaint with this type of construction is too much expansion/fragmentation. If it expanded and held together then I'd say it worked well.

 

[Formidilosus]

Just more to get through on an elk. Worried about penetration before blowing up... FWIW, I don't rifle hunt a lot and every deer I have ever shot has been with a 257 Roberts (117 gr Sierras) with full pass throughs and quick ends to the deer. I only remember one deer that I didn't get a pass through but it obviously never did this much damage. Just really has me thinking about penetration on a shoulder hit on an elk. Might just be overthinking it.

You are overthinking it. They’re nothing special or difficult about an elks chest including the “shoulder”. That’s a myth made up and passed around as fact, that shows to be a joke when you actually take one apart, measure the anatomy, and look at the bones. Elk are large animals but they are slab sided and not that much wider than a decent size deer.

 

[Yellowknife]

I've used a fair number of 30 cal ELDX on larger game (i.e. moose, caribou, goat, etc) now. When I catch one (<50% of the time), it's almost always on the off side hide, and the lead and jacket are loose or have been separated exactly how the OP shows.

I'd have no concerns with that performance. They make a mess of the insides and kill as fast as any bullet I've used. I've never had one come up short on penetration, and that includes multiple Alaska size moose shoulders. Only "issue" is that you can expect slightly above average bloodshot meat and some lead fragments to pick out. That's consistent with most modern tipped lead core bullets, included some bonded ones.

 

[Minute_of_Antelope]

I've used a fair number of 30 cal ELDX on larger game (i.e. moose, caribou, goat, etc) now. When I catch one (<50% of the time), it's almost always on the off side hide, and the lead and jacket are loose or have been separated exactly how the OP shows.

I'd have no concerns with that performance. They make a mess of the insides and kill as fast as any bullet I've used. I've never had one come up short on penetration, and that includes multiple Alaska size moose shoulders. Only "issue" is that you can expect slightly above average bloodshot meat and some lead fragments to pick out. That's consistent with most modern tipped lead core bullets, included some bonded ones.

You’re exactly right on that count, seemed like a decent amount of bloodshot

 

[eod.mickelson]

Ive shot an antelope, bear, two deer, and two elk ranging from 70-720 yards with the 143s and 162s. The antelope had a 6.5mm entry and 6.5mm exit hole at 250 yards out of a creedmoor (but it dropped dead on the spot somehow), the bear was at 720 and also had a bullet diameter entry and exit, no bone hit, but the heart took a hit and he died about 20 yards away. One elk had a diameter entry and a slight slight increased size exit, 620 yards, and one had the bullet recovered in the far hide much like the OPs at 490 yards. Every animal I shot with them died and died pretty quickly, but the lack of expansion a few times was always concerning to me.

 

[Formidilosus]

Ive shot an antelope, bear, two deer, and two elk ranging from 70-720 yards with the 143s and 162s. The antelope had a 6.5mm entry and 6.5mm exit hole at 250 yards out of a creedmoor (but it dropped dead on the spot somehow), the bear was at 720 and also had a bullet diameter entry and exit, no bone hit, but the heart took a hit and he died about 20 yards away. One elk had a diameter entry and a slight slight increased size exit, 620 yards, and one had the bullet recovered in the far hide much like the OPs at 490 yards. Every animal I shot with them died and died pretty quickly, but the lack of expansion a few times was always concerning to me.

They’re expanding. They bullets are expanding/fragmenting, the jacket of folding back on itself and has a narrow frontal diameter- that’s why’s you are seeing small exits.

 

[Touchdown88]

I shot a mule deer last year at 312 yard with a 300 WBY, 212 eld-x and mv of 2850. The buck was facing me on a downhill shot. There was a lot of internal destruction from his butthole forward. I never found the bullet but I wasn't looking too terribly hard either.

 

[Montane]

I've shot two bulls with a 300 PRC using ELD-X 212s at 2920 FPS (ADG, N570, GM 215M). The first bull (the one in my profile pic) was at 390 yards and was a bang flop. It had a small entrance hole and no exit. The second bull was shot at 60 yards with a softball sized entrance and no exit. That bull went about 100 yards. So a small sample size but they both were effective with one shot recovered bulls. Was happier with the longer shot than the 60 yard shot which seemed to blow up on the surface but it still resulted in a dead bull so can't really complain.

 

[freediver111]

Just got back from a moose hunt and I have nothing but awesome experiences with the ELD-X. My 300 wsm shooting 212’s at 2800 fps took one shot flop kills on a bull moose and two black bear. Shots were 160 yds, 25 feet, and 60 yards respectively. So yeah, all close shots that made some big wound channels and picking the right spot was no issue at those distances/conditions.

In addition to this most recent hunt, I’ve taken deer, elk, and bear with either 143’s out of a 6.5 creed and my 212’s in the 300 wsm. Ranges from 350 yards to 730 yds. Never had an issue with their performance as far as I could tell. Recovered three bullets total and the rest were pass throughs, including the moose which I purposely aimed high shoulder and it was lights out immediately.


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