Thread: 162gn ELDX not expanding

Mate put 2 shots into a big red stag at 130yds with a 6.5 creedmoor shooting the 143gr ELD-X precision hunter. First shot neck then managed to put one into the body as it ran off. Spent 3hrs looking for it and could not find it despite finding blood, fat and bone

Yeap they are average. 4 stags 4 shots yesterday using vlds. 10m 120m 30m and 200mno dramas

Originally Posted by superdiver

Mate put 2 shots into a big red stag at 130yds with a 6.5 creedmoor shooting the 143gr ELD-X precision hunter. First shot neck then managed to put one into the body as it ran off. Spent 3hrs looking for it and could not find it despite finding blood, fat and bone

No offence to you mate, or you, but if he put one in the neck and it ran off, that's because he missed the spine.

Originally Posted by Pongo12

Yeap they are average. 4 stags 4 shots yesterday using vlds. 10m 120m 30m and 200mno dramas

I'll say this Pongo, you might like the VLDs, all power to you, but fact is that its quite a divisive bullet with an iffy reputation. That Berger design is fussy as... we refused to use VLDs on our property after failures to expand at longer ranges, and lost deer. We proved to our satisfaction at least it was down to bullet design, not shooter error. I've got a stack of info on that particular design... not really looking to go into battle on it here... but I might change my mind.



That said, my view is that 80% of the time, hunters blame their bullets for fuck ups. Natural enough... More often than not because they are too hard and don't expand if they meet low resistance- usually a case of hitting too far back. Shot placement is everything. Yes there are some general principles to abide by when selecting bullets for our game animals, but our goats and deer are neither too small or too large to cause many problems, and they are pretty easy to kill with anything from a 40gr SP out of a .22-250, to a 500gr cast boolit out of a .45-70 Govt.... As long as the bullet goes in the right place...

Actual test data, interesting reading, our failures to expand were with 7mm VLDs at around 550m-600m:

https://www.fieldandstream.com/long-...hootout#page-2

For every fail we read about here, there must be hundreds if not thousands of successful clean kills, that's my take on it.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

No offence to you mate, or you, but if he put one in the neck and it ran off, that's because he missed the spine.

Yeah no offence taken. Still put a 2nd shot in and it didn't slow it down

Fair enough and theres equal argument saying vlds are great killers etc but yea same old blah blah when it comes to bullets and calibres. Still gotta hit em in the good spots.
opinions are like arseholes, everyone has one.

Nosler partition....job done.....

Great bullet for close to medium ranges but there are better for further out.

the issues guys are talking about ARE short to medium range LOL.

Originally Posted by Flyblown

I'd like to see a photo of the different ELD-X weights & calibres all sectioned, from lightest to heaviest, to see if there is a measurable difference in jacket thickness on the 7mm, specifically if it is drawn thinner on the ogive. Just curious to see if there is anything obvious that would explain why we get this feedback. If someone can section a single 7mm pill and photograph it, I can do the 6.5 and .30 here, and compile a little montage to see if we can see any differences.

Would be good if someone can do the 200gr 30 cal as well. Photograph them on a white sheet of paper.

sectioned the 178 30 cal yesterday for my own interest. It would actually be a pretty handy thread to start for choosing a projectile for load dev - not just ELD-X's but all popular projectiles.

OK fellas, who has got a photo of the 162gr 7mm???

Mooseman has sent me the 200gr .30cal... I have the 6.5 143 gr.

Thanks @7mm Rem Mag but its sectioned bullet photos we're after.

I've had some pretty average results with the 200gr eldx in 300 win mag too. Way too many runners with the bang on shot placement. Shocking when your 16inch 308 is folding them better than a 300 win mag. Got rid of them now.

Sierra Pro-hunters are my choice, and a big stag full of adrenalin, can go a long way if not shot in the spine or head, or a shoulder taken out. I know Sierras can be a bit frangible at speed, close-up, but it works in your favour if shot-placement is good. Then further-out, they expand nicely. I havent tried their Game-Kings, which theoretically should be better at the longer ranges. A tight-budget means I have to make what I've got work, and its working so far. A through-shot on the neck, would have kicked-in the adrenalin, and 4-intact-legs would get him a long-way depending on terrain .They can go an easy 100m with no heart left even.