Thread: .308 178gr ELD-M Load development questions

Hey all

I have a .308 Rem 700 SPS 20' barrel with a maniatis can.

My max COAL is 2.82" dictated by the internal mag length which puts me about .12" off the lands with the eld-m projectile I want to use which I guess is quite a jump.

I am currently getting good results out of the 165gr SST with 42.5gr of 2206H 2.82" coal and the Sierra 165gr HPBT with 42.5gr 2206H 2.82 coal putting me .03 off the lands but found that the SST were going straight through animals after the 400m mark so thought I should see what else I can brew up. A mate suggested the ELD-M

Has anyone used the ELD-M for hunting, if so is the 2206H suitable powder and what sort of powder weights have you been using.

I noticed that the loads I brewed up today 40.5gr 2206H up to 42.5gr 2.82 coal were compressing the powder after 41gr. How will this affect the pressures?
Feel free to tell me I have cocked something up if you reckon I have, I would rather know before I start testing the loads, and will keep a good eye on pressure signs as I work up from 40.5
I have a funny feeling that my REM has its limitations with regards to the ELD projectiles.

All info and suggestions welcome.

Strider

go and have a look at terminal ballistics research.....ELD-M is basically a new AMax.... plenty of info there in knowledge base
the .308 winchester WAS DESIGNED to have freebore......yes thats what I ment to type...you seat projectiles for maximum concintricity as its going to have a wee spacewalk BEFORE it contacts rifling....
go to range and see what they shoot like,I firmly believe we over think things at times.2206h is a pretty chunky powder so case capacity will be taken up sooner than say with win 748.... there are heaps of lightly compressed loads in manuals....take care and watch for pressure signs as you go.
hope that helps....I load mild loads and just go shoot stuff with my .308...my poohseventy Ive owned for enough years I can stoke up as know its likes and limits.

My friend is using 178 eld-m in his Sako A7 308. I'm not sure what his load is, but it certainly smacks the animals over. Pretty sure he's taken animals over 600yds with it.

I’ve used both AR2208 and 2206H with 178gr ELD-X with my .308. Both performed just fine though I did notice quite a bit more kick with the faster 2206H.
@mickeyduck is 100% correct with the freebore comments, and for that reason I generally seat mine according to the book COAL. However, I do have a batch of ELD-X that I seated 0.030” off the lands with a full load and they worked very well too. I only did this to see what difference it made (not a lot) knowing that due to the length of the projectile they were still seated a good way in for good concentricity. I have a long Waters Rifleman mag for the longer high BC .308 projectiles.

I used these .308 ELD-X on medium range goats (see current goat thread in Hunting) but gave up because the recoil was enough to make smooth, fast re-acquisition of the targets that much harder with the scope magnification close to max and a very narrow field of view. So for that reason I went to the Creedmoor. But as a one shot deer cartridge it is bloody fantastic, hard hitting and no mercy.

@Flyblown Just wondering what overall length did you use for the 178 ELD-X and what velocity did they go out of curiosity? I was looking at this myself for my Model 7 and went for another bullet because I wasnt sure if they would fit into the short action.

The 178 ELDx is ridiculously accurate in my 16.5 inch Tikka 308

Getting around 2450 - 2500fps with 2206H

Run the numbers it is way better than lighter projectiles and retains energy to 500yards

Originally Posted by JL12

@Flyblown Just wondering what overall length did you use for the 178 ELD-X and what velocity did they go out of curiosity? I was looking at this myself for my Model 7 and went for another bullet because I wasnt sure if they would fit into the short action.

I've loaded two lengths, with next to no difference in accuracy. 22" barrel.

2.917" COAL tip to primer, which is .030" off the lands, powder 0.5gr over book max for a 100% case fill. This will only fit in the aftermarket 10-shot mag.
2.800" COAL tip to primer, which is way off the lands, powder 0.5gr below book max. This fits in the factory mag.

Velocity for both was exactly the same - 2590fps.

I haven't gotten through the this batch of pills yet, which were loaded with AR2208. The next round of reloading I'll be trying out SAAMI COAL with reduced loads of AR2208 to look for an accuracy node a bit lower down the scale, would be happy with 2400-2450fps. This because the 178gr ELD-X generates a fair thump and I want to control recoil more for better field accuracy. I should be able to reduce recoil by 10-15% with no reduction in lethality.

My Brno 308 with 24" barrel loves the eld-x 178 too. I'm using 42.5 grains of AR2208, I haven't run it over the crony but with the accuracy I'm getting I don't really care what speed it's doing. My mag length is 2.87 inches so I seat at 2.85-2.87 OAL. IIRC my OAL touching the lands is 2.91.
I agree with Flyblowns comment that they seem to kick a bit, though based on group size I haven't developed a flinch yet! My rifle has a fibreglass stock so is fairly light too.

Try some Nossler 165 Bt had great success with them haven’t had a round exit yet from 30y to 400 .

Originally Posted by Boaraxa

Try some Nossler 165 Bt had great success with them haven’t had a round exit yet from 30y to 400 .

Yeh I’m a fan of the NBT, 2206h or 2208?

2208 100% with 178 ELD-M. It seems to like a little crush

Cheers for all the suggestions, ill look into the Nossler BT.

I loaded 5 x 5 load tests in 1/2 gr increments up to max load, the variation was astounding but L found a charge that seems to work well, I will start tickling with the load in .2gr increments and see if I can get some consistency, then start tinkering with the seating depth to tune a bit more.
Will post my final recipe

Ultimate goal is to have an accurate and reliable killer out to 500m