Thread: 6.5 143 ELD-X, are they THE 6.5 hunting bullet?

Originally Posted by 6.5 CRD

Yeah i guess it depends on your barrel length & if your hand loading or not. Some pretty decent speeds can be achieved in the creedmoor with powders like superformance which will stretch its legs. For me, my 18 inch 6.5 creedmoor has a thermal scope and i use it out to around 200-250m absolute maximum & my partners 16 inch creedmoor is just a soft shooting short bush - 200m gun for her. Neither of them need to shoot far so the 143gr eldx work well.

Yep I agree. It seems that handloading can get a bit more out of the 143 ELDX. It is a bit of an irony that the ELDX is touted as a great long range projectile but for what you are doing at mostly sub 200m it could arguably be a better choice than the 129gn SST due to its slower velocity and its heavier construction which would mean it would hold together better at those shorter ranges. The 129 SST has performed really well for me at longer ranges but I think If I was bush hunting then the 143 ELDX would be my choice.