Thread: ELD-X 6.5

The AMAX reputation for hunting was surely built on a combination of accuracy and the ability to both expand and then fragment reliably on impact at 1800 ft/sec and below, and often quite a lot less. After Berger split their range into Orange and Yellow boxes, and despite Berger's claim to the contrary, their hunting bullets anecdotally also became less frangible, leaving the AMAX as the only mainstream design with this extreme of behaviour.

From the marketing blurb it appears as if Hornady with the ELD-X design are striving to give away this ability. Thicker shank and added interlock points to a move away from fragmentation towards more controlled expansion - - ground already covered by the NBT and a number of others - even if the impact speed required for the initiation of expansion remains low

Maybe the ELD-Match is a more direct replacement for the AMAX, retaining a thinner jacket for the target bullet variants (in reverse of the change that occurred with the Bergers) and therefore low-speed fragmentation ? Has anyone sectioned the three bullets for comparison and could post an image please ?

Anyone shot any game with the ELD-M yet?

Has someone tried to anneal their eld yet? Since the tip not supposed to melt... I thought why not ? ( just kidding ;-)

I shot 3 deer the other day for meat for the freezer and they seemed to work pretty good with neck shots.
all exited so could be a bit different to the amax.
they all bang flopped and then bled them out.not to much meat damage.
jury is still out

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Having trawled for all the info I could find since my last post, I'm persuaded that the ELD-match can be treated as a direct replacement to the A-Max with the same terminal behaviour, perhaps requiring a small amount of load redevelopment for best accuracy. No need to stock-pile the A-Max then.

Originally Posted by Puffin

Having trawled for all the info I could find since my last post, I'm persuaded that the ELD-match can be treated as a direct replacement to the A-Max with the same terminal behaviour, perhaps requiring a small amount of load redevelopment for best accuracy. No need to stock-pile the A-Max then.

Could you please share some of this research please?

Not a call out etc, just trying to cut the search time down etc...

Originally Posted by Beaker

Could you please share some of this research please?

Not a call out etc, just trying to cut the search time down etc...

Sure. The information below comes from condensing a series of anecdotal accounts of folk in the US who were recounting having spoken with reps or claiming some sort of insider knowledge.

The majority opinion was that while the 6.5mm 140gr ELD Match has the new heat shield tip and also some small dimensional changes that may require a slight increase in jump to the equivalent A-Max seating depth for accuracy sweet spot, the overall construction remains very similar leading to a prediction that all aspects of terminal performance should essentially be the same. Also that the published B.C. improvements over the A-Max were mainly due to the tip material change and applied at longer ranges where deformation had been observed in the A-Max tip. The remaining portion of the improvement in B.C. was attributed to the above mentioned dimensional changes.

The 143gr ELD-X is the new design. It shares some obvious similarities with the ELD Match - the same tip and a thin forward jacket - that leads to the conclusion that the initiation of expansion will likely be similar in similar circumstances. The subsequent behaviour resulting from the interlock and thicker base is knowledge that will need to be built up by the hunting community over time. No doubt there will be a flood of reports come September - October as these bullets both get widespread use in the U.S. on medium game for the first time.