Plastic tipped bullets. Soldering iron test. ELDX is indeed improved...

[Michael Eichele]

All,

I realize that this test wasn't conducted in a university lab with super accurate laser thermometers and atomic clock timed intervals nor was there mach 3 air flow in a space age tunnel to duplicate the effects of air molecule friction so please spare me the scrutiny.

Taking a soldering iron to the tips of the AMAX, ABLR, TMK and ELDX, it is quite obvious that the ELDX resists heat considerably better. At least from conductive type transfer heating. The AMAX tip melts, burns and vaporizes pretty rapidly as does the tips on the ABLR. The TMK fared only slightly better but still melts pretty quickly. The tips on the ELDX do melt but it does take much more time and doesn't degrade nearly as much. Don't get me wrong, it is still a very quick process but compared to the others, 2-3 times longer to really get them cooking and they didn't degrade nearly as bad.

Do traditional tips melt during the firing and flight time events? It's possible and probable. Are Hornady's claims of tips melting in flight true? Time will tell but their claims of their new tips resisting high heat seems pretty legitimate.

 

[Sneaky Apasum]

Maybe the tips are an improvement and maybe they're not. At any rate, it's certainly not a bad thing, and we have a possibly better option for long range hunting in a traditional type bullet. I think the focus on the tip has distracted a lot of people from that. Thanks for the independent test. I look forward to shooting some.

 

[KYpatriot]

I think they should use tungsten core from the tip to the middle. Get that cg more forward, and never again have a problem with penetration (even if your elk is wearing body armor)!

All it takes is money....

 

[Garycrow]

I don't know if making the tips out of more temperature resistant plastic helps anything, but it sure doesn't hurt anything and plastic is cheap. Decent long range hunting bullets are needed in the marketplace so I welcome the eld-x and hope it lives up to expectations.

 

[7mmShooter]

While the new tips may be an improvement, am I the only one that thinks Hornady should go back to the Aluminum tips a la 750gr AMAX?

 

[SHRTSHTR]

Nothing wrong with Aluminum tips, just the cost of making them that prohibits their use in mass production.

Ray

 

[mountainman56]

Always welcome someone stepping up and trying to improve and add to the components available. I will be sending the first few down range on Sunday. Hoping for noticeable improvement but don't I always.

 

[KYpatriot]

Im still sceptical about the melting tips, but the soldering iron test does seem to show that they are using more heat resistant material. Is this a marketing scheme, or a real problem? I dont know, and again it would be easy for them to find out with one run in a wind tunnel that wouldnt even be that expensive for a company like Hornady. They could take pictures of the melted off tip, and all that. Even better, do before and after pictures of competitors bullets compared to the eld bullets, though thst would require multiple runs. Why not?

In any case, if they improved the terminal performance on game that to me will be the best quality of this new bullet. Long range shooters are fortunate to have companies that are manufacturing great long range bullets. If this new bullet performs better on game, well, whats not to like? Improving the bc due to the heat resistant tip would just be icing on the cake.

The geeky engineer side of me would still like to see that mach run done though lol...

 

[Deleted member 46119]

In this, I believe Michael Eichele and Steve Hornady.

I run 3 A-Max, 140grn .264, 208grn .308 and 285grn .338.

However, I don't run any of these faster than 2850fps which seems to be the cut off point for melting tips past 600 yards.

The 300 RUM can run the 208s from under 2800 to over 3200.

I could do a test: Slow and fast at 300 yards. Slow and fast at 1000 yards.

If the MOA changes significantly and/or the BC doesn't match at 1000 yards.

 

[cowboy]

Im still sceptical about the melting tips, but the soldering iron test does seem to show that they are using more heat resistant material. Is this a marketing scheme, or a real problem? I dont know, and again it would be easy for them to find out with one run in a wind tunnel that wouldnt even be that expensive for a company like Hornady.

The geeky engineer side of me would still like to see that mach run done though lol...

Being a geeky engineer myself I would have to say you would have to know what the tip temp. was when it existed the barrel from the ignition/combustion. I assure you the tip temp is not existed the barrel at ambient temp. Now if the wind tunnel was at tip barrel exist temp your continuous desire for a wind tunnel test might have a little more meaning.

 

[KYpatriot]

Being a geeky engineer myself I would have to say you would have to know what the tip temp. was when it existed the barrel from the ignition/combustion. I assure you the tip temp is not existed the barrel at ambient temp. Now if the wind tunnel was at tip barrel exist temp your continuous desire for a wind tunnel test might have a little more meaning.

True, but considering that combustion gasses that get in front of the bullet have only around one onethousandth of a second to conductively heat the tip, the effect is likely neglible. The vast majority of the heating is air friction.

 

[Michael Eichele]

True, but considering that combustion gasses that get in front of the bullet have only around one onethousandth of a second to conductively heat the tip, the effect is likely neglible. The vast majority of the heating is air friction.

I'm not 100% sure its entirety air friction. I dug bullets out of backstops a couple minutes after firing and they've been blistering hot. And I have very heat insensitive hands. I'm sure a lot of the heat is from firing. Regardless, it's hard to prove either way.

 

[TXAoudadKlr]

In this, I believe Michael Eichele and Steve Hornady.

I run 3 A-Max, 140grn .264, 208grn .308 and 285grn .338.

However, I don't run any of these faster than 2850fps

I follow snipers hide on Facebook, they recovered a 140gr 6.5mm Amax fired from a 6.5 creedmoor at a mile. The tip was slightly deformed but it looked the be from impacting the steel target and not melting. I say that because the round did impact sideways.

Perhaps there is a threshold in muzzle velocity in which the tips may or may not melt.

 

[JakeL]

Hornady stated somewhere in their marketing material that the tip melting was mostly a problem with muzzle velocities over 3,000 fps, and didn't really cause much trouble till the ranges exceeded 400 yards. So a 140 6.5 creedmoor with a muzzle velocity around 2750 likely isn't going to exhibit much trouble from tip melting, according to that information. If you took something like a 6.5 magnum of one kind or another, and launched a 140 at 3200 fps, that is the scenario Hornady is stating that the melting is taking place.