The Most DISSAPOINTING Bullet there ever was...

Go on Snipers Hide.... they,ve killed so many elk with MK,S... IT,S IMPRESSIVE....
I remember waaaaay back with LRH was new there were a lot of people using them (Sierra MatchKings) for all types of game and said they were great! I've found them to be so ridiculously accurate in almost any rifle I ever tried them in, that the inclination to hunt with them is quite tempting.
 
Old Remington Bronze points back in the 70's. They literally exploded on impact. I've also had bad experiences with Nosler Ballistic tips. Same deal, just exploded on impact with no penetration. Nosler said they improved them but I didn't have enough trust to go back to them.

I shot two elk with the 200 grain ELDX at 2960 fps out of my 300 Win Mag in December. Big bull at about 300 yards,, and a cow at 65 yards,. Both high shoulder shots. Both dropped in their tracks. Bull was quartering away and bullet didn't exit. Cow was broadside and it went right through her. So it has worked for me,
 
Yep!!!!! All of the above!
I load/shoot Hammers in 8 different rifles but still shoot VLDs in my Cooper 6.5x284 because it shoots one hole groups……I've killed 12-15 deer and hogs with it in the last few years and only had one that didnt drop in it's tracks and he went less than 25 yds! My shots are ALL shoulder shots! The only one that ran was hit behind the shoulder.
 
For me it's the ELDM. I lost several animals with them due to poor penetration. I lost a coyote to the 147 eldm launched from my 6.5 GAP 4S. Hit was un the center of the chest. After an awful season using them I switched to tougher bullets with great success. My go-to bullets now are:
Hornady Interbond
Hornady CX
Hornady SST
Berger classic hunter
Barnes LRX
Swift scirocco II
Nosler Partition
I was invited at the last minute to a long range school at The NRA Whittington Center and didn't have time or the components to load enough ammo for my heavy 6.5 Creedmoor……at the time, due to my business, I had a deal with Hornady so I had them expedite me 300 rounds of the same lot of 140 gr ELDM since I'd found them to be accurate in that rifle during barrel break in before I started loading for it. They shot so well, I decided to try them on game and have since killed 2-3 dozen animals with them(deer, hogs, javelina, coyotes) and have yet to have one fail. Since they shot so well, when I acquired an AR 15 6.5 Grendel and a Tikka T3x Tac A1 6.5 CM from an estate sale during this hunting season and didn't have time to work up loads for them, I bought ELDMs for both of them and killed several hogs with each…..all dropped in their tracks. I guess circumstances are always different but they've worked so well for me, I won't be working up loads in those rifles I'm shooting them in! The ELDX on the other hand…..I've seen multiple failures from my clients on both deer and hogs!
 
Ive been loading since 1965 and wouldn't have changed 8 rifles over to Hammers if they didn't work!
I was invited at the last minute to a long range school at The NRA Whittington Center and didn't have time or the components to load enough ammo for my heavy 6.5 Creedmoor……at the time, due to my business, I had a deal with Hornady so I had them expedite me 300 rounds of the same lot of 140 gr ELDM since I'd found them to be accurate in that rifle during barrel break in before I started loading for it. They shot so well, I decided to try them on game and have since killed 2-3 dozen animals with them(deer, hogs, javelina, coyotes) and have yet to have one fail. Since they shot so well, when I acquired an AR 15 6.5 Grendel and a Tikka T3x Tac A1 6.5 CM from an estate sale during this hunting season and didn't have time to work up loads for them, I bought ELDMs for both of them and killed several hogs with each…..all dropped in their tracks. I guess circumstances are always different but they've worked so well for me, I won't be working up loads in those rifles I'm shooting them in! The ELDX on the other hand…..I've seen multiple failures from my clients on both deer and hogs!
We're on similar pages here haha. Hornady and hammer for me as my favourites. 225 eld m in my 300 win has been a joy to work with and one heck of an off switch. The tipped match bullets (Sierra tmk too) you don't ever have to worry about them penciling through, they blow up consistently and you shoot them knowing they'll do that - 225 gr is a lot of lead and I wouldn't be afriad to hit a shoulder as far as losing the animal…but what a mess that would be!

Doing load workup for my 257 weatherby with hammers.

IVe also been able to find both hornady and hammer bullets when literally everything else was gone
 
I remember waaaaay back with LRH was new there were a lot of people using them (Sierra MatchKings) for all types of game and said they were great! I've found them to be so ridiculously accurate in almost any rifle I ever tried them in, that the inclination to hunt with them is quite tempting.

I remember this time. It coincided with the 338 boom and the long barreled trend. A buddy of mine had a 338 edge and then a 338 viers built snipe tac. Don't that the smk was all that good, but saw it take two antelope and a mule deer. Something about 300 grains and those launch speeds covering a multitude of sins....


In today's world that's congregated around 6.5-7mm 150 to 190 grain pills out of more moderate cartridges.... yeah smk is a no go.
 
I load/shoot Hammers in 8 different rifles but still shoot VLDs in my Cooper 6.5x284 because it shoots one hole groups……I've killed 12-15 deer and hogs with it in the last few years and only had one that didnt drop in it's tracks and he went less than 25 yds! My shots are ALL shoulder shots! The only one that ran was hit behind the shoulder.
Everyone may have different results from different bullets on different animals. I had a very bad experience with a mature Trans-Pecos mule deer inside of 100 yds (obviously high velocity), hit squarely in the shoulder from a 7 mag. Admittedly not a perfect shot from a high rack truck as he was trotting behind a doe, intended POI was high shoulder, but hit well none the less. Long story but the bullet never entered the chest cavity, totally exploded on the exterior of the shoulder blade. He was harvested after a follow up, but I choose to not have to follow up on squarely hit animals. So I choose to not use them.
Obviously something drove you to use the solids in the Hammers. I use them as well, they don't explode on the shoulder blade.
Once you find the node (hopefully it doesn't change) with the VLDs, they will definitely shoot but IME and is commonly known, they are very particular on components/dimensions to find that node. Glad you found yours.
 
STX, I see you advocate both hammers AND eld-m's for elk, 2 completly opposite spectrum of bullets.
Do each serve a different purpose, and which do what for you?

I put more stock in somone having harvested many elk from close to far, than pigs and deer.

I'm honestly trying to narrow my bullet selections down as I'm needing to restock long range bullets for several hunting calibers. Like others have said trying to glean any consensus out of these threads is impossible without further explanations or what/ how why's being answered. The other thing I've noticed is that advovates for a certain long favored bullet won't necessarlity post up their failures. They'll just quietly change if it becomes a problem.
 
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