175 eld-x inconsistent lots?

[nmbarta1]

My base to ogive just jumped .022 when I started into a new box. I've had great luck with these bullets, but I'm not interested in doing load development on every box.
While I'm complaining, why do they put #2841 right on the front of the box of 175 eld-x bullets, this looks like a lot #. I always try to buy powder, bullets, brass, primers in decent sized quantities so I don't have to deal with lot # changes as often.

So I bought several boxes thinking they were the same lot number, but found out that the lot number is on the bottom and this number doesn't mean anything that concerns me, yet that's the number they put on the front of the **** box. So I ended up with a bunch of mixed up lots that hardly resemble each other in shape. This is not fun to find out right before hunting season when I have exactly 9 of the bullets left that I used to develop this load. (I thought I had several hundred)

Sorry for the rant, but **** it, this really ****es me off. I get that nobody is perfect but .022 isn't just a little change it lots, that could go from being .010 off to .012 jammed.

 

[striker]

funny you should say that. im using 200 eldx's in a 308win at a safe loading and length and then chamber every round to check. not touching the lands etc, was at a long range shoot and started stamping the brass and primers almost falling out.
like you say some are right on at my normal coal and the worst ogives are .02 further forward at the same coal. as much as i like hornady ill be going back to bergers or sierras

 

[crazyhorse]

Found the same issues with my 300WM shooting the 200 ELD-X. Box to box was .020-.030 different base to ogive. I was having a terrible time tuning them which prompted me to measure. I found the same issue in the 6.5 143's...

Switched back to Berger and haven't had a problem. Really disappointing since the Amax was a really good bullet for me in both calibers.

 

[Switchback2]

Hornady has really went down hill, I have tried the 143s and 212s and they are all over the place as far as weights. The last box of 143 I got were from 138.9 to 149.1 and there wasn't 10 bullets within . 3 of each other. That was last year and have since just started paying the extra and swapped everything to Bergers which are always with .1 or .2 at most of each other. There ELD-M line has been alittle better as my BIL still shoots them but they still no where close to Berger or Sierra.

 

[crazyhorse]

Its a shame quality has become an issue with these bullets. It seems to have occurred when the demand went through the roof shortly after they were introduced. I still have some of the 6.5 143's with the translucent red tip and they weigh and measure MUCH better than any I have purchased lately.
Performance on game has been exceptional in my experience, but the inconsistency is more than I'm willing to tolerate. As it was mentioned earlier, I'm not interested in doing a work-up every time I open a new box and I'm certainly not going to buy a huge lot of poor quality! After spending the kind of money on a rifle most of us have done, its just not practical to shoot a crappy bullet.

 

[Guinness]

Unfortunately I've had similar results with the 212 ELD-X's in a custom 300 WM. The first lot had the translucent tip and the second does not. My original load was 0.03 off the lands and with the same CBTO measurement on the new lot I cannot chamber the round. In fact, the CBTO changed so much with the new lot that the ogive is barely beyond the case mouth when touching the lands while the first lot was loaded so the boat tail was right at the shoulder/neck junction of the brass and it was a long round. Frankly, I wonder if the second lot isn't a bit over-sized or maybe something else? I promptly switched to Berger 215 Hybrid Targets and haven't had one issue for several hundred rounds.

I only have one of the original bullets remaining because my gunsmith eventually sent it back to me so its not much for comparison but Hornady wants to look at that bullet compared to the second lot. I wish I could get some micrometer measurements from the original and second lots before sending them in as I know I won't see the bullets again and don't hold much hope in Hornady finding anything amiss.

 

[striker]

yep thats the same for me, the translucent tips are spot on, the solid red tips are the ones all over the show

 

[brentc]

I've had no problems with them. I noticed some dimensional difference too, but the easy solution was to adjust the die to set the CBTO to the same jump as it was before. In fact, the new bullet without the translucent tips shoot tighter groups on average than the original version did.

 

[Creedmoor shooter]

I shoot the eld-m and I've had 2 different sleeves of 500 and they're consistent. I've done weight checks with them and found them to be nearly as good as berger. I made some base to ogive measurements and found them to be more consistent than the bergers I have. They shoot fantastic out of my rifle

 

[longrangehunterII]

Yah, I've just been wondering the same thing, but with bullets within the same box! I can't even set up a Redding Comp Seating die to put out the same length ammo each and every time.... not even close! 162 ELD-X in New Nosler 280 AI brass, one minute they're 2.6800" CBTO and next thing I'm getting 2.6840". I had to seat each bullet long, and make the change in length to finish seating them to the finish length.

I just went back into the box to recheck the base to ogive after reading this and most were in the middle range (.8045") but then I found some long .8065" to short .8020". When I went to find the lands I only tested 5 bullets, and even now these measurements are .002" shorter the the first few I measured. Nothing like the .022" you're seeing, which is .020" more, which is a lot in change of length from one to the next!

My first assumption was the friction from seating the bullet into the case since they're so deeply seated in a 280 AI at 3.3550" COAL, but after reading this news I see what you're saying. Although mine were within the same box, and Yes BTW the lot is at the bottom of the box, the # on the front is the Part Number.

FWIW Berger, and the Lapua Scenar have the best consistency IMO. Kinda sucks to hear this since I just sat down this week to test these bullets. Which BTW I noticed a flier in a three shot group and went to load two more, one that seated to the correct length and the other to the flier. So I used a blue Sharpie on the bullet tip...... it went into the same hole, and the 2nd round finished the three shot (five total) into a perfect .52" triangle. (See picture, and you'll notice the flier to the left is not only a larger hole but blue in color).

 

[nmbarta1]

I used the same CBTO with the new bullets and everything seemed to work out. No change in poi and no change in accuracy. CBTO seems to vary about .002.
This is my second year hunting with these bullets and have been really happy with the terminal performance and accuracy, it's a bummer to find out that the quality seems to be suffering.
Hopefully Hornady figures out the problem and gets it taken care of, in the meantime, it's more than I'm willing to deal with.

I loved shooting bergers, but had some problems with terminal performance. Nothing ever got away, but a few critters went farther than what I consider acceptable with a well placed shot.

Not sure what to shoot now.