200 Gr. Eld-x 300WM Reloading

[Muddyboots]

Yep, years ago had 300WSM Tikka T3 drove me nuts when I first got it for failure to recognize the full impact of the free bore it had. Learning experience when not having one before. Wished I kept it!

 

[Tripodmvr7]

Every rifle is a unique platform. Treat it as such. Continous higher pressure on the locking lugs can lead to setback and cracking of the action. A very dangerous situation when shooting maxed out loads.

A difference of 200fps will not be a problem if the rifle is accurate and you can dial using a ballistics app. Retained energy with a 200gr bullet out to a 1000 yards should not be problematic.

Why then chase max loads? Pressure in the 50-55K psi range ensures proper ignition and good results on the target. Less recoil and longer barrel life.

 

[Muddyboots]

With higher BC bullets the max load velocity versus efficiency of load for max life of components (barrels, brass etc) is a trade off in our favor. Lose very little performance with slight drop in MV.

 

[Deleted member 112929]

My 300 Win Mag shot the 200 eld excellent with imr7828 !

Awh, finally found someone who is using IMR 7828. I read this an thought maybe I should not be using H1000. Any insight as to why one may be better than the other. I also saw this photo floating around and was wondering how does it get any better.

 

[Overkill338]

Dude you are putting too much stock into what people or books say. Books are a GUIDELINE, not set rules. Because Hornady's rifle liked that powder, does not mean yours will !!!!!!

Guess what, my .300 WM HATES 7828 and 4350. Mine shoots best with RL22 and Retumbo. So delete that **** picture, and stop chasing other people's loads, and test yours for yourself. That target was shot with a Tikka, yours is not a Tikka. So start on your own loads, and for God sake, DELETE THAT PICTURE!

 

[brant89]

I am trying to believe all the hype that is going on with the new Hornady Eld-X line. I recently bought a box of 200 gr. ELD-X (Precision Hunter) for my Remington 700P and shot a 2" group at 100 yards. Not acceptable. I am going to reload my own ammunition now with the same bullet. Has anybody had any luck with this bullet and what kind of groups are you getting? How is the performance down range?

They are superbly accurate in my custom savage 300WM, but my rifle has been blueprinted and wears a criterion SS match barrel. This group was shot off a bipod and rear bag. Performance on game has been good as well, my wife DRT'd an antelope at 370yd, quartered away extremely hard, entered just behind the last rib and came to rest in the spine in the neck. Probably 27-28" of penetration through 5 ribs and the spine and everything inside was soup. Unfortunately there was a lot of meat damage as well due to the shot angle.
Disclaimer - I did not know which goat she was shooting (all I had was my rangefinder to observe with) otherwise I would have advised her to wait for him to turn broadside. It was her first time ever hunting out west with only 2 days to hunt due to her class schedule and she was pretty excited to put a goat on the ground.

 

[Lumberfish]

.300wm X-Bolt 200gr 67.8g IMR4350 sub moa at 300 yards. I tried several powders and grains to dial in the best performance for my gun.

 

[motrapper]

I can State my RPR 300 win Mag love the 200 grain ELD-X both 75 and 76 grains of H1000 will shoot 3/4 Moa at 200 yds
COAL 3.515 Fed 215M primers. After deer season will work on 212 ELD-X

 

[charlesmath]

So I'm loading 300 win mag with 200 eldx at 64 grains I started at a an OAL of 3.340 with a ladder I wasn't getting great grouping but I found a decent load to start seating the bullets farther in can someone tell me what the the lowest OAL they would recommend right now I just loaded a new ladder at 3.330 OAl if im to far or if that should be safe any help would be appreciated thanks

 

[Jonfitter#1]

I am trying to believe all the hype that is going on with the new Hornady Eld-X line. I recently bought a box of 200 gr. ELD-X (Precision Hunter) for my Remington 700P and shot a 2" group at 100 yards. Not acceptable. I am going to reload my own ammunition now with the same bullet. Has anybody had any luck with this bullet and what kind of groups are you getting? How is the performance down range?

I was hand loading them and running them through my GAP 300 win mag and had good performance on the range but wasn't overly impressed on how they performed on game.
When I get home today I'll look at my load data to give you what I was loading.
In '20 I shot a 170" Muley in NM at 400yds and he did drop but the bullet never went through him. We found it under the cape on the other side of him and it had decent expansion but at that range I expected it to go right through. It hit no bone.
I will tell you that the one I took in 22" at 400yds and the one my kid just took in 23' at 565yds now running old school Hornady 165gr spire point boat tails dropped in their tracks and had easily a 2" exit wound. I am not running that load hot either.

 

[w6kennels]

I appreciate your last paragraph. Isn't it interesting how well the older Sierra and Hornady bullets did, until we decided we needed something "better"?

 

[shaughn]

So I'm loading 300 win mag with 200 eldx at 64 grains I started at a an OAL of 3.340 with a ladder I wasn't getting great grouping but I found a decent load to start seating the bullets farther in can someone tell me what the the lowest OAL they would recommend right now I just loaded a new ladder at 3.330 OAl if im to far or if that should be safe any help would be appreciated thanks

ALERT!!!

DO NOT REDUCE COL OAL BELOW 3.340"

You can increase it, but reducing it unless a manual calls for it with attendant reduction in charge will increase pressure and potentially blow up the firearm and seriously injure or kill the operator and nearby persons.

 

[Ol' Red]

Yes I did see that and then I saw the h1000 low end charge of 74 gr to yield ~2,725 FPS. Then I looked up what factory velocity was and that's ~ 2,850. I then looked at the h1000 max load of ~ 2,883. So to me the 2,850 FPS falls somewhere between 74 gr and 79 gr taking a wild guess of ~ 76 gr of h1000 being the factory speed. Then I looked back into earlier post and saw this ( see picture below ) and noticed he was shooting the very same bullet I want to in the same length bbl weapons and got great results. What's your take on a starting load of 76 gr of h1000 as a starting point

Start lower. I have worked up to 77 grains of H1000, but had pressure signs. I also had pressure signs with 76 grains at a different seating depth. As @ Codyadams was saying, you have to read the pressure signs on your firearm. Factory does not use H1000 so you may not get factory velocity with that powder or you might. Also just because the factory posts their velocity, it does not mean your firearm will get that velocity. Use caution and work up.

 

[charlesmath]

ALERT!!!

DO NOT REDUCE COL OAL BELOW 3.340"

You can increase it, but reducing it unless a manual calls for it with attendant reduction in charge will increase pressure and potentially blow up the firearm and seriously injure or kill the operator and nearby persons.

Thank you so I have adjusted powder to 64.2 grains and even called horandy and said with what I'm running I should be OK I was just trying to see if anyone else had an idea on this as when I went from 3.340 to 3.335 my shot groups got better and had no signs of excessive pressure