300 wm 178 eld-x or 200 eld-x

[Don A Parsons]

Either or would work from the power house...

Pro's and Con's of any grain bullet...

A bit lighter,,, less recoil,,, a bit faster,,, less energy at distance from the 178 class along with other factors...

A fraction heavier,,, a bit more felt recoil,,, a shy slower and packing more punch junk further on down range for the 200's on up....

It really depends on what works for you,,, most crittres down range wouldn't be in favor of either of those bullets,,, i tested the 165's,,, 178's,,, 200's,,, 208's,,, and 212's out of my 11 lb 30/06,,, the little rifle became more challenging to hold in place once I got to the 200's,,, don't get me right or wrong,,, they are packing alot of energy down range,,, but my shoulder and gel pad could manage the 165's and 178's a bit better,,, not saying that other folks and different rifle combinations wouldn't see different results...

Nothing wrong with testing a bunch of different grain bullets to see what works for you,,, that way you can reap the rewards of the shooting sports...

I enjoy the 180 gr and down for target shooting,,, I might as well use them for hunting since my shelf is full of them,,, my rifle shoots them good and there a bit easier on my body over all...

Good luck finding what works,,, thats what really counts...

Cheers from the North

 

[Awol469]

So I've had a couple chances to get out now, 200 eldx is showing some promise, so will continue to work with it. But I also bought some 200 gr Accubonds, only problem is I can't find any data for the AB and RL26. I contacted Nosler and Aliiant but neither could give me anything. I would just give H1000 a try but can't seem to find any anywhere. Does anyone have a good starting point for the 200 gr ABs in 300 Win?

 

[Awol469]

So been a little while, have had some good results, settled on Nosler brass, Berger 215, Federal 215M and H1000, 2905fps, SD 5, ES 14, shooting around 1 inch at 500yds with new brass. But now going to have to do some more tweaking, went out today and only 2814fps and higher SD and ES, with once fired brass so a 91fps slower than new brass. I was prepared to see a difference but thought for sure it would be the other direction. Anyone else ever see this? Been scanning the web but only finding the opposite which is what I was expecting.

 

[Marky_mark]

Is it the load or your chrony thats off?

 

[SheepShapeAK]

I used the 200 grain eld-x in my .300wm last sheep season. It was only a 134 yard shot though.

 

[johnnyk]

Is it the load or your chrony thats off?

He's got a good point. Optical chrono's are tough to get exactly the same each time. It seemed like I was always chasing my tail.
Mine had to be the same distance from the muzzle, same angle and the light had to be just right and not too far on the horizon or I would get conflicting results. Very frustrating but I got a lot of trigger time!
I use the LabRadar now and (knock on wood) it's given me no problems. Very consistent.

 

[FEENIX]

So been a little while, have had some good results, settled on Nosler brass, Berger 215, Federal 215M and H1000, 2905fps, SD 5, ES 14, shooting around 1 inch at 500yds with new brass.

WOW, that's one heck of a group. Excellent shooting, don't change a thing. I have yet to achieve 1" group at 500 yards (~.2 MOA), my goal at any range is always <1 MOA.

 

[Awol469]

Is it the load or your chrony thats off?

I shot a 4 round group and it was just over an inch low, a little right and opened up to just over an inch at 100. Thats why I decided to chrono them, wasn't going to if I didn't need to. I am using a magnetospeed and its been very consistent for me so far. I have more loaded up, I only brought 9 with me yesterday, thats what my case for hunting holds. Going to go out this afternoon and shoot a few more to gather more data before I start making any changes, I believe I have 16 more. I will post results tonight.

 

[SixDemonBag]

tagging..

 

[SteveO]

I don't have any long range kills but at reasonable to short range I've found that the 178 is very fragile. I've not lost any animals but if I were choosing between the two now for my 300WM I would go 200g or heavier no doubt. I'll only shoot the rest of those 178s on paper till they are gone.

 

[dougduey]

Thanks all, has anyone have experience taking deer size animal with 200+ grain, any yardage, damage. I was leaning towards 23 and 26 because of temp stable and copper additives, sorry not trying to make this a reloading post. I will post a new thread later of my trial and errors with that when I get to that point, a little to cold here to start that right now, lol.

I run the 200 gr ELDX in my 300 WSM. Fantastic results in both elk and the smaller bodied whitetail deer we have in south Texas.

 

[Westernhuntr]

I don't have any long range kills but at reasonable to short range I've found that the 178 is very fragile. I've not lost any animals but if I were choosing between the two now for my 300WM I would go 200g or heavier no doubt. I'll only shoot the rest of those 178s on paper till they are gone.

Yeah all the elds will over expand and separate from the jacket from what I've personally seen.
I'd recommend the Federal Edge TLR over any bullet mentioned so far

 

[WestTexasHunter]

I shot a 4 round group and it was just over an inch low, a little right and opened up to just over an inch at 100. Thats why I decided to chrono them, wasn't going to if I didn't need to. I am using a magnetospeed and its been very consistent for me so far. I have more loaded up, I only brought 9 with me yesterday, thats what my case for hunting holds. Going to go out this afternoon and shoot a few more to gather more data before I start making any changes, I believe I have 16 more. I will post results tonight.

How were the velocities last night?

 

[Awol469]

How were the velocities last night?

We had high winds yesterday afternoon so didn't get out. Weather is looking better for today, so will have info tonight.