Anyone take Deer with a .25cal 110 grain ELD-X Bullet?

[BRIT]

Hi.
As the title says, anyone used this Bullet on their Deer hunt? I would be interested in some feedback please. I have a new rifle in 25-06 and like the look of this bullet.

Have used the search function to no avail.

Many thanks.

 

[hhonker74]

I haven't shot deer with this round, but I did shoot 2 Pronghorn with it this year. Hornady Precision Hunter factory rounds. The first was a buck at 128 yards. The bullet hit just behind the right shoulder and exited. The buck ran about 400 yards and fell over. When I skinned it, it looked like the bullet hit the edge of a rib and keyholed out the other side. No expansion, just an oblong hole through the lungs.

The doe was shot at 85 yards just behind the left shoulder and ran about 40 yards. Upon skinning it, the bullet exploded. It shredded the lungs.

This round is amazingly accurate in my Savage 116, but I am concerned with the bullet performance. I will use it again because I have heard of a lot of success with it. I know up close, it will probably grenade, and I hope the keyhole was just a fluke.

 

[DJ Fergus]

I haven't shot deer with this round, but I did shoot 2 Pronghorn with it this year. Hornady Precision Hunter factory rounds. The first was a buck at 128 yards. The bullet hit just behind the right shoulder and exited. The buck ran about 400 yards and fell over. When I skinned it, it looked like the bullet hit the edge of a rib and keyholed out the other side. No expansion, just an oblong hole through the lungs.

The doe was shot at 85 yards just behind the left shoulder and ran about 40 yards. Upon skinning it, the bullet exploded. It shredded the lungs.

This round is amazingly accurate in my Savage 116, but I am concerned with the bullet performance. I will use it again because I have heard of a lot of success with it. I know up close, it will probably grenade, and I hope the keyhole was just a fluke.

I would like to hear some more feedback from others on this bullet. One strange thing I saw one time was a .358 180gr Speer hit a rib and went up along the rib and grazed the spine of the deer and out it's back. The deer dropped but I think it was just due to paralysis. A follow up shot was made.

 

[DJ Fergus]

I haven't shot deer with this round, but I did shoot 2 Pronghorn with it this year. Hornady Precision Hunter factory rounds. The first was a buck at 128 yards. The bullet hit just behind the right shoulder and exited. The buck ran about 400 yards and fell over. When I skinned it, it looked like the bullet hit the edge of a rib and keyholed out the other side. No expansion, just an oblong hole through the lungs.

The doe was shot at 85 yards just behind the left shoulder and ran about 40 yards. Upon skinning it, the bullet exploded. It shredded the lungs.

This round is amazingly accurate in my Savage 116, but I am concerned with the bullet performance. I will use it again because I have heard of a lot of success with it. I know up close, it will probably grenade, and I hope the keyhole was just a fluke.

Do you happen to know what your muzzle velocity was?

 

[BRIT]

I haven't shot deer with this round, but I did shoot 2 Pronghorn with it this year. Hornady Precision Hunter factory rounds. The first was a buck at 128 yards. The bullet hit just behind the right shoulder and exited. The buck ran about 400 yards and fell over. When I skinned it, it looked like the bullet hit the edge of a rib and keyholed out the other side. No expansion, just an oblong hole through the lungs.

The doe was shot at 85 yards just behind the left shoulder and ran about 40 yards. Upon skinning it, the bullet exploded. It shredded the lungs.

This round is amazingly accurate in my Savage 116, but I am concerned with the bullet performance. I will use it again because I have heard of a lot of success with it. I know up close, it will probably grenade, and I hope the keyhole was just a fluke.

Hi
Thank you very much for the feedback, it's appreciated.

Pronghorn are actually a great example for the bullet performance. Size wise they are probably more akin to the smaller UK deer. I shoot deer in sitka spruce plantation and a 400yd runners after a good hit is a disaster. They are not easy to find in the thick woodland.

 

[matt_3479]

I tried them in my 25 creed and couldn't get the best accuracy. My buddy shot a deer with them last year at about 200 yards and seemed to get the job done just fine.
I took two this season with the 131's ans had fantastic results

 

[BRIT]

I tried them in my 25 creed and couldn't get the best accuracy. My buddy shot a deer with them last year at about 200 yards and seemed to get the job done just fine.
I took two this season with the 131's ans had fantastic results

Hi Matt.
I have a 10 twist barrel so the 131s are a no go i'm afraid.

 

[hhonker74]

I don't have a velocity for my rifle. I'm glad we were in a fenced pasture, or the buck could have gotten away. We watched him run the fence around but he couldn't get under it, or I don't think we would have found him.

 

[matt_3479]

Hi Matt.
I have a 10 twist barrel so the 131s are a no go i'm afraid.

That's too bad!! I mean you'll find something to shoot awesome and hammer deer but boy does those 131's hammer then

 

[lancetkenyon]

The Berger 115 HVLD, and the 100 SMK have worked wonders in my old .250AI and .25-06AI, both 1:10" twists. So did the 100TSX and 110 ABLR.
Got out of those cartridges before the ELD-X lines came out.

 

[DJ Fergus]

Did the 100 smk expand reliability for you? If so, I may try to load some up.

 

[lancetkenyon]

Did the 100 smk expand reliability for you? If so, I may try to load some up.

Worked awesome on several deer from 60ish to 360, javelina, and coyotes way out to 1327 yards.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I would use a 110gr Accubond at the ranges under 500, awesome performance and never had a failure.
One thing to take note on with these bullets, the exit is generally only slightly larger than bullet diameter, they do not open as violently as cup and core non-bonded bullets do. They penetrate from stem to stern in my experience.

Cheers.

 

[DJ Fergus]

My son and myself have shot deer with 110 accubonds, 115 partitions,100gr ballistic tips and 80gr ttsx bullets. The 110ab & 115 partitions performed very similar. Reliable penetration with not much larger exit hole diameter. Same goes for the Barnes 80 ttsx. The one 100gr ballistic tip that we shot a deer with
many years ago went into the deers shoulder due to a bad wind call. It ended up being an unrecovered deer.