Hornady’s New ELD-X Bullets

[ADMIN]

In 1949 Joyce Hornady started Hornady Bullet Company. Using the machines used to make ammunition for WWII, he set a goal to have a family business that would produce the most accurate, best performing bullets on the market at a reasonable price. Today the company still uses the same massive machines that Joyce Hornady started with 66 years ago. Of course these are now augmented by state of the art computerized machinery. Today Steve Hornady, Joyce's son and CEO of Hornady, still sticks to his father's business goal. In 2012, not resting on the success of the company's bullets and ammunition, he asked his ballistics staff to test and re-evaluate their current products and see if they could be improved. He challenged them to see if they could develop a bullet with higher BC that would perform well at all distances. Read More...

This is a thread for discussion of the article, Hornady's New ELD-X Bullets, By John Johnston. Here you can ask questions or make comments about the article.

 

[olsingleshot]

One thing I did not say in the article was that each of the staff members is an accomplished competitive shooter in different genres. They compete in benchrest, three gun, precision, vintage sniper rifles and more. Plus all of them are dedicated hunters.

 

[WildRose]

Good write up John.

The holy grail of bullets the last decade or so has been one that would perform well at all ranges with consistent, controlled expansion and a High BC.

We have some great bullets as far as shooting well at long distances but the best of them have been troubled with inconsistent expansion and that's been frustrating for many of us to say the least.

Hornady has been my "go to" bullet for many years particularly the interbond line and this looks to be a combining of the best attributes of both the Interbond and Interlock along with the new tip and higher BC's.

I wish they could have gotten these to market in June or July to give guys time to work up loads for this season but with all the challenges I'm almost surprised they got it done this quickly.

After the let down many of us have felt with the Nosler ALR's their timing couldn't be better and it will be awfully interesting to see how these prove out in the hands of hunters over the next two seasons.

Maybe, just Maybe Hornady has done what so far no one else has been able to do.

 

[olsingleshot]

Thanks WildRose. Yes it maybe a very significant step by Hornady. I think other manufacturers will take a second look at their tipped bullets. As in most things time will tell. I will tell you they got it out as soon as they could considering they did not want to rush this new bullet.

 

[WildRose]

OSS Help me out. I'm gathering you actually had and maybe have your hands on some of these new tips.

From what I"m seeing on the videos and pictures it appears to me that there is a bubble in the stem just about 1/3 of the way down. Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?

My presumption is that they are doing that intentionally to guarantee expansion on impact just as the space below the stem and the drilled out concave to further cause more controlled expansion as the bullet goes deeper.

How far off am I?

 

[olsingleshot]

Actually I do not have any bullets yet with the exception of one 7mm bullet. I have requested some 7mm and 6.5. The design team did not mention any bulb which led me to believe the stem is straight. It was extended down into the body to give a little more expansion. As you can see in gel tests the expansion is about as good as it gets.

 

[WildRose]

Actually I do not have any bullets yet with the exception of one 7mm bullet. I have requested some 7mm and 6.5. The design team did not mention any bulb which led me to believe the stem is straight. It was extended down into the body to give a little more expansion. As you can see in gel tests the expansion is about as good as it gets.

No, you wouldn't see it I don't think on the loaded bullets, only on the tips themselves before they are inserted and of course you can't see down inside the cavity except in the cut outs that they show on the video and stills.

If you look at some of those or get a few of the tips when you get your bullets give them an eyeballing and let us know what you see.

 

[Crawford3]

How does the bullet preform at close range? I was at Whittington center when the bullet was tested there. The bullet preformed well at 600 yds out. No one ever shot anything up close. I have been shooting Berger bullet and it works well at long range but up close have had problems with bullet blowing up.Trying to find best of both world. Any suggestions?

 

[WildRose]

How does the bullet preform at close range? I was at Whittington center when the bullet was tested there. The bullet preformed well at 600 yds out. No one ever shot anything up close. I have been shooting Berger bullet and it works well at long range but up close have had problems with bullet blowing up.Trying to find best of both world. Any suggestions?

I had some questions so I called and talked to one of their tech people today.

He'd seen personally the bullet perform as intended and demonstrated by the gel tests on game at short and medium ranges including animals he's personally taken with the bullet.

One thing I'll definitely say for Hornady is that in over 30 years of dealing with them one on one I've never felt like any of their guys has misled me so I've got high confidence in it.

On the down side it's going to be probably January before we start actually getting the bullets and loaded ammunition in our hands to try them out!

 

[olsingleshot]

From gel tests that I watched, the bullet expanded just fine at shorter distances. Their goal was to have a bullet that performed at all distances. I shoot Bergers a lot also. They are designed to blow up and to expend all their energy in the body cavity.

 

[olsingleshot]

I shot a buck a couple years ago. I could not find an entrance or exit hole until I opened him up. The bullet went in front shoulder and what was left was in the first rib opposite side. In comparison a buck shot that season with a Hornady SST had a tremendous exit hole.

 

[olsingleshot]

Wild Rose what did they say about the "bubble" you saw?

 

[Pdvdh]

From what I"m seeing on the videos and pictures it appears to me that there is a bubble in the stem just about 1/3 of the way down. Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?

My presumption is that they are doing that intentionally to guarantee expansion on impact just as the space below the stem and the drilled out concave to further cause more controlled expansion as the bullet goes deeper.

How far off am I?

A bulbous section in the stem of the plastic tip would make tip insertion and assembly overly complicated - I would think. Every tip I've ever seen had a straight or tapered stem. No section of the stem below the base of the stem is ever larger in diameter than the base of the stem.

 

[olsingleshot]

I think you are correct. They did set the base of the tip off the lead some to help in expansion.