Hornady ELDX Performance

[Deleted member 112099]

Hey all
New to the site. Just wanted to let you all know what my experience was with this bullet. 7mm rem mag 162 hornady eldx. 269 yards mule deer broadside in the crease, perfect placement.
Deer went 30 yards and dropped. Perfect? Not really. When I looked at entrance which was perfect placement. There was stomach grass coming out of the entrance? No exit. After cleaning and skinning it was apparent that the jacket and core separated at contact. The core turned right into body cavity and exploded. Essentially gut shooting my deer from the heart. All that was found was the shell of the jacket on off side. These bullets are unpredictable and have a dangerous behavior. The core could have went anywhere, as it was ejected from jacket free to go wherever. A wandering bullet can not be safe.
FYI

 

[BH107]

You can't be serious...

 

[Deleted member 48126]

I wouldn't use one experience as a reliable sample size. Plus it did the job. 30 yard "tracking" job? I would take that all day, everyday.

 

[JemezDave]

Try a bonded bullet or partition. I prefer a bullet that holds together too. Did you lose a lot of meat?

 

[gusd]

I shot 5 whitetail with 143 grain eldx out of my 6.5 creedmore Saturday . None of then lived to talk about it. Didn't have to track any either. I would say they work just fine.

 

[Excavator]

I don't know about the eldx, but can tell you what happened to me about 8:00 am this morning with a eldm. I had a 6.5 creed built for my kids off my old 5r mill spec 308. I went with a 20" proof barrel. So we could use a can one day. With the shorter barrel I wanted to keep the bullet lighter to raise MV. So the smith set it up for 140 eldm. Thing shoots lights out. So today I shot a buck at 250 yards. Dropped in it tracks. Never moved. I got down and went to get the truck. Got back to the deer 30 min later, to find it still alive. It makes me sick. The Bullet exploded in the shoulder. Looked like slivers of glass went in the cavity. I can tell you one thing. I will never use a match Bullet on game again. Not fair to the animal. Deer was shot dead center shoulder.

 

[Deleted member 48126]

Is it still alive in that pic?!

 

[Excavator]

Heck no, it was dispatched as soon as I noticed it was alive.

 

[Barrelnut]

Calamity, is it possible deer was quartering to you a bit? Sometime hart to tell from distance. Also might have turned a bit right when you were dropping the hammer.

 

[elkaholic]

Calamity, is it possible deer was quartering to you a bit? Sometime hart to tell from distance. Also might have turned a bit right when you were dropping the hammer.

That could well be, but I have seen more than once when bullets literally turned 90 degrees! Sounds crazy bit it isn't!

 

[memtb]

It has been long suggested, until the long range craze started, by most bullet manufacturers....that match bullets were "not" designed for hunting purposes! Hence the reason that bullet manufacturers produced, both, match bullets and hunting bullets.

People have been using match bullets for many (30+) years that I am aware of, with mixed reviews. Sometimes the results were spectacular.....sometimes the failures were spectacular. Much as what we are experiencing with some of today. Memtb

 

[Vol1975]

Hey all
New to the site. Just wanted to let you all know what my experience was with this bullet. 7mm rem mag 162 hornady eldx. 269 yards mule deer broadside in the crease, perfect placement.
Deer went 30 yards and dropped. Perfect? Not really. When I looked at entrance which was perfect placement. There was stomach grass coming out of the entrance? No exit. After cleaning and skinning it was apparent that the jacket and core separated at contact. The core turned right into body cavity and exploded. Essentially gut shooting my deer from the heart. All that was found was the shell of the jacket on off side. These bullets are unpredictable and have a dangerous behavior. The core could have went anywhere, as it was ejected from jacket free to go wherever. A wandering bullet can not be safe.
FYI

Can't speak much on the 162 gr and the speed you are pushing the bullet but the 175 eld-x works really good on whitetails when pushed at moderate speeds. has enough lead to push through a whitetails body. That's been my experience. I like a little heavier bullet when it comes to cup and core bullets. They are made to come apart but with a little more lead and slower speed they work well. My 2 cents

 

[del2les]

It has been long suggested, until the long range craze started, by most bullet manufacturers....that match bullets were "not" designed for hunting purposes! Hence the reason that bullet manufacturers produced, both, match bullets and hunting bullets.

People have been using match bullets for many (30+) years that I am aware of, with mixed reviews. Sometimes the results were spectacular.....sometimes the failures were spectacular. Much as what we are experiencing with some of today. Memtb

Yea, all things old are new again. This same discussion and results were occurring in the 60/70's.

 

[Deleted member 112099]

Calamity, is it possible deer was quartering to you a bit? Sometime hart to tell from distance. Also might have turned a bit right when you were dropping the hammer.

The jacket was found directly on opposite side in line with path.
Underneath the hide.
Hole in rib cage on opposite side was pencil size. Over the years I have shot most popular bullets available.
Having varied results. Partition being very reliable. Was intrigued by the BC and accuracy of this bullet. As stated an expanding ELD bullet. A little effort to keep it together would be a plus
Just wanted to let you all know what happened when it hit a buck square on. I did have to trim all the vile from the tenderloins and hind quarters