It's probably the most controversial bullet ever. There we some long threads on the Long Range Hunting forum about them. Strong opinions both ways. I think distance/velocity/bullet weight dictates the experience. Their accuracy is undeniable. They're match grade accurate in the reloading I did with them.

Those aoudad are some tough SOB's and glad they are working for you.

Thats screaming out of a Creed. Factory 143ELDX out of my 24" PRC is 2950fps

I've also had terrible luck with eldx in 6.5cm, not as bad as Win Silvertips in 7mm Mag, but bad enough that I'll never use them again. FGM Berger 130 Hybrids have been awesome on deer and hogs and are the most accurate bullet I've tried out of my Tikka. Hitting the 1100 yd gong (not sure what size it is) at CCC more often than not with them.

The alliant powders produce some head scratching results.

My CM is a 24" barrel + 9" suppressor. RL26 is magic in a few calibers including the 6.5CM. Lots of guys loading 140's at or over 3000. It's hard on the brass when you push it that high and lapua brass is compressing the powder above 47 grains with the long bullets.

280AI with RL26 and a 136 Shock Hammer will push up to 3300 without pressure and RL17 will push a 131 hammer over 3400 in my rifle.

RL33 in my 264WM will push a 134 Hammer over 3400 (26 Nosler velocities).

You should be able to push that PRC up beyond that.

47+ grs of RL26 to kill a deer under 150 yards is insane. That's .223 range.

TikkaShooter said:

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If you paid $400+ for a jug of 4350 then you over paid

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https://shop.hodgdon.com/hodgdon-h4350/

Yes, stores online have online for less, but add in shipping and hazmat and it goes to $400 for an 8lb jug.

Even when is on sale local it's $390.

Also,

the point




You


But I know you're never wrong so…

I hope Hornady Custom puts the ELD-X on the end of a 6.5 Swede at 2700 FPS. Now I really want to find out for myself. If they ever do I will buy it, scope that gun, and shoot a deer next year with it.

After the Gameking 30-06 experiment.



Adding- For the record, I like Hornady. I think the XTP is a grossly underrated bullet and if they would sell the Critical Duty as cheap as a gold dot or HST I would carry it. Their soft point rifle bullet is as good as anything else and while I am not into long range shooting I understand that they are leaders in innovation.

Would still prefer a Core Lokt.

I see a lot of posts here and elsewhere about bullet construction. Thick vs thin jacket etc... I don't really like conjecture so I just get out a file and see for myself. This might be apples to oranges but might provide some insight. From left to right:
1. 6mm/.243 85 grain Speer Spitzer Boat Tail
2. 6mm/.243 90 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip (those who say the ELD-X is the most controversial bullet ever wasn't around when these came out)
3. 6mm/.243 90 grain Sierra TGK I think (they are factory 2nds... I reviewed them on MidwayUSA)
4. 6mm/.243 95 grain Hornady SST
5. 6mm/.243 100 grain Hornady Interlock
6. .257 Sierra 100 grain Pro Hunter
7. .257 110 grain Hornady ELD-X
8. 6.5mm/.264 Hornady 95 grain V-Max
9. 6.5mm/ .264 Speer 120 grain Hot-Cor
10. .308 Speer 130 grain Jacketed Hollow Point (I press and super glue a #6 lead shot into the tip to help them feed in my .300 BLK... they kill like lightening inside 100 yds)

Agree w/HumbleAg04
it's the ammo and Nosler usually gets it right

Even a .22 Hornet at those ranges I've seen do well with correct ammo

I prefer 30-06, 30-30, even 357mag in those cases mentioned.

tcc66 said:

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TX_COWDOC said:

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tcc66 said:

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ELD-X is at the top of the list of banned bullets where I hunt. We harvest between 60 and 100 deer per year on our MLD permit and most of our shots are under 150 yds. They expand too fast and don't exit. It kills the deer, no blood trail and the coyotes will find them before we do.

140 Fusions in the 6.5 are lethal and always exit! I call it a bonded core lokt. It's an excellent, low cost, accurate bullet!

I reload and shoot mostly hammer bullets. They always exit and kill quickly.

The most violent bullet I've seen is a 175gr Berger Elite Hunter in 7MM (280AI, 7mag, 7 PRC). It's horror movie results! The Berger VLD is also on the banned list.....

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Please post the 'banned list'! I would
like to see it.

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ELD-X
VLD's
Partitions - most people wont agree but before these high BC bullets hit the market, we had a lot of unrecovered deer with partions.
SST's - border line.... the light weight variety often don't exit at high velocities. The heavier version perform well. Nosler BT's actually perform better and are extremely accurate.

Generally bullets that have a tendency to not exit are problematic. Most of the high bc bullets are designed to expand at low velocity/long distance and expand very rapidly at high velocity/short distances (elite hunters work well at all velocities).

Favorites:
Hammers
Fusions
Elite Hunters
Accubonds
Barnes

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You probably had unrecovered deer with Partitions because they aren't a white tail deer projectile - they were designed for large game with thick hides. Odds are they poked right through the little white tail and didn't expand much at all.

The SST's confuse me - I hunt with them out of a 6.5 Grendel. They have absolutely planted both deer and pretty sizeable pigs. The only time there wasn't an exit wound was on a boar that was shot in the shoulder versus behind the ear. But it wasn't much of an issue because he ran about 30 yards and folded up dead AF. Every deer we have shot, from ranges of less than 30 yards out to 265ish have had full pass throughs with good exit wounds.

swampstander said:

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I see a lot of posts here and elsewhere about bullet construction. Thick vs thin jacket etc... I don't really like conjecture so I just get out a file and see for myself. This might be apples to oranges but might provide some insight. From left to right:
1. 6mm/.243 85 grain Speer Spitzer Boat Tail
2. 6mm/.243 90 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip (those who say the ELD-X is the most controversial bullet ever wasn't around when these came out)
3. 6mm/.243 90 grain Sierra TGK I think (they are factory 2nds... I reviewed them on MidwayUSA)
4. 6mm/.243 95 grain Hornady SST
5. 6mm/.243 100 grain Hornady Interlock
6. .257 Sierra 100 grain Pro Hunter
7. .257 110 grain Hornady ELD-X
8. 6.5mm/.264 Hornady 95 grain V-Max
9. 6.5mm/ .264 Speer 120 grain Hot-Cor
10. .308 Speer 130 grain Jacketed Hollow Point (I press and super glue a #6 lead shot into the tip to help them feed in my .300 BLK... they kill like lightening inside 100 yds)

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I still shoot Combined Technologies BST's out of my .223 bolt and .243.

I have had only one deer that I didn't recover, and it was at a little over 350 yards on a full frontal shot I shouldn't have taken. Every other deer has bee either DRT or maybe made it 40 yards. Exit wounds are quarter sized every time.

Same with the elk I shot with one out of a .30 cal - it was a 168, about 165 yard shot or so. When I went to find the elk after the shot, it looked like somebody threw a can of red paint on the ground. Tracking was not hard, nor did I have to go far.

For thin and medium skinned game, they are great. Heavier skin or larger than a younger elk - nope, not so much. Accubonds are far better for those applications.

schmellba99 said:

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swampstander said:

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I see a lot of posts here and elsewhere about bullet construction. Thick vs thin jacket etc... I don't really like conjecture so I just get out a file and see for myself. This might be apples to oranges but might provide some insight. From left to right:
1. 6mm/.243 85 grain Speer Spitzer Boat Tail
2. 6mm/.243 90 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip (those who say the ELD-X is the most controversial bullet ever wasn't around when these came out)
3. 6mm/.243 90 grain Sierra TGK I think (they are factory 2nds... I reviewed them on MidwayUSA)
4. 6mm/.243 95 grain Hornady SST
5. 6mm/.243 100 grain Hornady Interlock
6. .257 Sierra 100 grain Pro Hunter
7. .257 110 grain Hornady ELD-X
8. 6.5mm/.264 Hornady 95 grain V-Max
9. 6.5mm/ .264 Speer 120 grain Hot-Cor
10. .308 Speer 130 grain Jacketed Hollow Point (I press and super glue a #6 lead shot into the tip to help them feed in my .300 BLK... they kill like lightening inside 100 yds)

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I still shoot Combined Technologies BST's out of my .223 bolt and .243.

I have had only one deer that I didn't recover, and it was at a little over 350 yards on a full frontal shot I shouldn't have taken. Every other deer has bee either DRT or maybe made it 40 yards. Exit wounds are quarter sized every time.

Same with the elk I shot with one out of a .30 cal - it was a 168, about 165 yard shot or so. When I went to find the elk after the shot, it looked like somebody threw a can of red paint on the ground. Tracking was not hard, nor did I have to go far.

For thin and medium skinned game, they are great. Heavier skin or larger than a younger elk - nope, not so much. Accubonds are far better for those applications.

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I have never had any trouble with the ballistic tips but I have never shot at an elk. I used to shoot the 150 grain Nosler solid base bullets in my 30-06 before they discontinued them when they came out with the BTs. The BT is just the evolution of the solid base as you can see in the pic. I witnessed my father in law kill a doe stone dead when he hit it in the ass with a 180 grain BT out of his 30-06 Woodsmaster from about 200. The deer was just below the crest of a low hill that was about halfway between us and he thought the deer was broadside but it's body was actually facing away and it was looking back at us. The bullet hit the top of the left ham traveled about two inches and hit the pelvis and exited. The deer dropped like a rock I assume from shock to the spinal cord.

I loved the Accubonds for my 25-06 and probably shot 2500 of them. The .257 110 grain Accubonds became unobtanium and that is why I tried the 110 ELD-Xs. I never shot a deer or hog with them because my gun did not group well with them but to be honest that gun started to not group well with anything. I guess 2500 rounds through a 25-06 does that.

For .243 Win I am pretty stuck on the 90 grain Speer Hot-Cors at 3350 fps. I have one sectioned somewhere but couldn't find it for that pic. They are accurate and hold together well. I get pass throughs on shots from 50 yds to well over 300.

ETA:In .223 I shoot Hornady 55 grain Spire Point Boat Tails or 70 grain Speer semi spitzers.

Been a long time but I thought the Nosler Ballistic Tips were the green tips?

If I'm not mistaken, they are different colors for different calibers and weights. Or at least they used to be the case.

I shot 2 doe and 2 javelina with 150gr Win Ballistic Silvertips in 7mm Mag one weekend and got exactly 0 exit wounds. The doe both ran off into the brush with no blood trail. By dumb luck we found one of the two doe ~100yds away in an adjacent sendero, the other we searched for an hour and never found a drop of blood, the buzzards found her ~125 yds away the next evening. The two javelina were head shots and dropped where they were hit, completely turned the skulls to jello but didn't penetrate through a 4"-5" skull. I threw away the reat of the 2 boxes I had and will never use again.

We experienced exit issues with the 95gr 6mm, 129 6.5MM, and the 139 7MM. We find almost all of the animals but it's the late afternoon shots that can make tracking harder if the bullet doesn't exit. I have not experienced an exit issue with the 123's. I read they beefed up the jacket on the 123 and designed it specifically for the Grendel. I used the 123's when I couldn't get the elite hunters.

HUEY04 said:

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I shot 2 doe and 2 javelina with 150gr Win Ballistic Silvertips in 7mm Mag one weekend and got exactly 0 exit wounds. The doe both ran off into the brush with no blood trail. By dumb luck we found one of the two doe ~100yds away in an adjacent sendero, the other we searched for an hour and never found a drop of blood, the buzzards found her ~125 yds away the next evening. The two javelina were head shots and dropped where they were hit, completely turned the skulls to jello but didn't penetrate through a 4"-5" skull. I threw away the reat of the 2 boxes I had and will never use again.

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Well, you were using a 7mag.

Also, how close were the shots? Because a 7 mag pushing a BT at close range and it's more like a varmint TNT type round - that much energy is goingto fragment the projectile way too fast.

Just came across a brand new podcast. Watched the Walther PPK/James bond one and it was pretty good. Have not watched this yet.







Also, Vortxex Nation has a ton of GREAT podcasts on the 6.5 Creedmore. I posted on a few pages back but I highly suggest their podcast to anyone.

I loved the Accubonds for my 25-06 and probably shot 2500 of them. The .257 110 grain Accubonds became unobtanium and that is why I tried the 110 ELD-Xs.

A few months after your post but :
Nosler AccuBond 25 Cal (257 Diameter) Bullets 110 Grain Bonded Polymer (midwayusa.com)

oklaunion said:

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I loved the Accubonds for my 25-06 and probably shot 2500 of them. The .257 110 grain Accubonds became unobtanium and that is why I tried the 110 ELD-Xs.

A few months after your post but :
Nosler AccuBond 25 Cal (257 Diameter) Bullets 110 Grain Bonded Polymer (midwayusa.com)

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Thanks for the heads up but the 25-06 has been relegated to the back of the safe. The bore looks like alligator hide anyway. I might rebarrel in some day... I'm thinking maybe 6.5/.284. Any remaining RL-22 powder is being saved for my .243 Win. In the meantime I'm having a blast playing with my gas guns.