Hornady EL-DX - Data/Impressions

[Prerylyon]

So, I have a big box of these in 7mm at 150 gr that I could play with for my .280 REM.

Maybe we talked about these in previous threads? Doesn't hurt to share updates. [emoji6]

Curious about others experiences-on the range and on game-with this bullet? Its been out for awhile.

Hoping to hunt 'lopes and maybe mulies this fall. The nerd in me is fascinated with the idea of 'developing' a special 'lope load for my .280, but running some numbers shows my current 140 and 150 loads are probably fine. Bummer, right? [emoji38]

130 gr bullets seem interesting, for the speed alone, but the computer shows the wind drift to be concerning over a heavier round's. [emoji23]

So, these Hornady bullets seemed interesting in their claims of ballistic performance and wide velocity envelope of non-destructive expansion. I already bought the box, so bring it on-the good and the baa-dd [emoji207]

Regards,

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[mcseal2]

I took a couple deer with the 6.5mm 143gr version last fall.

First was a one of the biggest bodied Midwestern whitetail bucks I've seen. He was at least 6, maybe 7yrs old by trail cam pics I've had. I shot him at 150yds as he was running and I hit a shade ahead of where I wanted to, right on the shoulder. The 143gr ELD-X leaves my 264WM at 3240fps and should have still been running about 3000fps when it hit. It fragmented and I didn't recover any pieces big enough to weigh. The buck died instantly.

The second was a doe at 321yds. I was running out of light on the last day of antlerless season. A buck kept chasing her around a little and I finally got a standing shot with her facing me. The shot was slightly downhill and the bullet entered the front center of her chest, exited the bottom, and broke a hind leg on it's way by. She also died instantly. The bullet appeared to hold together pretty well on her, but wasn't recovered. Impact velocity here should have been around 2740fps.

I'm still undecided on where I'll use this bullet in the future. It killed both deer instantly, can't cuss that. I would have liked to see it hold together on the buck better but I don't know that any non-bonded bullet at that speed would have. My initial thoughts are to continue using it in the 264 win mag for buck season on muley's, whitetail, and antelope. It shoots great and bucks the wind really well, an important trait where I hunt. I will try to avoid bone with it in the future as much as possible. I'll stick with a tougher bullet for anything bigger and use my 300 win mag. For antlerless season meat hunts I think the 25-06 will be my primary rifle. It shoots really well with several tough 100gr bullets that won't damage much meat.

 

[Tim McCoy]

Used the 150 gr. pill out of my 280 Rem in MT last year. Did not chrono that load, but it's a fast gun vs what the books say. First kill was a broadside hit on a moderate sized WT doe at about 35 yards. Guess the impact velocity as 2,900 or so. Entered just behind the shoulder, no trace of the bullet I cared to dig for in the red jello mess inside the rib cage. There was a good sized exit. So odds are it exited in one piece. Doe was moving and her momentum slid her down hill a bit, but she was dead on her feet.

Second was a MD buck almost facing me at about 80 yards, he had a slight quartering to angle towards my left. Avg sized in all respects. Entry was just rt of dead center, tore off top of the heart plumbing and made a big mess out of the chest cavity. Was nearly dark, just gutted him and noticed no hole in the diaphragm.

My conclusion was similar to mcseal2, probably not an elk bullet at high velocities, will open fast and damage meat if you don't place it properly. Would be a vg antelope/deer bullet, but avoid big bones if you can. Was going to use it on cow elk, but not going to now, despite its good weight and SD.

 

[Prerylyon]

The ballistics hype on these was what reeled me in on grabbing a box; appreciate hearing about the on-game performance.

Hunting is unpredictable. As much as we'd like to have 150 yard broadside shots all day long, realities are often different; and we need to have confidence in the bullets and our skills.

I'll roll some of these up at some point this summer and see if my rifle likes them. Sounds like they should be ok for lighter game; especially if I'm able to achieve any ballistic/accuracy improvements with it.

Regards,

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