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ELD-X ammo

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Lockjaw View Drop Down
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    Posted: January/07/2020 at 12:50
Has anyone shot anything with it? 

I have shot 2 deer, both dropped, and flopped but then got up and hobbled off. Negligible blood trails. One was not a big deer, one was a nice 6 pt. Both under 100 yards. I mean like drop and flop for a minute, and then get up.

308 178gr bullets. I like how it shoots. Little deer was lungs, buck was high in shoulder, which would explain a lack of a blood trail. It was a miracle I found either deer. Wet conditions to boot. Hole coming out of buck was maybe nickle size. 

Moral, don't put your gun down and pack up when you knock one down........ 

I did switch clubs, so I likely won't hunt much with this rifle, I don't have a long shot like in my old club. Maybe 100 yards max. 

I did pop a deer with the 450 Bushmaster, in similar wet conditions, and it was an easy blood trail to follow....... I am still holding out hope for shooting a deer that runs up hill not down, so dragging it is easier. Big Grin


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/07/2020 at 13:01
I have run some in 6 and 6.5, haven't had issues.

However, I have seen high hits that did what you describe: knock the animal down, then it gets up and walks away with little or no blood. I have seen it 3 times, twice was a shot that clipped the spine but didn't do enough damage to paralyze, the other was with a 300WM and it was just back luck. I ended up shooting that deer 6 times with a handgun, so following a hole to try and deduce original injury was more trouble than worth.

There is nothing inherent to this bullet design that would make it failure-prone in hunting, or nothing that I can deduce.

My sure shot on deer is now front shoulder bone, it wastes some meat, but I have yet to see a deer move from that spot, when I place the shot well. I am willing to waste a front quarter if it means no wounded or lost deer in the woods when the hunt is over. **Keep in mind, I hunt very formidable terrain/brush and lost deer are common. I usually over-gun, because - as said before - "too dead" isn't a thing, but 'not dead enough" definitely is.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lockjaw Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/07/2020 at 14:19
Well nothing has done what my original box of Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertips in 7-08 did. Every deer I shot with that box was down inside 30 yards or DRT. With massive pass through. Next box, NOPE!! Out of a 16.5 in barrell too. 

I am sort of wondering if maybe that bullet weight is a little heavy for deer under 100 yards. I do like its down range ballistics.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/07/2020 at 15:01
I shot a buck with the 7-08 150gr ELD-X ammo. 

Shot distance on the buck was about 80 yards. I hit him just behind the shoulder in the lungs, and the buck traveled about 20 yards before dropping. Wound channel and exit size was typical of any other fast to medium expansion bullet I've seen traveling at that impact velocity. I wasn't displeased with bullet performance, but it also didn't "wow" me either. It behaved pretty much as I would've expected. Based on that very limited info, I wouldn't object to using it again, as that ammo has shot well to very well out of all the rifles I've tried it in. However, most of the time, I use handloads.

Sample size of 1, so very anecdotal, but there you go.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Peddler Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/07/2020 at 16:05
I’ve killed two bucks so far with the 143ELD-X bother DRT IN MY Creedmoor. My wife had a DRT this fall with 129 SST in her Creedmoor. All three were in the 140-150 yard range.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lockjaw Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/08/2020 at 10:39
Originally posted by RifleDude RifleDude wrote:

I shot a buck with the 7-08 150gr ELD-X ammo. 

Shot distance on the buck was about 80 yards. I hit him just behind the shoulder in the lungs, and the buck traveled about 20 yards before dropping. Wound channel and exit size was typical of any other fast to medium expansion bullet I've seen traveling at that impact velocity. I wasn't displeased with bullet performance, but it also didn't "wow" me either. It behaved pretty much as I would've expected. Based on that very limited info, I wouldn't object to using it again, as that ammo has shot well to very well out of all the rifles I've tried it in. However, most of the time, I use handloads.

Sample size of 1, so very anecdotal, but there you go.

That's kind of where I am. I am not unhappy with it, it shoots very nice groups in my gun, but I am not just thrilled either. 

I shot a buck with 150gr SST out of same gun, went about the same distance. I just like the downrange performance of the heavier bullet. And it did knock both deer down, versus just zipping through. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/08/2020 at 11:33
Here's the thing though, Craig... I've killed a lot of critters with a lot of different bullets in my life, and I've seen a lot of weird things happen that defy logic. I've seen deer drop where they stood and not even twitch with lightly constructed 80 gr bullets out of a .243 and deer run a good distance when shot with a 180 gr bullet out of .300 Win Mag. This past season alone, I watched a buddy shoot a doe with a .300 Mag/180 gr bullet where the doe ran 75 yds after the shot. When we were field dressing his doe, the amount of damage done to the lungs and ribs was impressive, yet she still ran 75 yards. On the same day, I killed a 200 lb feral hog with my .300 BLK using Sig SUBSONIC 220 SMK bullets, and it dropped in its tracks as if struck by lightning! Shot distance was 120 yds, so the bullet was only traveling something like 750 fps at impact. The terminal performance of subsonic .300 BLK has never impressed me, yet this decent sized hog, much larger and tougher than the doe, was instantly killed in impressive fashion. The bullet didn't even expand properly, and it's not even a "hunting" bullet; it's a HP target bullet. I use that ammo in my .300 BLK because it's the quietest ammo I've tried out of the suppressed rifle.

I believe it's pretty much impossible to predict how any given animal will react to a shot based off of a previous animal killed with the same ammo under similar conditions, even with the same shot placement. A post-mortem examination of a particular bullet's terminal performance may or may not be a good indication of what you can expect to happen the next time you shoot an animal with the same bullet. It's hard to draw any concrete conclusions from only a couple of examples. There's a whole lot of voodoo involved.

Short of shooting them in the brain or CNS, there is no such thing as a bullet that will 100% the time drop animals in their tracks without them moving whatsoever after the shot. Sometimes a critter is running on pure adrenalin and just seems to have an otherworldly will to live. That said, shot placement is of course the most important factor in how effective a bullet performs. Shoot them in the lungs or heart, and they frequently run a bit after the shot. Shoot them squarely in the shoulder and they usually don't go very far even though you destroy more edible meat.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/08/2020 at 12:08
I have been taught in lectures there is an electrical system and a hydraulic system in a animal/person.  Putting a hole in the hydraulic system will kill them eventually but it can take a while and it is affected hugely by adrenaline, strength, endurance, will to live, will to fight, etc.  Every animal/person can be affected at this point differently.  Some will just give up and others can fight and fight.

But you hit the electrical system and boom lights out instantly. 

I once shot an elk three times with a 7mm mag with 175 grain bullets.  First shot to the chest he spun and took off running the other way.  Second shot to the other side of the chest and he spun and ran back the other way again.  3rd shot I shot him high above the shoulder and damaged the spine and he went down and was dead quickly.  When skinning him, the wound channels were like soft balls going through him, so he would have died eventually but he just kept going til I damaged his spine. 

My dad popped an elk a few years later with his .243.  He took a head shot and it was over before the elk hit the ground.  My dad is a big head/high neck shooter.  He likes it to end quickly and not have to deal with all the blood. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lockjaw Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: January/31/2020 at 08:04
You  know what? I am just baffled by the whole thing. So this year I shot a buck with my 450 Bushmaster, and was a little far back, and it went maybe 50 yards. With the Hornaday ammo. Impressive blood trail. 

Then the buck with the ELD-X. No blood trail beyond about 5 feet from where I shot it.

Then last weekend I shot a doe with my 30-30 and the 160gr Leverevolution. This deer was in bow range, and I think the distance from my tree stand to her was longer than the distance from the base of the tree to her. Entered right behind the left shoulder, exited between the front legs. A TON of hair on the ground, deer jumped at the shot, and I didn't find a blood trail, which surprised me. She was 1 of 3 so.... I could have just not been on her the way she ran. I found her maybe 30 yards away, and where she died, lung  blood everywhere. 

That is the 3rd deer I have shot with my 30-30 and that ammo, and I am still just impressed with it. The furtherest being maybe 75 yards away. I think it needs a VXR 2-7 scope with the firedot reticle, but wonder what the 30 mm scope will be like on it. It has a VX1 in same power on it now. 

But I  get what you are saying, years ago a guy in my old club shot a doe with a 338 WM, and we found hair and a strong blood trail. Down a hill, up a hill, well over 100 yards, and never found the deer. It was like the earth swallowed it up. 

The thing with my new club is there are no power lines, or really long shots. If I shoot over 100 yards, that would be a long one. So.... I will probably be hunting more with the 30-30 or 450 Bushmaster AR. 






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