Hornady ELX - No Good for Hunting Elk???

[jacksonforq]

lmao
I suppose the elk I shot this year was concerned about penetration, maybe that’s why he went less than 50 yards and died with his insides turned to soup! Didn’t have 1 speck of damage to the meat! Same with my bull last year at 550 yards using a 140 Berger target hybrid, put the bullet where it’s meant to go, center of the lungs! = dead every time!
Matt
2021 - 6.5x.284
2022 - 6.5x.300 wheatherby mag
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I love being proven wrong. Especially since I personally love the 143 eldx.

 

[jdf]

I shot elk and mule deer last yr in Idaho with 175 gr.. went down in their tracks
No issues

 

[Cav1]

Not sure yet myself. Been shooting the 212-grain Eld-X in the .30-06 for a couple of years. One-shot kills on deer and last year's big cow elk, shot through the front of the brisket at only 50-60 yards. This year I ran into one of those unkillable elk. Friend's son whacked the 5-point herd bull and once he had that on the ground I shot the biggest cow I could see. Was starting to wonder about my shooting, but it turns out the first two shots hit not 3 inches apart, right behind the shoulder, at 300 yards. Broadside double-lung hits. One was a pass-through with the exit wound obviously much larger and the second was recovered just under the hide on the far side, perfectly mushroomed with the lead still in the jacket. Third shot totally shattered the near shoulder blade like a grenade. And away she went, obviously hard hit but still on her feet. Arguably, the first 3 shots were all lethal hits. Only had 3 rounds in my Remington 700; magazine can be finicky. Reloaded and put two more unnecessary shots into her. The first three shots were on for shot placement and the bullets performed well for expansion and weight retention. Just one of those elk??? You know, the ones that soak up 180-grain .30-caliber bullets like they were M931 5.56mm. The friend who's boy shot the 5-point said he once put four 7mm Rem Mags into an elk with similar results. I can't say for sure yet. The 1st or 2nd shot was the first 212-grain ELD-X I ever recovered. Perfectly mushroomed and held its weight. On deer, all shots were pass-throughs, although the exit wounds were very obviously much larger than the entrance wounds. Not enough data yet for me to say for sure one way or another.

 

[Keep on]

I used 143 ELD-X's in my creedmoor on 4 critters this year, 2 antelope and 2 whitetails. I recovered 2 separated jackets and saw fragmentation in 3 of the animals. Last one shot was a good size whitetail buck at roughly 50 yards, hard quartering away. Bullet entry behind the ribs, found the jacket in the front abdominal cavity and what was left of the lead buried in front opposite shoulder.
Everything I've pointed the eldx's at has died, but no way I'd use one on elk size game. Going to do some more searching around for a bonded or mono load this off season. The accuracy of the eldx's have been outstanding but not my choice for game.

 

[Red-Team 98]

Hi All,

Last year I developed a great load with some heavy ELDX bullets for my Browning x-bolt in 30-06. They were tack drivers and shot great and outperformed the same weight Nosler Accubonds.

My original intention was to use these bullets on Elk.

This fall I was able to harvest two deer with the same load. Both shots were around 150 yards. The bullets did their job, however upon recovering one, some concerns came to light. On both deer there were complete pass through shots with lots of internal damage and good sized exit wounds. The deer dropped immediately. On one animal I was able to recover the jacket and bottom half of the bullet, which were still together. The jacket showed pretty devastating damage, however the upper portion of lead, above the ferrule in the bullet had completely separated and likely went through the animal.

My concern is with the fragmentation of the round. It just did stay together as say an Accubond is suppose to. Basically as the lead sheared off the bullet, the overall bullet lost mass and did not pass through.

My concern is that this bullet is just not robust enough for tough animals like elk. I have heard the same comment reiterated on a number of podcasts lately. The consensus I have heard from some is that the ELDX is a great shooting bullet, but just not tough enough for large game hunting applications.

Anyone have similar experiences? Is mono metal the way to go?

Jackets Too Soft tried them one season more explosive the Nosler Ballistic Tips.
No more ELDX for me if I need a explosive bullet I will use a Berger.

 

[huntnpack]

Found my first fired projectile this weekend. Pictured was a follow up shot on a cow quartering away at roughly 280 yards. Clipped the rear edge of the ribs and settled under the hide at the front driver's side. First shot was quartering to at 260, exited just behind the diaphragm. I've shot two deer at about 100 yards as well. Full pass throughs, one contacted the back edge the scapula and a significant meat damage/trauma like others have shown. Projectile weighed 128gr (72% weight retention).


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Add full pass throughs on two deer inside 100 yards broadside and a full pass through on a cow quartered to (on leading edge of shoulder) at 415. None of those three went far at all. Cow dropped in place essentially.

 

[CoHunter1991]

I wasn't a believer for a long time but my hunting partner has shown me otherwise. I think they are a good bullet if used properly.

 

[Forkyfinder]

Every animal ive shot has 3-5" hole - completely through.

Someday i hope to recover a non-intact bullet so i can tell everyone it didnt work

 

[CoHunter1991]

Every animal ive shot has 3-5" hole - completely through.

Someday i hope to recover a non-intact bullet so i can tell everyone it didnt work

I have seen 4-5 recovered ELDX bullets that were stuck in the hide on the exit side. They were perfect.

 

[Forkyfinder]

I have seen 4-5 recovered ELDX bullets that were stuck in the hide on the exit side. They were perfect.

They will come apart if the impact velocity is too high. You could turn a 178 eldx into a varmint bullet with a 300 rum.... mine were all north of 2500 fps so i dont have any lower speed data yet.

What impact velocity/bullet?

 

[CoHunter1991]

Last one was my Dads Muley buck he hit at ~125 yards with a 145g ELDX out of a 270win. Velocity was around 2750 FPS on impact. bullet was a perfect and intact.

 

[sclancy27]

3 animals with the ELDX in 270 win this year.

1. Bull Elk, 100 yards, impact velocity ~2700 fps. Did a 10 foot circle and dead, damage was unreal (why I normally shoot Hammer Bullets)

2. Bull Elk, 325 yard, impact velocity ~2400 fps. Liver/guts. Bull walked short distance and bedded down. Second shot killed it.

3. Mule Deer, 515 yards, impact velocity ~2175 fps. Double lung, dropped right there and rolled on its back. Massive damage and exit.

I've shot them before and they perform great, honestly for me, too much potential meat damage. I like Hammer Bullets for this reason, but this year I got lazy reloading and didn't have sufficient quantities. I will say, it is really nice to have a BC I trust in the ELDX (Hammer's BC values for me have been high, I usually have to shoot them in to get dope chart, which is annoying). Not to mention that I can reload ELDX for significantly less than the Hammers, I may end up using ELDX a bit more in the future.

 

[Ought Six]

My limited anecdotal experience with 140gr ELD-X on elk has been poor. I wasn’t the shooter of either elk, and I prefer bullets like the Accubonds. 140gr ELD-X are probably great for deer and antelope, but lots of meat loss if placed incorrectly.

A bull elk took 2 140gr ELD-X’s (250yards) behind the shoulder and was not found until the magpies were on him 0.6 miles away. No exit and shot placement did not seem to be the issue.

Another bull took a 140gr ELD-X in the crease of the shoulder (200 yards) and had to be shot again about 2 miles later after he finally bed down. Again, no exit and shot placement did not seem to be the issue.

I think they came apart on ribs because no major bones were hit. Maybe the shots were too close? Those are hunting distances. Both 6.5CMs.

Those friends didn’t know anything about bullet construction and performance but immediately began looking for something different after those two bad elk experiences.

I’ve read mixed reviews across the internet since seeing that performance and researching other’s experiences. Wouldn’t be a chance I’d want to take on not recovering an animal especially with a OIL type tag. Also wouldn’t personally shoot an elk with a 6.5CM with what I’ve seen, but my wife might one day.

However, I’ve also seen similar fragmental bullets, like the SSTs, out of magnum calibers in heavier bullets (180gr) do a number on elk, deer, and antelope and dump them in their tracks. Not my preference though.

 

[rjthehunter]

This year so far...

338 win mag w/ 230 grain eldx
Mule deer @ 405 yards, 1 shot quick kill
Whitetail @ 60 yards, 1 shot quick kill
Whitetail @ 230 yards, 1 shot, quick kill
Coyote @ 40 yards, 1 shot quick kill

300 PRC w/ 200 grain eldx
Mule deer @ 220 yards, 1 shot, could have been a quick kill, but shot again to ensure it was quick.

7mm rem mag w/ 162 eldx
Whitetail @ 120 yards, 1 shot quick kill.

No performance issues, all passed through. Elk wasn't with the eldx this year.