Hornady SST vs ELD-X

[rjthehunter]

Well i was lucky enough to catch the bullet from a deer I shot this weekend. It was a 200 grain sst shot out of a 338 win mag. The bullet appears to have held together pretty well. It was only about a 80 yard shot.

Has anyone caught an ELD-X? I'm thinking of ordering a box to try out as well. I'd make a jump from 200 grain to 230 grain but if the bullet is supposed to perform better I'd like to give it a try.

Anyone with personal experiences with these two bullets? I attached the sst below.

 

[rjthehunter]

Also note that last year I shot a nice buck at about 70 yards and the bullet passed through and didn't seem to expand at all. That was also a 200gr sst. Same gun, and both deer were shot with a factory load

 

[T Bone]

I found this ELdX in a dead bull elk Saturday.

175 grain out of a 7 STW. Quartering on. Entrance punched shoulder and slug was found under the hide of the rear quarter.

Recovered bullet weighs 88 grains. 100% happy with it, and the bull.

 

[T Bone]

 

[T Bone]

I've read others' reports of the ELDx not holding together, but my experience with it on two mature bulls and 1 buck is the opposite.

The SST always worked great for me on deer (130 grn, 270 win).

 

[Losing_Sanity]

I believe we should stick with what works, for the most part. The SST seems to be successful for you. If you consider "availability", right now you can't find too many ELD-X bullets. I have noticed the SSTs are much more available. Hopefully, bullet availability will change soon... YMMV

The SST works real well on my wife's mule deer from a .308 Win.

 

[rjthehunter]

Thankfully I've been able to locate a few eldx in 338 cal. Only reason I might get a box is to try them out. I've heard they're more reliable at any range. And since I sent one right through my buck last year without it expanding I'm a little leary. Eldx have quite a bit higher bc than the sst does. Partly due to the increase in weight. Tomorrow night I'll get the 200 grain sst I recovered on the scale and see what it weighs now!

 

[CForest]

They work very similar from what I’ve seen. I’ve shot my last 3 elk with the eld-x, all lethal with first shot. 300wm with 200gr. The further the distance the more I like them, wasn’t super pleased with up close performance really. I’m too much of a bonded bullet fanboy to keep using them. I just don’t have 100% confidence they will perform how I want at any possible range, but man those eld-x shoot so good out of the guns I’ve used them in.

 

[1_pointer]

That'll hunt. I'd also not shy away from the 200gr .338" Ballistic Tip. It's done great work for me in a 338 Win Mag

 

[Lawnboy]

Looks like it did! but in today's snobby bullet world if animal takes a few steps, runs 50 yds or literally doesn't pancake flat upon impact it is referred to as a "bullet failure". So now every animal I shoot that moves an inch I say well it's dead but that was bullet failure

 

[NDcoyote]

My dad has had pretty good luck with 180 sst out of his .300 win. About 7 elk and 2 moose have been shot with them. Some bullets have held together really well and others seemed to blow to pieces but all have killed well

 

[Hem]

I have killed two elk at 20 yds and one at 60 yds with SST , as well as a buck at 30 yds out of my .270.
Wasn't impressed with bullet performance, lack of expansion.
However the SST out of my in-line seemed to function much better. 5 deer shot from 20 -100 yds.
Unsophisticated deduction is the bullet performs better at slower speeds.

 

[BrokenChicken]

i tried both at the range. SST kicked a bit more and didnt produce as tight of groups as ELD-X did.
i settled on ELD-X as it provided best groups,. and so far i've been extremely happy with performance.
i'm using 270 WIN

i've now shot Elk, Deer and Antelope with it.
Antelopes were at: 150m, 250m, 500m. (first two were a pass through), 500m i dont remember what happened with the bullet, didnt look too much.
Deer were: 100-300m ranges. also had complete pass through's even after hitting a rib. on pass throughs via ribcage/double lung, exit hole was about Golf ball size if i had to guess, so instantly would drop animals. the ones where shot was not perfect and it hit a shoulder on way in/out, and it was not a pass through i have found some fragments of the bullet, but didnt look hard enough for completes.
now on ELK it was a different situation:
Bull this year, 300m, 1st shot was not perfect, so it crushed some bone, but completely dropped the bull, i still found small remaining 30% mushroomed cap after it passed through multiple bones. 2nd shot put through the neck to quickly expire it.
Cow last year, 250m. recovered both bullets. one hit rib on the opposite side, so just barely made it out. and 2nd shot made it 99% through, i think it also hit a rib but on way in, and i found the bullet pressed against hide on opposite side nearly making its way out. here what they looked like:

 

[jbseamus83]

I don't have experience with the ELD-X. I have shot a large 275 lb hog with 139 gr SST from my 7mm-08 and had an instant kill. Just a few days ago, I took my first elk. I chose to use the 139 gr GMX bullet because from what I had read, it tends to penetrate better than the SST. I am using the SST for deer sized game, and tougher critters will get the GMX. I loved the way it performed. 380 yd shot, clean pass through, massive internal damage. Elk ran about 20 yds before going down and sliding down the ridge right to the base. It was beautiful.

 

[rjthehunter]

Thanks for all the feedback. I'm in the process of working up a load for my 338. Once I can get out and shoot the sst I have loaded up I'll decide whether or not I need to push for better groups.

 

[Single Malt]

I found this ELdX in a dead bull elk Saturday.

175 grain out of a 7 STW. Quartering on. Entrance punched shoulder and slug was found under the hide of the rear quarter.

Recovered bullet weighs 88 grains. 100% happy with it, and the bull.

View attachment 161339

I can see why you like that bull...

 

[Blacktailbc]

143 eld-x .
mule deer . 500 yds.
6.5 prc at 3020 FPS

 

[GlockZ]

I never tried the 200 gr. SST in my 338WM, but I have used the 225 gr. version and have yet to recover one that's stayed together, they do shred, leaving behind bits of the copper jacket as they exit. I've also used the 130 gr. SST's in my 270 and have yet to recover one that hasn't had jacket separation. I'm not concerned because they are accurate and definitely do their job, making a quick and clean kill. Since then, I've switched to Barnes TTSX bullet in both all my rifles, as they seem to be a tad bit more accurate past 100 yds.than the SST's.

 

[rjthehunter]

I never tried the 200 gr. SST in my 338WM, but I have used the 225 gr. version and have yet to recover one that's stayed together, they do shred, leaving behind bits of the copper jacket as they exit. I've also used the 130 gr. SST's in my 270 and have yet to recover one that hasn't had jacket separation. I'm not concerned because they are accurate and definitely do their job, making a quick and clean kill. Since then, I've switched to Barnes TTSX bullet in both all my rifles, as they seem to be a tad bit more accurate past 100 yds.than the SST's.

The reason I was leaning towards the eldx is its supposed to be accurate (and expand) at any ranges. I moved closer to a range that goes out to 1200 yards and would like to just get more comfortable at longer ranges. Not for hunting reasons, but just to be more confident in my abilities and if I can find the right load maybe stretch my hunting range out to 500 or 600 yards.

 

[Cav1]

I just started hunting with the 212-grain ELD-X in .30-06 this season because I loved the accuracy and the retained velocity and energy at long range. I have yet to recover a bullet but have only shot a mountain goat (386 yards) and a whitetail doe (318) thus far. Broadside double-lung shots through the ribcage and all pass-throughs, but comparing the sizes of the entry and exit wounds indicates good expansion. Still hoping to try one out on an elk...