There was an old thread on Scout regarding the efficacy of the ELD-X and I wanted to revive it here. Last year I bought a GAP 6.5 SAUM and had Copper Creek load up some of these. A month after I received, I was invited on a doe culling mission in S. TX. I shot three does and a pig, so the bullet was ultimately lethal but I felt the performance was lackluster. On the pig 150-175 LB Boar, I put a solid shoulder shot on him, then watched him literally flip, spin around then keel over. One doe, put one in her shoulder watched her limp for 30ish yards then keel over. Another, right behind the shoulder, nice exit wound, complete pass thru but she ran 75ish jumped into the air then keeled over. Shots on these animals were between 135 and 175ish. Long story short, good shot placement but no DRT. I'm going to continue to use this combo for this season. However, just curious if anyone else using this caliber/bullet combo or something similar had lackluster performance with this bullet. Or am I an anomaly?
Hunting & Fishing 143 eld x
- Thread starter HTX_17
- Start date
If you want drt shoot in the head or high shoulder to disconnect the central nervous system lung shots wont do that. Shot 4 deer last year at 150-500 ish with it and the two i shot high shoulder drt the two i shot in the lungs ran 50 yards and dead. My kid shot a doe at 100 yards high shoulder and drt. I guess i am happy with dead as if i have to walk and extra 50 yards to get it i dont care as long as it is dead. this was out of my creedmoor with the juice you have i would be looking at the 147 eld x
I don't believe there is a 147 ELD-X for the 6.5, the 147 is an ELD Match.
You can believe in 143 ELD_X. I have them and shoot them in my Creedmore. Didn't get to kill anything with it yet.
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I'd be happy with the OP's performance.
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ok shoot the eldm and kill shit just the same its like the amax target bullet blah blah and all it does is kill. Unless you are killing cape buffalo match bullets will kill just the same
Most target bullets do not feature a ballistic tip so the assumption that a closed meplat tip FMJ will kill the same is nonsense. The ELM and X are essentially the same bullet just one slightly less frangible than the other. Its no more than a cute marketing ploy akin to the AMAX and SST. Both are emphatic killers.If you lung shoot then the simple mechanics of anatomy dictate that the animal must basicaly expire through blood loss. This may take 50 yards or more.Shots that interfere with the spinal cord and disrupt the CNS stop an animal in its tracks but may not always kill them outright ( just incapacitate). Dynamic trauma such as through the shoulder shots with a suitable round produce, physical damage, blood loss and often the required CNS stop.There is no magic bullet just well placed and suitable bullets.For the OP,..don't feel bad. The boar shot went down well for a frangible 6.5 and the deer as expected given your shot placement. For DRT a well placed neck shot or high shoulder with the 6.5 would have produced results.
Who said any thing about fmj.......
I feel that's pretty good performance considering you keep shooting them in the shoulder? Why not adjust you shot placement to just behind the shoulder? Doesn't sound like you lost any game animals because they ran off, and probably saved some meat by going with the lighter caliber vs. say a .300 win mag or similar. I think your just fine, maybe go to the 147 hunting bullet?
I put a finishing shot through the neck on a 150" Kansas whitetail with a 140 ELDM at 75-80 yards in December. It did not expand at all. I don't think they are as frangible as the old 140 Amax. I will be using the 143 ELDM from now on.
Heartshots and Headshots, study animal anatomy. I've had a couple good kills with shots near the base of the skull-top of neck or right above the elbow that get the heart. My avatar is from a pig I arrowed with a G5 montec and it was DRT, as mentioned blood loss and CNS shots produce DRT results.
https://goo.gl/images/TyjyTI
https://goo.gl/images/TyjyTI
Neck shots provide sketchy performance for even hunting bullets on whitetails. I have killed a pile of deer with 243 win and loved shooting them with 100 grain Sierra Game Kings prior to getting into other calibers with the long range game. One time a scrub buck led me on a all day chase though he expired in a culvert hole less than 200 yards from where he was shot. Found his skeleton in January next after the coyotes got through with him. A neat U shaped notch was clearly cut through the top of a vertebrae where I hit him. Unfortunately for me his blood got all over another deer running side by side with him that ran to the right of the culvert hole and dripped blood for the next 300 yards. The next 1/2 mile I trailed her further into the mountains in the snow taught me neck shots from the side are to be thought out strongly. SGK's in 243 usually expand and leave a mess inside a deer. He's the only one that never went down like it was hit with lightning.
I've had phenomenal success with the 143 ELD-X going 2775 from my 260 Rem.
246 lbs whitetail, 450 yards, DRT.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQ...w?usp=drivesdk
200 lbs black bear. Took 10 steps then died.
100 yards.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQ...w?usp=drivesdk
846 lbs bull moose. Took a couple steps then face planted. 300 yards.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQ...w?usp=drivesdk
246 lbs whitetail, 450 yards, DRT.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQ...w?usp=drivesdk
200 lbs black bear. Took 10 steps then died.
100 yards.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQ...w?usp=drivesdk
846 lbs bull moose. Took a couple steps then face planted. 300 yards.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzQ...w?usp=drivesdk
Great thread can't wait to try my 6.5 with 143 out this year
One 143 eldx running out of my 25" 260 at 2840 put a 260lb mature boar flat on his side at 608yds with a nice high heart/lung, low spine shot. Single digit SD's with V. Lapua brass. I've been sold ever since. I'm now trying to find negative/downside of pushing them at 250+ fps out of 6.5 saum at what sounds to be similar if not lower pressures?
X= extra thick jacket, designed to delay expansion compared to the M. Depending on what that bullet hits going in and its impact velocity will determine how quickly it expands. I used one 140 M on a mule deer with a DRT finish last season. Prior to the ELD release I used many 140 A-max with the same success. I aim for the spine directly above the heart and haven't had any issues punching through a shoulder blade to get there if that is the angle offered, bullets rarely pass completely through and are often found just under the off side hide... or whats left of them.
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I'm not a believer in DRT theories. Like others said, neck/head/spin shots will do it. Heart and lung, not so much.........well sometimes.
I shot an antelope a few years back with a 150 gr IB 270 Win. Sucker took off like a bat out of hell. Thought I missed, then after about 100 yards he did a summersault. His heart lung area looked like a pile of old coffee grounds. He was dead, just not "right there".
Another time I shot a cow elk with the same bullet. Perfect lung shot. Elk have a pretty large area. She would have been DRT on level ground, except when she went down, she rolled down hill into a creek.
Last fall I got a little buck with my 6.5 CM using Hornady 142 grn bullets. He ran about 35 yards. He was dead, just didn't know it. Left an exit wound I could have drove my 4 wheeler through.
Did have a DRT doe antelope last fall, but I muffed the shot (high) and took out part of its spine (and backstrap).
I've found just about any good bullet through the heart/lung are means DEAT, just not RIGHT THERE. About all the meat I eat is wild game (except pork, no pigs in Wyoming). Busted bones means ruined meat, so I go for the heart/lung area, expecting them to run a bit after the shot.
From playing with Hornady Bullets, I wouldn't hesitate to use the 143s on elk. If they wont do the job, it will be because of my shooting and not the bullet.
Last fall, between wife, son and I, we put 5 antelope, three deer, and 2 elk in the freezer, All but one of the elk were taken with the 6.5 CM using Hornady bullets.
I shot an antelope a few years back with a 150 gr IB 270 Win. Sucker took off like a bat out of hell. Thought I missed, then after about 100 yards he did a summersault. His heart lung area looked like a pile of old coffee grounds. He was dead, just not "right there".
Another time I shot a cow elk with the same bullet. Perfect lung shot. Elk have a pretty large area. She would have been DRT on level ground, except when she went down, she rolled down hill into a creek.
Last fall I got a little buck with my 6.5 CM using Hornady 142 grn bullets. He ran about 35 yards. He was dead, just didn't know it. Left an exit wound I could have drove my 4 wheeler through.
Did have a DRT doe antelope last fall, but I muffed the shot (high) and took out part of its spine (and backstrap).
I've found just about any good bullet through the heart/lung are means DEAT, just not RIGHT THERE. About all the meat I eat is wild game (except pork, no pigs in Wyoming). Busted bones means ruined meat, so I go for the heart/lung area, expecting them to run a bit after the shot.
From playing with Hornady Bullets, I wouldn't hesitate to use the 143s on elk. If they wont do the job, it will be because of my shooting and not the bullet.
Last fall, between wife, son and I, we put 5 antelope, three deer, and 2 elk in the freezer, All but one of the elk were taken with the 6.5 CM using Hornady bullets.
Great thread. Sounds like I need to pick some up for my 260.
