ELD-X by Hornady (Accuracy Report)

[Morrey]

I finally found two boxes of ELD-X hunting bullets by Hornady to try out. This bullet professes to give match bullet accuracy with hunting bullet performance, so to me, this is the best of both worlds.

My bullet selection was a 178 grain .308. My rifle is a Cooper Jackson Game .30-06, and for those who know this gun, Cooper offers a .5 MOA accuracy guarantee with carefully selected hand loads. When using Sierra Matchking 168 gr bullets and IMR 4064, I am under .5 MOA. The gun is 24" barrel, 1:10 twist. But this is my hunting rifle, so I need a hunting bullet, not a match style bullet.

I did a few low to high load workups with the 178gr ELD-X hunting bullet, and immediately saw that 56 gr of IMR 4350 was tight grouping. I have no solid Hornady reloading data for this bullet since it is brand new on the market, so I used data for a Sierra 180 gr spitzer boat tail. The load data publishes the velocity to be 2800 fps so this is excellent for my hunting purposes. I will chrony the bullet this weekend to confirm published is close to actual.

The beauty of this bullet is that I have shot three separate 3 round groups ALL under .5 MOA. The smallest 3 round group measures out at .325 MOA, and these bullets are the best grouping I have shot in my Cooper to date. They perform slightly better, in fact, than match specific bullets I have used.

I have not tested this bullet on live game, but that will come soon enough. Hornady's ballistic tests show awesome expansion at a variety of ranges and velocities, so my money is on this bullet as a big winner!!!

 

[jmr40]

That is encouraging. I picked up a box of 200 gr ELD-X's to try in my 30-06 and 300 WSM. If the 178's had been available I'd have gone that route, but 200's were on the shelf. I haven't had time to load any yet.

 

[folsoh]

I will be following this one closely. I am planning on loading some 200 grn for my 300 win mag. Keep the reports coming.

I was gonna run them with H1000 powder. I have had great luck with Beger bullets with it.

 

[Gtscotty]

Thanks for the report, I picked up some 178s to try in my .308 bolt gun a few weeks ago, but havent had a chance to play with it yet. My rifle loves Amaxes, so if I could get similar accuracy in an aerodynamically slick killing bullet Id be thrilled.

 

[Morrey]

Thanks for the report, I picked up some 178s to try in my .308 bolt gun a few weeks ago, but havent had a chance to play with it yet. My rifle loves Amaxes, so if I could get similar accuracy in an aerodynamically slick killing bullet Id be thrilled.

I think you'll be pleased with the accuracy aspect of this bullet as I am. In SC, our feral hog season continues year round, so I'll hope to be able to give a report on the wound channel, shock value and hunting performance of this bullet soon. So far...so good!!

 

[dirtykid]

Im more-so looking forward to trying out the 212 in my -06,, Although I don't think they will shine like the 190gr Berger's do,, I have had excellent results with the 208 A-max though.. Wondering how they will react to being in the lands,, ???

 

[Morrey]

Im more-so looking forward to trying out the 212 in my -06,, Although I don't think they will shine like the 190gr Berger's do,, I have had excellent results with the 208 A-max though.. Wondering how they will react to being in the lands,, ???

I let the lands seat the ELD-X, then I backed it off the lands .0015. I didn't play with the seating depth any further since it was so accurate as is.

The tip of the loaded round fits in my magazine nicely, but I have to work the unseated bullet into the seating die carefully since the profile of the bullet is so long.

 

[41 Mag]

It will be a while before I get to light a fire under any due to being about 10th or so in line at the smith's in getting my rifle built.

When I get it though, it will be chambered in .260 Rem, with a 26" Broughton 1-8" 5C barrel on it. I will only be able to seat out to the mag length but that will be fine as it is a hunting rifle and not a match rifle.

I'm hoping that the longer 140gr will hold the wind better for longer range shots on some feral hogs myself as those will be high on the hit list.

Looking forward to your findings, so get out and shoot some hogs already...