Hornady eld-x field reviews

ShortMag said:

Yes, 180 grain is fine. Bullet construction is far more important than weight and a bit of extra weight is a poor substitute for better construction.

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In the case of my Kimber 300 WSM, 200 grain shoot much tighter groups than 180's do. So in this case 200's are much better. Otherwise I agree in principle on a good 180 grain.

I know this is old but I'll jump in as I just found it. And it sounds like no one has used it on African game as of yet.

I personally use the eld X in my 300 win mag. I'm shooting the 212 with 71.5 grains of 7828.

I have shot 3 elk, and 2 Canadian moose with that set up. Moose being larger and thicker skinned then any PG I believe. All 5 of these animals died either in the same spot or went down within 50 yards. So because of this I felt like it would work just fine in Africa.

2018 when I went to RSA I shot a Sable, kudu, gemsbok, nyala, blue wildebeest, Impala, blesbok and zebra. And my PH made jokes about the lack of tracking required.

Yes it is a soft bullet designed for long range shooting. I had no shots in Africa under 125m. So the really close range I can't speak for. And yes the bullet does expand massively. But that massive expansion is basically a KE dump. Causing devastating damage inside. So if the bullet is placed correctly. You don't need a exit wound. As the internal damage is so bad. The organs will pool with blood so quickly the animal will lay with 50 yards of where you shot it. And that's on the long end. Almost everything I shot in Africa died within 10 yards. And for the guys afraid of bone shots. In Africa I admittedly was not worrying about meat damage. So I was shooting high shoulder on every animal. And it broke through everyone one of the above species shoulders.

As per the elk and moose I hunt locally. I tuck them behind the shoulder as I'm meat hunting and the same performance. Once I missed on a moose a little forward and actually smacking him right on the should blade. The moose ran like 30 yards and stopped as the internal damage was still so devastating. Broke the shoulder and still got deep enough in the organs with the KE dump. As he stood there wobbling I gave him a second just in case. And he fell immediately.

I think regardless of what bullet style you go with. Obviously other than varmint. As long as your making the right shots in the right spot then you shouldn't have a issue.

Chago said:

I think regardless of what bullet style you go with. Obviously other than varmint. As long as your making the right shots in the right spot then you shouldn't have a issue.

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Bullet placement will always be important regardless of bullet design or style. But a frangible bullet on large game isn't my first choice ever. A frangible bullet at high speed on large game is just asking for trouble, regardless of placement.

In your case you said you used a 212gr bullet. Out of your .300WM, that would mean roughly a 2700fps muzzle velocity and quite slower than that on a 125m shot. So you kept the bullet within a reasonable impact velocity such that you killed your animals. I think that's important to note here.

But as others have noted why risk it on a trip to Africa? There are other choices in tougher bullets.

I have used the 200 gr ELD-X in the 300 Win Mag. , and found them a bit "soft" for shots under 250-300 yards.

Beyond that they held together better, and did a fine job.

Usually heavier bullets are for larger game, not so with the ELD-X. The weight is to drive up the ballistic coefficient. They would be wonderous on antelopes through Gemsbok but I think even on Kudu you will be limited on shot angle. They are designed for long range and lower impact velocities and will shed significant weight up close.

PHOENIX PHIL said:

Bullet placement will always be important regardless of bullet design or style. But a frangible bullet on large game isn't my first choice ever. A frangible bullet at high speed on large game is just asking for trouble, regardless of placement.

In your case you said you used a 212gr bullet. Out of your .300WM, that would mean roughly a 2700fps muzzle velocity and quite slower than that on a 125m shot. So you kept the bullet within a reasonable impact velocity such that you killed your animals. I think that's important to note here.

But as others have noted why risk it on a trip to Africa? There are other choices in tougher bullets.

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I have them running at 2825fps out the pipe. But your right outside of a 100 your falling down to around 2600 and less. Which could be the very reason I'm getting better performance. And my kudu was at 550m so velocity would be around 2100 if my math is right.

But that being said the red stag I shot last year was very close, 60-70m max. And it ran in 20 yard circle and fell where it was originally shot. Shot was beyond the shoulder into the vitals. And a red stag as you might know is a tough animal and around 500-600lbs. About the same as kudu in body size and structure.

Now in regards to shots on angles and such. You very well could be right. That's a shot I rarely take. Personally I enjoy long range shooting and hunting. I know some guys frown on that but to each your own. So typically with that sort of hunting. One wouldn't take funny quartering shots like you would in a fast shooting bush style hunt.

And your all right. Almost always the eldx fragments when I recover them. And again that's part of the KE dump. I think everyone fear is that it happens too early on heavier skinned game. I have just yet to see that happen.

In may when I head back to Africa. I'm tackling a kudu and eland. I'll for sure do a report on the eland in particular to see the performance.

Chago said:

I have them running at 2825fps out the pipe. But your right outside of a 100 your falling down to around 2600 and less. Which could be the very reason I'm getting better performance. And my kudu was at 550m so velocity would be around 2100 if my math is right.

But that being said the red stag I shot last year was very close, 60-70m max. And it ran in 20 yard circle and fell where it was originally shot. Shot was beyond the shoulder into the vitals. And a red stag as you might know is a tough animal and around 500-600lbs. About the same as kudu in body size and structure.

Now in regards to shots on angles and such. You very well could be right. That's a shot I rarely take. Personally I enjoy long range shooting and hunting. I know some guys frown on that but to each your own. So typically with that sort of hunting. One wouldn't take funny quartering shots like you would in a fast shooting bush style hunt.

And your all right. Almost always the eldx fragments when I recover them. And again that's part of the KE dump. I think everyone fear is that it happens too early on heavier skinned game. I have just yet to see that happen.

In may when I head back to Africa. I'm tackling a kudu and eland. I'll for sure do a report on the eland in particular to see the performance.

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To each his own, but I believe with thousands of dollars wrapped up in the hunt, I'll stick with tougher bullets. I have no experience with the ELD, but I do with North Fork bonded, TSX and seen A-Frames used. These bullets on larger game didn't necessarily give an exit wound. If not, they were found underneath the skin on the offside.

Only excessive tracking jobs took place on poor shot placement, save for one animal that was a quartering away shot.

Again I won't make this comment specific to the ELD but Mr. Nosler developed the Partition for a reason.

Nelsonc0 said:

Trying to find some real world experience with the new Hornady eld-x bullets. I have a trip planned for next year for a plains game hunt in Africa, and trying to come up with a suitable round for my 300 win mag. I picked up a box of the 200 grain Hornady eld-x and from an accuracy stand point I was very impressed. So right now I am looking at either getting back on the reloading bench to try to come up with something that will match the accuracy or just buying some more of these rounds.

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Sir, I may be late to this party, but I have used them a lot in my 6.5mm Creedmoor (143gr) on loads of warthog (around 80..) and on plus minus 25 other plains game species, ranging from springbok to kudu, and they worked excellent! Admittedly, most were head-shots, but even on body shots they perform better than I would have thought. They seem quite "hard", and the few recovered, looked good enough that I would recommend them to a hunter in .300 Win Mag on a plains game hunt.
I will dig for some pictures tomorrow morning if you would like.

I went hunting with 178gr ElD-X loaded for my 300 WSM at 2920 fts, here in South Africa. The bullets performed perfectly on the range with sub MOA on a Tikka T3x with a silencer (wonderful rifle)). Interestingly enough I also took along a Sako 85 chambered in 260 Rem loaded with with 6.5 mm 130gr Berger VLD hunting bullets travelling ar a mere 2700 fts (this rifles and cartridges took most animals with no issues). We were a team who hunted 27 medium sized animals (Tsessebes, Waterbuck, Kudu, Blue Wildebeest, Gemsbuck, Sable and Ostriches. I took 8 animals. 5 with the 260 en 3 animals with the 300 WSM. I shot a sable, blue wildebeest (which we never found) and Tsesebe all at fairly close rage about 100m. The ELD-X bullets all disintegrated into fine pieces and we recovered one part of a bullet in the Tsessebe (the bullet did not even pass through the Tsesebe which is not a very big animal. The sable needed 2 shots of which the first was a slightly high through the lungs. After the three hunts I begin to doubt the bullets and I will do more reading and research (I am no expert), but the jackets seems to be paperthin and ruptures, maybe on entry to the skin and then the bullet seperates and then disintegrates. The one bullet recovered from the Tsessebe probably lost 80% of it’s weight (see below). Thus, I would NOT recommend Hornady ELD-X as hunting bullets on larger cartriges. Better to stay with old trusted brands like Nosler Partitions or Mono bullets like Barnes X-bullets.

I've used the 143 gr. ELD-X on 4 cow elk back when I couldn't get my hands on a bonded bullet anywhere. These were 400 - 500 lb animals. I just made sure to place them tight in the leg crease, not busting leg bone. One shot each, never recovered a single bullet. Shots ranged from ~75 to ~200 yds.

The ELD-X is a very accurate bullet,... that being said the ones I've seen recovered from African game were mangled messes. The game range was from impala to kudu. The bullets looked on the verge of complete break up. Was not impressed with the performance on game. for what i's worth My choice of bullet will remain with Swift A-Frames or Barnes TSX bullets. With these I know I'll have the ability to break heavy bone and penetration for quarting angle shots. Just my observation.

@Boendoes .....a good summary of some real World experience. I have wondered how these 178's would do on anything bigger than a deer. Thanks for the post.............FWB

I have used the 200 gr ELDX on two nilgai from a 300 Win Mag. One shot was at around 150 yards and the other was pushing 300. Worked decisively. I would not hesitate to use the combination on PG.

Chago said:

I know this is old but I'll jump in as I just found it. And it sounds like no one has used it on African game as of yet.

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Yes, they did. PH was NOT impressed.

Daughter used a 103gr .243 eld-X on an impala about a week ago…

Did it’s job perfectly…

I don’t think I’d hesitate to use a larger caliber eld-X on larger pg at all…

I remain a Barnes TTSX loyalist…

But if handed a rifle stoked with eld-X… I wouldn’t complain…