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Nebraska402

143 eldx

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Yeah I call the anchor shot as in it dropped it dead where it stood.  I'm not worried about it a whole lot I just believe the right bullet should have performed ad the left bullet did.  I was just curious if anyone else recovered bullets from the eldx line that were similar in performance. 

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I've shot about about 7 deer sized critters with the 6.5 143grain ELD-X.    Biggest being a strip mule deer down to a CWT buck.   Shots have ranged from 75-964 yards.   Most bullets did not exit.   The lead and copper typically will separate but I don't consider that a failure for this style of a bullet.   I've shot a grip of critters with the nosler ballistic tip and that was typically what would happen with a Nosler BT bullet.    No critter has made it more than 20 yards.   Most were DRT.    I consider this bullet to be very similar to the nosler BT bullet in terminal performance.    I also think this bullet has a much better BC and has much tighter manufacturing specifications than the Nosler BT.  In regards to accuracy and consistency it is a slight step behind the berger but I've seen better performance with the ELD-X than the Berger bullets on game.   I say shoot more critters.   That is what I plan on doing with the bullet!!!!!  

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My boy has killed two deer with these bullets. One was at 434 yards, that buck made it 20 yards. And the second was shot at 126 yards and dumped it right there, like the floor fell right out from under him. Both were factory loads of the hunter precision ammo in 6.5 CM.

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1 hour ago, AZ513 said:

Has anyone used this round in 6.5 for bigger game, like elk?

Friend’s wife killed a pretty big bull last year with this round at 335 yds. Dropped in its tracks. 

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19 hours ago, singleshot said:

 My son shot a cow elk in the shoulder one year with a 140 grain Partition out of a 6.5x55. Shoulder shot and the bullet exploded. Cow went 40 yards and piled. Emailed Nosler and their response was " terminal ballistics are difficult to replicate, the elk was recovered, bullet did its job." 

 Ive found ballistic tips perfectly mushroomed and Trophy bonded bear claws in pieces. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

What does exploded mean? Did the partition half exit?

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1 hour ago, bigorange said:

Friend’s wife killed a pretty big bull last year with this round at 335 yds. Dropped in its tracks. 

Good to hear. My 6.5 loves this round but I've never used it on elk before and was wondering if I should have any hesitation. It's a fast moving round and I'm sure with good shot placement it would do the job.

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I shoot 130gn eld-m’s out of my .264WM at about 3400fps. They usually do not exit but have been absolutely deadly on a slew of deer. I would probably not shoot an elk with them though. Not that they probably wouldn’t work but I hunt elk with bigger calibers

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2 hours ago, MMACFIVE said:

What does exploded mean? Did the partition half exit?

Didn't exit anything but the shoulder blade, and at that in about 15 pieces that I was able to find. The fragments did penetrate the lungs though and caused a lot of internal damage.

 The shot was maybe 80 yards with a bullet traveling about 2700 FPS

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I would not consider the separation a "failure" either.  

Either blowing up on contact or failure to expand, yes.  

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2 hours ago, lancetkenyon said:

I would not consider the separation a "failure" either.  

Either blowing up on contact or failure to expand, yes.  

I'd agree with that. 

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Have witnessed/shot 3 animals with the Hornady factory 6.5 CM 143 ELDX round out of a Tikka T3.

12AW Kaibab mule buck 325 yards one shot behind shoulder quartering away.  Two bounds/piled up dead.  Did not exit.

12AW Kaibab mule buck 125 yards deer walking away/uphill first shot to right of spine just at rear of ribcage (angle would have exited the brisket) he went down, few seconds later struggling to get up had turned sideways and put one behind the shoulder - dead right now.  Neither exited.

4A Elk Cow (youth) first shot slight quartering away hit high at about 110 yds., walked 20 yards staggering, second shot correctly placed went down like a ton of bricks.  Neither exited.

One bullet recovered from the second Kaibab buck looked like the OP's photo.  Just the cup with a little lead in it.

Internal damage was extensive.  I like to say these bullets "grenade" inside.  Found chips of jacket in backstrap of the second one (the one next to the spine).

(Also with 7mm ELDX have shot a 4A antlerless bull calf 200 yds that dropped in its tracks/did not exit, and a Unit 27 Bull Elk at 600 yd dropped him but head came up so my son put another in him.  Second shot went through near shoulder and broke the far shoulder.  Again nothing exited).

My biggest worry with these bullets is blood trail if you don't put him down.  But none of the ones we've shot were going anywhere.

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We killed a bedded bull @ 360 yds. Shot in the neck with a 6.5 PRC and the bull just laid his head over. No exit. Next day I shot a cow @ 360 yds. right behind front shoulder, bullet exited with a golf ball size hole. She dropped on the spot. Bullet held together on the bull.

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