Thread: ELD-Match for hunting?

Originally Posted by L.T

To be honest it’s probably pretty similar to my 7-08 as far as meat damage.
That deer had bone taint in the front end anyway because we couldn’t find it in the Manuka to the next day.
Thanks


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Hmm, interesting. When I was looking for a 30 cal bullet to stop deer, when I was working up a load for my .300 Win Mag, a member on this forum (can't remember who it was) said Quote "try the .208 A-Max bullets, they'll punch 'fist sized' holes in deer out to 800 yards" Unquote! And by golly he was right, you shoot it in the front end, you can expect to walk out carrying only the rear end and and back steaks at best!

Now, from what I'm gathering most people seem to reckon the .225 ELD-M bullets are virtually a .225 grain version of the A-Max, only with a non melt tip?

The problem I'm faced with is, the .225 ELD-M's are one of the very few bullets that shoot ok in my new'ish' 30 cal rifle, .240 SMK's are another, however, the SMK's have the complete opposite effect and don't expand, therefore you get to acquire nearly 100% of the meat yield, yay! The negative to that is, sooner or later I'm gonna get one that's not hit so well, and he's gonna run to oblivion, and I'm never going to find him... one extreme to the other!

Originally Posted by Remington 5R .300 Win Mag

Hmm, interesting. When I was looking for a 30 cal bullet to stop deer, when I was working up a load for my .300 Win Mag, a member on this forum (can't remember who it was) said Quote "try the .208 A-Max bullets, they'll punch 'fist sized' holes in deer out to 800 yards" Unquote! And by golly he was right, you shoot it in the front end, you can expect to walk out carrying only the rear end and and back steaks at best!

Now, from what I'm gathering most people seem to reckon the .225 ELD-M bullets are virtually a .225 grain version of the A-Max, only with a non melt tip?

The problem I'm faced with is, the .225 ELD-M's are one of the very few bullets that shoot ok in my new'ish' 30 cal rifle, .240 SMK's are another, however, the SMK's have the complete opposite effect and don't expand, therefore you get to acquire nearly 100% of the meat yield, yay! The negative to that is, sooner or later I'm gonna get one that's not hit so well, and he's gonna run to oblivion, and I'm never going to find him... one extreme to the other!

Yeah, you are on the money there about the 208 Amax .

So far I haven’t seen the 225’s behaving like an Amax at all. Probably shot around half a dozen animals with that projectile. I haven’t used SMKs so am not sure. Tried them in a 270 and yeah, not much meat damage haha.

Have you tried the 215 Bergers? I am trying them in my Norma and it looks very promising so far, accuracy wise. Haven’t shot a deer with it. Little bit less recoil too.

As far as animals running away, it’s not much fun at all. That last deer above was my first really hard find, and I don’t want to do it again.

Thanks


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Originally Posted by L.T

Yeah, you are on the money there about the 208 Amax .

So far I haven’t seen the 225’s behaving like an Amax at all. Probably shot around half a dozen animals with that projectile. I haven’t used SMKs so am not sure. Tried them in a 270 and yeah, not much meat damage haha.

Have you tried the 215 Bergers? I am trying them in my Norma and it looks very promising so far, accuracy wise. Haven’t shot a deer with it. Little bit less recoil too.

As far as animals running away, it’s not much fun at all. That last deer above was my first really hard find, and I don’t want to do it again.

Thanks


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I ran the bergers shot 10 or so animals with them at different ranges, they all ran at least the 30 meters. Not an issue with the dog but could be a pain in the arse. They are fucking pricey too.

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Originally Posted by Cartman

I ran the bergers shot 10 or so animals with them at different ranges, they all ran at least the 30 meters. Not an issue with the dog but could be a pain in the arse. They are fucking pricey too.

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Yeah that’s not good,
What velocity were they at?



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Originally Posted by L.T

Yeah that’s not good,
What velocity were they at?



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2920fps with 76 grains of 2225

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You'll find sst's work better closer and the eld's further out. ELD's are very fragile and designed to come apart to avoid 'rick -o-shey' hitting anything else once its hit the target. Bullet performance is usually only within certain velocity perameters, sierra used to publish the figures for their projeciles. While the match bullets may make nice groups and shoot well at long range, anything under 400m IMO use a standard hunting bullet and save the target ones for longer shots. Yes I do shoot a 7mm RM and a 338 RM, you just need to carry a few extra rounds as theres always time to swap out rounds for that long shot.