Best longrange hunting bullet for medium sized game.

[BCBRAD]

Just to give you some food for thought.......

If you think about your own experiences, ask around, or can search up the old poll that was done on here, you will find that the vast majority of animals are shot at under 150 yds....and the farther out you go, the less often those shots happen. Because of that, I start with a group of bullets that I know will perform up close at top velocities.....these would be your Barnes, accubonds, partitions etc. From there I look for ones that have the lowest minimum velocity needed to function, as that will get me the longest useable distance.

Usually these days, that ends up being the Barnes LRX......realistically no upper limit on speed, they will smash through and hold together at the highest velocities. they also have a reasonable bottom end....for your 300WSM that would be about 1600 fps and 1000 ft/lbs for the 175 and 190 LRX. On your 300 WSM that would put the 175's operating range approximately 0-700 yds comfortably. Ive been loading barnes for 20 years and have never found them to be difficult to tune.
There are softer bullets out there that will get you more distance, but you will have to sacrifice performance up close for the very rare occasion that you may need to go long. Not worth it in my books, set up for your most common shot, and make the compromise on your least common shot

JMO
Chris

Excellent explanation Chris !

[todbartell]

If you don't like Berger terminal performance, then the ELDx might not be for you

[Bustercluck]

If you don't like Berger terminal performance, then the ELDx might not be for you

I’ve read a few reviews that say they do the same thing at close range.

[todbartell]

Here's 2200 fps impact speed on an elk's scapula. Bullet never penetrated the chest cavity, was plucked off the entry side rib cage. 338" 230gr ELDx. That would be like 400 yard shot from a 338 Win Mag (this was a 270 yard shot from a 338-06)

Luckily was able to make two follow up shots and they penetrated the chest, but never hit any big bone

[Bustercluck]

Here's 2200 fps impact speed on an elk's scapula. Bullet never penetrated the chest cavity, was plucked off the entry side rib cage. 338" 230gr ELDx. That would be like 400 yard shot from a 338 Win Mag (this was a 270 yard shot from a 338-06)

Luckily was able to make two follow up shots and they penetrated the chest, but never hit any big bone

I’ve seen Berger’s do similar things. My brother shot a moose at about 75 yards with a Berger out of his 300 win mag. Nice broadside double lung shot and the bullet didn’t make it to the second lung, moose ran another 100 yards into the trees and was still trying to get up and run away when he got to it.

[NMO]

I’ve read a few reviews that say they do the same thing at close range.

Have shot half a dozen critters with ELDX, and guided another 10+ that have been shot with ELDX ( Deer, bear, goat, sheep, caribou, moose) - lots of them in the 7mm's. They kill fast for lung shots and create massive wound channels. They also make a mess if muscle when its encountered, and have commonly seen jacket/core separation as TodBartell displayed above. Don't have photos but its pretty common. Imo a quick, messy death with a realistic chance of a bullet failure if it isn't in the boiler.

[madcalfe]

I use the 178gr eldx in my .300wsm and load it with H4350 and it works real good!

[.264winmag]

There are no free lunches when it comes to bullet performance. For lower velocities a frangible projectile can be advantageous so long as you put it in the right spot. Frangible bullets can be messy at high velocities if you put it in the wrong spot. Pick a large target area long range and the small target area short range. I’ve run Berger’s for a decade and fill the freezer every year, not many follow up shots needed and never had one wounded and get away. Sometimes they exit sometimes they don’t. Sometimes they retain a fair bit of weight sometimes not. Since it’s proven lead bullets in game pose zero health threats I don’t mind the shrapnel. Can’t speak for other diameter Berger’s but the 6.5mm 140hvld really shines in that 2900-2200 FPS range. Moose elk and deer all love it...

[Razor84]

I’ve run Berger’s for a decade and fill the freezer every year, not many follow up shots needed and never had one wounded and get away.

guess you forgot about the big mule deer you wounded at 900 yards a few years back ?

[AllDay]

Never seen so much damage to an animal within 200 yards using eld-m and eld-x. Massive exist wounds with fragmented ribs. They don’t go far.