Hunting & Fishing 180gr ELD M vs 180gr Berger Hybrid / VLD

[JBM_DC]

I am curious to know if anyone has used this specific bullet on game and how it performed vs the 180gr Berger Hybrid or VLD. I have a few friends that tried the 175 ELD X in their rifles, but said they could not get them to shoot in their guns. I know how these guys shoot and how often they hunt so I trust their judgement. I may take some of their left over 175s to try in my rifle though, just to make sure.

I will be using these in a 7mm Rem Mag if that matters.

 

[stwcattle]

Ive watched 2 of my friends take game from antelope to elk with a 28 Nosler and a 7x300NM with the 180 hunting vld's from 500 to 1200 yards. All been one shot kills. Good bullet.
In fact we headed to NM today for weekend for long range antelope hunt.

 

[OH58DViper]

The 180 hybrid is used a lot by the LR Hunting community. There's a ton of info on this specific bullet on another long range hunting forum. I use it exclusively in all my 7mm hunting guns, I could use the 195 in my 28 Nosler, but I'm tossing 180s at 3280 so why change. The 180 VLD is used by company's like mcwhorter and Gunwerks if I'm not mistaken. There are a lot of videos on YouTube of the 180 dropping animals in their tracks.

 

[WeiserBucks]

The 180 Hybrid is a 1st class critter wrecker , it's all I use in any 7mm that has enough capacity to get them at or above 2900 fps , basically everything from 7 SAUM on up .

 

[sandwarrior]

Twist is the key here. A lot of 7mm barrels are 1in 9-something" this new crop of 7mm bullets definitely needs a 1-8" twist.

 

[WeiserBucks]

I agree on the twist being important, however any quick 7mm will stabilize a 180 Hybrid with a 9 twist. Speed is your friend as well as altitude. If you try to use 180's in a 7-08 with a 20" tube at sea level it will be a fail .

 

[sandwarrior]

9 twist out of a fast cartridge will stabilize the 180 class. I'm talking about the new 180-somethings on up to the 197's. To keep those bullets stable through the transonic, you need a tighter twist than 9.

 

[JBM_DC]

So there may be some confusion with my original post. I have no questions on the performance of the 180 hybrid, I am using it as a "Standard" to compare other bullets performance against. Namely the 180 ELD-M. Also I have no interest in what twist rate I should use in my rifle because the rifle in question has already been built with a 1:7.5 twist Rock barrel which should be good with most any bullet available in .284. (At least I hope)

I apologize for not making my OP a little bit more clear and hope this helps with the responses.

 

[WeiserBucks]

180 hybrids are the undisputed champion of the weight class. Until I see some very compelling evidence otherwise, I'm not even considering another bullet .

 

[sandwarrior]

So there may be some confusion with my original post. I have no questions on the performance of the 180 hybrid, I am using it as a "Standard" to compare other bullets performance against. Namely the 180 ELD-M. Also I have no interest in what twist rate I should use in my rifle because the rifle in question has already been built with a 1:7.5 twist Rock barrel which should be good with most any bullet available in .284. (At least I hope)

I apologize for not making my OP a little bit more clear and hope this helps with the responses.

It's not a question of what twist rate you should use in your rifle. It's using what your twist rate will allow. In the case of your rifle, you can use as heavy as what is currently made in 7mm. But yeah, we didn't know that.

As far as the 175's not working, I can't see why if the twist is correct.

 

[lancetkenyon]

I have tried to get the 175 ELD-X to fly half as good as the 180 Hybrid in several different rifles in the 7RM flavor. Out of 6 rifles, only 1 liked the 175 ELD-X, and not quite as well as the 180 Hybrid. For most, it is a great group in the high .3s, but not in a rifle that shoots the 180 Hybrids in the low .2s. All the other rifles shoot the 180 Hybrids between .2-.75" respectively, The 175 ELD-X could only attain a 1.0-1.7" group in the same rifles after considerable effort.

Not worth the effort on my book. I won't try them in anything again. I do hear they work great on game however.

 

[JBM_DC]

I have tried to get the 175 ELD-X to fly half as good as the 180 Hybrid in several different rifles in the 7RM flavor. Out of 6 rifles, only 1 liked the 175 ELD-X, and not quite as well as the 180 Hybrid. For most, it is a great group in the high .3s, but not in a rifle that shoots the 180 Hybrids in the low .2s. All the other rifles shoot the 180 Hybrids between .2-.75" respectively, The 175 ELD-X could only attain a 1.0-1.7" group in the same rifles after considerable effort.

Not worth the effort on my book. I won't try them in anything again. I do hear they work great on game however.

This is nearly the same information I have been gathering from people I know and trust. Except they were not able to get them to .5" groups at 100 yards. It also seems no one has tried the 180 ELD-M on game either. I may pop a coyote or two before deer season to see how they perform if I can get them to shoot well.

 

[r.ellison2010]

Old post that I thought I would try to resurrect. I am currently shooting 180 Berger Hybrids and have no complaints, have taken two large 4X4 bucks recently. I'm curious about the 180 Hornaday ELDM's. They seem to have better BC, but are they any good on deer or antelope?

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

Old post that I thought I would try to resurrect. I am currently shooting 180 Berger Hybrids and have no complaints, have taken two large 4X4 bucks recently. I'm curious about the 180 Hornaday ELDM's. They seem to have better BC, but are they any good on deer or antelope?

They're fine on deer and antelope, I shot a Muley with one at 430 yards and it was messy..
They pretty much behave just like Bergers so expect bad stuff if you hit the shoulder bone.
Personally I'm tired of hunting with bullets that grenade on impact so I'm moving away from all target bullets.
Have you thought about the 175 ABLR?

 

[r.ellison2010]

They're fine on deer and antelope, I shot a Muley with one at 430 yards and it was messy..
They pretty much behave just like Bergers so expect bad stuff if you hit the shoulder bone.
Personally I'm tired of hunting with bullets that grenade on impact so I'm moving away from all target bullets.
Have you thought about the 175 ABLR?

I have not, but will look into them. Maybe I just focus on copper especially since I live in CA.

 

[Steel head]

Old post that I thought I would try to resurrect. I am currently shooting 180 Berger Hybrids and have no complaints, have taken two large 4X4 bucks recently. I'm curious about the 180 Hornaday ELDM's. They seem to have better BC, but are they any good on deer or antelope?

I’d be careful using the 180eldm on game.
they had a habit of not always making it to their intended destination.

 

[r.ellison2010]

I’d be careful using the 180eldm on game.
they had a habit of not always making it to their intended destination.

Due to accuracy?

 

[Steel head]

Due to accuracy?

Due to them going poof enroute.

 

[r.ellison2010]

Oh got it. I remember hearing stories about Bergers doing that. Learning curve for Hornaday perhaps.

 

[dirthead1]

I shot an elk a couple years ago with a 180 hybrid out of a 7mm RM. it was close, about 120 yards. Muzzle velocity was approximately 2950 out of a 1-9” barrel. It was a very accurate load. Bullet impacted in the crease just behind the shoulder. Lungs and heart were in pieces. No exit wound and no bullet found. The elk hunched, took a few steps and went down. I’m not sure if I would aim at an elk shoulder with that bullet. It did a great job in the pump house, but if you were trying to anchor a big bull with a shoulder shit, it might not be my first choice. I love Berger bullets, but based on my one sample point, I wouldn’t put it in a shoulder. Heart lung shot and it’s a hammer. Deer are much smaller, so I wouldn’t hesitate on a deer shoulder with it. It will definitely destroy the entire chest cavity on a large animal. Just put it in the right place and it’s golden.

 

[CStroud]

I have a 7SS throated for the 180 Bergers, but I’m hesitant to use them on game. I tend to have shots from 50-200 yards it seems. I loaded the 175 eldx instead and had decent results on the 1 buck I shot, but they’re not hard to kill with a magnum 7mm @ 100 yards. I thought about moving to a tougher bullet like the Lapua scenar, but all the higher bc bullets seem like a compromise between expansion characteristic and bc. I may just go back to accubonds since I don’t seem to get any true long range shots. I have killed 2 bucks inside 100 yards with ab lr’s and they both drt’d.

 

[762 ULTRAMAGA]

I have a 7SS throated for the 180 Bergers, but I’m hesitant to use them on game. I tend to have shots from 50-200 yards it seems. I loaded the 175 eldx instead and had decent results on the 1 buck I shot, but they’re not hard to kill with a magnum 7mm @ 100 yards. I thought about moving to a tougher bullet like the Lapua scenar, but all the higher bc bullets seem like a compromise between expansion characteristic and bc. I may just go back to accubonds since I don’t seem to get any true long range shots. I have killed 2 bucks inside 100 yards with ab lr’s and they both drt’d.

Try the ABLR'S I'm impressed so far

 

[Lycanthrope]

I doubt you'll get a 180 ELD-M to fly from a tight twist with any speed behind it. I'm losing at least 10% from a 28 Nosler at 3100fps and 1:8 twist. They shoot lights out......but some lose the jacket before 100 yards.