7mm Hornady 175ELD-x vs 180ELD-m

BrienM

Underfunded Overthinker
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Minuteman
Feb 7, 2020
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I am curious why the 175 requires an 8.5" twist against the 180 seemingly fine with a 9".. I ran the numbers in strelok and it agrees. The 175gr bullet shows up shorter but i have no experience with either one.. I am looking at them for whitetail deer slugs out to midrange (less than 750yards)
thanks
Brien
 
175 ELDx's run fine and dandy through my 9.5tw Tikka. Stupid accuracy with those bullets out to 600.... first time I made a bunch with a pet load I zero at 100, chrono a couple to get general velocity idea, plug that into my calc. Had steel at 600, make elevation adjustment, take aim, BOOM-TING!
 
What cartridge and elevation? Velocity and air density are also factors in twist rate needed. You will likely be fine with 1:9 for the 175, but the 175 has a thicker jacket so that might be why they recommend a faster twist.
 
I’m leaning back towards 7mm rem mag. Elevation is 600’ ish
You should be fine. 1.5 or above is best, but the velocity I used is not breaking any records with 7 rem mag either. This is using Hornady's 4dof calculator on their website, gives stability for any bullet in that library.

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I’m not convinced I’ll shoot the hornady. I was more curious why they recommend that much difference in twists between those two slugs.. they have a really good bc though.. the numbers look good. How are the 175eld-x working on whitetail?
 
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Hornady recommends an 8” twist for the 180 ELD-M. Their recommendations appear to be more of a recommendation for guaranteed dynamic stability at sub-zero temps at 0 ft above sea level not necessarily a recommendation for optimal twist. I’m sure both of them are fine in a 9” twist in the right environment you’d just lose a little BC. For what it’s worth I’ve shot a a whitetail with the 180 and a Muley with the 175. Neither of them super far, sub 400 yds, from a 7 SAUM at 2750fps. Both animals fell in their tracks.
Also of note - Hornady’s 4dof calculates stability based off the exact physical model of the project. Most every other calculator assumes each bullet has the same mass distribution and density. So jacket thickness/taper and polymer tips can cause a slightly inaccurate Sg number with traditional Miller formula calculations.
 
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