Range Report Berger 195 EOL vs Hornady 180 ELDM
- Thread starter Hoyt7mm
- Start date
What are you going to be shooting with these bullets?
I would go berger but I elk hunt a lot and like the wound channel they create on this size of animal.
The hornady should expand faster and maybe even a little bit better at extreme ranges.
I would go berger but I elk hunt a lot and like the wound channel they create on this size of animal.
The hornady should expand faster and maybe even a little bit better at extreme ranges.
I have a 28 Nosler with a 26" barrel built by Piercision rifles. It is very accurate, recoil manageable with brake, and not too heavy,
Manners EH1
fluted Sendero contour Brux Barrel
Stiller action
I am getting 3070fps with Re 33.
I have killed an elk with it at 250 yards, DRT. Haven't shot anything but steel with it at long range. Shot it to a mile a couple weeks ago. Hit 4 of 7 on a 2 MOA target with 10 mph crosswind.
I have some of the Hornady 175 ELD-X and am intrigued by the 180 ELD-M. Has anyone used these bullets in a 28 Nosler?
Has anyone used the ELD-M on game?
I also have loaded 147gr ELD-M in my 6.5 SAUM recently and was very impressed. My brother in law and I have 2 very similar GAP 6.5 SAUM rifles. I loaded some incremental charges for testing, but also decided to just load 60.0 gr H1000 over Hornady brass (new) with TULA LRM primers.
I shot 15 rounds total with an ES of 6. I shot a 1" 3 shot group at 500 yds with one gun and a 1½" 5-shot group at 500 yards with the other rifle. Muzzle velocity was 3050fps. This is my first experience loading with the ELD-M bullets. Good start.
Manners EH1
fluted Sendero contour Brux Barrel
Stiller action
I am getting 3070fps with Re 33.
I have killed an elk with it at 250 yards, DRT. Haven't shot anything but steel with it at long range. Shot it to a mile a couple weeks ago. Hit 4 of 7 on a 2 MOA target with 10 mph crosswind.
I have some of the Hornady 175 ELD-X and am intrigued by the 180 ELD-M. Has anyone used these bullets in a 28 Nosler?
Has anyone used the ELD-M on game?
I also have loaded 147gr ELD-M in my 6.5 SAUM recently and was very impressed. My brother in law and I have 2 very similar GAP 6.5 SAUM rifles. I loaded some incremental charges for testing, but also decided to just load 60.0 gr H1000 over Hornady brass (new) with TULA LRM primers.
I shot 15 rounds total with an ES of 6. I shot a 1" 3 shot group at 500 yds with one gun and a 1½" 5-shot group at 500 yards with the other rifle. Muzzle velocity was 3050fps. This is my first experience loading with the ELD-M bullets. Good start.
No experience but should also check out the new 197 smk. Great bc, I've shot the 110smk out of my 6xc and it has been great. The 2nd gen match kings seem every bit the equal of berger and hornady stuff.
I haven't compared the 2 side-by-side in the same caliber but I have killed elk with the 195 in a 28 nosler past 600 yards and it performed very well. Now shooting a 180 ELDM in a 7SAUM and I can tell you that Hornady's BC's appear conservative. At 2890 FPS I've confirmed BC's at: <2512 FPS = .401, <2232 FPS = .392, <0 FPS = .385. Those numbers are spot on to 1200 yards which, to me is incredible for a 180. They are very accurate too, we'll hopefully find out how they perform on elk here in a few days. Deprivation tags! I expect they'll work fine. I would guess they could run 3200+ in a 28 nosler or similar caliber. That would be cool.
What is your barrel twist? I'm running 3020 in a 1-8 twist. I have to use .376 out to 1000.
Shot a match to 1068 this weekend. Using .376, my impacts were high. Adjusting to .401 gives me the correct drop that I needed. However everyone else shooting the match also hit high so I'm not sure if it's my own BC that's off or if there was a thermal that day flowing through where we were shooting. I'm not familiar with the spot but have been told that was frequent at that range.
Shot 1 doe with 180 ELD-M in my 28 nosler at 150 yards in the head. You can imagine the result. It was like shooting it with a lightning bolt. Didn't even adjust my scope, just held a 1/2" above the ear hole.
Haven't been able to shoot beyond 600 on steel yet, but so far the BC seems to be accurate if not conservative. Running 88g of RL33 behind it.
Haven't been able to shoot beyond 600 on steel yet, but so far the BC seems to be accurate if not conservative. Running 88g of RL33 behind it.
BC was way off in my 7 saum with the 180 eld. Had to use .340. However I had a 8.75 twist and only going 2975 fps. By far the most accurate rifle ive owned and I really love those bullets.
Not to highjack the thread but i have a sorta related question. I was recently talking to a reputable gunsmith and i was telling him about my go to 1k yard load which is a 195gr tmk going aboit 2700ft sec at the muzzle. He told me that i should possibly consider working up a load with the 185gr juggernaut as the increased speed of it might make it perform better than the 195gr tmk. The tmk bullet has a decent bit better bc than the juggernaut though. What are you guys thought on this? This is being shot in a rem 700 30-06 that has been built to be a long range gun.
24" Proof Sendero, 8.25 twist. Those BC's have worked for me in a few different elevations/conditions. Didn't kill anything with them this year though so I have nothing to report on terminal effects. I really like the 195's but these 180's are hard to beat. They're a no-brainer in a short action. A long action and it's a toss up, they are cheaper and I can get them off the shelf just about anywhere so they win for me. Super super accurate too, my best groups ever at 1k.
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I have a little more shooting I want to do with my 6.5 creed, but I’ll be swapping to my 7 SAUM barrel on my Desert Tech soon to start testing these bullets. It is 1:8 and I should push 3k FPS with bullets seated out to 3.12” and running R26.
Just a follow up. Initial load testing gave me 3070 FPS safely with R26 in a 26” barrel.
I took a mild load of 2860 FPS to 700 yards and drop was spot on with point of aim using the published G7 BC of .401. My rifle has a 1:8 twist and I expect to end up around 3000 FPS for final load, which will only help. I’ll continue to verify BC once I step it out further.
I took a mild load of 2860 FPS to 700 yards and drop was spot on with point of aim using the published G7 BC of .401. My rifle has a 1:8 twist and I expect to end up around 3000 FPS for final load, which will only help. I’ll continue to verify BC once I step it out further.
I have the exact numbers in my book but off the top of my head it was 50-55 degrees, elevation is about 1250 or so. I know earlier in the morning DA was under 1000, but I think a little over 1000 once I was shooting the SAUM. Definitely was not shooting in thin air.
Just wanted to follow up. Unfortunately I think BC might not be as high as tested, and I’m trying to figure out a discrepancy with Hornady’s data.
Yesterday, I did some final load development off 2 previously sighted nodes. I had a few rounds left over and shot them at 1020 and 1535. I sent the last 3 of the faster group at 3080 FPS at the 1535 Target. I inputted in Hornady 4 DOF that the POI was 1” high at 100. First shot hit 0.6 Mils low and I held a little too much wind. Made correction and had a low impact on 2nd shot. 3rd shot was good elevation, missed off left edge. This was a 24” round plate. I started scratching my head why I needed So much more elevation. Wind was light from 8 o clock. I started wondering if my AMG wasn’t tracking true into 2nd revolution, but I decided to use the regular BC calculator in the Hornady App and when I did dope matched up. I scrolled right to see the details and Hornady is listing this bullet at a G1 BC of 0.71 in its normal BC calculator, but the normal 4DOF calculation is very optimistic. Even changing the axial form factor as high as it will go still doesn’t true it up so I think they are using original BCs on that side of the calculator. To note, all environmentals were synced from my kestrel and my AMG has tracked true to 1000, but this was the first time I used it past 1000. Based on the above I am doubting it less. I also played with some other calculators and they all were pretty close in results with the high BC and the lowered BC. I was hoping an 8 twist and 3000+ FPS was going to be in the upper BC ranges quoted by Hornady but I’m not so sure now.
Yesterday, I did some final load development off 2 previously sighted nodes. I had a few rounds left over and shot them at 1020 and 1535. I sent the last 3 of the faster group at 3080 FPS at the 1535 Target. I inputted in Hornady 4 DOF that the POI was 1” high at 100. First shot hit 0.6 Mils low and I held a little too much wind. Made correction and had a low impact on 2nd shot. 3rd shot was good elevation, missed off left edge. This was a 24” round plate. I started scratching my head why I needed So much more elevation. Wind was light from 8 o clock. I started wondering if my AMG wasn’t tracking true into 2nd revolution, but I decided to use the regular BC calculator in the Hornady App and when I did dope matched up. I scrolled right to see the details and Hornady is listing this bullet at a G1 BC of 0.71 in its normal BC calculator, but the normal 4DOF calculation is very optimistic. Even changing the axial form factor as high as it will go still doesn’t true it up so I think they are using original BCs on that side of the calculator. To note, all environmentals were synced from my kestrel and my AMG has tracked true to 1000, but this was the first time I used it past 1000. Based on the above I am doubting it less. I also played with some other calculators and they all were pretty close in results with the high BC and the lowered BC. I was hoping an 8 twist and 3000+ FPS was going to be in the upper BC ranges quoted by Hornady but I’m not so sure now.
Thanks for the info. I've only had mine out to 1100 or so and have settled on a G7 between .380 and .390. Mine is an 8 twist at 3040.
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Reloading Equipment
6.5mm bullets: 130 Eldm, 123 Nosler & Hornady 123 BTHP
