Hornady Precision Hunter 7mm Mag

Greyman

Greyman

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Does anyone have any real world, on game experience with this round? It is lights out accurate in my rifle and my chrono shows the velocity is right as advertised. My only concern is will the ELD-X bullet hold together at closer ranges. I plan on using this on aoudad.
Thanks
 
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That round is the only one that shot great out of my 7mm. I know two other people (family) that it is all that they shoot. SC whitetails to MT muleys and antelope. I would not worry about it holding together. Have shot numerous animals and various ranges with the ELDX Precision Hunter.
 
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Academy usually has a box or two in stock. I just bought one to try out at the range yesterday and I was impressed.
 
I don't have a 7mm but have shot a lot of PA whitetails with 300 win mag 200 grain eldx precision hunters and 6.5 creed in 143 grain precision hunters. I have no complaints on either.
 
At 7mm Mag velocity, I’d try to stay off the shoulder up close, but these are generally heavy for caliber anyways so I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I’m using the 178s in my .30-06 this year.
 
That is interesting. That exact 162gr round shot accurately but with abysmal velocity (a little below advertised on the box, neighborhood of 2800-2850) out of my 26" 7mm rem mag. My rifle usually shoots at or above listed velocity. Anyhow this is the round that got me started reloading. I wanted that same bullet, accurate, but actual 7mm rem mag speeds. Now it goes 3150 fps in my loads for less than 20 dollars per 20 box.

Anyhow, as far as deer. Goodness graciousness. They are dead, very dead. It is a violent transfer of energy but seems to hold together well enough. I have shot a bunch of whitetail with it and have had nothing but deer falling over. I usually shoot high shoulder or "hump shoot" them to hit the spine. I don't like tracking. I don't think I'd hesitate to hunt an elk or black bear with them. I've also shot a fox with it, blows them into pieces.

And for comparison, I shot a ram once around 100 yards with a 160 gr nosler regular accubond and it blew up into pieces. No exit on a whitetail size animal. So I have trust issues with nosler. I think if you want a bullet that's guaranteed to not blow up you gotta go solid copper or a partition. But I think it expanding and shedding some copper and lead as it goes is good too, all that energy dumping into the animal is what makes it very effective.
 
The subject of what bullet works best at both close range and far range during a recent hornady podcast. The ballistics guys said the eldx was the best bullet they make for close/far shots. Their CX all copper was the best for terminal performance. Good podcast if you like to nerd out. I watch it on youtube.
 
Federal also offers the ELD-X, 162 gr in 7mm Rem Mag. [P7RELDX1]
I think it is new for Federal this season.

Federal also offers their Terminal Assent bullet (155 gr) as an alternative to the ELD-X. Lighter, but I've seen reviews that are very favorable. If I wasn't satisfied with the copper bullets I now have/use, I'd be shooting some of these at the range this week.
 
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I think the best way to describe the performance I've experienced with the eldx is it performs just like a remington corelock or winchester PowerPoint when it hits, but is pointier with a way higher BC
 
Depends what one means by "hold together" at close range. I would expect it to disrupt violently and damage lots of tissue I.E. kill stuff. It's not going to bounce off an Audad.
 
Wind Gypsy said:
Depends what one means by "hold together" at close range. I would expect it to disrupt violently and damage lots of tissue I.E. kill stuff. It's not going to bounce off an Audad.
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I wasn't concerned with any bouncing off. I have shot a boar hog at close range with Hornady's 140 grain SST with that same 7 mag. It knocked him right to the ground but he got up and ran off after about a minute. After a long tracking job I found he took off through a swamp so I called it a night. The next day, my son saw the buzzards circling and we found it. There was a fist sized hole right behind the shoulder. I used the rest of the SST's at the range and never bought another.
 
Greyman said:
I wasn't concerned with any bouncing off. I have shot a boar hog at close range with Hornady's 140 grain SST with that same 7 mag. It knocked him right to the ground but he got up and ran off after about a minute. After a long tracking job I found he took off through a swamp so I called it a night. The next day, my son saw the buzzards circling and we found it. There was a fist sized hole right behind the shoulder. I used the rest of the SST's at the range and never bought another.
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I dont know that bullet construction is that much different, the interlock ring is a little further up the bullet on ELDx i think. You should have less velocity and more sectional density playing in your favor at least.

I've only used the 175 version in a 7 SAUM. They make a mess for sure but even after making a mess the wound channel was plenty deep.
 
I haven’t used the 162 but have used the Eldx in other calibers. Everything I shot died fast and almost all had exit wounds. Most of the animals were DRT also.
 
I shot 2 whitetail and 2 antelope with 143 ELD-X's out of a 6.5 Creed last year, so not at 7mm Rem velocities, I would say they hold together better than the SST's, but did have complete separation on 2 bullets that I recovered, the other 2 were pass throughs. Results were 4 dead animals, but I am going with 165 CX's this year in a 300 Win mag. I prefer the weight retention and don't want a lot of shrapnel in my game meat.
The ELD-X's have been incredibly accurate in everything I've tried them in, and I chose to use them last year and give them a try. Results were 4 dead animals, and the bullets did what Hornady says they are designed to do. Your mileage may vary.
 
Keep on said:
I shot 2 whitetail and 2 antelope with 143 ELD-X's out of a 6.5 Creed last year, so not at 7mm Rem velocities, I would say they hold together better than the SST's, but did have complete separation on 2 bullets that I recovered, the other 2 were pass throughs. Results were 4 dead animals, but I am going with 165 CX's this year in a 300 Win mag. I prefer the weight retention and don't want a lot of shrapnel in my game meat.
The ELD-X's have been incredibly accurate in everything I've tried them in, and I chose to use them last year and give them a try. Results were 4 dead animals, and the bullets did what Hornady says they are designed to do. Your mileage may vary.
Click to expand...
I will be interested to hear your impression of the CX performance on game. On a recent Hornady podcast, lethality was noted as a strong suit. I bought Outfitter CX 130gr for my 270WSM and Superformance CX 120gr for my 6.5 CM. With only minmal time at the range, I've found that they shoot pretty well. I won't get an opportunity to test the 270WSM this season (no Elk tag), but I plan to hunt whitetail with the Creedmoor.
 
I did have a Weatherby Vanguard in 7mm that did not like the ELD-X in I believe 150 gr. I think it was a 1-9.5 twist. It really liked SST 150-155 gr but not the ELD-X. I have since sold the Weatherby and will be picking up a Seekins PH2 in 7mm that I'm excited to see what it will do.
 
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