Hornady 340 gr Bore Driver ELD-X Review

[ElDiablo]

Just received several packs of these today.

They look nice. I took a few measurements. The jacket appears thinner than I expected (~ .015” on the sides) and I don’t see an interlock. Price was $19.99 for 12 (+ shipping and tax).

Overall length 1.742”
Bullet length 1.435”
Tip length .450
Bullet Diameter .499
Bearing surface (shank) .300”
OD @ top of base ~ .503-.505”

Total weight 349 gr
Bullet weight 340 gr (tip 12.5 gr)
Base weight 9 gr

I’ll be water jug testing these shortly and seeing how they shoot.

 

[billyboy*]

I don’t see an interlock.
So much for their Advertisement

 

[elkivory]

Would be interesting to see a chronograph of a couple BH 209 loads. Just to compare to the Blackhorn chart. I will be hunting elk and would like to get by with 73.5 grains max for out to 150 yards.

 

[gle3105]

Will be highly interested it what you find out. TY
And as other posts, I don‘t see the “interlock”. Velocity issue maybe.

 

[phalanx]

That jacket looks thinner than their pics show for sure. Thanks for sacrificing one!

 

[ElDiablo]

Some range data. I shot a half dozen this afternoon. Loading was easy. They felt like the bases were engaging the rifling well. Took some velocity measurements with a Magnetospeed and caught a couple in water jugs at 25 yards (@ronlaughlin style). The tips seem to be shattering. Never could locate any of the bases so I’m not sure what they are doing. Advertised BC of .315 (G1) on these.

Omega X7 .50 (w Woodman adjustable 209 plug)
80 and 120 grV BH209 (lot 41)

80 grV BH209 (1624 fps)
3 water jugs penetrated. Several fragments found in 2nd jug, core and separated jacket in 3rd jug. Weight of fragments recovered 195.8 gr.




120 grV BH209 (2030 fps ave)
Shot 1: 4 jugs penetrated. Many small frags located in 3rd and 4th jugs. Core was unrecovered. Recovered fragments weighed 51.2 gr.




Shot 2: 3 jugs penetrated. Recovered core weighed 192.8 gr.






The second shot with 120 grV produced a pretty nice mushroom. But the thin jacket and soft lead means pretty frangible at higher speeds. These are made to be longer range bullets so that is to be expected. So far I’d say they’ll make good deer bullets. Need to shoot a few more of them.

 

[ElDiablo]

Some rough trajectory calculations.

 

[MrTom]

Even if I shot a bullet that heavy, I'd pass on it. Can't imagine what bone would do to it.

 

[jsteurrys]

Try 50 gr by volume to see how they hold together.

 

[BuckDoeHunter]

Good report, thank you for posting.

 

[Hatchet Jack]

Thanks for posting up your findings ElDiablo. Very well done. And may I say ''speedy'' as well.
I was anticipating the release of these bullets for a while now. I guess I was expecting more. So far they seem like a reconfigured Powerbelt. I am not impressed.
Will they work well on deer? Maybe, but I would still be careful with shot placement and try not to hit bone. I was thinking this was going to be a great Colorado elk bullet. Not anymore.

 

[elkivory]

Had to look up frangible, but that seems to be a good description of your results. Thanks for posting. Not sure what I want to do for elk hunt in September. I was hoping these would be highly lethal and with the BC, have great trajectory. I have plenty of the 350 grain borloc's, so we'll see.

 

[ElDiablo]

Had to look up frangible, but that seems to be a good description of your results. Thanks for posting. Not sure what I want to do for elk hunt in September. I was hoping these would be highly lethal and with the BC, have great trajectory. I have plenty of the 350 grain borloc's, so we'll see.

IMO, the Thor 300 gr would be a much better elk bullet choice.

 

[phalanx]

Thanks ElDiablo!! Great report and good data to look over. So now I'm perplexed, I have two packs coming from Scheels do I let them sit in the draw with the powerbelts or maybe use them over a cutover piece and only take "longer" shots.

 

[Hausser1]

hopefully they hold together with my wrist rocket

 

[10acres]

Good info. I almost ordered some of these, but I’ll stick with the 290g FTX Bore Drivers. Most of my shots are within 100 yards. My smokeless Omega will get the call for long range hunts. I found this review of the 290g.

https://www.monstermuleys.info/xf/threads/hornady-bore-driver-report….191436/

 

[RobertGreen]

Thank you for all that info, @ElDiablo

 

[RobertGreen]

Muzzle-loaders .com has a video shooting one into gel.

 

[ElDiablo]

Muzzle-loaders .com has a video shooting one into gel.

Yes, here is that latest get test video. 100 yards with 120 gr Firestick (they didn’t mention the muzzle velocity). Recovered bullet weighed 224 gr. Pretty similar to the results I saw.

 

[bronko220002]

But how is the accuracy? That would be good to know. As far as fragmenting that really doesn't bother me. I'd rather have my bullet expend all its energy inside the animal than passing through
There are a few companies that even concentrate on controlled fracturing bullets (Berger and Lehigh to name a couple)