Hornady 340 gr Bore Driver ELD-X Review

Shop deals on ebay
L&R
shop deals on amazon
Modern Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Modern Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
txhunter58 said:
If I were you, I would start with 85 grains of powder. Shoot Three times, and use 90 g of powder shoot him three times, 95, 100… I would still feel comfortable using 85 grains of powder with a Blackhorn 209 for elk out 150 yards. That’s equivalent to 100 grains real blackpowder. When I did as I described, my best, most accurate load was 95 grs and that’s what I use. My brothers is 90 grs. Each gun is a little different.
Click to expand...
Awesome video. Thanks for all the info. I am going back to range early one day. It's so hot here. I will try left handed. I have shot my bow wearing 2.0 readers, never tried dropping down on readers for muzzy. I may get a pair of 1.0 and see what it looks like.
 
I went back to range today. Shot 90,95,100 grains with bor locks. Nothing grouped well. All over the place. Ended up shooting Bore Driver ELD X with 100 grains. About 3 1/2 inch group of 3. I do shoot the Williams Precision Peep sight on this gun with crosshairs. Left handed didn't work, just everything seemed awkward. I could see almost as well with my contact in my right eye. At this point I plan to hunt with 340 Bore Driver ELD X over 100 grains BH 209. I would rather be more accurate than perhaps a better bullet. Still have some time left to make another trip to range, but Bor Locks are hard, if not impossible, to find. If bullets and powder were more plentiful and I could go back to earlier in the year, I think I would sight in with a scope first.
 
elkivory said:
I went back to range today. Shot 90,95,100 grains with bor locks. Nothing grouped well. All over the place. Ended up shooting Bore Driver ELD X with 100 grains. About 3 1/2 inch group of 3. I do shoot the Williams Precision Peep sight on this gun with crosshairs. Left handed didn't work, just everything seemed awkward. I could see almost as well with my contact in my right eye. At this point I plan to hunt with 340 Bore Driver ELD X over 100 grains BH 209. I would rather be more accurate than perhaps a better bullet. Still have some time left to make another trip to range, but Bor Locks are hard, if not impossible, to find. If bullets and powder were more plentiful and I could go back to earlier in the year, I think I would sight in with a scope first.
Click to expand...
My last couple of trips through Wally World have scored Bor Locks. Seems they're gearing up for hunting, and they are available.
 
A lot of hunters think that the faster the bullet the better. Not so! I bet this bullet would perform better at a slower velocity, retaining more of its weight, with little to possibly no fragmentation. A fragmenting bullet is not good for hunting big game period.
 
Swamp said:
A lot of hunters think that the faster the bullet the better. Not so! I bet this bullet would perform better at a slower velocity, retaining more of its weight, with little to possibly no fragmentation. A fragmenting bullet is not good for hunting big game period.
Click to expand...
Yes it holds together better at lower speed - see post 34. Running it too slow seems to defeat the purpose of a high bc “long range” bullet.
 
I suspect Hornady designed this bullet to work well with the plethora of typical 50 cal ML’s out in the hands of hunters.

These MlL’s would not be your “magnum” type, but rather the average inline that folks shoot ~100gr powder out of.

My ML is the Rem 700 UML, which is atypical, and not as common. It’ll push this bullet quite fast for its weight. Perhaps even faster than the bullet is designed for. However, my primary purpose for this bullet is deer. It does T take much to kill a whitetail deer. I will see how well it works this fall. I expect some of my shots will be rather close, so that will be informative.

If I recall correctly, the Hornady engineer involved with the development of this bullet shot an antelope at 340 yds or so with I think a T/C Encore. Bullet running about ~2000 fps or so, if I’m not mistaken.

What I like about this bullet is the fact it give 50 cal ML’s a bullet choice that greatly enhances the guns capabilities at distance if one chooses to do so.
 
elkivory said:
I went back to range today. Shot 90,95,100 grains with bor locks. Nothing grouped well. All over the place. Ended up shooting Bore Driver ELD X with 100 grains. About 3 1/2 inch group of 3. I do shoot the Williams Precision Peep sight on this gun with crosshairs. Left handed didn't work, just everything seemed awkward. I could see almost as well with my contact in my right eye. At this point I plan to hunt with 340 Bore Driver ELD X over 100 grains BH 209. I would rather be more accurate than perhaps a better bullet. Still have some time left to make another trip to range, but Bor Locks are hard, if not impossible, to find. If bullets and powder were more plentiful and I could go back to earlier in the year, I think I would sight in with a scope first.
Click to expand...
350 gr BOR locks 100 gr of Alliant Black MZ (now Shooters World Black). Not sure what you're expecting but here are my results.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20230816-101652_Samsung Internet.jpg
    Screenshot_20230816-101652_Samsung Internet.jpg
    87.6 KB · Views: 2
Roger Carlton said:
What I like about this bullet is the fact it give 50 cal ML’s a bullet choice that greatly enhances the guns capabilities at distance if one chooses to do so.
Click to expand...
I’m a fan of more choices as well. My initial impression is that these will be good antelope/deer bullets.

There’re trying to fill an interesting niche with these - a full-bore .50 conical option for states like Colorado and something for the “I want a better Powerbelt” crowd. However, with the plastic tip/base on these, they aren’t legal (during the muzzy hunts) in several of the restrictive western “conical only” states (Idaho, Montana, Oregon…). These should really be called the “Colorado special.”

For states that have no full-bore restriction, personally, I think there are better options.
 
Roger Carlton said:
I suspect Hornady designed this bullet to work well with the plethora of typical 50 cal ML’s out in the hands of hunters.

These MlL’s would not be your “magnum” type, but rather the average inline that folks shoot ~100gr powder out of.

My ML is the Rem 700 UML, which is atypical, and not as common. It’ll push this bullet quite fast for its weight. Perhaps even faster than the bullet is designed for. However, my primary purpose for this bullet is deer. It does T take much to kill a whitetail deer. I will see how well it works this fall. I expect some of my shots will be rather close, so that will be informative.

If I recall correctly, the Hornady engineer involved with the development of this bullet shot an antelope at 340 yds or so with I think a T/C Encore. Bullet running about ~2000 fps or so, if I’m not mistaken.

What I like about this bullet is the fact it give 50 cal ML’s a bullet choice that greatly enhances the guns capabilities at distance if one chooses to do so.
Click to expand...

That bullet at 340 yds is traveling WAY slower than at 100 yds, and was probably in the correct velocity range for it to stay together and perform that way it should. This is why testing bullets for your hunting situations is crucial. If you know your going to have long shots, then a bullet constructed like this could be an option. But if your shots are going to be closer, then you should shoot your bullet of choice at expected ranges and adjust velocity accordingly to have a bullet that stays together, and plows thru the animal. Fragmenting bullets on big game is not good. You want it to mushroom to deliver energy, but stay together to maintain weight for penetration, and preferably, an exit hole.

I prefer cast heavier (300 gr+) bullets over all the jacketed creations on the market for hunting big game.
 
Last edited:
Swamp said:
That bullet at 340 yds is traveling WAY slower than at 100 yds, and was probably in the correct velocity range for it to stay together and perform that way it should. This is why testing bullets for your hunting situations is crucial. If you know your going to have long shots, then a bullet constructed like this could be an option. But if your shots are going to be closer, then you should shoot your bullet of choice at expected ranges and adjust velocity accordingly to have a bullet that stays together, and plows thru the animal. Fragmenting bullets on big game is not good. You want it to mushroom to deliver energy, but stay together to maintain weight for penetration, and preferably, an exit hole.

I prefer cast heavier (300 gr+) bullets over all the jacketed creations on the market for hunting big game.
Click to expand...
Exactly my point….
 
I do like BH 209 Best but if I were you I might try triple 7, again starting at 85-90 gr

I assume your groups are at 100 yards? I start at 25 yards and never go past 25 if they aren’t grouping.

Do you clean between shots?

Are you cleaning out the rear of the breechplug with a drill bit after each shooting session?
 
I do a thorough cleaning after each session. Kind of a pain, but I do drill bit, torch tip cleaner through small hole, and pull firing pin and clean, along with barrel. I totally agree with shooting shorter range. 50 is the least I can shoot here, but I would have been way better off to shoot 50 until I was happy with bullet, powder combo. I started and stayed with 100. Probably a bad idea with open sights. Thanks
 
Water filled jugs, while an easily repeatable test media, does not provide a solid comparison to performance on actual flesh. This is because water does not compress, while flesh does. For this reason, frequently bullets that appear to “fail” a water test, will still perform fine on game animals.

As txhunter58 suggested, a reduction in velocity (probably 25-30%) will yield a more realistic assessment of how the bullets will perform on actual game.
 

Similar threads

Dolph1992
50 Cal .499 Bore Driver® ELD-X® 340gr
Replies
2
Views
1K
quaid
Q
X
Hornady ELD-X at 500 yards
2
Replies
35
Views
2K
1874sharpsshooter
1874sharpsshooter
E
Review: Traditions Mountain Rifle - Flintlock
Replies
8
Views
9K
exMember
E

Latest posts

Back
Top