120gr A-Max vs 120gr ELD-match

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wildcats137

New member
Hey all,

So, Hornady recently discontinued ammo production of the 120gr Amax in 6.5 creedmoor and replaced it with 120gr ELD-Match ammo. Has anyone tried the ELD-Match stuff on coyotes? I was a fan of how the Amax performed and I'm concerned about losing the ability to buy that off the shelf as I have not yet gotten into reloading (the 120gr Amax bullets are still available).

I called Hornady customer support and was told besides meplat there are a few other slight differences mainly concerning ogive, but they don't test expansion so he couldn't give me an answer to expansion.
 
The research I have found on this, is that they replaced the plastic tip with something that holds up to the friction of travel better. (i guess at distance the plastic tips were melting and causing accuracy issues, which is why they replaced with better plastic tip)
 
Wildcats,
I reload and have been shooting 52 Amax in .223 and 168 Amax in .308 for years with excellent results on coyotes,deer(special deer season in IA), and many other nuisance vermin around. Having said that, I am now loading the 120 ELD-M in my 6.5 Creedmoor. I am still doing load work, however, have had some "ballistic data" on some vermin(no coyote yet) and can say, they are devastating. No real difference from the Amax performance. Run em with confidence!!
 
I was never a huge fan of the Amax for coyotes. They were an incredibly accurate bullet, but I don't think they expanded as fast at the SST's. SST's don't seem to group as well as Amax's.

Take a good look at the 129gr Interlock Whitetail SP's by Hornady. It is available off the shelf and the SP's do a great job dropping coyotes.

I put this coyote down this weekend with a 150 SP from my suppressed .308 DRT.

20170409_062304 by Jason Mosler, on Flickr

The SP's seem to group really well.

308 150sp with suppressor by Jason Mosler, on Flickr
 
I would like to know a little about this myself. I have been scared of the A-MAX since I shot an elk with a 162 out of a 7Mag. he gave me two opportunity's and I was really lucky to take him home. I am with every elk. Twice perfect lung hit's and it wasn't really ideal other than he went home with me. 95vmax out of a 6.5 is really cool on pdog's but I didn't even try it on coyote's. They are worth too much here. The 6.5 130 Bergers are great on elk. I would like a bullet that would kill elk coyote's, wolves. equally. Too much to ask? I hate Wolves!!! I would give up sex if the wolves would be vanquished from the earth. They are like mink on crack! Ask the moose
 
Dan,
I think I would be a little leery of the Amax on something the size of elk. It is advertised as a target bullet, but has had some great results on deer size and smaller. I have had great success with the Amax on deer and smaller game. So...take a look at the ELD-X. That is a hunting bullet.(extreme low drag-expanding). I think that would cover the elk and wolf for sure...and probably the coyote. Just have to see on the coyote. I loaded the 200 gr ELD-X for a buddy's 300 win mag for an elk trip. They performed very well on the two they shot. I have loaded some ELD-X in the 178 gr for the .308, but no data on game...yet. Just my experience, YMMV.
 


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