Nosler ABLR and Hornady ELDX weight retention???

[CoryTDF]

Late to post this but I am curious what your thoughts are on these bullets? I have been shooting the 175 GRN ABLR's out of my 28 Nosler. The last bull I shot I was lucky enough to recover the bullet just under the skin of the offside shoulder. The bullet entered the left shoulder and went through the body hitting the heart and passed through the offside not having enough energy left to get through the hide.

I put the bullet on my reloading scale and it weighed 83.3 grains. So after a 240 yard shot with the bullet passing through both shoulders and not hitting bone it retained a little less than half it's original weight. What are your thoughts on this?

During butchering I found several small chunks of lead in the wound channel and into the surrounding meat. I was a bit worried about this as I have seen some pretty crazy body scan pictures of lead traveling through animals after they have been shot. Did my best to clean it out but i'm sure that I missed some.

My daughter also shot a bull but with a 6.5 and her first shot was through the boiler room at 220 yards with a clean pass through. Second shot was through the shoulder and I was able to recover that bullet as well. She was shooting 143 GRN Hornady ELDX and that bullet retained just under half it's original weight as well at 65 grains.

This is the first time I have recovered bullets and put them on a scale so I am curious if others have done the same and what the results were?

[BULLBLASTER]

I’ve never used ABLR bullets but shot a couple deer with 143 eld x. They worked well and killed the deer. I think the one bullet o recovered was around 63 or 83 grains between the jacket and lead core (they separated)

Honestly seems about right to me for that type of bullet design.

[CoryTDF]

I’ve never used ABLR bullets but shot a couple deer with 143 eld x. They worked well and killed the deer. I think the one bullet o recovered was around 63 or 83 grains between the jacket and lead core (they separated)

Honestly seems about right to me for that type of bullet design.

   Good to know.

[BULLBLASTER]

I’ve never used ABLR bullets but shot a couple deer with 143 eld x. They worked well and killed the deer. I think the one bullet o recovered was around 63 or 83 grains between the jacket and lead core (they separated)

Honestly seems about right to me for that type of bullet design.

   Good to know.

Karl Blanchard has some 212 eld x that he recovered and I want to say they were around 100 grains or so but can’t remember.

And I think coop2424 has a 162 he pulled from a moose. But maybe not.

[jrebel]

I have never recovered my 212 eld-x.   3 complete pass through on bear.....one shot broke both shoulders,. I shot through the skull, one through the ribs.   3 shots on a moose......head shot complete pass through, two behind the shoulder did not exit but we were in griz country and it was getting dark so we didn't look.  All shots so far have been very effective.  Shots ranged from 200 yards to 20 feet. 

[JBar]

6.5 143 eldx
1 bighorn at 130 yards point of shoulder to behind opposite shoulder pass through
1 whitetail deer 140 yards double lung pass through
1 whitetail doe at 400 yards high shoulder recovered bullet just the other side of entrance shoulder with a pencil hole entrance. Total separation of core and jacket. I quit using them after that.

142 ABLR's
Mule deer doe 250 yards point of shoulder and exited behind far shoulder
Blacktail buck 145 yards point of shoulder exit back of ribs
Whitetail buck 530 yards double lung 1.5 inch exit hole
Whitetail buck 350 broke both front shoulders 2 inch exit hole

Attached is the pic of the eldx recovered from whitetail doe.

[CoryTDF]

Think I am going to look at the 142 G ABLR forthe 6.5.

[JBar]

I'm certainly happier with ABLR'S performance.  I always prefer 2 holes to one, but keep in mind I'm only one opinion. I.cant say that the ELDx didnt do its job all critters listed were killed with none to little tracking. Just have more confidence in the Nosler.

[jrebel]

I am a huge nosler fan......but the ABLR gets a really bad rap by most I have talked to.   I would shoot the standard accubond before the LR's any day of the week.  The acuubonds will shoot to 800-1000 yards without a problem.   I hunt my 6.5 to 600 and it is stupid accurate with standard accubonds.

[Karl Blanchard]

I ran the 190gr 30 cal ABLR for a season and shot 12 animals with them from 60 yards to 750 yards. Amazing performance. My complaint is they are incredibly finicky to load. I'm a pretty darn good hand loader and I could never get the accuracy/speed in my rifle that I expected from a gun capable of .3 accuracy with other bullets.  If they were more forgiving they would be my all time favorite bullet. They performed like traditional accubonds but without the velocity limitations for reliable expansion.

Following season i gave the 212gr eldx. Great accuracy and very easy to load with. 8 animals taken with them. While they killed just fine, I never got that that "wow" moment with them. Jacket/core separation was a given, which I don't mind all that much as long as it does it inside the body cavity and reeks havok inside.

I ended up going away from them as lot to lot variances was inconsistent and with the heavier weight I had a hard time spotting my shots. Went back to the 185gr Berger vld's and dont plan on looking back.

[CoryTDF]

For the time being I am going to have to shoot the 175 ABLR's in my 28 as I have several boxes of them. Cant really justify spending more money on new shells or even messing with the hand loads at this point. I hope to get more range time soon and I'll make my finial determination about that then. I also have 4 or 5 boxes of the 160 AB's that I could run if need be.

   

[Karl Blanchard]

For the time being I am going to have to shoot the 175 ABLR's in my 28 as I have several boxes of them. Cant really justify spending more money on new shells or even messing with the hand loads at this point. I hope to get more range time soon and I'll make my finial determination about that then. I also have 4 or 5 boxes of the 160 AB's that I could run if need be.

   

love a good old fashioned accubond as long as they are up around that 2,000fps mark on impact. I've pushed them past that mark on multiple occasions and they get marginal on performance real quick.  If those ABLR shoot accurately I'd just keep shooting them man. They are a good performing bullet.

[Yondering]

I am a huge nosler fan......but the ABLR gets a really bad rap by most I have talked to.   I would shoot the standard accubond before the LR's any day of the week.  The acuubonds will shoot to 800-1000 yards without a problem.   I hunt my 6.5 to 600 and it is stupid accurate with standard accubonds.

The bad rap is because most hunters, including the OP, don't seem to understand the purpose of the ABLR even with the giant hint in the name. They're designed for lower velocity impacts that occur at longer range. A 240 yard shot with a high velocity 28 Nosler is definitely not what that bullet was designed for. The fact that it worked well anyway speaks to how versatile it is, not how it's a bad bullet. That's just a bad application for a great bullet.

[CoryTDF]

I am a huge nosler fan......but the ABLR gets a really bad rap by most I have talked to.   I would shoot the standard accubond before the LR's any day of the week.  The acuubonds will shoot to 800-1000 yards without a problem.   I hunt my 6.5 to 600 and it is stupid accurate with standard accubonds.

The bad rap is because most hunters, including the OP, don't seem to understand the purpose of the ABLR even with the giant hint in the name. They're designed for lower velocity impacts that occur at longer range. A 240 yard shot with a high velocity 28 Nosler is definitely not what that bullet was designed for. The fact that it worked well anyway speaks to how versatile it is, not how it's a bad bullet. That's just a bad application for a great bullet.

Pretty sure I understand it's purpose just fine. Never asked what the bullet was for or anything about velocity or range. I asked about weight retention and other peoples experience with it. I almost NEVER recover bullets so, while I do shoot, I do not have a ton of experience in weight retention after shots no matter what the range. 

[ELKBURGER]

I ran the 190gr 30 cal ABLR for a season and shot 12 animals with them from 60 yards to 750 yards. Amazing performance. My complaint is they are incredibly finicky to load. I'm a pretty darn good hand loader and I could never get the accuracy/speed in my rifle that I expected from a gun capable of .3 accuracy with other bullets.  If they were more forgiving they would be my all time favorite bullet. They performed like traditional accubonds but without the velocity limitations for reliable expansion.

Following season i gave the 212gr eldx. Great accuracy and very easy to load with. 8 animals taken with them. While they killed just fine, I never got that that "wow" moment with them. Jacket/core separation was a given, which I don't mind all that much as long as it does it inside the body cavity and reeks havok inside.

I ended up going away from them as lot to lot variances was inconsistent and with the heavier weight I had a hard time spotting my shots. Went back to the 185gr Berger vld's and dont plan on looking back.

What caliber did you try those in? I used the 185 bergers in my 300 WM and liked their performance.