Hornady ELD-X: Explodes Like A Varmint Bullet?!

[jrebel]

Or the bullet did not hit the bear first.

Across a small canyon with nothing in between me and the bear.  I was sitting in a grass opening, the bear was feeding on an open hillside 100% exposed.  It was feeding on grass and rolling rocks for bugs.  This was a spring bear hunt. 

[The Big Game Hunter]

Would a poorly placed 212 grain ELD-X out of a 300 win mag.....that took off a softball patch of flesh leave an exit wound??  Ballistics and conventional knowledge would say there isn't a bear in Washington that could stop a 212 grain ELD-X from full penetration with exit wound.  I've got pics of both side of the bear a year later and no exit wound exists.....so either it dynamited on the onside shoulder or it fragged the inside of the bears shoulder not killing it.  The later is a definite possibility....but that would also suggest complete failure of an ELD-X....which clearly cannot be the case.   

In hindsight, I would have not taken a shoulder shot using this frangible bullet.  I too subscribed to the rhetoric that a 212 grain bullet out of a 300 win mag would wo to stern any big game animal in North America....I was wrong. 

I'll have to ponder other possibilities of how this bear didn't die with such a great bullet.

This is a frustrating situation to be sure made even more frustrating by the fact that, since you didn't kill the bear, we'll never know for sure exactly what happened. For that reason, we're basically guessing. We're making educated guesses to be sure, but those are still guesses nonetheless.
Bullets DO indeed "splash" on game from time to time. That doesn't happen as often as some people might have you believe, but they certainly do occur.
I don't know what happened with this bear, but I also don't believe you're lying about what you saw happen either. Like you, I would have thought a 212gr bullet (even an ELD-X) would penetrate all the way through a black bear from most angles on a shot at 200+ yards.
For instance, I shot a blackbuck with a 175gr ELD-X from a 7mm PRC at about 55 yards. This was a strongly quartering shot at close range, so if there were a situation tailor made for an ELD-X to "splash", I would have thought that would be it.  Yet, that bullet went straight through that front shoulder (shattering it in the process) and then exited just in front of the opposite hip. It made a mess out of the animal, but it dropped right there and the bullet still exited, leaving a good sized (though not gigantic) exit wound.
Why didn't that happen with your bear using an even heavier bullet, with a higher sectional density, and less impact velocity?
Who knows. Maybe my performance was a fluke. Maybe the performance you observed was a fluke.
Maybe your bullet had some sort of defect in it that caused it to fail.
Maybe something else happened.
Even so, I'm sorry to hear about your experience and I appreciate you sharing it with us.
I'd love to see the photos you mentioned, be that via sharing on this thread or via PM.

[pickardjw]

Rocks are great for ricochets/shrapnel.

[jrebel]

Rocks are great for ricochets/shrapnel.

Nailed it!!!......It ricocheted off a rock exploding the bullet in an upward direction hitting 33 1/2 blades of grass...prior to impact.  I'm not sure why I didn't run this scenario by you in the first place???  Had I, I would likely still be shooting those bullets and have great success.  I wouldn't be frustrated knowing a beautiful red colored bear didn't come home with me that year.   

[2MANY]

You two kinda got a thing going.

[The Big Game Hunter]

Rocks are great for ricochets/shrapnel.

[hunter399]

I'm trying them out in 270win this year.
If I ever get a shot opportunity,I'll let you guys know how it works out.
If I remember correctly, 145 grain with 55.5 grains h4831.

[Sneaky Squirrel]

Man, that is tough losing a bear in that situation.
I will say, I've had great luck with the ELDX out of the 6.5PRC. I've shot probably 10 elk and deer with this combination and have great results. I shot a bull(small rag horn) over 600 yards and it was dead in 15 seconds, right thru the lungs, pass thru hitting a rib on entry and exit. The buck i shot last year was 175 yards away, it was a quartering to shot, went thru the front shoulder and the bullet was stuck in the hide on the outside shoulder. The deer didn't make it 10 yards before starting his roll.
All that said, if i had something happen to me like the shot on the bear, i would probably be done with them too.
But experience over the last 5 years has proved otherwise for me so until something happens like above, i will continue using the ELDX for hunting. I will say use what you have confidence in, it don't matter what other people think.

[jrebel]

Fortunately the bear is still very much alive.  I am always on the lookout for it in hopes of crossing paths again, it is a beautiful bear.   

[HntnFsh]

Hope you get another opportunity!

[The Big Game Hunter]

Fortunately the bear is still very much alive.  I am always on the lookout for it in hopes of crossing paths again, it is a beautiful bear.

That would be really cool if you closed the deal with him one of these days. Not only for redemption, but to be able to examine him up close and hopefully get a better idea of what happened with that shot with the ELD-X.
if you shot him this year, what do you think you'd be using?

[jrebel]

Fortunately the bear is still very much alive.  I am always on the lookout for it in hopes of crossing paths again, it is a beautiful bear.

That would be really cool if you closed the deal with him one of these days. Not only for redemption, but to be able to examine him up close and hopefully get a better idea of what happened with that shot with the ELD-X.
if you shot him this year, what do you think you'd be using?

One of three rifles. 

338 lapua with 260 grain Hammer Hunter
300 wsm with 168 grain tipped hammer hunter
450 marlin with 325 gr leverevolution

If my son gets a crack at it, he will be shooting a 300 wsm and 180 grain accubond.

[hunter399]

I have shot a juvenile cougar and smaller bear.
243 ,103 grain eldx , factory seconds from midway.
Can't remember the load,I do know it was hybrid v.
Few grains over max,3000+ MV.

The bear ,I'll admit my shot placement was not where I was aiming.
Aimed for front shoulder,hit him in the neck. Cartwheeled like a sack of potatoes and was done. Pretty big hole in neck.

Cougar was better shot placement.
Aimed front shoulder, hit front shoulder.
Found the bullet just under the hide while skining it.
I weighed it,it was 30 something grains,it had lost 2/3 of its weight.
But also dumped all of its energy,and no tracking.

That's my experience so far.

I think Hornady wanted a bullet that shoots like a max,retains weight like a hunting bullet. Trying to achieve best of both worlds.
Which is not an easy task.

[snowshoes22]

103gr eld-x recovered from mule deer. Shot from a 6 arc. All recovered bullets have had core separation. All shots were over 250 yds.  Broadside shots, no heavy bone.

[westsidehntr]

103gr eld-x recovered from mule deer. Shot from a 6 arc. All recovered bullets have had core separation. All shots were over 250 yds.  Broadside shots, no heavy bone.

What happened to the animals?