Hornady 75/80elds and the sierra 80mk

[Twdmar]

With the current lack of available .224 sierra 80gr matchkings, I have looked into other bullets as a practice/match for 600yds highpower in case my stash runs out before I can get more
How do the hornadys stack up? The sierra are pretty consistent and easy to tune. And I don't seem get fliers either. I'm looking for as close of a replacement. I could do the berger fullbore bullets but those seem to come and go too.

 

[JB10]

I like the 73 eldm. I use in a bolt gun. The 75 eldm are too long to seat to 2.260. If single feed in a service rifle with a longer coal might work.

 

[Twdmar]

I like the 73 eldm. I use in a bolt gun. The 75 eldm are too long to seat to 2.260. If single feed in a service rifle with a longer coal might work.

Do they hold together? It seems like I've seen more hornadys come apart than any other bullets combined.

 

[bullseyeshtr]

Not hornady but the berger 80VLD is a bullet that most over look. This is what I shoot for XTC @ 600, absolute best shooting bullet I've used. Could also look at the Nosler CC 80gr.
I tend to stay away from Hornady after my experience with 80eldm when they first came out. Had random flyers high. When they didn't shoot flyers they would shoot good just too darn in consistent. My 2cents anyways.

 

[Twdmar]

Not hornady but the berger 80VLD is a bullet that most over look. This is what I shoot for XTC @ 600, absolute best shooting bullet I've used. Could also look at the Nosler CC 80gr.
I tend to stay away from Hornady after my experience with 80eldm when they first came out. Had random flyers high. When they didn't shoot flyers they would shoot good just too darn in consistent. My 2cents anyways.

The nosler CCs are not bad but they won't hang with the sierras. If I could get the 75vlds I would try them and the 80vlds are not super common lately either. There must be a reason the hornadys are sitting on the shelf.

 

[JB10]

Do they hold together? It seems like I've seen more hornadys come apart than any other bullets combined.

I have only shot the 73gr to 300 yards and they held up at that range. In order for me to go out passed that i have to go out in the desert. The place i had set up caught fire awhile back and have not been there since.

 

[bullseyeshtr]

The nosler CCs are not bad but they won't hang with the sierras. If I could get the 75vlds I would try them and the 80vlds are not super common lately either. There must be a reason the hornadys are sitting on the shelf.

Just an FYI. bluecollarreloading.com has 1000ct 80vlds in stock right now. About the best price around as well. They legit and ship fast and usually have about the best prices as well.

 

[jrh84]

Do they hold together? It seems like I've seen more hornadys come apart than any other bullets combined.

I've been shooting nothing but 73, 80 and 88 ELD's in my service rifle and Palma gun, and have not had any fail to make it to the target. There was a bad batch of 75 BTHP's that were coming apart a couple of years ago, but the ELDs seem fine.

 

[Dgd6mm]

If bullet jackets fail it's other things that are suspect more than the bullet. I shoot 1000's of Hornaday bullets BTHP Match , Amax , Vmax, and ELDM 's. Haven't lost a one. 80 ELDM's give me HM scores at 600 in FTR.

 

[Twdmar]

I've been shooting nothing but 73, 80 and 88 ELD's in my service rifle and Palma gun, and have not had any fail to make it to the target. There was a bad batch of 75 BTHP's that were coming apart a couple of years ago, but the ELDs seem fine.

If bullet jackets fail it's other things that are suspect more than the bullet. I shoot 1000's of Hornaday bullets BTHP Match , Amax , Vmax, and ELDM 's. Haven't lost a one. 80 ELDM's give me HM scores at 600 in FTR.

To be fair the ones that i have seen blow up are people using 22s for 1000 yards. And yes, it's usually someone pushing the bullet too fast with too much spin and once the barrel gets a bit hot, poof.

 

[jrh84]

To be fair the ones that i have seen blow up are people using 22s for 1000 yards. And yes, it's usually someone pushing the bullet too fast with too much spin and once the barrel gets a bit hot, poof.

I'm using 80 and 88's for 1000 yard matches, and have not had any come apart. Bartlein 5R, 31" 1:7 twist.

 

[Ned Ludd]

I've had several jacket failures with 88 ELDMs and 90 VLDs. Those came in a 6.8-twist, 0.218" bore, 30" barrel. As noted above, with a 0.218" bore barrel, things such as barrel length (i.e. friction) and twist rate can easily become the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of jacket failure. However, those issues seem to disappear (within reason) when a 0.219" bore barrel is used. Twist rates of 6.5, and barrel lengths of as much as 32" no longer seem to present such a high risk of jacket failure as they do in the tighter 0.218" bore barrels. FWIW - I've never experienced a jacket failure in a 0.218" bore barrel using a 7.0-twist, which seems to be about the limit before jacket failure issues start to occur. Although on paper a 7.0-twist may be just a tick less than optimal for the 88 gr+ .224" bullets, it still works just fine. Jacket failures with the 75-80 gr bullets don't seem to be much of an issue, likely due to the shorter bearing surface.

 

[B23]

Shot quite a few Berger 75gr VLD's in a 9tw 22-6mm and 80gr ELD-M's in a 28in 8tw 22-243imp. I'm pushing those 80 ELD-M's pretty good at 3650 and they shoot really well.

 

[jrh84]

I'm pushing those 80 ELD-M's pretty good at 3650 and they shoot really well.

Holy cow...yeah, you can make some hay with an 80 at 3650 fps!

 

[DocBII]

Twdmar,

I have good results with the Sierra, JLK and Berger 80s. Scores at distance improved when I changed to the 80 ELDs. Several other competitors at the range changed over to the ELDs and found they had better results as well. No work done on them other than sorting by ogive length, which was more consistent than the other brands. I've only one box remaining, and been looking for more over the past year.

N550 or MR2000 powder with either CCI-41 or WSR primers will get between 2900-3000 f/s out of a 26" barrel. Bolt gun or gas gun.

HTH,
DocBII