Hornady ELD-M out penetrates SST

[Double Naught Spy]

I dont get why people hunt with match bullets. There are so many good hunting rounds to pick from. SST is hardly any better then ELD-M but at least they tried to make a hunting bullet out of it.

For varmint or stuff not for the table, i can understand. But deer? Never!

I was once keen on the Eld-X in my 6.5x55, but I realised that its made for the 500+ meter ranges that americans tend to hunt at, not the sub 100 meters we expect in sweden. Taking on something like a moose with that sure kills it, but we hunt for meat and there is no reason to pepper it all with lead fragments. Give me a heavy roundnose or softnose with bonded lead core if you must use lead bullets at all.

First thing you need to realize is that how a bullet is marketed really has nothing absolute to do with how it performs. If a bullet company has a bullet that they find to be accurate enough and they need a match bullet in their lineup, it is marketed as a match bullet. If they need a varmint bullet and it likes to break apart on impact, it gets marketed as a varmint bullet. It may even be marketed as a frangible big game bullet (which is a feature many hunters like and for which Berger has made a lot of money).

The Hornady AMAX bullet was a marketed match bullet that Grendel deer hunters seemed to love. Hornady never marketed it as a hunting bullet and had a disclaimer on their website saying it was not for hunting, but people loved it for hunting.

I do agree with you about polluting the extra meat with bits of lead. I hunt with a frangible varmint round made for little varmints and I use it for hogs. It works well. When folks ask me what I suggest for hunting hogs, my question to them is whether they are meat hunting or animal control hunting. For the meat hunters, I suggest bullets that tend to stay together better. However, some people are willing to lose a little extra meat or choose their shots such that they don't damage a lot of meat.

Only a tiny percentage of American hunters hunt at 500+ meter range. You will find the vast majority do most or all of their hunting within 180 meters and the vast majority of those will be within 90 meters.