TESTED: Hornady 100 Grain 6.5 ELD-VT Precision Varmint Bullet

Hornady’s ELD-VT, new for 2024, has a heat shield tip, AMP jacket, and unique weight to length. It is designed for varmint hunting with rapid fragmentation and precision performance.

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About the Hornady ELD-VT Bullet

Hornady introduced the ELD-VT, a match grade varmint-target bullet earlier this year.

Gavin had the chance to talk with Hornady’s Seth Swerczek at the 2024 SHOT Show about it. Gavin also attended the Leupold Optics Academy this past spring where he shot ELD-VT’s out beyond 1,000 yards!

His sight-in target with factory Hornady V-match ammunition is shown above, demonstrating the accuracy of these bullets.

From Hornady:

Bring trophies home and send varmints packing with the new ELD-VT™ bullet from Hornady. Incorporating years of ballistic research, ELD-VT™ pairs the aerodynamics of a low-drag match bullet with the light weight and high velocity of a varmint bullet. With its unmatched accuracy and explosive fragmentation, ELD-VT™ picks up trophies as fast as it drops varmints!

The Hornady ELD-VT™ bullet is here to redeﬁne your varmint hunting and shooting pursuits, offering unmatched accuracy, rapid fragmentation, and the conﬁdence to take on any challenge– from long-range varmint hunts to long-range competitions.

HEAT SHIELD® TECHNOLOGY

ELD-VT™ bullets incorporate the Heat Shield® tip, which resists the effects of aerodynamic heating. They retain their shape to maintain the lowest drag over their entire trajectory.

ADVANCED MANUFACTURING PROCESS (AMP®) BULLET JACKETS

A testament to an unwavering commitment to excellence, AMP® bullet jackets provide unrivaled consistency in concentricity and thickness, ensuring every ELD-VT™ bullet performs at its peak.

RAPID FRAGMENTATION

The Hornady ELD-VT™ bullet isn’t just about hitting the bullseye – it’s about making a statement when it gets there. Upon impact, the polymer tip drives rearward through the large air gap and into the bullet core, causing rapid and dramatic fragmentation, even at low velocity.

PRECISION PERFORMANCE

Born from a culmination of years of ballistic research, the ELD-VT™ pairs the aerodynamics of low drag match bullets with the lighter weight of a varmint bullet, giving the ELD-VT™ a level of uncompromising dual-purpose performance. Say goodbye to compromise, as this bullet’s match-winning accuracy and rapid expansion will set new standards.

UNIQUE WEIGHT TO LENGTH DESIGN

Long, sleek, match bullet profile with reduced core-to-bullet length ratio maximizes muzzle velocity and moves the center of gravity rearward which enhances aerodynamic performance.

ELD-VT stands for Extremely Low Drag Varmint | Target. This technology relies on drawing Hornady’s match-grade bullet jacket out (long ogive) and cutting and seating a lead core at a reduced height. This moves the center of gravity rearward for better dynamic stability and leaves an air cavity at the front for dramatic expansion. Currently there are four bullets in the ELD-VT line in .22 caliber, 6mm, 6.5mm and .30 caliber. I won’t be surprised if the line expands with more choices in the future.

The construction of the ELD-VT leaves a large, empty space above the lead core and beneath the heat shield tip. This gives the bullet a long sleek profile and helps keep the ballistic coefficient high for good retained velocity downrange.

It’s referred to as a dual-purpose bullet, for both varmint and target shooting. Hornady cautions that it is intended for use on smaller animals (50 lbs. or lighter), and is not considered a big game bullet. It is designed to fragment rapidly upon impact rather than penetrating deeply. Think of it as being on the fragile end of the spectrum with Hornady’s monolithic CX bullets on the very strong, slow-to-expand end.

My Load

I wanted to give the 100 grain ELD-VT a try in the 6.5 Creedmoor.

I was thinking that since it’s much lighter than “normal” weight 6.5mm bullets, it could be pushed to higher velocities. This would be advantageous for rockchuck shooting and coyote hunting where an accurate, flat-shooting, fragmenting bullet is preferable.

I decided to pair the Hornady 100 grain ELD-VT with Winchester StaBALL Match. This double-base ball powder flows very well through mechanical powder measures and is made in the USA. It is also temperature insensitive and contains a copper fouling reducer.

Prior to loading, I consulted Hodgdon’s outstanding Online Reloading Data Center and noted that they’d updated their StaBALL Match data with information specific to the 100 grain ELD-VT bullet. Their max charge of 45.3 grains indicated 3,346 fps from a 24” barrel! This encouraged me to work up from 43.8 grains to 45.3 grains, hoping to achieve good velocity and accuracy. Typically, I think of the 6.5 Creedmoor as a 2700 fps cartridge. This is because I normally use a 140-150 grain bullet. Dropping down to a 100 grain bullet allows for much higher velocities—3100 to 3350 fps!

I loaded the ammo on an RCBS Summit press and also used their Uniflow Powder Measure and balance beam scale. It was good to see the signature green RCBS equipment on my home loading bench. My dad used primarily RCBS gear, and that’s what I bought back in the mid-1980s, forty years ago when I got my own loading equipment. Decades later, I still have that good old RCBS Rockchucker. It’s still in fine shape after having made many thousands of rounds of ammunition.

I first used the RCBS Summit press in 2023 to load 6.5 Creedmoor ammunition for a mule deer hunt. I really appreciate the large amount of working room provided by this open-front design. Gavin and I have both been impressed by the ease of use and quality of ammunition produced by this press with RCBS supreme dies. I lubed the 6.5 cases on an RCBS pad with RCBS lube. This made sizing very easy. I merely wiped the cases clean after they were sized.

I verified the powder charge thrown from the Uniflow III on the balance beam scale. When I was happy with the result, I threw charges of StaBALL Match directly into the primed and sized cases. Finally, I swapped to the RCBS seating die and seated the Hornady ELD-VT bullets.

About the Rifle

Recently I’ve been focused on loading for and shooting my Bergara Ridge Carbon Wilderness. It was an impressive rifle right out of the box, and Gavin set it up with an exceptionally clear Leupold VX-5HD 3-15×44 scope in Hawkins Precision’s Long Range Hybrid Rings.

Over the past year, I’ve personalized it a bit with a Boyds Heritage stock and Montana sling. It’s become a favorite rifle of mine for range and field time.

Shooting Results

I tested two handloads and factory Hornady V-Match ammunition featuring the 100 grain ELD-VT.

Hornady’s factory ammo performed well, producing good groups and good velocity, but handloading can make a big difference. Our top load picked up 220 fps over the factory ammunition and cut the SD figure in half!

Hornady’s ballistics chart shows their 100 grain V-Match ammo with a 3200 fps muzzle velocity from a 24” barrel. Zeroed at 200 yards, it only drops 5.7” at 300 yards, easily making it suitable to “hold on hair” at 300 yards for coyote or rockchuck shooting. Beyond that range, either a holdover or sight adjustment will be necessary.

I used Hornady’s online 4DOF Calculator to produce this chart for our 3350 fps handloads. (Hornady’s 4DOF calculator can be used on a computer or on a phone and is a powerful tool for the shooter.) I labeled my calculation as 6.5 Coyote— obviously winter coyote hunting was on my mind.

Even with the increase of 220 fps over the factory ammunition, the trajectory wasn’t much flatter. The drop from 200 to 300 yards improved to 5.3 inches from 5.7 inches. The bullet retains nearly 2,000 fps at 600 yards. This is plenty of velocity for the bullet to expand readily.

Conclusion

With the accuracy and velocity potential of this new 100 grain ELD-VT bullet, I’m looking forward to predator hunting.

I plan to pursue coyotes but there is always the possibility of encountering a mountain lion! For me, coyote hunting is mostly about reducing the population to take pressure off of livestock and wildlife. I’m not particularly interested in selling the hides so the rapid and violent fragmentation of this bullet is fine with me. If you’re interested in preserving the hides, a different bullet would suit you better. Next spring, the rockchucks will emerge from their dens and it will be time to cut their population, particularly on the Ultimate Reloader ranch where the pests are numerous.