ELD-VT in 5.56 AR

T

thebogwalker

New member
howdy everyone, my first post on here and figured I’d try to share some knowledge and maybe save someone an afternoon of time trying to reload 62 grain ELD-VTs into a .223/5.56 AR-15.

So I started by measuring the bullets and of the first box I measured 50 of the 100 and they averaged 1.052”. My current “most accurate” load in my AR uses 73gr ELD-Ms which I also measured 50 of in the most recent box I opened and they averaged 1.035”. I figured pretty close so let’s give it a try, the ogive and bullet shape is very different and there would be no mistaking if you loaded an ELD-VT into a batch of ELD-Ms. I’m sure the jump to the lands onto the bearing surface of the bullets is just too great to shoot these accurately in a 5.56 chambered AR-15 but I was still curious so I went ahead anyway.
IMG_1430.jpeg


So I loaded up 20 at around the same charge of varget and primer I’m using for my 73s
5 @ 23g
5 @ 23.2
5 @ 23.5
5 @ 23.7

All loaded to 2.260” with federal 205 primers in lake city brass.

Below and attached are groups shot at 100 yards.

62s
IMG_1440.jpeg



Just to make sure my rifle wasn’t now a 5 MOA rifle I shot 5 of my 73s

IMG_1442.png



So just here to say I would NOT reccomend trying 62gr ELD-VTs in a 5.56 AR-15. I was hopeful but my dreams were dashed very quickly. In other news if anyone wants 280 62gr ELD-VTs I’ll give you a smoking deal lol

Have a good week everyone!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1439.jpeg
    IMG_1439.jpeg
    117.3 KB · Views: 68
  • IMG_1438.jpeg
    IMG_1438.jpeg
    104 KB · Views: 58
  • IMG_1437.jpeg
    IMG_1437.jpeg
    130.4 KB · Views: 66
Dang! Those are some LONG bullets for 62gr!

I have not tried the 73gr ELD M's. Do they shoot well in your rifles?

NATO chambers can be SOB's with certain bullets.

I have one rifle with a Wylde chamber that shoots very well with a host of different bullets that did not shoot good at all in my hyper accurate NATO chambered rifles.
 
Last edited:
arlaunch said:
Dang! Those are some LONG bullets for 62gr!

I have not tried the 73gr ELD M's. Do they shoot well in your rifles?

NATO chambers can be SOB's with certain bullets.

I have one rifle with a Wylde chamber that shoots very well with a host of different bullets that did not shoot good at all in my hyper accurate NATO chambered rifles.
Click to expand...
Yeah they’re crazy long, I’ve had great luck with the 73s and varget but there’s not enough luck finding powder to try around here. Yeah the wylde chamber is solid too, I should say the ones I’ve seen.
 
Odd that it hates the 62 that much. My WOA Service Rifle shoots the even longer 77TMKs & 80.5 Bergers very well. I have been thinking about trying the 62s just to see.
 
Jerryrigged said:
Odd that it hates the 62 that much. My WOA Service Rifle shoots the even longer 77TMKs & 80.5 Bergers very well. I have been thinking about trying the 62s just to see.
Click to expand...
If you want I can send some of these along to you, I have less interest in attempting to work up a load with them at this time. I’ll revisit when I can do some more testing with a different barrel. I don’t think it’s the length as much as the ogive seems to be a good deal closer to the tail of the bullet and I think that’s creating a larger jump to the lands than most other .224 bullets. Of course I don’t have a comparator for these but I’ve also always just set my .223/5.56 to mag length for seating anyway.
 
I tried em in a 1:8 ruger 223. Was pretty bad. My theory is not enough velocity for the twist rate. Hope something shoots em, i bought a bunch of them.
 
Update on my trials. Running em 2850-3000 with 3 different powders, oal 2.34-2.35", out of a WOA 1/7 gun that shoots the even longer 77TMK & 80.5 Berger great. Best groups only about 3" @ 200. Next step will either be load em longer yet, or try 2 of the best candidates so far in my Krieger barreled AR.
 
You are way lite on your powder charge. If I read your post right you are using a load for 73 gr bullets but are shooting 62 gr bullets. If using varget you should be around 26 gr not 23 gr. IMO
 
why said:
You are way lite on your powder charge. If I read your post right you are using a load for 73 gr bullets but are shooting 62 gr bullets. If using varget you should be around 26 gr not 23 gr. IMO
Click to expand...
I dont disagree I could have used a heavier charge weight but I was really looking at how deep you have to seat the bullet to get it to fit in an AR mag length. The 62gr eld-vt is nearly the same length as the 73gr eld-m so with the same charge weight i get a slight crunch with the 73s and also got a slight crunch with the 62s. The length of the eld-vt bullet takes away more case capacity than a typical 62gr would when compared to the 73+ gr bullets. Also i think too much of the bearing surface is seated too far into the case and the jump is far greater than we typically use in AR barrels.
 
I hope you found a suitable load, if you haven't, try sierra 69 tgk, my 1:7 ar likes them along with my 1:8 american. The 1:8 didn't like 88eldm's. Left measures .384 100 yards for both.
 

Attachments

  • 20250114_125611.jpg
    20250114_125611.jpg
    35 KB · Views: 2
  • 20241012_111233.jpg
    20241012_111233.jpg
    77.1 KB · Views: 2
Back
Top