The Hornady .257 25 Cal 128 Grain ELD-X bullet is a match-grade, expanding hunting projectile designed for modern quarter-bore rifles. Featuring a heavy-for-caliber 128-grain profile, this bullet pairs an aerodynamic secant ogive and boat-tail design with a Heat Shield tip to prevent aerodynamic friction deformation during high-velocity flight. Internally, a mechanical InterLock ring joins the concentric AMP copper jacket to the lead core, enabling controlled mushrooming across standard hunting velocities while retaining 50% to 60% of its original mass on closer impacts.

Key Features

• Heat Shield Polymer Tip: Resists aerodynamic heating downrange, maintaining physical tip integrity to produce consistent long-range ballistic performance.
• AMP Concentric Jacket: Features an Advanced Manufacturing Process copper jacket with virtually zero wall-thickness variation to maximize in-flight stability and rotational concentricity.
• InterLock Retaining Ring: Mechanically anchors the jacket to the lead core, preventing premature core-jacket separation and over-expansion at high-velocity, close-range impacts.
• Dual-Stage Terminal Performance: Expands up to approximately 1.7 times caliber at conventional distances, while utilizing a thinner nose jacket section to initiate reliable expansion at lower velocities over extended distances.

Specifications

• Calibre: 25 Cal / .257 in (6.53 mm)
• Bullet Weight: 128 grains (8.29 g)
• Bullet Style: ELD-X (Extremely Low Drag – eXpanding)
• G1 Ballistic Coefficient: 0.633
• G7 Ballistic Coefficient: 0.319
• Sectional Density: 0.290
• Minimum Barrel Twist Rate: 1:7.5" to 1:8"
• Package Quantity: 100 projectiles per box

Who is the Hornady .257 25 Cal 128 Grain Eld-X Bullets (1-7.5") 100 Pack for?

• Handloaders with fast-twist quarter-bores — Delivers a high 0.633 G1 ballistic coefficient optimized specifically for custom barrels chambered in modern cartridges like .25 Creedmoor or .25 PRC that meet the required 1:7.5" to 1:8" minimum rifling twist rate.
• Medium-to-large game hunters — Provides a heavy 128-grain reloading bullet with a 0.290 sectional density that delivers reliable expansion and weight retention on feral pigs, fallow, red, and rusa deer.

Less suitable for: Rifles with conventional 1:10" barrel twist rates that cannot stabilize this heavy 128-grain projectile (requiring lighter offerings such as 110-grain hunting bullets), or pursuits targeting heavy, thick-skinned game like water buffalo and scrub bulls, which require bonded solid-copper or monolithic dangerous game projectiles.