What has been your experience with Nosler's 260 grain AccuBond .375 bullet? Is this bullet "too" soft for Cape buffalo?

Thank you.

Hey there,
I personally have no experience with the Nosler Accubond in .375, only in .338. But, last year my PH in Zimbabwe witnessed a .375H&H Accubond fail to penetrate an eland's shoulder from 100 yards.

Thanks Paul. I'd like to try the .375 AccuBond but have concerns about penetration.

I used it with great success on plains game. Penetration up to 4 feet on a follow up texas heart shot. Most everything else exited. Still, I wouldn;t use it on buffalo, but would use again in a heartbeat for plains. Bob

Last April 10 of us handgun hunters went to SA and took over 90 animals ranging from Cape Buffalo to Lynx. Many of us were using either a 378GNR Encore handgun (405 Winchester case necked down) and/or a 375 H&H rifle. Many of us also used the 260 gr Accubond on the plains game ranging from 2000 lb. Eland to 120 lb. Springbok. We had no failed bullets and many were pass through. The ones we recovered were perfect mushrooms with retained weight/performance very much like Partitions. I was surprised to see my large male Zebra go down quickly with one shot right through both shoulders. The shot was 200 yards with a muzzle velocity of 2700fps. Everyone there was quite happy with the Accubond performance on the plains game. Now the cape buff Bill took was with a 378GNR and 300gr solids and I would not recommend Accubonds for them at all. The 338 225 gr.Accubonds did well too as did the .375 270 gr. TSX's some guys used. Yes, we did recover some TSX bullets that did not pass through a Zebra and some other species. They also expanded nicely. No bullets is a flash of lightning. Stick to what has been already successful on the big, dangerous stuff. That is not the place to experiment with bullet toughness.

quote:

Originally posted by Buliwyf:
What has been your experience with Nosler's 260 grain AccuBond .375 bullet? Is this bullet "too" soft for Cape buffalo?

Thank you.

Too soft and too light.

In the 375 cal, I would use a 300 grain North Fork. www.northforkbullets.com

I used them in my 375 on 13 animals in Namibia in 2004, and had great performance and pass-thru's on all but a quartering towards zebra and a blue wildebeest. I will take them again in April for eland, waterbuck, kudu, and leopard. My rifle shoots the 300 grain TBBC's and Sledgehammers well, and they will be the bullets of choice when I hunt buffalo.

I used them on a lion in 2005 and they worked extremely well. One shot and the lion was dead in its tracks. I think they would be to lite and soft for buff.

One shot kill at 150 yards on a big bull eland along with a haartebeast, zebra and blue wildebeast. I don't see any problems with plains game except for giraffe, but still wouldn't use it for buffalo.



You can borrow money, but you can't borrow time. Go now.

Like I always say; "Ask 10 people, you may get 10 answers." We tend to like what worked for us the best. My .280 loves the 160 grain Accubond. It performs very well on medium to large plains game. Will your .375 shoot the 260 grain Accubond accurately at 100 yards? Shot placement would be my main concern, and have you asked your PH what he recommends? He's most likely seen a good number of Buff killed with most everything legal, and if he trusts bullet XYZ in solids only, then I would find a good solid and follow his advice. Or, he may trust a good soft point for the first shot (heart/lungs) and then want you to pump solids into your Buff if you get the chance. You both have to trust each other...your life can depend on it. As for the Accubond question, you put a 260 grain bullet into a Buff's heart/lung area at broadside and you should have a dead Buff. But Murphy's law dictates: You hit the shoulder, ribs or a bad angle because he moved "just as I squeezed the trigger" and you have problems. Therefore, I second what some of the guys are telling you. Ballistic tip style bullets can expand too rapidly, especially on something the size of a Cape Buffalo. Your dealing with an 1800 pound Angus Bull on steroids. I love the Accubond on antelope, deer and elk. But I would recommend one of the affore mentioned custom bullets or: Federal Cape Shok w/Barnes Triple Shock X. If you reload, Swift A frame, Speer Grand Slam (hell yeah) Good hunting!

What about slower ctgs like the 375JDJ? It will push that 260gr bullet at around 2250 MV from a rifle. I am thinking that the Accubond might be just right...not too hard, not too soft ... at these velocities.

Anyone know what the 260gr bullet out of an H&H is doing at 100 yards?

What about that bullet for hippo? I am guessing way too soft? I was thinking Failsafes, but that is just one animal that I will shoot with the gun, and the rest will be plainsgame.

quote:

Originally posted by Tim Herald:
What about that bullet for hippo?

On hippo you should use solids only, and preferably of a heavy weight as bullet weight does more to enhance penetration than velocity.

Thanks - I thought that. I haven't really figured out why Graham recommend I shoot the hippo with a .375 when I am bringing a .416 for buff. Any thoughts?

If Graham is going to have you shoot the hippo in the head in the water at 100 yards, he probably thinks your shot will be better if you use a lighter recoiling rifle.

But if you put some effort into it and hunt very early and late, or else sneak in brush along the riverbank at midday, there is a chance of shooting the hippo on land for which you would use a body shot. In that event the 416 would of course be better.

Gottcha - he did say he expected the hippo shot at 40-50 yards...