Please tell me bout your experiences shooting game with the Accubonds, especially on deer and elk (or similar sized game) with less-than-ideal shots. That is, how do they behave on front or rear quartering shots, Texas heart, etc? Do they stay together or fragment on shoulder shots? I'm primarily interested in results at ranges of 50-300 yards.

I am doing load development for a 7 mm mag. The 160 Accubonds (standard, not the long range) are shooting well at around 2900 fps MV. I know this bullet has a good reputation, but I have no field experience with it.

Anxious to see what kind of input you get. I just started loading the Accubonds for an elk hunt in late Oct. Have shot a lot of ballistic tips at game but never an accubond.

I have taken antelope, mule deer and elk with 6.5 accubonds. They penetrate yet open well. All of these have been good broadside shots. The only shot that didn't completely penetrate hit the on side humerus of a large mule deer, broke the humerus and was found on the off side just under the hide.
I would used them on any animal.

Prior to this past season, I had shot exactly 1 dall sheep and 1 caribou with them in 2014. All from a 300 win mag. They were devastating. By the way, these were all 180 grain factory loads from Black Hills.

I started using the 200 grain bullets here locally (deer & hogs). These were loaded by Safari Arms for me. I decided to give these a try as I was having some issues with other ammo. Long story. I would have to think about it a bit. I imagine that I have shot 8-10 deer with them and probably 20-25 hogs. Maybe more hogs. Performance has been excellent for the most part. Complete penetration on all but one animal. Serious blood trails on those that needed following. One buck I shot had a big chunk of the lungs blown out . I could see it at 75 yards with my naked eye. None have broken up.

I had a single hog that some might construe as a problem. I do not. I had 2 hogs around a feeder. I kept waiting hoping to whack them both with 1 shot. After a while, I decided to hammer the largest and then (hopefully) the 2nd as he ran off. I hammered the first. DRT. Never moved. The second started running at the speed of light down a fire brake. I shot at the very last second through a bush just before he disappeared. I was pretty sure I hit him. Moving bushes told me that I had. He had moved off into cover slowly. I waited maybe 15 minutes and climbed down. I went down to the fire brake. I could not find blood. Let me add here that light was getting low and my eyes aren't the best. It may have been my fault that I didn't see blood.

At any rate I back tracked and went in the thick stuff after him. I got close and I heard him move. I went over and dispatched him. My initial (running) shot had hit him in the right rear hip AFTER it went through a bush. It SMASHED the hip and went through the guts too far back. It did not exit. He would have definitely died.

Finally, I will tell you about the last day of deer season. I was going to shoot a couple of does for meat. We saw one. I shot her behind the shoulder. She spun to run. With my naked eye, I could see a hole behind her shoulder that one could put a softball through.

Do I like them? Yes, I love them.

I've shot 20 plus head of African game and 5 Whitetail, Mukox and 2 Caribou, with Accubonds. On my first Kudu the animal turn just as I shot, the bullet went from the rear, through the chest and was found under the skin on the front quarter. Of the ones I've recovered the bullet was a perfect mushroom, and 85% plus wiegth retention.

As usual, the fine gentlemen at AR have provided good, solid information. Thanks very much to all.
Brice

I've used Nosler for most of my shooing for 30+ years. I used to load BTs and Part depending on what I was going to hunt. I have stopped doing that. I simply load Accubonds for everything from 375 down to 243. Can't begin to count the number of animals between the wife and I. Never had a failure that I can remember.

I've been loading for my 7RMag for over 20 years now, and predominately using 150-160 Partitions since 1971. I started experimenting with 160 accubonds several yrs ago, and really like the 160g AB running 2900-3000fps. I've used it to cull approximately 30 aoudad sheep here in West Texas, and on 30 head of plains game in SA and Namibia.

Here's a small sample of some of the bullets pulled from dead animals in Namibia a couple of years ago, with retained weight and % retained.


[IMG:left] [/IMG]

I switched to Accubonds in all of my hunting rifles back in 2008

Sitting here thinking hard and putting in a head count of sorts

3 Elk
2 Pronghorn
1 Mule Deer
26 Whitetail Deer
11 different species of plains game
Throw in Coyote and Prairie Dogs

7-08 140 grains.....deer
.270 WCF 130 grains......deer and pronghorn
.270 WSM 140 grains....elk, deer, pronghorn
30-06 150 grains.....elk, deer, Africa X 11
30-06 180 grains.....elk

Through that time span I have recovered 5 if memory serves me correct

All 5 of the recovered bullets looked like the magazine advertising photographs in a perfectly shaped tight mushroom and all retained the advertised 2/3 weight.....they don't get flat and huge like some bullets....but rather cull tightly

4 of the recovered bullets were frontal shots found just under the skin of a hind quarter

The fifth was recovered from a bull elk that took a strange path of penetration but done it's job perfectly.

I love them!!

30-06
180 grns @ 2750 FPS MV

30-06
150 grns @ 2900 FPS MV

.270 WSM and .270 WCF
140 grns and 130 grns
3000 FPS MV for each

I've used 200 gr. Accubonds out of a 300 Weatherby and a 300 Win. Mag. to take 3 deer, 16 sprinbok, a gemsbok, an impala and a blesbok. I have no complaints at all with their performance.

Ranges were from the blesbok at probably 50 yards up to the gemsbok at 400 yards. Most of the animals taken were in the 200 to 300 yard range.

I (or my kids) have killed the following animals with ABs:

375 H&H (all me) - 260 gr ABs
- Aoudad
- Cape Kudu
- Red Lechwe
- Mountain Reedbuck
- Numerous hogs

All the animals died, but not as quickly as they did when hit with 300 gr Aframes and they didn't hold together as well as I expected. I don't recall any complete penetration.

8x57 - 200 gr AB, very accurate
- Numerous hogs (me) - just drops them
- Red Stag - 250 yards, impressive performance
- Red Stag - daughter
- Elk Bull - daughter
- Waterbuck - me
- Blue Wildbeest - backup shot, me
- Impala - me

Overall, wasn't impressed with the performance in the 375 H&H. In the 8x57, which has a 20" barrel and shooting at 2,420 fps, it just kills everything it hits. No complete penetration on the large animals, but they died.

I think they are ideal at moderate velocities medium and smaller rifles.

I am using the 140 grain in my 7 stw. Only 1 tracking job on a deer on a pass thru shot that hit no bone, which would be common for almost any bullet I believe.

I have shot a red stag, a feral goat, a bunch of hogs, a black bear,a pile of whitetails, a couple coyotes and one fox using 180gr .338 accubonds in my 338-06.

With my 6.5x55 and 130gr accubonds the antelope and whitetails have taken a beating...

Even though I have shot a lot of stuff using accubonds I have never recovered a bullet. Game that I have shot with them is mostly DRT...if it isn't, it doesn't go very far..

So far they have worked quite well for me.

Zee

I've used the 160 in the 7 Rem, and a lot more in the STWs. Moose, whitetail, mule deer and black bear. I've found it very easy to get along with, it always seems to want to shoot and hits like a hammer. The only one that I ever found was a 50 yard shot on a walking away black bear with an STW. Took out a couple feet of spine and over half of the bullet weight. There was a point in time when I was using the same bullet in 5 rifles; but supplies of it have been spotty so I've changed a few up.

Another Accubond I've used about 50 animals worth is the 180 .30 caliber, most of those in the RUM. Topped out at Asiatic water buffalo and scrub bull on the high end, popped a nice coastal grizzly last fall. Its quite impressive.

My limited experience is with shooting fallow deer with 7mm 160gr Accubond in my 280 AI.

Performance was excellent. Definitely not the explosive entrance whounds I got from the Balistic tip.

My friend shot Samba stag with his 7mm WSM same bullets and got great results - similar size to bull elk.

I would not be able tell the difference between a Nosler Partition & Accubond performance on deer.

I have not yet recovered any Accubonds from animals, but had recovered Interbonds from a Kudu. 85% weight retention and a mushroom of 16.8mm. In the .270Win this is nearly 3 times the caliber diameter. With Barnes TSX I had a 99% weight retention, but the mushrooms were never larger that 12-13mm in diameter. You need a little compromise on weight retention to get a better mushroom. The larger mushroom ensures a larger wound channel which results in a quicker kill.

I have had great success with 150 grain Accubonds in 308 Win. and 300 Apex. I have yet to recover one from our small Texas White-tailed deer and larger Axis deer.

Been using them since they 1st came on the market. Never had anything but perfect performance. They are my favorite.

I have been a Nosler partition fan for most of my very long life and have shot about every game animal there is with them short of elephant and Rhino (never shot a Rhino) I have been testing the Accubonds for the last few years and found them to be excellent...

I wouldn't hesitate to use them in place of a partition on any animal short of Elephant and Rhino and maybe Hippo...They seem to work as well as the Partition, but certainly not better.

The Accubonds and Partitions are outstanding on elk,and deer in any reasonable caliber. If I were using a borderline caliber I would certainly use them as opposed to a cup and core bullet of any kind.

Perhaps the one exception I would suggest is that if your using a heavy bullet for caliber on light animals like deer or pronghorn, then go with the partition, as it opens up on contact whereas the Accubonds show a bit of hesitation on light stuff perhaps??School is still out on that with me, at least for now.

Has anybody used Accubonds to kill Cape buffalo and water buffalo?

Honestly, that is purely an academic exercise. There is documented evidence that a poacher shot many elephants with a .22 RF, going around on a bicycle and shooting the elephants at close range under the "arm pit".

If hunting DG I would just take the best bullet that is proven repeatedly to be reliable on DG & shoots well in my rifles. I would not worry about the theoretical capabilities. I am hunting DANGEROUS game, after all.

IF we are just discussing for the fun of it, I would say that the 375 accubond (the minimum legal bullet for buffalo since the 9.3 comes only in 250 gr) would work better than some of the old classics like the Sierra, Winchester Silver tip, RWS softs etc. that were used for decades.

Plenty of water buffalo have been shot in Australia will all kinds of calibers and bullet designs and also by the government cullers on Africa cape buffalo.

JMHO

quote:

Originally posted by Ackley Improved User:
Has anybody used Accubonds to kill Cape buffalo and water buffalo?

180 grain AB from my .300 WM. 2850 fps

1 ibex, 3 shots all exit. 375 yards
1 marco polo, 2 shots all exit. 450 yards
1 black bear, 1 shot exited. 220 yards

The bear was shot through both shoulders.

I like the bullet.
Ski+3

Accubonds, I've learned to really like them. I just finished 10 days of hunting in South Africa and shot only Accubonds. I shot 225 gr. ABs in my .338 Win Mag and 130 gr. ABs in my 270 Win. In all case where I did my part ( hitting the animal either thru the front shoulder or in the heart/lung area) they worked first time every time. I shot 3 animals with the .338, all one shot kills and 1 recovered slug that weighed 138.8 gr. Shot 11 aninmals with the .270, of which 8 were one shot kills with. All animals shot with .270 were pass throughs with no recovered slugs. Could/would bullet makes/types/weights worked this well? No reason to not believe they would not have worked as well, I just have grown to like the ABs. Ranges on the animals I shot were from 70 to 220 yards. I like Accubonds, cause the worked for me. I don't worry to much about some of the analaysis the first poster asked about, load, aim, fire and they work.

I cannot comment on any "less than ideal" shots since I don't have that story to tell.
I've killed a half dozen deer with 130 Accubonds in a 27 cal and 5 elk and one pronghorn with 30 cal 200's.
It's far from the only bullet that I use but the cross section is broad and deep enough for me to say I like them a lot.
They have a little more "pop" than Barnes TTSX but the Barnes has a bit more penetration. Take that for what it's worth.
Good bullet.
Zeke

PS: I've recovered only 1 .277 and 2 .308 and they look like an advertisement for Nosler Accubond.

I've shot 6 or 8 wt deer with 140gr AB's out of a 280 Rem. and my son has shot a couple more. I've also shot one with 180gr out of my 338/06. All broadside heart/lung shots and all have been pass thru's, so I've never recovered a bullet.
I like them a lot because they are very accurate but for WT, they don't seem to do anything better than a cup & core bullet...except cost more.

140 grain AB's from my 6.5x55 have accounted for numerous game, from Red Stag to feral hogs. Worked like a champ.

My hunting partner used a 180 AB in .30-06 in Africa last month and I was underwhelmed, but the animals were recovered.

quote:

Originally posted by rodell:
My hunting partner used a 180 AB in .30-06 in Africa last month and I was underwhelmed, but the animals were recovered.

Always love to hear these stories, tell us more about the bullets "underwhelming" performance.
Usually when I hear these stories I find it is bad shooting then blame it on "bullet failure".
A good friend of mine used a 30/06 and Accubonds in Africa with stellar performance.

Accubonds, are not the best choice anymore for tough animals. Their retained weight of 50-60% is substandard.

Look at Swift and Cutting Edge Bullets. You will have the best of both worlds with these bullets. Brian

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:
Accubonds, are not the best choice anymore for tough animals. Their retained weight of 50-60% is substandard.

Look at Swift and Cutting Edge Bullets. You will have the best of both worlds with these bullets. Brian

What is a "tough" animal Brian?

quote:

Originally posted by Snellstrom:

quote:

Originally posted by rodell:
My hunting partner used a 180 AB in .30-06 in Africa last month and I was underwhelmed, but the animals were recovered.

Always love to hear these stories, tell us more about the bullets "underwhelming" performance.
Usually when I hear these stories I find it is bad shooting then blame it on "bullet failure".
A good friend of mine used a 30/06 and Accubonds in Africa with stellar performance.

I am definitely not calling anything a bullet failure, and, I'm an Accubond user.

In this particular case, a good sized gemsbok was shot broadside at about 110 yards, just above the heart. Near perfect placement. The animal ran more than 350 yards. Bullet failure? Don't know, it wasn't recovered. However, as I said, it was underwhelming.

In the second case, she shot a Zebra - terrible shot placement. However, the bullet fractured and a piece of it did fatal damage. Still not a failure, and I'm glad the animal was recovered, but it left me thinking.

Mr. SS, these are just observations, not conclusions about the bullet. You think I shouldn't have been underwhelmed?

My own experience with AB's in the 6.5x55 has been stellar. One shot kills on a variety of animals and a spectacular downing of a red stag that was facing me.

JGRaider, Tough Animal? I assume that's a rhetorical question. Right?

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:
JGRaider, Tough Animal? I assume that's a rhetorical question. Right?

You stated that an accubond was not a good choice for a tough animal, and am wondering what animals you consider too tough for an accubond. I've killed loads of game with them but nothing bigger than a wildebeest or zebra.

JGRaider, I don't doubt that you are happy with accubond. I repect your opinion/experience.
As I said, I don't think that they are the best choice. That's all.

You have posted pictures of recovered accubond bullets. ( you are better at this posting than I am - I still have not figured out how to do that.)
The bullets you show have about 50%- 65% weight retention. For me, that is bullet failure; substandard performance. The first thing I would do is look for a better bullet. I would not defend the poor performance.
That is my opinion only.

You like Accubonds and you have killed loads of animals with them. Great! You're happy and having a good hunt. That all anyone wants.

I was just speaking to the original posters question. Having used different bullets in Africa and consulted with other experienced hunters, I would offer that Accubonds are not the best choice.
Your photo of recovered bullets is very helpful proof for others. Cheers, Brian

PS. The farmers and biltong hunters in Africa kill loads of wildebeest and zebra very well with 243's. Whatever blows your hair back, right?

From a Thread on Accubonds.

quote:

Originally posted by bobc:
I had outstanding success with 260 gr accubonds on mountain zebra, gemsok, and kudu in Namibia this summer. Great accuracy, great penetration, good weight retention. I'd use them on anything short of buffalo. Bob

Brian, everyone is entitled to their opinion, and their own choices. Fine by me.

FYI, shedding 40% of it's weight is exactly how Nosler designed the accubond to perform, and it does perform exactly as it was designed, much like the partition.

JGRaider, That's interesting. I didn't know that. Thanks for the info Brian.

This is how the bullet myths are kept alive.

I just phoned the tech. department at Nosler and asked Mike what Nosler anticipates the weight retention to be for a 160 grain, 7mm Accubond Bullet at an impact velocity of 2500fps on plains game. At first he didn't want to be very specific and offered answers like , "You will do well", and "You will like those bullets."

I repeated my question asking for their engineers specs. on the planned weight retention for that bullet for the above conditions.
Mike respectfully looked it up and told me that I could expect around 70%-75%. weight retention for that bullet at 2500 fps impact velocity.

SO:
1. 70%-75% weight retention is more that 50%-60% retention. Are you with me, so far?
2. Any decent bullet like Swift is designed for much higher weight retention with mushrooming not shredding configuration. Look on Swifts web site or just phone them.
3. Almost any plain-jane bullet including Sierra and Speer will get you at least 70%-75% weight retention with mishrooming not shredding.

In an above post there are photos of shredded (not mushroomed) accubond bullets that have lost half of their weight, and there are numerous post by "experts" stating how good accubond bullets are. (I always assumed that accubond were pretty good bullets until this thread. 50%-60% weight retention for a hunting bullete is the shits.)

This is how bullet myths get perpetuated. The shooting industry is a business where bullshit trumps facts.

So:
1. Any bullet will kill a non dangerous animal. I talked to a Ausie on another thread who killed water buffalo with a 30-30 and a 22-250.
2. I took the original posters question to mean: "What bullet will do it the best/quickest." Not: "what bullet will shred, lose half its weight but still get the job done."

I pitty the beginner trying to find out about hunting bullet performance. Brian

In the case of the accubond, I dont' have to guess, or crunch numbers. I have actual field time in the killing of 60+ big game animals with it, and the bullet performs as advertised. The pics I posted of recovered AB's on African game were recovered from very dead animals that died quickly. You really should realize that crunching bullets through bone, as was done in the recovered AB pic I posted, often results in less weight retention.


Since you like researching, no need to take my word for it. I've done some leg work for you. Read these reports from numerous hunters about actual use in the field:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/...hp/topics/11272765/1

JG, Have you used any other bullets for comparison?