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Word of mouth but, some may be interested anyway... Talked to a fella for alittle while about elk and moose hunting, he had the luxury of hunting them in quite a few places. I asked him what his weapon of choice was and he said he'd grown really fond of a Sendero chambered in 7RUM w/ handloads using the 160 Accu Bonds. He told me about at least 3 Bull elk and 2 Bull moose he'd shot w/ the rifle and he was quite pleased w/ the performance of the new ABs. Pass throughs even on bone impacts, perfromance much like partitions. He shot one of the bull elk twice as it was running but, both impacts would have done the job. One impact was in front of the ham on a strong quarter and it made it through the vitals as well. The biggest test he had put it too was on one of the moose. He had a big bull bust him and his only opportunity was a straight on chest shot in which the 160AB plowed through the vitals all the way to the rear of the bull and put him down very quickly. Sure reassured my choice of the 160AB for my Elk and Mulie trip next month. Of course I will not be pushing them nearly that fast (7RM @ 3080)so, they should do the trick. Good Luck Reloader | |||
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Talked to my wife's uncle last nite. He just got back from Idaho. Shot a decent 5x5 at 200 yards with a 225 gr. Accubond from a .338 RUM. Took the bull quartering away.....in at the rear ribs anddriving up toward the off shoulder. No bone (other than rib) was hit. The bullet left a softball sized hole from under the hide to where it stopped. The recovered slug weighed 137 gr. (for 61% wt. retention). Uncle feels that had he needed to take a shoulder shot, the bullet would most certainly have failed. Although the gun groups 3 shots into 2" at 300 yds with the bullet, he's done with the Accubond. Founder....the OTPG | |||
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?? I'm thinking a quartering shot leaving a softball size wound channel with the bullet resting under the far hide and retaining 61% of it's weight in a load that shoots sub MOA at 300yds would be advertising copy for some people bragging about bullet performance. Yet this has sworn the shooter off the bullet? I guess there are vastly different opinions on how a bullet should perform!...........DJ ....Remember that this is all supposed to be for fun!.................. | |||
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One of my Buddies just shot a 6 x 6 bull,340yds, in the sage. He went through both shoulders twice found one bullet and the other exited. He was shooting a 300Win with 180gr AB. He is very happy with the performance. | |||
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i went out and bought some 180 a/b this morning and out of a box of 50 bullets, 19 of them are 179.8 gr. , 5 of them are 179.5, and the rest are 179.9 grains. only 4 out of the entire box are 180 gr like the box says. All of my barnes tsx bullets are 180 on the money or .1 to .3 gr over. So far i am not impressed and this will be my first working with these bullets to see how they perform in my 30/06 and 300 win mag. Both are rem 700 bdl's . I will let you know how it goes. | |||
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dj, Note that strut mentioned only a rib was hit, the range was 200yrds, and there was only 61% ret. Had a tough shoulder bone been hit at a shorter range such as 50yrds quartering towards you, one could argue that there may have been shallow penetration, one messy shoulder, and/or failure to sufficiently damage the vitals. I believe that Nosler has a philosphy that bullets should shed 30% of their metal. I believe this since the front half of partitions often disappear, the ballistic tips definately have fragmenting characteritics, and the Accubond could be made to retain more metal (just look @ Scirrocos and Interbonds that routinely retain 90% after going through much tougher bone). I frankly don't think this is indications of potential failure since I believe that this is the way that Nosler designs there bullets. The Barnes bullet is on the other side of the spectrum and I wish they caused more damage. I have decided to take the middle road with Hornady interlock designs on Deer/Antelope and the interbond on Elk that I have seen and read to retain/penetrate more than the accubond. I will say that ballistic tip bullets are the MOST accurate big game hunting bullets ever made. However, I am of the school that there should be 80%-90% ret out of medium-light for caliber big game bullets. Deke. | |||
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Ditto Reloader | |||
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Clem, My point exactly! Go to https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=634109174#634109174 and also https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/...=298108264#298108264. The first was another post and the second is my post. Both Interbonds at close range and/or high velocity my post through alot of Elk. Again I believe it is a matter of bullet design philosophy. The Nosler's shed metal and by doing so probably create more secondary missiles. The Interbond under very tough conditions will retain 85%-90% (approx 20% more than the accubond) and will penetrate deeper than the accubond with as large or larger mushroom. This has been proven to my satisfaction by the gun rags in gelatin and on game. I believe the Interbond is an excellent candidate for Elk. However, Nosler won the marketing war and I believe more folks are using their bullet. Deke. | |||
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Exactly Uncle's way of reasoning. Founder....the OTPG | |||
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this weekend my son 8 year old son hiked 3 hrs. to stalk a black bear. we got to 325yds with a custom 257 weaterby that hill country rifles just made me. hand loads 3550 fps, 110 accubond,held dead on, and it was one of the most impressive bang flops ive done. dropped like a ton of bricks and stopped rolling 80yds down the hill. it was hit right behind the shoulder large entrance wound 3 inches? no exit. i have a picture but have to figure how to post it. | |||
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Harvested a 40" Moose on 10 Sep 06. Called him into my magic 200 yard line broadside. Used a 338 Win and Nosler 225 AB with a Reloader 19 Max load out of Nosler Manual. Dropped at the shot! Jeff North Pole, Alaska Red Team 98 | |||
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Clem, That picture is what I would call a "Textbook" mushroom and what most game hunters would like to see. Even partitions look very similar when recovered. Reloader | |||
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BlackMamba, An explosive bullet into the lungs can be VERY impressive and I have seen Elk bang flopped w/25-06 SOFT bullets. However that same 25-06 soft bullet can NOT be trusted on an Elk shoulder or worse and the shooter that has killed hundreds of Elk (he does depredation for the game dept) would be the 1st to say so. 3" entrance wound is as explosive as I could imagine, how deep did the wound go (double lungs, etc.). Keep in mind that a Black Bear's bones are not as tough as an Elk's, and a lung shot does not come close to offering the same resistance as a shoulder. AlaskaBushMan, I have never hunted Moose, but hear that they can take some punishment. Where was your Moose hit and did you take note on the path/damage of the bullet? Clem, I agree that the Mushroom is pretty, but why not more weight retention and penetration from a bullet that is supposed to be used on tougher game? An interesting thing I also noticed is the core material of the mushroom appears to be very polished. I have noticed this smooth metal on a ballistic tip I once recovered. Take a look at the two Hornady's and you will see that the metal is much rougher and jagged. Does anyone know the characteristics or type of metal being used in Nosler vs Hornady bullets? Deke. | |||
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I guess with three pages of posts not everyone is convinced of this bullet. It's just too new. I would say from my intuition more then experience that it is fine for the ligher game like deer or caribou, some would say marginal for elk and moose and a no way for big bear, bison and some of the big stuff in Africa. I view the AB as a bonded Balistic Tip. Accurate as the BT but with better penetration. Not as good as a Partition design when heavy bone is met. The only reason I chose this bullet was that my 270 just won't shoot a partition well and it is my only stainless rifle suitable for a caribou hunt (I think I need to buy another rifle). Personally, if my rifle will shoot a partition design (Nosler or Swift) I don't even consider anything else. Perhaps narrow-minded but I have never been let down by either bullet. | |||
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POP, I would expect as much out of any soft bullet on Pronghorn and would easily opt for a ballistic tip on Pronghorn. Elk are an entirely different story. Clem, That A-frame is a bonded partition. Probably the best terminal performance on big game in the US and Africa. Not noted as the most accurate or best BC for longer range though. Deke. | |||
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Well after much back and forth and even buying a box of partitions, I decided I would stick with my 180gr Accubond reloads (83grs of IMR7828 in a .300wby) for my New Mexico elk hunt. I didn't recover any bullets, my first shot was a pass through at the base of the neck. Second shot into the vitals but we didn't get that one out. I was pleased.  I put the full report in American Big Game Hunting: My NM Hunt Report | |||
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Just came back from our annual moose hunt, I used a 300 Dakota loaded with 200gr Accubonds, the bull moose was shot at 35yds broadside from a slight downward angle, the bullet hit rib in and rib out on a perfect lung shot both holes were about 2" and the lungs the same, the wound channel showed very good control without exssesive expansion, needless to say the bullet was not recovered, estimated impact velocity was about 3000 fps. From this one experience I am very happy with the bullets performance. The live weight was estimated at +/- 900lbs, the four quarters weighed 617lbs and this did not include the head or the legs below the knees. bigbull | |||
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In the last 15 months I've used Accubonds to take a Kudu, Zebra, Springbok, Gemsbok, and Moose with a 180 gr bullets from a .300 Win Mag and a Dall Sheep with 165 gr. bullet from a 30.06. None of the animals went more than 25-30 yards except the sheep, but he was rolling down the hill. I'm pretty happy with the performance of Accubonds, but I'll keep testing them for ya'll. JD | |||
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Ditto! | |||
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AKJD, Do you find that velocity with the Accubond is lower than say a Partition with the same powder charge? | |||
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I used a ballistic tip 150gr 30cal in my 300WSM, hit a yearling red stag @ about 180m, at that distance the projectile was doing around 2800FPS or so, minced the vital organs and hit the shoulder on the other side and blew it to peices, the hole in the rib cage on the far side was between 2-3" diameter. the animal went about 20 meters before it expired dressed out the yearing stag is around 135 pounds dont see any reasons not to use a ballistic tip... | |||
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Harvested this Moose @ 200 yards he went maybe 5 yards after the shot........ 338 Win w/225 AB and 72.5 of RL 19. Jeff North Pole, Alaska Red Team 98 | |||
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Sorry for the delay in responding, I was away for a period. Here is my data from my reloading notes. 300 Win Mag Its been a few years since I crono'ed partition loads. The loads for the Partition were worked up several years ago before I owned a Nosler manual, the data was taken from several sources that listed higher max loads with Re 22 than the current Nosler manual does, they showed no signs of excess pressure. The Accubond load is max in the Nosler manual. 180 Grain Accubond Re 22 75.5 gr average 3075 180 Grain Partition Re 22 76.5 gr average 3140 180 Grain Bal Tip Re 22 76.5 gr average 3081 All loads fired from a Win Mod 70 Classic Stainless. | |||
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