Has anyone here tried the new Nosler Accubond loads from Federal or Winchester? 338 WinMag 225 grain Nosler Accubond?

My 338 doesn't like any bullet/load I have tried heavier than the 210 grain Nosler Partition load from Federal.
I consitantly get less than 1MOA groups with this load out to 250 yards. I have hand loaded 225/250 grain Partitions and 230 grain fail safes with groups averaging 2.5 MOA.
I have tried factory ammmo in 225/250 grain Partitions, 230 grain Fail Safes, 225 TBBC, 250 Core Lokts, and others and none of them shoot well in my rifle (Sako 75 SS).

I am planning a Plains Game hunt to Namibia next year and was hopping to come up with ammo/load with a heavier bullet.
Any reports on the Accubond loads appreciated.

I've shot the 225 Accubonds out of my .338 and it seems to be one of the few bullets my rifle likes. The rifle is a Winchester Classic stainless. I've yet to shoot any big game with the Accubonds though. Like you I wanted to get better accuracy than the 2moa most other loads give me. I can't complain as the 250 Noslers have worked wonderfully on a couple bears and moose. Another bullet you might give a try is the 225gr Barnes Triple Shock. It has been the most accurate bullet for my gun so far and I'm sure it will be tough enough for most anything. With both bullets I've found RL 22 to be the most accurate for me. Good luck!

Jarrett

Logic:
Try a 225 gr. Northfork. I use Rldr 22 in my .338 and try playing with your seating depth too. Bear in Fairbanks

I've been using the Accubond for a year now. I had a super accurate load using a 225 Nosler Partition. When I swapped just the bullets in the load the velocity increased about 100 fps using the same distance off the lands. From sub-MOA it shot near 3MOA. When I slowed it down again to 2855 fps, a bit slower than the Partition loads, I got sub MOA accuracy again.

I just loaded a 7STW for a friend who went to Africa. He took 18 animals with the 160 Nosler Accubond, including two Kudu. All were one shot kills, except a Gemsbock. The bullets performed magnificently according to him. Only two bullets recovered which I should receive today from him. The rest exited. One Kudu had the bullet enter a shoulder and passed diagonally to be recovered in the opposite ham. I'll check retained weight, but he was quite pleased with performance as was his PH.

I have used several 225 gr. .338 bullets including the Nosler Accu. bonds and partition, most of them in fact on plainsgame of one type or another...I found the 225s are neither fish nor fowl, as opposed to a good all around bullet I thought they would be....

I like the 210 Nosler partition for everything up to cape Buffalo, where I switch to 300 gr. woodleighs..I also like the Woodleigh 300s in the nasty black holes of thick black timber of Idaho where the big bulls hide, and where you shoot them up the tube or not at all..the 250 Nosler shines here also......

Just got the 160 Accubonds. He killed 18 animals including two Kudu's. All except these two bullets exited and therefore 16 weren't recovered. One of these two passed diagonally through a Kudu. The other I don't recall what he said. He did say all were instant drops except the Gemsbok, and all four hunters there also had trouble dropping their Gemsbok. They've concluded it is the toughest animal of the bunch they hunted.

One of the bullets weighs 71.5g, or a 44.7% weight retention. The other is 89.5g, be it a 56% weight retention. The copper cladding is still there so I guess it lost lead on its way through.

I shot a 6x6 Elk with a 225 Accubond out of a 338 Win Mag Sako using IMR-4350. The first shot took out a large section of spine and dropped him. He was still breathing when I got to him and so made a finishing shot. I recovered one perfect mushroomed bullet - don't know if it was 1st or finisher. Bullet performance was impressive and they have been extremely accurate in almost every rifle I've shot them in.
I tried the Federal Accubonds in 7 WSM, I shot a 1/2 Minute group at 200yds with a lightweight Kimber Montana. Hope to whack an elk with this load later this year.......DJ

RF- You're right, it was a long time ago and I wasn't looking at my notes.

On another note. I had a couple days off and finally got to take my boys out chasing bunnies. I had loaded a few .338 with different bullets and powders and wanted to shoot just to see where they hit in relation to previous zero with the Barnes X in 200 gr.
Well! My first shot with the X which is what it had been zeroed with was almost 7" right of where I expected. Height was correct but windage was way off. I wondered if I jerked the trigger.
Second shot was a 200gr. ballistic tip. It was notably lower but directly below the first shot.
Third and fourth shots were with 250gr. and near the second.

I haven't touched this rifle except to wipe it down for several years. How I nocked the scope off is beyond me!

I loaded the 250gr. Woodleighs with RL22 and IMR 7828 and will probably try others. I'm out of several good powders for this. My favorite load for the Sierras was with IMR4350. Wish I had my load notes here at work I'd let ya'll pick 'em apart.
Will post more when I get some more loads worked up and settle on a couple good ones. Right now the 250gr. Woody with the RL22 seems pretty good to me.

I have had good results with both 210 & 225 gr. Partitions. I have also loaded 200 gr Interlocks and Speers for practice rounds. I haven't tried the Accubonds. I own 3 rifles in .338WM and none have been fussy about loads. Sub 1.5 MOA at 100yds for these 'hunting' rifles off sandbags. IMR and H4350, .025" off the lands. I work up my loads until I reach the max load or I achieve the velocity listed in published load notes. Good luck!

Thanks for the info, Bob. I checked today and my leads are 15' also (Pact).

I think I have settled on a load of RL19, WW cases, Fed. 210 BR primers and the 200 gr. Nos. bal. tip @ 2868 av. velocity for coyotes and will see what these bullets do on hogs. Might try on female nilgai but am still working on a load w/225 gr. accubond for the nilgai. I cut back a tad on the load that was giving me 2900 fps w/hornady interlocks and substituted the accbond. Was surprised that I lost 200 fps w/only .5 gr. drop in charge. Want to try to get back up to 2900 fps if I can as the interlocks shot very well @ that speed in my rifle.

The 225 gr. accubonds shot very well @ 2730 fps in my rifle this morning , producing a 3 shot .750" group. If they hold true to other bullets in this gun, the groups tend to tighten up as the load approaches max. Hope this will be the case. If not, there is probably nothing wrong with the interlock at these velocities for nilgai.

Regards,
hm

I have been shooting the 225 Accubond in my .338 Win Mag. and the 160 in my 7mm Ultra Mag and am getting excellent accuracy from both. My .338 load is built using RL19 and is the most consistently accurate load I have ever found for that rifle. Unfortunately I haven't killed with the bullet yet but will remedy that come October.