Hello all. I am going to Namibia in May and taking my Remington 700 30-06. A friend of mine handloads for me and has suggested the AB 165 for my trip. I have shot Barnes X 165's for years and was always happy with them, but he was so impressed with the AB performance that I decided (at least for now) to make the switch. The game I'll be hunting will be: mountain zebra, kudu, gemsbuck, springbuck, impala and blesbuck. My PH has told me that shots will be anything from 50-350 yards. The first order of business will be to see if my rifle "likes" the AB's, and then go from there. I am hoping someone can give me any info on how a similar setup handled similar game. Thanks!!

Hi P.

My wife shot more than 100 animals Bear, Elk, Hogs, deer named with a 30-06 and 180 Grain Accubonds, I think 180 grain might be a better choice for animals like Zebra etc.

Roland

Such game as Kudu, Gemsbok, Eland, Gnu, and Zebra to name a few should be handled with the 180 to 200 grainers.

The 165 will do it too.....but I'd far rather have the larger bullet for a bit more insurance of penetration.

Any of the bonded bullets that shoot well will be a good choice.....that said the TBBCs and Northforks and A-Frames have become standards by which to judge the rest.

PJ, if you've been putting the regular X bullet down that bore, you are going to want to make SURE it is very clean before trying the AB, otherwise, it is possible you'll never know if your rifle likes the AB or not.

And use a GOOD bore cleaner, like Warthog 1134, Sweets, or Barnes CR-10 and soak the crap out of that barrel, then scrub 'er good.

Me personally, I think the AB is a great bullet, but if I decided to change from the regular "X" I'd move to the Barnes TSX, 168 if you like that weight. I guaranty that 168 TSX will do anything a 180 AB will do. Of course, better yet, you may consider the 180 TSX over Re22.

I'll side with the other guys and advise you look at a 180 over the 165 class though for game you mentioned if sticking with the AB.

Vapo makes an excellent point regarding the Aframe bullet. I've found these to be VERY accurate bullets, easy to work up loads, and they are tough. It's a glorified partition with a bonded front core.

PJ,

Less than a year ago 10 of us went to SA and gave the AB a real good test. Many of us used the AB with some testing of the Hornady Interbond and the TSX. We took around 95 animals from small Vaal Rhebok to 2000 lb. Eland. Well, I doubt I will ever fire the Interbonds at anything bigger that a 200 lb. animal...too soft. The AB performed very well, about what a partition would be like with a good many pass throughs on some tough animals. The TSX...almost all pass throughs except for a few and they were the perfect X. I would also advise the 180 gr. AB, with the 200gr AB even better yet.

Woody

My '06 loves 168 TSXs, and I am a big fan of these bullets, so I would be hardpressed to switch even to an Accubond. If you are happy with the performance you are getting now, why switch so close to the trip? Wouldn't the time be better spent on marksmanship practice?

LWD

Personally, if my rifle liked the Barnes, I'd never think of changing, especially for Africa. I've shot the 30cal, 180 grain Nosler Partition over there and never found it lacking.

I am going on the same type of pg hunt in June 2008 and I am also going to bring a .30-06, but my bullet of choice is going to be either 180 Barnes TSX or 200 Barnes TSX

Here's another vote for 180's...

DM

For my Zerba I'm using my 338 RUM shooting 210gr
Nosler partitions. I was told that Zerba are tough animals.
I'm going to South Africa in July.

Why not go with the Hornady 165 grain Interbond? It has a proven track record.
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php...oard=2&Number=268729
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php...oard=2&Number=199823
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php...oard=2&Number=180836

If i were going with you. (nice thought) My load if it were going to be 165 in an 06, would be the tripple shock barnes. (or the 168).
If you are going with the acubond I would use a 180.
My frend was prety impressed with a 160 grain acubond in his 7mm Mag on a 600 LB rosevelt elk.
...tj3006

quote:

Originally posted by DM:
Here's another vote for 180's...

DM

Yep! Lots of folks seem to like the 165's in an 06 and theres nothing wrong with that. However after lots of load development over a chronograph I was unable to get more than 50 fs gains from a 165 over 180's. Which makes the 180 gn ballistically superior. At least thats the way it panned out in three of my 06'es.

If I want more velocity Ill drop all the way to 150's, which makes a fabulous deer round.

For what your going after I would most definatly reccomend the bigger 180's. Im a big Accubond fan, great bullets. Tell your friend to try some H-414 or W-760 in those 06 loads. You wont be dissapointed.

I'm heading to Namibia in May of this year. Plains game only. Talking to the PH last month about what to bring. He said that a number of hunters having been using the AB and he really liked them. My wife and I will be using .284s. Hers a 7x57 140AB at 2750 mine will be the 160Ab at 2975 from my wildcat.

I've used them for deer hogs and elk. As I run out of Part I'm switching to AB. I love me. MOre accurate than the part and excellent performance.

quote:

I have shot Barnes X 165's for years and was always happy with them, but he was so impressed with the AB performance that I decided (at least for now) to make the switch.

Because of the way Barnes X and TSX solid copper bullets are made and their impact characteristics, Barnes recommends going down one bullet weight from whatever weight cup-and-core bullet you normally found worked well. Therefore your buddy should be loading you some 180 grain AccuBonds.

A personal interjection here: I used Barnes X's for my Namibian plains game safari, aimed smack on the shoulder bone and everything from steenbok to zebra fell dead in their tracks. No chance of having to pay a trophy fee for a couple drops of blood and not finding the carcass. I wouldn't think of using anything other than Barnes for Africa. They impressed me that much.