Hi Guys

I would be interested in a few opinions about the Nosler Accubond vs Hornady Interbond bullets.

I have used both but is dissappointed, to put it mildly, about the Accubond's performance. In my 30-06 (180-grainer at 2 700 fps) they shed weight alarmingly and did not penetrate very deep either.

The Interbond, on the other hand, I regard as a very fine bullet indeed. The ones I have been able to recover retained their petals in almost all instances, retained a lot of weight (85% plus) and penetrated fantastically.

Considering the fact that the Accubonds are almost twice the price of the Interbonds, I will give them a wide berth in future and stick with the superb Interbond.

Any other thoughts?

jvw375

You should really try comparing bullets that are in the same league. The two bullets that you are comparing just aren't in the same grade of construction. Have you tried Nosler, Barnes or one of the other premium grade bullets?

quote:

Originally posted by PaulS:
You should really try comparing bullets that are in the same league. The two bullets that you are comparing just aren't in the same grade of construction. Have you tried Nosler, Barnes or one of the other premium grade bullets?

?????????????

The two bullets he's comparing are Nosler and Hornady, bonded core bullets. I consider them in exactly the same league.

Barnes doesn't make bonded core bullets, although I will admit that they are premium bullets.

YMMV, I find the Nosler Accubonds to be of the finest quality. The Hornady's for me came apart to quickly... go figure!

take the accubond over the interbond anyday. have used both and the accubond is the better, out of my 308win and 300win mag.....

I reload for a few frinds and family members using the 165gr Interbond in 30.06.

They have all shot very well using Varget powder. My neighbor as a matter of fact shot a bull moose with this load 2 years ago at 65 yards. It came to rest under the hide on the other side. I never did weigh the bullet, but it sure looked good for such a close shot.

This is also my wife's bullet of choice in her .308 Win.

I now have the 338 Fed. and I couldn't get the 180gr Accubonds to shoot well at all while using 3 different powders. It's not the twist rate since it shoots the 185gr TSX bullets into an inch at 100 yards.

I don't consider either of those bullets to be the "premium" bullets like TSX, A-frames, Weldcore etc...but they do work extremely well at standard velocity.

I've used the Hornady Interbond in 150,165 and 180 gr weights in a 30-06,30-338,300 WSM and a 300 Wby and have been pleased with the accuracy and the way bullet held together even @ 300 Wby velocity. For my money they are a good buy and all the bullet one needs for deer antelope and even elk & moose.

quote:

I have used both but is dissappointed, to put it mildly, about the Accubond's performance

If this is the case then bad word. I just bought 500 180 grain .308 Accubonds and 250 160 grain 7mm Accubonds for my Weatherbys based upon the number of good things that I've heard about them on game and paper.

I heard they had high weight retention, deep penetration, and behaved like a partition with more consistent accuracy.

Time will tell.

Keith

The Accubond's I used to shoot 2 Elk with left nothing to be desired in the way of bullet performance. I'll keep using them.
If Interbonds are shooting well for you and cost twice as much I can also see why you'd use them .
Either will kill Elk, Deer and other game perfectly dead...........................DJ

I have used both. I believe they are 2 of the best bullets dollar-for-dollar today. Hornady and Nosler are my bullet companies.

The .308 cal IB's I used were the 165gr and those were in my .30-06. Very accurate. Superb terminal performance on deer. I did not recover any of the bullets though. Complete penetration and exit.

I also love the Nosler Accubond. Again it has been very accurate for me. I shoot 200gr in my 8x57 and 200gr in my .300H&H. I have shot 2 deer with that 200gr .300H&H and not surprisingly have failed to recover a bullet either. Complete penetration end-to-end on 2 different whitetail bucks.


This buck was shot last November with a 200gr Accubond at 250yds.

According to ballistics testing and expansion tests the Hornady Interbond consistently retains 80-85% weight, mushrooms well and it is consistently accurate.

Testing of the Accubond is that it gives ~65% weight retention and is very consistent, very accurate.

If your rifle has a preference for one or the other then I would go with that, but if the accuracy is equal then I would say that the Interbond is the better value since it's terminal performance is pretty identical to the Accubond, from my experience, and it is less expensive.

IMHO both of these are great bullets and will handle any game we have in N.A.

It's probably going to vary from caliber to caliber & depend on which bullet wt. & how fast you dirve them. Bullets in .308 have to cover a wide range of impact vel. In my own tests, using a 280 & 154grHIB & 160grNAB, the HIB expands to larger dia. & penetrates less than the NAB. Yes the HIB seems to hold together well, but the larger frontal dia. limits penetration. I won't use the HIB in 7mm because the accuracy in both my 280 & 7mmDakota, acuracy is poor.

fredj338 what were the muzzle velocities of the bullets? What was the impact range? What type of medium were firing into? What was the penetration depth of the 2 bullets? What was the retained weight per centage of each?

The 160gr bullet obviously has a higher sectional density (not much) and must also have less muzzle velocity (not much), but those 2 small differences are going to mean the bullets are not equal.
It stands to reason that the Accubond will win that test.

As for choosing the Accubond based on accuracy, that makes sense. I would do that too.

I've shot a bunch of both brands (Nosler and Hornady) in my 308. I get just as good accuracy from the Hornady IB bullet as I do from the Nosler IB bullet. Performance on GA Whitetails is so similar that I can't tell the difference.

So the difference to me is $$$$. Shooting the Hornady allows me to shoot more and shoot more often for my money.

If I need more bullet than the Hornady IB in my 308, I'd go to a true premium bullet like the TSX/Partition/A-Frame or the like. If I need more bullet than the Hornady IB, I should probably be carrying a different rifle.

Good question..

PREMIUM BULLETS

I tried both in my 300 Winmag and have replaced both with GS Custom HV 160g or 150 HV.

You get everything and more that either the Nosler or Hornady can offer (or any other premium bullet).

In 308 you should use the 130g GSC / 30-06 150g / 300 WinMag 160g

HV provide :
Increased speed
Increased accuracy - substantially
Absolute Terminal Performance

Keep safe!

Tinkering Shooter

I've tried GS bullets but my rifle, for some reason, doesn't like them at all. Both the Interbond as well as the Accubond deliver significantly better accuracy...

I will try GS in my .270 shortly, though. A friend of mine gets excellent results with them.

Most of these conversation would never take place if folks would use premium bullets to hunt with...I like Noslers, but I only shoot the partition and in 65 plus years it has never failed me, and I ignore claims to the opposite..As Ross Seyfried wrote something to the effect of, anyone that tells me a Nosler Partition failed has never used them..I agree with that..

As to GS Customs accuracy, they normally shoot very well indeed, if not then try a different weight of bullet. They certainly are a great game bullet.

So Ray that would make you about 100 years old or so?? FYI - the Nosler Partition was first sold in 1948 that would be 60 years ago.

I have used both the HIB's in my 7RM 139gr at 3250.Shot a WT deer at 30 yds in the shoulder joint (not the intended range but it was a bonded bullet)bullet did not penetrate past the shoulder and we didn't find him for several months. I used the Nosler AB last several years on Elk both in 7mm RM 160 gr and 338-06 200 gr both had full penetration on bulls from 150 yds in 7mm and 340 yds in 338. Just my experiences i'll stick with the Accubonds thank you.

I just used the 180 AB in my 30.06 to kill a British Columbia black bear. Lapua brass, 210M primer, 55.5 gr. H4350.

I can say that performance was perfect. I purposely aimed directly at the onside shoulder, hit it, and the bullet exited the offside shoulder. The bear dropped where he stood. Complete bilateral humerus fractures.

I've not tried the interbond in this rifle, so, I cannot compare.

Macifeg,
So whats your point, you addition is pretty bad..I am 74 years old, not a 100 but I suspect that I started shooting Noslers about 60 years ago. I started hunting when I was 6 years old btw...

My addition is no worse than your typing Ray!!

Just making satiricle observations whenever the opportunity arises.....