I've considered Nosler BT's my go to whitetail bullets for .270 Win (130gr) and .30-06 (150gr) for years. I am not happy to hear that Nosler is dropping them in favor of the Accubonds. The Accubond looks more like a slow opening elk/moose/bear bullet to compete with the Partition.

Do they open up fast enough to drop whitetails as fast as Ballistic tips?

What bullet are other ballistic tip fans planning to migrate to?

Brazos_Jack

I migrated to the Berger 168 Hunting VLD for my 7RM. So far, I've killed 1 moose, about 1/2 dozen Alberta deer, 1 kudu, 2 gemsbok, 1 mtn zebra, 1 blue wildebeest, 1 black wildebeest, 1 red hartebeest, about a dozen springbok, 1 baboon and 1 jackal. All with great results. This fall, I hope to kill black bear and elk with it. Come March, I hope to kill eland and waterbuck with it.

Currently, I'm developing a load for my 260 Rem and the Berger 130 Hunting VLD. I hope to kill deer with it this fall.

Bobby B.

Jack,

the Accubond is a cross between a partition and a Ballistic tip...

it has the ballistic tip front cavity and the core is the more solid one from the partition...

while I love and will use ballistic tips until they are no longer made ( which I don't foresee, but I will call the factory for my own piece of mind here).. migrating to the Accubond, will be nothing but an improvement particularly in the 270 and 06 at the faster velocity potential...if it isn't an improvement, it certainly won't be a detriment....

Over 2700fps impact vel, I prefer the NAB. For longer range, the NAB should still wrok fine, but you can go to a cup/core Sierra or Speer. or Hornady.

I harvested 2 mature white tailed does last year with 7mm 160 grain Accubonds. Both died in their tracks. Both had severe heart and lung damage. Use them with confidence!

Hornaday makes the SST but I have not used it. I use the Combined Technologies silver tip ballistic tip in my .257AI. Have not killed a deer with it but like how it performs on groundhogs. No signs of over expansion but you can tell it opened up. I guess if they will still be around I will migrate to them for my .30 caliber needs. I will say though that for deer the Hornaday 150 grain SPBT works just fine.

quote:

Originally posted by Brazos Jack:
I've considered Nosler BT's my go to whitetail bullets for .270 Win (130gr) and .30-06 (150gr) for years. I am not happy to hear that Nosler is dropping them in favor of the Accubonds. The Accubond looks more like a slow opening elk/moose/bear bullet to compete with the Partition.

Do they open up fast enough to drop whitetails as fast as Ballistic tips?

What bullet are other ballistic tip fans planning to migrate to?

Brazos_Jack

Where did you hear they were dropping the BT? I can't believe they would do that.

My wife used the 200gr Accubond on her 8x57 last year in South Africa. She got one shot kills on bushpig, impala and gemsbok. We recovered bullets from the bushpig (traveled up the spine into the skull) and the gemsbok (frontal shot) and they looked great.

IMHO they open up faster and better than a Partition but still hold together well enough for deep penetration. I'm trying them this year in my .375 H&H

I don't know about B-tips being discontinued; but I can say that I moved away from the 130 gr. Btip in my .270. I was getting almost explosive expansion inside 100 yards...it was just too much blood-shot meat.

I switched to the accubond 140 gr. and run it about 3000ish fps. I've had great expansion and haven't noticed deer taking any longer to die.

I've had some pass-throughs with the accubonds up close and far off; I've recovered some up close and far off. Some with big deer, some with little deer. Not sure what to say about pass-throughs vs. catcher's mitts.

What I can say with confidence is that the recovered bullets opened quickly and as advertised. With pass-throughs, I still had good wound channels.

What I don't have is quite the same amount of blood-shot meat.

Lastly, I sometimes wonder if Accubonds are almost too soft - at least for animals bigger than whitetails in sub 30 calibers. I haven't shot anything bigger than deer with it, but with the expansion I've seen on deer, I would choose my shots carefully on larger animals.

friar

RickR,
I like your sig. line


Although I don't sign off, mine is




I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

GWB

Brazos,

I think I started using Nosler Ballistic tips in earnest in 1999. I've killed sheep, goats, tons of hogs, varmints and whitetails with the Nosler Ballistic tips. They are an accurate bullet in most all my rifles and I load them in 22 cal through 35 cal. Two negatives in my opinion in regards to Ballistic tips. First, if terminal velocity is over 2800 fps, there tends to be a lot of bloodshot meat. Second, where I hunt in the Texas hill country, it is very dense. If a critter isn't DRT and there is no blood trail within 5 to 10 feet of the point of impact, it is very easy to lose an animal. After a couple years of using ballistic tips almost exclusively, I noticed that I was tending to partitions. Since the accubonds have come on the market I haven't looked back.
They are as accurate in most all my rifles as a ballistic tip and penetrate like a partition, and are relatively inexpensive.

At the risk of offending some here with dead animal pix, here is a post I made a while back in regards to Accubonds............


Lets see, Accubonds, what's not to like. Aerodynamic, shoot well out of numerous calibers and rifles, are not as frangible as ballistic tips, leave good blood trails
and best of all,
they
kill
stuff
DRT



35 whelen, 225 gr. accubond


35 whelen, 225 gr. accubond


9.3 x 62, 250 gr. accubond


7mm-08, 140 gr. accubond


7 mag, 140 gr accubond


257 bob, 110 gr. accubond


375 H&H, 260 gr. accubond


7 stw, 140 gr. accubond


338 rum. 225 gr. accubond

Anyway, I think I can say that they work for me.
GWB
PS: each animal pictured above was DRT. NO Tracking. Complete penetration

Do any of you guys like Barnes bullets? I've recovered 9 Barnes bullets shot of my 25-06 that retained 100% of their weight. They were 100 grn TSX that weighed 100 grns when I pulled them out of the deer! I haven't had a deer take even one step after I pull the trigger since I switched from Nosler!!!!!

I prefer the accubonds over any other round for my hunting rifles...The BT's just tend to loose alot of weight when you shoot an animal. I lost all hope in the BT's when I took a bite of backstrap and got a nice chunk of copper jacket in my mouth and chipped a tooth. Since then I have used nothing but accubonds and they retain in excess of 95% of there weight all the time.

My wife and I used 130gr Nosler Accubonds in our 270's last year to kill 7 whitetail does, a mule deer buck and 3 antelope. Velocity with either rifle is around 3000fps. Ranges were from 50 to 350 yds. All were one shot DRT. I did recover one bullet, antelope lengthwise, front to rear at a 350yds bullet was in ham...

As a comparison I have 4 recovered 150gr Nosler Partitions that weighed in at about 100grs. The 130gr. Accubond also weighed in at about 100gr. Small sample for sure, but interesting.

What are we using this year? I will be using the 130gr. Accubonds and she will be using either those or some 140gr Ballistic tips that shoot well in her rifle. They also shoot well in mine but mine likes the 130 Accubonds best.

Cary,

I load Barnes TSX's in several cals. Perhaps it is a subconscious thing with me. They shoot excellent in the rifles I have loaded them in, However, I lost two hogs that I shot with 140 gr. tsx's I hit them high and evidently the bullets just penciled through. Also, it took too long for two deer I shot with same rifle to expire. Small sample but never the less.........
The A/B's work fine for me at almost half the cost. As I load for a large number of calibers, that in turn increases my costs. They have become my bullet of choice in the gamut that runs between 25 and 375 cals.
GWB
GWB

Cary, Yes, I load a lot of Barnes bullets. One of my favorites. I've never lost an animal with them. I have lost a mule deer buck that was shot with the AB.

My brother has killed a lot of deer in the south with Barnes bullets I loaded for his rifle. He's never lost one either. But then, Btips have served us both well also.

If you like BT for deer (and I do) I think you will be satisfied with ABs. They seem to shoot as well for me and are great for deer.

i tend to be a bit simple .. and if nosler spent millions to develop a better BT, then why not use the accubonds?

I don't shoot BTs at game i intend to eat, anymore.. then again, they don't make a bigbore accubond, YET

I may try accubonds but many comments here are why I question it for 125 lb whitetails. Used on Kudu, Used on Caribou. There is no way I'd use a BT on these animals. If it opens up fast enough to be optimum on whitetail it is not going to perform well on such big animals. Yes, you can kill deer with FMJ bullets. But - not every time but on average - they will travel further after the hit with such bullets. AB's cause less bloodshot meat than BT - again the AB is dumping less energy in the small animal than the BT - which is why BT's are known for spectacular kills on sub-350 lb animals. The AB sounds like a great elk, Kudu (350-1000 lb animal) bullet. Probably better in the 350-600 lb range than the partition - which has been my go-to for these bigger animals.

I may be wrong, Maybe it opens up on whitetails just as fast as BT's but just holds together. But the radical difference in bloodshot meat tells me this probably is not the case. I think the AB sounds like a great bullet. Just maybe only an "OK" whitetail bullet.

I hope my comments won't be misconstrued as combative. I am just asking questions and looking to hear from other hunters. Some here are indicating going to other cup and core bullets. I'm surprised by the number migrating to AB's for whitetail so it may open faster and work better on small animals than is normal for bonded core designs.

I'm now shooting Accubonds in 257 Roberts, 30-06, 8X57RJS, 375 H&H. I took a nice hog last January with the 8X57. Impressive results.

I like the Accubond. I have always been a Nosler Partition fan, but now shoot Accubonds when I can.

Whitetail Deer, no problem!

Rusty,

In your opinion, would you use AB's in .375 H&H on eland and first shot on cape buff. Or would you revert to partitions on these and use the AB's on kudu and below?

Brazos_Jack

BJ,
you asked, and were answered. What you do with the info is up to you.
GWB

They are as accurate in most all my rifles as a ballistic tip and penetrate like a partition, and are relatively inexpensive.

At the risk of offending some here with dead animal pix, here is a post I made a while back in regards to Accubonds............

Geedubya said:

"Lets see, Accubonds, what's not to like. Aerodynamic, shoot well out of numerous calibers and rifles, are not as frangible as ballistic tips, leave good blood trails
and best of all, they kill stuff DRT."

Got to agree 100%. Loaded the AB up in the 7RM and Partitions in the .243 and love the way they shoot and hold together on game. I find the AB to be more accurate than the Partitions.

I use alot of Nosler bullets, BT's, AB's & Partitions - they all have their place.

My Acid Test for any new barrel or rifle is an appropriately weight for caliber Nosler Ballistic Tip. They usually give me a good indication right away of the new piece's accuracy level/potential.

I loved the 250 gr. BT's in .366" and their terminal performance was anything but "explosive". This has also been my experience with BT's in calibers above .308".

In .332" & 366" have gone to the Accubond; their accuracy & terminal perfomance is excellent.

For .375" I prefer a heavier bullet and haven't received the penetration with the 260 grainers I receive from other 300 gr. Cup & Core bullets.

I've never had an accuracy issue with Partitions - they shoot right up there with BT's & AB's in my loads but I don't use them for accuracy testing simply when I desire to develop a specific load.

I will admit; as another poster mentioned that in place of 165 gr. BT's in .30/06 Sprg. I hoped up a notch to the CT Ballistic Silvertip 168 grainers and received oustanding accuracy and better penetration than with a BT in a .30/06 Sprg.

I have used Partitions,Accubonds, and Interbonds in several rifles. My experience is Partitions enter blow off the tip (major damage there) and then penetrate through.Accubonds enter violent expansion penetrate well but not as far as a partition. Interbonds enter pancake but hold together and have less pentration than the Accubonds. If you like the bullet to stop inside the animal then Interbonds are a better bullet for you.

quote:

In your opinion, would you use AB's in .375 H&H on eland and first shot on cape buff. Or would you revert to partitions on these and use the AB's on kudu and below?

Accubonds are very good bullets for their intended purpose: thin-skinned game at moderate to fast velocity.
For eland they need to be relatively heavy for caliber, I'd say.
As for buffalo, there are many much better-suited bullets.

Jack,
bullet placement is always critical. Let's take an extreme example .. 458 lott solids on hogs and whitetails -- bang - flog, DRT ..

it is my studied opinion that a bullet should retain at LEAST 75% of bullet weight, under all shooting conditions, to be considered a well contructed bullet IN THAT PURPOSE - BT's never do that.

Exploding bullets, which BT's do, are not what *I* shoot at things I wish to eat.

BTW, I have also shot game with smaller bore solids, at high vels... guess what? velocity causes blood shot, NOT deteonating bullets .. as I have also shot hogs with very light for caliber .458 copper bullets .. bullet looses its petals, and doesn't cause 1/2 the bloodshot damage.

AB's hold up better than BTs - its a fact

here is an example of a 25 cal 110 gr accubond shot from a 257 roberts on a Texas hill country whitetail doe. Probably between 90 and 100 lbs. She was shot while walking broadside and just a little in front of where I was sitting. Entry on leftside, exit on right side. Ran about 30 yds. and piled up.












If it had been a ballistic tip it probably would not have an exit wound.
A partition would be about the same. One inch or so in and out. Noticeable bloodshot meat around entry due to velocity and range.
GWB

BJ,
I have not used the on Plains Game, yet. I intend to on my next trip. A good friend and forum member BobC has used them on African Plains Game and was very impressed with the results he got with Accubonds and his 375 H&H.

Please do a forum search or send him a PM. He can give you his results.

quote:

As a comparison I have 4 recovered 150gr Nosler Partitions that weighed in at about 100grs.

i don't know if this is a fair comparison - the partition is designed to exactly what you describe.

Jack, the Ballistic Tip was specifically designed for Deer sized game. One a broadside shot, it's difficult to find faster killing deer bullet.

The Accubond had a bonded core and a thicker jacket then the Ballistic tip. If you put a BT, and AB of the same caliber and weight side-by-side, the AB will will a touch longer. The maximun recommended impact velocity for a BT is 3100 fps, where the heavier accubond has no maximum impast velocity. This makes the AB well suited for heavier game, and the hyper velocity super mags.

In some of the larger calibers, the BT has been replaced with the AB. As an example in .338, Nosler has discontinued the 200gr BT in favor of the 200gr AB. At about the same time, they also introduced the 180gr BT in .338. IMO, 180gr is a better deer weight bullet, and more inline with the stated purpose of the BT, i.e. to be the ultimate deer slayer.

Overall, but are great products, and server their purpose in a good product mix. I see no reason for Nosler to discontinue either one.

I have shot a 350lbs black bear in Canada with a 7mm mag using Barnes TSX 160gr & it worked great even at 300 yards with incredible penetration through the back thigh bone & exited from the chest. I have also shot various deer like mule deer, fallow deer & red deer with the TSX in 7mm and they all dropped to the shot at ranges from 40 to 250 meters. Rifles were 7mm08 using 150gr or 7mm mag using 160gr.

I think that the Accubond will also perform well. My friend has used them on big Sambar deer here (about the size of elk) & has had great results in his 7mm WSM with 160 gr ABs.

quote:

Originally posted by Antelope Sniper:
Jack, the Ballistic Tip was specifically designed for Deer sized game. One a broadside shot, it's difficult to find faster killing deer bullet.

The Accubond had a bonded core and a thicker jacket then the Ballistic tip. If you put a BT, and AB of the same caliber and weight side-by-side, the AB will will a touch longer. The maximun recommended impact velocity for a BT is 3100 fps, where the heavier accubond has no maximum impast velocity. This makes the AB well suited for heavier game, and the hyper velocity super mags.

In some of the larger calibers, the BT has been replaced with the AB. As an example in .338, Nosler has discontinued the 200gr BT in favor of the 200gr AB. At about the same time, they also introduced the 180gr BT in .338. IMO, 180gr is a better deer weight bullet, and more inline with the stated purpose of the BT, i.e. to be the ultimate deer slayer.

Overall, but are great products, and server their purpose in a good product mix. I see no reason for Nosler to discontinue either one.

Antelope Sniper,

That makes sense and I hope you're right. The only BT's I'm concerned with are the .270 130gr and the .308 150gr. I use for whitetails, though I'd like to see a 150gr 8mm added. As long as they remain available, I see the AB's being better for 200-250 .338 or any 9.3 or .375 application I might have.

Jack,
your mind was already made up, wasn't it?

I think the simple answer is;

1. Either will kill a Texas whitetail DRT.

2. Accubond was was built to approximate the partition. Where one in appropriate for game, so is the other.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Jack,
your mind was already made up, wasn't it?

Jeff,

No it wasn't. And I had heard from what I thought was a reliable source that the entire BT line was being dropped. So I was looking for something that would mirror its performance on whitetail size game. It was the responses here that told me that the AB, while better for bigger animals, is not that bullet.

Have been shooting 130 NP's and 130 AB's through my many 270's for untold years. Use Win Brass, Fed 215's and 61.5 gr RL-22 for about 3200 FPS (Chrono'd) Max load.
Instant death to whitetails! NP's or AB's. Never had one move, however I hit where I aim.
These two projectiles do not pattern at the same point of aim. Pick one and stick with it.

EZ

Jack,
the BTs will be phased out, just like barnes X vs TSX

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
Jack,
the BTs will be phased out, just like barnes X vs TSX

Jeff,

Thanks for the clarification. That is what I originally had been told but some of the posts here indicated otherwise. I'll continue my search for a true apples and apples replacement.

jack - i have no experience with the SST, but hornady makes an accurate bullet and the SST seems to be a good alternative to the BT - might be worth a try.