Hi all
I shoot 7mm-08, currently using 140gr nosler ballistic tips. I have had a bit of trouble nailing Tahr cleanly so have purchased some 140gr nosler accubonds.

Both projectiles are identical weight, sectional density and ballistic coefficient.

My question is- will the point of zero be the same for both projectiles and the trajectory the same??

I hope so as I intend on using both projectiles still.

So far I would have to say a qualified yes to that. I have used some in a .270 Win, and the .257 AI (which has a 5 grain weight difference fro the standard 115 grain BT) and found them to be interchangable as to load and accuracy as well as point of impact, to 200 yards. By the way, Nosler says they are about the same performance as the partition... good for me!

If velocity and BC are the same, trajectory will match. Point of impact may change because of weight distribution differences from internal design differences. I would shoot them and see what your rifle says. Point of impact probably will change.

In my 7-08 Remington Mountain Rifle the 140 Ballistic Tips and 140 Accubonds shoot to the exact same point of impact.

But you will just have to go to the range to see. Your gun may perform differently. In fact, to get the very best groups out of those bullets I have to use different powders. My gun shoots best with BT's using Varget while it shoots the best groups with Accubonds using H 4350. They hit the same place, but I use different powders behind them.

I think you will like the Accubonds, I have shot one deer and one hog with them (140's) and they performed well. I shot another hog with a 140 Accubond from my 270 WSM this week and he dropped like he was struck by lightning.

I have found that the difference in point of impact in my rifles to be about 3/4" at 100 yards.The group size is also smaller with the ballistic tips.

I agree w/ 30378, traj. will be identical @ the same vel. POI may vary from rifle bbl. to rifle bbl.
Just curious about your statement about "nailing tahr cleanly", care to share? I was fortunate enought to hunt for tahr in NZ & those little goats can be tough.

steve s shoot both loads side by side through your rifle at the range, that will prove it to you ,some rifles shoot to same point of aim sometimes but not all. in all my shooting tests the BT turns to shrapnel, the Accubond is an ausome bullet as is the Interbond, best of luck,that 708 one sweeeeeeeeeeet round....jjmp

my findings are the same as stubblejumpers.

the BTs shot 3/4" higher at 100 yards and had a slightly tighter group.

I have shot the same weight and diameter Ballistic Tips and Accubonds out of the 270 WSM and 7mm WSM and found them exactly the same out to 200 yds.

Other things matter more as the rifle or wind can matter too. I would just practice with the BT's and take a final sighting with the Accubonds.

I really like the both bullets. The Accubonds penetrate deeper.

quote:

Originally posted by fredj338:
I agree w/ 30378, traj. will be identical @ the same vel. POI may vary from rifle bbl. to rifle bbl.
Just curious about your statement about "nailing tahr cleanly", care to share? I was fortunate enought to hunt for tahr in NZ & those little goats can be tough.

The last trip was in Summer when they are not their hairiest.
Two from seven shot went down cleanly They were not losing blood externally. One big bull somersaulted when I shot him on the run at 100yds, he sat up for a couple of minutes before running off again! I shouldnt have taken my eyes off him but was busy trying to nail a couple more.
Not impressed with BT at all for Tahr, have shot three deer in the last few months with the BT- no problems there Fallow at 284yds, red at 110yds and Red at 15 yds- all poleaxed.

Perhaps Tahr are just tough- looking forward to trying the Accubonds on them

Thanks all for the postings, I will let you know how I get on with the range testing, should be doing this in the next few weeks

steve_s, the Accubond is slightly different geometry than the NBT, it is longer. I takes a little faster rate of twist to provide equal stabilization for a longer bullet. Having said that the difference is slight, and I have some rifles that shoot the same weight to the same poi, and some that don't. Just seems to be the way it goes, I have been very impressed with the AB's on game performance.

Good shooting--Don

A friend used the 140gr accubond out of his 7mmremmag to take a bull moose last fall.The shot distance was 40 yards and the performance was very good.

Good luck Steve, hunting Tahr in NZ was one of my favorite trips. I'ld love to go again, maybe for Chamois this time too.

I have done both, Chamios are my favourite but are far fewer in numbers where I hunt

Gidday Steve,

If Chamois are a bit rare up you way drop down to the Lewis and head up the Nina or thge St James. There are tons of the buggers up there.

Also worth a look is up through Arthurs Pass. They are everywhere. Hunter climb high.

Happy Hunting

Hamish

Hi Hamish
The trouble with the St James is that its tied up under the leaseholder- he wouldnt let me on there hunting when I asked about four years ago.

We have Chamios up here, what I meant was when I hunt Tahr down south there is very few Chamios in the area.

Cheers

Personally, I think if you cannot nail Thar with a balistic tip, you will have even less chance of doing so with an accubond.

I could be wrong but was under the impression the accubond isn't likely to expand as much as a balistic tip?, especially at 7mm-08 velocities on a small animal like Thar.

Are you sure you are placing your shots? It will make little difference what bullet you use if you aren't putting the it into the right spot.

Have you shot Tahr Tumbo?

They are tougher than any deer I have shot. Shot placement is not the problem- beleive me.

My thoughts on the ballistic tip is that they are not doing enough damage and not exiting.

The Accubonds I believe will punch a bigger hole and exiting. I like the animal to bleed externally as it gives me something to follow if it does manage to run off a way.

No never shot Tahr mate, I'm not a big believer in, thougher than ? or hard to kill theory, i've heard that about pigs, goats, red deer, horses,dogs and a few others that i've taken cleanly with a 243 without drama.

Most of the people who believe in these theories are either using the wrong bullet or failing to place it correctly.

I have seen someone have trouble putting a red deer down with a 338 win mag(yet same day I dropped mine cleanly with a 243), I have had trouble putting pigs down with a 300 win mag because of bad bullet choice, i've also seen people hunting deer and pigs with 243's and 25-06's loaded with varmint bullets, then say these carts are not adequate for this game ect.

I'm also not a firm believer in blowing big exit holes, in my oppinion it wastes too much of the bullets energy and killing power, i'de much rather a bullet that expends most of its energy inside the animal and leave a small exit hole or none at all especially in small animals.

You say the balistic tips are not exiting, then you should have a good indication of how much internal damage they are doing.

The 7mm-08 is my favorite cartridge and i've used the 140 grain balistic tips a fair bit and find they work very well on game up to red deer, the hornady SST range is now my prefered bullet type as I find them a little better than balistic tips.

If I needed a bullet that would hold together better than a balistic tip it would be the hornady interbond, not the accubond.

Personally though I cant see any advantage going to stronger bullets on this sizeed game.

Fish where are you getting that info on the geometry being differing between the Accubond and Ballistic Tip?
I've talked to the Nosler tech's on this very topic and they have always said with great confidence that the bullets are outwardly identical. They also stated that you can practice with the B.T.'s and substitute Accubonds because of their sharing the exact profile. In my 30/06 shooting 180 grain B.T.'s and Accubonds there is no difference, I can shoot a 1" group mixing and matching them at will.
I shot a very large size Bull Elk in the fall of 2004 at 180 yards with an Accubond 180 grain bullet, recovered weight after penetrating both shoulders and dropping him instantly was 114 grains. In my opinion the performance was good.

I have shot Tahr with a .243, had no problems at all. Mind you they were young bulls and Nannies. Was using 87gr hornady SP- awesome bullets.

The bull Tahr are big balls of muscle with long shaggy hair. Some of these Tahr I have shot have been heavier than red stags.

Shot two reds last month which went down okay.

Dont underestimate big Tahr

The nosler BT and Accubond are exactly the smae shape and size. The wieght difference comes from the fatc the the bonded version has a thicker jacket and base (or more copper and less lead). In my 25-06 the two shoot very close together but not identically. The tougher accubonds dont react quite the same to pressure. My BT's are more accurate and slightly faster. Both shoot less than 3/4" in my rifle.

Snellstrom, interesting, the first time I read this was in an article from Rifle magazine, and then I called Nosler and was told that was correct from a Nosler employee. They are certainly not exactly the same size, I can measure this with my tools!

I think I mentioned it, but I have some rifles that shoot the same weight to the same poi, and some that don't. Their are AB's with same weight as NBT's, in same cal, and some that aren't. I am a big fan of the AB, I was working up some loads for one of my .270 WSm's today. I loaded the exact same recipe with both BT's, SST's and AB's. The NBT's hit lower at all yardages than the AB's for some reason, and yes the NBT"S were the same weight--140 grs.

Interesting how info you get can vary.

quote:

Originally posted by Fish30114:Interesting how info you get can vary.

You are not wrong there