I am doing a little research on an elk load for my 7 Mag. I was dead set on the 160 grain Nosler Partition, but at $42.00 per hundred target practice is pricey. I saw that the Nosler AccuBond has performed well on elk, but it too is a little pricey. So I thought about the Hornady 154 grain InterBond. To me it looks identical to the AccuBond in design. Does anyone have any real life experience with the InterBond? I can't see why it would great out to about the 400 yard mark. Thoughts?

I tried the same three you mentioned as I think any one would work fine.

The Partition was the one that shot the best for me.

I believe one reason is, because of its shape, the Partition has less of a jump to the rifling.

This may be more of an issue in some rifles.

The 154grIB is way too soft IMO, especially driven # high vel. I haven't taken game w/ it, but my wetpack tests turn it inside/out @ .280 speeds. Practice w/ the Speer 160grHotCore, they are almost exactly the same POI in my .280 & 7mag.

Try them all in your rifle and use the one that shoots best. The Interbond by Hornady has great penetration as compared to the Accubond. I beleive Rick Jamison's data also showed the Interbond to have higher retained wt than the Accubond. All are good bullets. By their nature, the bonded plastic tip bullets are going to mushroom and turn out more than the partition, but they still are real good bullets. Many also dont like the Scirocco, but it retains a higher percentage of weight and penetrates deeper than the Accubond, yet people that dont like it sight
it's broad mushroom etc. I say go with the one your rifle shoots best, and beware the hype of one better bonded bullet over the other.

I shot an elk at 33 yards last year with an interbond. I got complete penetration with a two inch exit hole from a 165 grain IB at 3300 fps out of my 300 Win mag. That's a pretty good test of any bullet.

Thanks for the info guys. I think I am going to go with the 154 grain InterBond for two reasons.
First its cheaper and will perform just fine. Second I can use the 154 grain SSTs to practice with since they have the same weight, sectional density, and BC. I plan on sighting in with the InterBond and then loading up the SSTs to practice. If the SST's don't seem to shoot the same then I will just have to buy more Interbonds.

Monticello be sure to try both they may not have the same Point of Impact.

Definitley will. I am fairly certain they should be close though, but we will see.

SST's and interbonds shot to the same point of impact in my rifle, but the SST were much more accurate (3/8 to 3/4" groups versus 1" to 1 1/4". Both were more than acceptable for hunting.

You will like the .284" 154 grain Hornady Interbond.

I bought a bunch when Midsouth Shooters Supply had their OEM bullet sale last summer. Should come around again this summer. I think I paid $9/100.

Monti, I still say the 154gr/7mmIB is too soft for angling shots on elk, but if you want to use them, I have 1/2+ a box or so I'll trade you for 1/2 box of your 160gr/7mm ABs, where can I send them?

I have used 30 cal 180 gr Interbond (300 WSM) on deer - performed very nicely. I may not be swayed to use them but my rifle also likes these as well. Your mileage may vary.

Doug

I used the 139 gr interbond on deer this year. This bullet is too soft for my tastes. I hit a whitetail at 25 yds in the shoulder at 3250 fpswith my 7mm RM. The bullet smashed the shoulder but did not penetrate enough.I followed a blood trail and found pieces of bone but no deer. We found him two months later over 150 yds away.The 8 pointers horns measured 164 inches but can't be put in the book because it was found and not checked.I'm shooting Accubonds next year.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob1SG:
I hit a whitetail at 25 yds in the shoulder at 3250 fpswith my 7mm RM.

The bullet isn't your problem. Your choice of cartridge is.

Okay so here is what I have gathered from personal experience and various boards:

Hornady SST - up to mule deer
Hornady InterBond - up to muley and maybe elk
Sierra GameKing - through elk
Nosler Partition - through elk
Barnes TSX - through elk

All bullets are between 154 and 160 grains.

The reason I tossed the Sierra in there is because I have never failed to have a bang flop kill on whitetail. Ever. I am at 12 and counting. It also never failed to exit. Plus it's cheap.

So what do you think?

quote:

Originally posted by HP Shooter:

quote:

Originally posted by Rob1SG:
I hit a whitetail at 25 yds in the shoulder at 3250 fpswith my 7mm RM.

The bullet isn't your problem. Your choice of cartridge is.

Agreed.

quote:

The bullet isn't your problem. Your choice of cartridge is.

In addition to his tracking skills.

Monti, you keep bringing up bullet price, but if you only hunt w/ them? Practice w/ a less expensive bullet. How many rounds do you shoot from your 7mag a year? If you shoot 100/month maybe you have a point, but your elk hunt out west is going to cost you a bunch more than your bullets. Also an elk is not a deer, what works on a 180# deer may cost you a 700# elk. Just things to think about.

It's hard to beat the price and accuracy of the 162gr. Hornady Spire Point Interlock. If you want plenty of practice, shoot these. This year I hunted with the 160gr. Partition and the Barnes XLC 160gr. Really good performance from both as usual.

BTW, The 7mm RM is an outstanding cartridge!

Okay what I am going to do as some of you suggested is use the 160 grain Partition and practice with the 160 grain Sierras. Thanks for the help.

HP shooter,mauser96, and of course jackfish.
I have hunted whitetails for over 40 years and selected the bullet based on reports on this site that it was a premium bullet and the area I was going to hunt which is wide open. I have taken deer at that same range with the 154 gr interlock without problem but wanted to reach out because of the terrain and as far as my tracking skills go two other guys one a guide in Wyoming and another a guide from Colorado were with me on this hunt and could not find this buck and unless you know someone I don't think you should try and insult their skills. The Interbond is not a premium bullet and is too soft for the 7 mm RM.Now if you idiots care to carry on with this send me a PM.

Very close range shots on thin skinned deer with the 7mm Rem Mag at high velocities can be surprisingly ineffective.

I have read and experienced similar strange performance from more than one bullet. Only lost one because of it, I had the misfortune of shooting a doe at 30 yards - left her immediately chasing a big buck up the hill, I had no doubt she was dead - couldn't find any blood trail in exhaustive search with 3 guys circles about 200 yards every direction.

Cousin found her weeks later 300 yards up the canyon - bullet hit right behind front shoulder. I changed my aiming point to compensate - inside 50 yards I normally shoot them in the neck - making sure to take an angle that gets spine.

I tried interbonds in 30-06 and didn't like how they performed in my gun. BUt the 160 gr. Accubonds in 7mm RM have worked well on Elk and deer for me.

quote:

Originally posted by Rob1SG:
...unless you know someone I don't think you should try and insult their skills. ...

Hey Rob, The folks saying the 7mmRemMag is "not" a good Deer cartridge speaks volumes for their knowledge. I noticed they DID NOT say "the 154gr Hornady at a specific Impact Velocity" was the problem, rather they just said the 7mmRemMag is the problem.

Feel free to quote me on:

I'd speculate you are wasting your time trying to "discuss" the issue with anyone who actually believes a 7mmRemMag is a bad cartridge for Deer.

Hotcore, Thanks I think they just have a problem of some kind. The question was about Elk and experiences with the Interbond.

Almost anything .260 & up could be called a "good" deer rifle. The problem almost always comes down to shot placement & bullet integritiy. If you shoot a magnum & the shots may come close, you best be using something that holds together, X10 if you are hunting elk.

Anything I've ever shot with my 7mm Rm mag is in the bag Baby! I use 160 gr Partitions exclusively. Moose, Deer, Black Bear, whatever. If your gonna use a non preemy bullet in the mag velocity rifles do'nt be surprised if they occasionally fail especially at close ranges.
The advice given here re buying the Sierras for practice and say partitions or the like for game is pretty well what I've done for many a year.

As to loosing a game animal well I have a Black Lab and she can trail. I also have had a scare or two with an animal making a getaway into tuff cover but so far always managed to recover them.
If it ever happens to you carry a little flagging mark the spot you shot from, then go to the spot you hit it and mark it to. If you can't find it then get a dog and try trailing it. If no dog walk a grid around the last spot you saw it be patient and walk a little look alot and you should come up with it.

WestCoaster,

What was your POI difference between the Partitions and the Sierras?

quote:

Originally posted by Rob1SG:
Hotcore, Thanks I think they just have a problem of some kind. The question was about Elk and experiences with the Interbond.

I'm absolutely sure "one of them" has a reading comprehension problem. One I don't know. And the last one figured out fairly quickly that Allen Day is a blowhard braggart in a separate post, which made me think he had some good sense.

I really can't understand how anyone who knows enough about hunting to feel comfortable logging onto this Board, could at the same time know so little about cartridges.

Oh yes, the original question was as you said about using that bullet on Elk. Your example of how it had a problem on a rather up close Deer was exactly the kind of information the guy was looking for though.

Which brings up a couple of questions I was wondering about. If the 154gr Hornady had been placed through the "Lungs" at the distance where you had the problem, do you think the results would have been different? How many other deer/elk had you used that bullet on prior to that problem?

I used the 154 gr Interlock for deer in the 80's and always had great performance.I have since rebarreled my rifle w/ a 25" bbl. I was looking for long range performance as I expected the closest shot at 100 yds in this open area by the Texas Panhandle.This buck didn't follow the rules he came from behind me following does with the wind blowing in my face over a area I had just walked in to my stand on.I was confident in the bullet so I took the shot figuring I would anchor him.Which I have done many times before.We started tracking him about a hour later. He had run in a circle and we could'nt find where he had left the trail. So we worked from the last blood spot in circles for two hours but could not find anymore blood.We continued looking for the rest of the season but no luck.Finally my friend was quail hunting and his dog found him in a plum thicket.

If there's a lesson here, it would be that you don't shoot a deer in the shoulder from 25 yds. with a 7mm Rem. mag. At that close range, a neck shot would be a much better choice. Drop him fast or miss him clean.

Monticello
Theres about 2" diff. in elevation and slightly off windage wise but could be me as its not always there. I was thinking the diff in elev. might be cuz of the diff in hardness re the partition might be a little tuffer to squeeze down the bore.
On a related note both of my Tikkas exhibit this ablity to keep differing loads pretty close for poi almost always they differ in elev only. Could be a happy coincidence of the freefloating bbls maybe?

I suppose it's time to place an order and do some load devlopment. A pound of RL 22 and a box each of partitions and gamekings. That should be a good starting point. Hopefully they shoot great and I can get confident out to 350 yards off sticks or over a backpack. Better make that 2 pounds of RL 22 and 2 boxes of gamekings. Can't wait!

[hi monticello
i have shot a lot of falow deer with hornady interbond going app 2920 fps out of 7x64,,154grain and have had very erratic results with them from failing to expand to blowing to pieces would never use them again
try swift scirroco superb
regards steve]

Just an update.

I was deer hunting today and got two whitetails using 180 gr Hornady Interbonds. The first was shot just behind the front shoulder and performed as expected with good expansion and a complete pass-thru.

The second was a larger buck shot directly on the point of the shoulder with a slight quartering toward me (183 yds with a 300 WSM). The bullet did not achieve significant penetration. It appeared to just blow apart on impact.

Has anyone else had similar experience with IBs?

douglast

That is the exact shot I noted above except at less range.

Rob1SG,

You were shooting the Interlock (not the Interbond) - correct?

quote:

Originally posted by Rob1SG:
I used the 139 gr interbond on deer this year. This bullet is too soft for my tastes. I hit a whitetail at 25 yds in the shoulder at 3250 fpswith my 7mm RM. The bullet smashed the shoulder but did not penetrate enough.I followed a blood trail and found pieces of bone but no deer. We found him two months later over 150 yds away.The 8 pointers horns measured 164 inches but can't be put in the book because it was found and not checked.I'm shooting Accubonds next year.

Yes, we disagree because of my inexperience. By the way, 164 inches does NOT make the book.

Doug, I was using the interbond this year.I have used the interlock with great success in the past.

Mauser 96,Lets just say we have some different experiences and leave it at that.On the B&C website I went on 160 was the min for their book so I may be wrong there it may have changed.In Oklahoma a 160 class will absolutely be in the state record book.