Recovered another Accubond

[Snyd]

This makes the 3rd one. It's on the right. All bullets were fired from my Kimber 325wsm, 200gr Accubonds. All loads chrony at 2940ish. All recovered from moose. I've also shot sheep at various ranges and as expected, all pass throughs.

1st- Bullet on left. Factory ammo. Impact at 315yds. Weighs 143gr busted moose spine. Hard bones.
2nd- Bullet in middle. Handload. Impact at 365 yds. Weighs 154 gr, Broke rib, far side shoulder.
3rd - Bullet on right. Handload. Impact at 150ish yds. Weighs 141gr, Broke rib going in. Far side no bone hit.

Nosler claims Accubonds will retain 70% of thier weight which is 140gr starting with a 200gr bullet.

Great bullets, my go-to load in my 325. Flat flyers, accurate, consistent performance.

[hoose35]

For whatever reason, I have had terrible luck getting accubonds to perform well accuracy wise in any of my rifles. I have had far better luck with Barnes and partitions

[tyrex13]

I wish I could say the same. This year I had a 140gr Accubond disappear on me. .270 Winchester factory load. Shot a cow caribou in the lungs, went in between ribs going in, lungs and bullet disappeared, no exit. Shot at 28 yards. I had the exact same thing happen to me in my .300 WM with Federal Premium 180 gr Accubond factory loads on a cow caribou at 96 yards. Entry between ribs, no lungs, bullet or exit. On that same hunting trip I shot a bull with the same loads at 228 and I had an exit. I just don't trust the darn things to hold together at critical distances. Everything I've shot, but that one bull caribou was at less than 100 yards and a potential self defense scenario vs. a bear has me shying away from them at this point.

[hodgeman]

I wish I could take pretty Accubond pictures like Snyd... all mine keep blowing straight through leaving nothing but dead critters in their wake!

[mike h]

I wish I could say the same. This year I had a 140gr Accubond disappear on me. .270 Winchester factory load. Shot a cow caribou in the lungs, went in between ribs going in, lungs and bullet disappeared, no exit. Shot at 28 yards. I had the exact same thing happen to me in my .300 WM with Federal Premium 180 gr Accubond factory loads on a cow caribou at 96 yards. Entry between ribs, no lungs, bullet or exit. On that same hunting trip I shot a bull with the same loads at 228 and I had an exit. I just don't trust the darn things to hold together at critical distances. Everything I've shot, but that one bull caribou was at less than 100 yards and a potential self defense scenario vs. a bear has me shying away from them at this point.

Are you literally finding nothing left (I mean really disappeared, no fragments)? I would think you would have to be missing the exit somehow. They can't just totally disappear, can they?

[Smokey]

Nice post and pics Snyd! I am getting great accuracy out of partitions - 250gr in my 358win but keep eyeing the Accubonds and licking my chops? Perhaps the slower speed of the 358w would be a good thing as many post state complete pass threw's? I tried the AB's in 200 grains in 2 of my 300wmags and they were not the most accurate on paper - not bad, but not better than partitions?

[tyrex13]

Are you literally finding nothing left (I mean really disappeared, no fragments)? I would think you would have to be missing the exit somehow. They can't just totally disappear, can they?

I am finding shrapnel, but that's it.

[mainer_in_ak]

I am finding shrapnel, but that's it.

it's the nature of the beast. high velocity, and fairly light bullets. If you don't like the results, go to a larger bullet. I personally dont like the 270, or the 300 win mag. slow them down, by going to a larger bullet, the heavier ones may pass though:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/871...ProductFinding

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/193...ProductFinding

[excav8tr]

I had about 6-7 of the tips fall off in the manufacturer's box of .300 loads. Got me thinking if that happened in field I'd be screwed. Not worth the chance
Btw. Box was sitting in my gun cabinet for last 2 yrs

[tyrex13]

it's the nature of the beast. high velocity, and fairly light bullets. If you don't like the results, go to a larger bullet. I personally dont like the 270, or the 300 win mag. slow them down, by going to a larger bullet, the heavier ones may pass though:
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/871...ProductFinding

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/193...ProductFinding

I use the 200 grain A-Frame in my 300WM now, but I'm going to try the 180 grain TTSX. I'm going to try the 130 grain TTSX in the .270..

[4merguide]

I'll stick with my 200 grain Partition hand loads out of my 8mag. So far so good.....

[.338 mag.]

Every one knows you can't kill any thing with out 100% weight retention and a complete pass through! Which is why I switched from Nosler Partitions to the Barnes X bullets in the 1980's. Even though the Partitions killed every thing very well in spite of consistently losing a 3rd of their weight. Good looking bullets. I have always found bullet recovery interesting, just never been able to recover my old original 250 grain Barnes X bullet from my .338 Win. Mag. Could be because most shots are under 100 yards and thru the lungs of moose n caribou. Thanks for sharing.

[Snyd]

For those of you having accuracy issues, I know with my gun I ended up seating the AB .005 off the lands. My group went from 1-2 inches to one ragged hole.

Someone mentioned a problem because of pass throughs. What's wrong with that? It'll bleed out of both sides and the tissue in between will be shredded. I've seen it on a few sheep shot with this load. All pass throughs, made for heavy packs and tasted just fine

Someone mentioned the plastic tips. I've shot em with the tips gnarled up. Makes no difference to the game. Dead is dead. I've got 12 factory rounds left that are 9 years old and still look new. Anyone want to buy them? I've got handloads that are 4 years old and are the same. No issues with the tips.

I couldn't get 180gr TSX's to shoot smaller that 2-3 inches in my gun with 2 different powders. I do have a 220gr Gameking load that is 2800ish, shoots sub moa and I've taken a small Interior griz with it. 165 yds, complete passthroughs. Dead bear.

But, this load just works and seems to be optimal for this weapon. YMMV

At any rate, at least in my gun at 2940 mv, this has proven to be an excellent bullet in both factory ammo and my handloads. If a guy has been wondering about the AB's, there's my experience.

peace

BTW, Brian asked me for a pic of this years moose. No whopper, just another meat bull for the freezer.

[hodgeman]

Someone mentioned a problem because of pass throughs. What's wrong with that? .

Not a problem at all.... except for taking pictures of bullets! Two holes are mo'betta than one!

The last cow I shot had an exit wound through the ribs you could stick a fist in...and the only direction she went was down.

[.338WM]

Not a problem at all.... except for taking pictures of bullets! Two holes are mo'betta than one!

The last cow I shot had an exit wound through the ribs you could stick a fist in...and the only direction she went was down.

Aw, man, now you went and done it, now someone is going to start complaining about all of the meat that was ruined on the exit side!