Sniper 58 and Boo go grouse hunting .......

['Boo]

Today was our annual sharptail hunt. The wind was raging and the snow and sleet were falling sideways. The few birds we found were flushing wild and no feathers found there way into the game bags ..............

As normal however we did bring home meat although this time if was me that tripped the trigger.

A nice little "meat boar"

165 Accubond from 300 wsm meets 2 year old black bear. 50 - 60 yards 3"+ diameter entry wound.

 

[Ranger G]

Looks like you shot Boo-Boo. Yogi is gonna be some pissed.

 

[Gatehouse]

Another blow up?

Now you (x2), Bullcoon and Bones have reported AB blowups..

Myself and Bartell have had 100% perfect AB performance.

I htink that they screwed up the bonding on some lots, and they are noign more than white tipped Ballistic tips!!

 

[Gatehouse]

I shoudl add that my 260 375 cal AB penetrated a bear end to end, Bartell got 36" of penetration on an elk, and the 7RM 140gr and 30-06 180gr AB penetrated and held together VERY well on dry newspaper at 40 yards. Dry newspaper is a hard test...

I stopped using BT's for thier blo up tendencies on close targets.

 

['Boo]

Yep!

I am now 2 for 2 for excessive initial expansion with this batch. I shot 3 deer last year with the same bullet/rifle combination (a different lot) and all the wound channels looked very similar to what I usually see using a Partition - Calibre sized entry with full expansion deeper in the animal. I have shot a lot of critters with the Ballistic Tip and have never had any as frangible as this lot of Accubonds.

 

['Boo]

Yogi is gonna be some pissed.

Not as pissed as a certain someone who forgot to buy a deer tag ............. He IS however getting close to that magic age when one starts to forget things.

 

[Gatehouse]

Boo, stuff a cardboard box full of newspapers and shoot a few rounds into it.

It will be interesting to see. The ones I shot looked BETTER than partitions, because the front nose didnt' wipe away. No that there is anything wrong wiht that.

 

[sniper58]

Not as pissed as a certain someone who forgot to buy a deer tag ............. He IS however getting close to that magic age when one starts to forget things.

OK, lay off me now.
I went and bought my tag yesterday!

And no smart remarks from you Ranger G.......I know where you live!

 

[Foxer]

Now you (x2), Bullcoon and Bones have reported AB blowups..

That one of bones definatey came apart - also had a 3 inch entry (i actually measured it - 3 inches almost perfect.)

Mind you, the deer died.

 

[Silverado]

Am I the only one who's not surprised that the bullet, even an Accubond, blew up? That's a 50 yard shoulder shot from a magnum, with a light for cartridge bullet. Off the top of my head, impact velocity would be around 3000fps.

I'd expect anything short of a solid like a Barnes to blow up... or at least shock so much meat as to make a huge wound. I'll bet the meat in that whole quarter was no good... am I close?

 

['Boo]

I'll bet the meat in that whole quarter was no good... am I close?

I just am in the middle of cutting that bear up - lunchtime right now.

That shoulder was the first I worked on. The shoulder blade was NOT touched and I was able to salvage about 75% of the meat on the front leg.

I personally have shot probably close to 125 big game animals since I started hunting and have helped clean more than double that number shot by hunting partners. I have seen very few bullets that open up as quickly on contact as this batch of Accubonds. ( I shot a mule deer a week ago at 240 yards with the same rifle/bullet combo and the whole front quarter was a write-off). I shot 3 deer last year - at ranges as short as 80 yards and as distant as 425 - with the same setup - the bullets were from a different lot - and the initial expansion was delayed somewhat which is what I would expect from a bonded bullet with a hardened core.


Right now my gut is telling me that this lot of bullets has cores whose alloy is on the soft side.

 

[Foxer]

Am I the only one who's not surprised that the bullet, even an Accubond, blew up? That's a 50 yard shoulder shot from a magnum, with a light for cartridge bullet. Off the top of my head, impact velocity would be around 3000fps.

Bullets like the accubond are supposed to be designed to perform well at magnum speeds. That's the point of a bonded bullet.

 

[azimuth]

Bullets like the accubond are supposed to be designed to perform well at magnum speeds. That's the point of a bonded bullet.

But they don't always perform. I gave up on them (accubonds) last year. Almost identical "initial expansion" as others have described and I wasn't loading "max" loads. I went back to the partition and I don't think I need to look elsewhere for a reliable big game bullet. I can drive it as fast or slow as I want and still have good expansion and weight retention.

 

[Foxer]

But they don't always perform.

Yeah, i'm hearing that.

THere's a few that have always been good performers for us - the tbbc, barnes, and as you say partitions. Although i'm told barnes might shed petals above 3000 fps impact speeds.

The interbond held up well for a buddy of mine out of a 7mm mag at close range. That might be one to look at too.