Accubond performance at lower velocities?

[220Swifty]

Just curious if anybody here is running accubonds in "slow for caliber" factory rounds. How do they hold up?

Reason i ask, is because in my experience with them, (140 gr in a 280 Rem, half a dozen deer and a few coyotes) they seem to expand a touch violently for my tastes. I have a box of them on the shelf for my 338 win mag, but will not likely use them in that rifle due to my experiences with the 280 loads.

That being said, i do have a 338 Fed on the way, and feel that the 225 gr at a moderate velocity in that round will give me a more controlled expansion, and might just be a sweet little bear/moose/elk round for my wife, when we get the opportunity to chase these beasts together.

Anybody out there have any real world experience to back up my hunch?

 

[Byron Wolf]

i shoot accubonds in every gun i hunt with from my wifes 25wssm to my 338 win mag and i dont personlay think there is a bullet out there that hits harder sure they may wreck some meat if you hit them in the sholders but it will also drop them in their tracks. i have recovered 3 bullets from the 338 on moose and would say about 75% retention

 

[X-fan]

The 338 Accubond will likely have a thicker jacket than the 284 does and should be less explosive.

If you are really concerned with meat damage I would suggest a 250gr Partition.

Eat right up to the hole.

 

[Mighty Peace]

Using 225gr Accubonds to fireform / break-in the barrel on my Sako m75 Greyolf 338-06AI. Should be a good bullet. Its all I use in my 300WM (180's) and my 270WSM (140's). Of the few bullets recovered, retained weights beween 67-85%.

 

[Why not?]

I loaded 200 ABs in 30-06 for a friend of mine last year. At a tad over 2600 fps, they worked splendidly on a bull moose and a 2000+ pound woods bison. One shot each.

Ted

 

[todbartell]

Ive thought of trying 225 gr Accubonds in my 338F but thats as far as I've gotten so far

I think it would be a decent choice for bigger game

 

[Camp Cook]

Just started loading 260gr Accubonds in my T/C Contender carbine in 375JDJ muzzle velocity will be somewhere around 2300fps.

Due to the heat used in the bonding process they are supposed to mushroom easier and at lower velocities then standard bullets their also designed to retain 60% of their weight.

My max range will be 300 yards and this .473 BC 260gr Accubond should still be doing over 1800fps @ 300 yards so is supposed to mushroom.

 

[mahony1977]

I used a 160 grn AB on my deer this year I did not find it expanded very much , but it was a bang flop . Any of you use Swift scirocco bullet's ? They look to cost about half as much as AB's .

 

[Camp Cook]

I've shot one 4 point blacktail buck with a 180gr Scirroco @ 3380fps muzzle velocity out of my 300RUM @ 40 yards as it was walking uphill towards me hit it in the right front chest with the bullet going thru the lungs and hitting the spine between the shoulder blades.

Bullet did not exit and I never found it I guess it hit at appr 3300fps resulted in surprisingly very little meat damage but no bullet.

 

[Eagleye]

I quit using the Scirocco a few years back because it showed the same fragility as the Accubond. I only recovered about 90 grains from a 180 grain 30 cal, and it was pretty mangled. Smallish bull moose through the lungs. Eagleye

 

[220Swifty]

I quit using the Scirocco a few years back because it showed the same fragility as the Accubond. I only recovered about 900 grains from a 180 grain 30 cal, and it was pretty mangled. Smallish bull moose through the lungs. Eagleye

HOLY ####, that moose musta had a lead rib that bonded to the bullet on impact

Tod, i just loaded one up in a resized 308 case, they swallow up quite a bit of capacity when seated to a book OAL of 2.750"

 

[Camp Cook]

Share some details of that load/shot?

 

[blargon]

HOLY s**t, that moose musta had a lead rib that bonded to the bullet on impact

Tod, i just loaded one up in a resized 308 case, they swallow up quite a bit of capacity when seated to a book OAL of 2.750"

Yep, you need that mag length of a Win 70 or Sako so you can seat out to 2.9" for that one...

 

[todbartell]

the mag on my sako will accept a 2.93" OAL I think...a tikka will limit your option. probably better off with a 180 gr accubond

 

[sbtennex]

Cutout of an AB looks like a Ballistic Tip except the jacket's thicker and a bit beefier at the bottom end. If they lose 1/3 or even a bit more mass on impact, and that's not acceptable, try a TSX in a bit lighter weight. Plastic tips start expansion on impact, much like a HP - that's the designed intent. Higher the velocity, the more violent the expansion. Perfect for deer-sized stuff.

 

[Camp Cook]

Accubonds are nothing like Ballistic Tip's they are a completely new design that Nosler borrowed from a fellow named Warren Jensen he used to make bullets called J26 then switched the name to J36 now he is out of business.

If I understand it correctly the original J26 was a .375" 225gr bonded bullet designed for the T/C Contender pistol chambered in 375JDJ with a muzzle velocity of appr 2100fps - 2200fps these would mushroom at the extremely low pistol velocities @ 300 yards.

 

[Action888]

With my luck the Accubonds have been nothing less then amazing. I shoot them out of my 338win mag, 270wsm and have shot moose and deer with them in a 300 win. I found the bullet on the two moose and one deer the other deer it slipped through. I never weighed the bullets but it looked like they had perfect expansion. They also group nice in my guns. Added bonus.

 

[sbtennex]

Accubonds are nothing like Ballistic Tip's they are a completely new design...

Nothing like? They're a lot alike, with the differences as posted - thicker jacket, heavier base and whatever process Nosler decided on to "bond" the same core to the same jacket material.

 

[Camp Cook]

So this didn't make any sense too you or did you miss this part?

they are a completely new design that Nosler borrowed from a fellow named Warren Jensen he used to make bullets called J26 then switched the name to J36 now he is out of business.

 

[Ruger No.1]

Here is one example of the 225gr. Accubond's performace on a Roosevelt Elk from my .338WM at a stepped off 360 paces. The bullet entered between the ribs on the right side, passing through the heart and angling upwards towards the offside shoulder. Bullet was found between the hide and muscle with a lot of surface bruising on the muscle. This load had an initial chronied muzzle velocity of 2683. In my mind this was perfect performance (DRT)given the size of the animal and distance.

I have been very pleased with their performance on deer in both .300WSM and 6.5 X 55. (but no bullets to show ) After using Nosler Partitions for years, I am gradually changing over to Accubonds.