I’d be interested in hearing about everyone’s hunting experiences with small-caliber bonded-core bullets on game--.243, .264, .270. I’m thinking here of Nosler Accubonds, Hornady InterBonds, Swift Siroccos (not the A-Frames), Woodleigh Weldcores, Norma Oryx, Trophy Bondeds. The Woodleigh, Norma, and Trophy Bondeds are not available in .243 and .264, so I’m less interested in these, although game-field experience with the .277 versions of these would be interesting. The Nosler Accubonds and Swift Sciroccos appear to have excellent BCs, but how do they perform? I’m interested primarily in weight retention (since this is where they are supposed to shine), adequate penetration and expansion, along with accuracy. I’m looking for a way to boost my small-caliber rifles up a game class—so .243 and .264 on moose and elk, etc. What have everyone’s experiences been?
Smaller-Caliber Bonded-Core Bullets: Weight retention, Penetration, Expansion, Accuracy
- Thread starter South Pender
- Start date
Have always been a fan of Interbonds, .243, .308, -06, 338 mag, from back when they were 1/2 the price of Accubonds
They have resulted in some impressive kills
Claims were they were not as accurate as the Noslers but were plenty good enough for my hunting accuracy, a couple shot near 350 yds too.
I never did any comparing, just made a load that worked and stuck with it
I liked the expansion better than with a barnes x, newer monos are likely better
Wish they were still made
Federal Fusion ammo has bonded bullets too, not sure who makes the lead
They have resulted in some impressive kills
Claims were they were not as accurate as the Noslers but were plenty good enough for my hunting accuracy, a couple shot near 350 yds too.
I never did any comparing, just made a load that worked and stuck with it
I liked the expansion better than with a barnes x, newer monos are likely better
Wish they were still made
Federal Fusion ammo has bonded bullets too, not sure who makes the lead
I shot 6.5 140gr Speer gold dot as well as Speer Impacts (both bonded)- 4 shots taken, 4 deer dropped, ZERO tracking, 2 by each bullet.
2 pass thru's and 2 under far side of hide. Shots were all over 300yds, CM & PRC, farthest 710yds (Gold dot 3125fps out of a PRC, 13 MOA drop). The two recovered bullets looked just like gold dots should, with 5 pedals peeled back. minimal weight loss.
Performance was awesome, i stocked up and wont be changing bullets again. Best part is they're less than 1/2 the price of Accubonds. Sold all my Accubonds.
Gold dots were more accurate in the PRC than the Impacts; and the Impacts were under MOA in the creed. Both more accurate than the NAB's. I loaded both cartridges with R26.
I also shot moose with 156 Oryx out of PRC, it too worked awesome, but poor ballistics (trajectory). Recovered a beautifully mushroomed bullet on both
2 pass thru's and 2 under far side of hide. Shots were all over 300yds, CM & PRC, farthest 710yds (Gold dot 3125fps out of a PRC, 13 MOA drop). The two recovered bullets looked just like gold dots should, with 5 pedals peeled back. minimal weight loss.
Performance was awesome, i stocked up and wont be changing bullets again. Best part is they're less than 1/2 the price of Accubonds. Sold all my Accubonds.
Gold dots were more accurate in the PRC than the Impacts; and the Impacts were under MOA in the creed. Both more accurate than the NAB's. I loaded both cartridges with R26.
I also shot moose with 156 Oryx out of PRC, it too worked awesome, but poor ballistics (trajectory). Recovered a beautifully mushroomed bullet on both
I killed a 400 pound mule deer buck with a 90 grain Nosler Accubond from my 240 Weatherby. I did locate the bullet on the opposite side of the hide, it weighed 36 grains. I mostly use accubond bullets for hunting, to me personally, they are the best all-around bullet for big game.
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I have used the siroccos on a couple larger animals and accubonds on several within my hunting group. The swifts were a factory load in my 6.5-300 wby, they shot well but I was not overly impressed with the performance. They got the job done but came apart rapidly enough that nothing touched the off side ribs on a broadside bull elk at ~200 yards. I have made similar shots with both accubonds and the long range accubond and in all cases have had at least the shank of the bullet penetrate through the off side. I have not had much difficulty getting the noslers to shoot well in a multitude of different rifles.
There are a couple other options that you didn’t mention that I think are worth considering as well. The Barnes Lrx is going to be tough to beat for weight retention and still has a decent bc. Only a single example but I was impressed with the federal terminal assent bullet that a friend used in a 308 factory load on a moose this year. They have limited availability as a component bullet as well.
Pictures attached of the recovered terminal assent.
There are a couple other options that you didn’t mention that I think are worth considering as well. The Barnes Lrx is going to be tough to beat for weight retention and still has a decent bc. Only a single example but I was impressed with the federal terminal assent bullet that a friend used in a 308 factory load on a moose this year. They have limited availability as a component bullet as well.
Pictures attached of the recovered terminal assent.
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I have used 140 gr AccuBonds in both the 6.5 cal (Swede ) and 270 cal (Win, and WSM) over the years. Sorry, I do not own a 243/6mm so haven't tried the AB's in this caliber as yet.
Easy bullet to develop loads for, and always accurate (sub-MOA and better).
On-game performance has always been very good. Recovered bullets have averaged approx. 2 times expansion and retaining 90-95% of original weight.
Some bullets may have better BC #'s, but for reasonable hunting ranges, their numbers are quite sufficient.
The AccuBond has been my favourite hunting bullet since first introduced, and I have used in 25 cal through 375 cal, in numerous cartridges over the years, without failure, unless I missed my shot.
The Fusion bonded bullet, made by Speer for Federal's Fusion ammo, doesn't have great BC #'s, but has consistently performed well in many rifles and calibers since introduced. (In my 6.5 PRC, it is the most accurate factory load tested to date @ 0.536" groups @ 100 yards.). It also performs well on game. As a component bullet, it is called the Deep Curl bullet.
Today, the new kid on the block that I am most impressed with is Federal's Terminal Ascent bullet. It shoots very well in my 6.5 Creedmoor and 270 Win, with groups of 0.291" in my X Bolt and 0.599" in my Model 1885 High Wall (6.5 Cms), and 0.678" in my Steyr Mannlicher Model M FS rifle in 270 Win.
On-game performance in the 6.5 CM has been quick one-shot kills on red stag, fallow buck, Arapawa rams and caribou, from 40-296 yards, without a bullet recovered yet, and the furthest an animal went after the shot was 5 yards as it stumbled, rolled, and died.
The accuracy of the 300 WSM 200gr Terminal Ascent is 1.334", while not MOA or better, is still sufficiently accurate for hunting. I do need to test it again for accuracy, as it could have been me that day, and not the rifle/ammo combination.
I do have Terminal Ascent ammo to try in the 6.5 PRC, 270 WSM, and 7mm Rem Mag to test tomorrow on my next planned range day. And once I can acquire some of this ammo for my new 7MM PRC, I am looking forward trying both the 155 and 170 gr ammo in the Fierce rifle.
Easy bullet to develop loads for, and always accurate (sub-MOA and better).
On-game performance has always been very good. Recovered bullets have averaged approx. 2 times expansion and retaining 90-95% of original weight.
Some bullets may have better BC #'s, but for reasonable hunting ranges, their numbers are quite sufficient.
The AccuBond has been my favourite hunting bullet since first introduced, and I have used in 25 cal through 375 cal, in numerous cartridges over the years, without failure, unless I missed my shot.
The Fusion bonded bullet, made by Speer for Federal's Fusion ammo, doesn't have great BC #'s, but has consistently performed well in many rifles and calibers since introduced. (In my 6.5 PRC, it is the most accurate factory load tested to date @ 0.536" groups @ 100 yards.). It also performs well on game. As a component bullet, it is called the Deep Curl bullet.
Today, the new kid on the block that I am most impressed with is Federal's Terminal Ascent bullet. It shoots very well in my 6.5 Creedmoor and 270 Win, with groups of 0.291" in my X Bolt and 0.599" in my Model 1885 High Wall (6.5 Cms), and 0.678" in my Steyr Mannlicher Model M FS rifle in 270 Win.
On-game performance in the 6.5 CM has been quick one-shot kills on red stag, fallow buck, Arapawa rams and caribou, from 40-296 yards, without a bullet recovered yet, and the furthest an animal went after the shot was 5 yards as it stumbled, rolled, and died.
The accuracy of the 300 WSM 200gr Terminal Ascent is 1.334", while not MOA or better, is still sufficiently accurate for hunting. I do need to test it again for accuracy, as it could have been me that day, and not the rifle/ammo combination.
I do have Terminal Ascent ammo to try in the 6.5 PRC, 270 WSM, and 7mm Rem Mag to test tomorrow on my next planned range day. And once I can acquire some of this ammo for my new 7MM PRC, I am looking forward trying both the 155 and 170 gr ammo in the Fierce rifle.
Chrismc has mentioned the new Speer Impact bullet. This appears to be very much like their Fusion bullet, but with a polymer tip. And I wonder whether they are like the Terminal Ascent bullets that I believe they make for Federal. As far as I can tell, there are currently only 3 Impact bullets available--2 in .308 caliber and 1 in .264. So let's include it in our discussion along with the others. I had thought that the Speer Gold Dot bullets were "tactical" or for personal defense and hadn't heard of their use in big-game hunting situations until now. But again chrismc has used them for hunting, and so I'd like to know more about them too.
Speer gold dots are/were federal fusions. You could buy them as components before the fusion were loaded and sold. They had a different name back then. Once the fusions were on the market speer quit selling them as components for a few years and now theyre back as gold dots. They are copper plated lead cores so not bonded by heat. I think Im right but Im old now and mix things up.
If that's not classic expansion performance, I don't know what is! Thanks for posting.
