142gr ABLR vs buck

[Hunter26]

I was able to shoot a nice buck this evening and it was my first kill with an ABLR, specifically the 142gr version out of a 6.5 PRC. These were blems that had a green tip and were loaded over Staball HD for 2840 fps from a Tikka T3x Super Varmint. I've shot a 1.6" group at 200 yards with them in initial load development.

Tonight I was hunting in a pine thicket right next to a swamp and was setup over a fire lane. I had pics of a decent buck with a broken G2 that I called Pigeon because his brow tines angled in like he was pigeon toed. Me and another club member have been trying to kill him for a few weeks and have been getting quite a few daytime pics. I got settled in to the stand but wasn't feeling confident because the wind was swirling pretty bad. About 10 mins before hard dark, he appeared 20 yards behind the corn out of the young pines. He looked right at me and was acting nervous but he took a few steps toward the golden nuggets. I immediately recognized him and decided to shoot him because of how nervous he was as he steeply quartered to me. He fell at the shot and didn't move. Then he started kicking all four legs so I plugged him again as I lost a very good buck two years ago in a similar circumstance but I didn't shoot again.

My buck was down! The shot was only about 70 yards and I was able to recover both bullets. The first shot hit the point of the shoulder and was found under the skin in the middle of the ribs. The 2nd entered his brisket and was found just behind the shoulder blades. I don't have any measurements as I am still at camp but they both shed a lot of weight but expanded pretty well.

 

[gerry]

Congratulations on your buck! The ABLR's worked exactly like Nosler designed them to. Perfect performance.

 

[JD338]

Congratulations on a good buck. The ABLR is a great bullet. They kill deer fast.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Handsome buck you tagged. Congratulations.

 

[bkordon]

I was able to shoot a nice buck this evening and it was my first kill with an ABLR, specifically the 142gr version out of a 6.5 PRC. These were blems that had a green tip and were loaded over Staball HD for 2840 fps from a Tikka T3x Super Varmint. I've shot a 1.6" group at 200 yards with them in initial load development.

Tonight I was hunting in a pine thicket right next to a swamp and was setup over a fire lane. I had pics of a decent buck with a broken G2 that I called Pigeon because his brow tines angled in like he was pigeon toed. Me and another club member have been trying to kill him for a few weeks and have been getting quite a few daytime pics. I got settled in to the stand but wasn't feeling confident because the wind was swirling pretty bad. About 10 mins before hard dark, he appeared 20 yards behind the corn out of the young pines. He looked right at me and was acting nervous but he took a few steps toward the golden nuggets. I immediately recognized him and decided to shoot him because of how nervous he was as he steeply quartered to me. He fell at the shot and didn't move. Then he started kicking all four legs so I plugged him again as I lost a very good buck two years ago in a similar circumstance but I didn't shoot again.

My buck was down! The shot was only about 70 yards and I was able to recover both bullets. The first shot hit the point of the shoulder and was found under the skin in the middle of the ribs. The 2nd entered his brisket and was found just behind the shoulder blades. I don't have any measurements as I am still at camp but they both shed a lot of weight but expanded pretty well.

Great photos and I love it when a plan comes together. Congrats on a nice buck.

 

[Slimfinn]

Nice buck,
thanks for the info in the ABLRs

 

[Hunter26]

I got the bullets cleaned up and took some more pics. The one with more shank and no fragments was shot one. I'll get some weights and expansion numbers whenever I can get back to my parent's house. I recently moved and it's all at their place. Is the ABLR only partially bonded? Maybe the back half? I know the bullet did exactly what it was designed to do and I'm very pleased with their performance, just curious.

 

[Guy Miner]

Congrats on your buck! The 6.5 PRC is a fine cartridge and it looks like those Nosler bullets treated you well.

Regards, Guy

 

[RL338]

Congrats on a fine buck
The ABLR is design to expand at a lower velocity is why you’re seeing your expansion.
https://www.nosler.com/products/bullets/product-line/accubondr-long-range.html

 

[Hunter26]

Yep, I know they did exactly what they were supposed to do, was just curious about the bonding. I knew when I hunted with them that they were soft bullets which is nice for the smaller bodied whitetail we have around here. I wonder what they did differently between the regular AccuBond and the LR for it to shed so much weight while being bonded. I put it through a relatively tough test. With MV over 2800 and hitting shoulder at 70 yards, not long range at all! I really liked their performance and I think that's a great weight for the 6.5 PRC. They'll definitely stay in the rotation and I have some 168 grainers I'm going to try in the 7 PRC.

 

[gerry]

Not sure if you have seen this channel before but they do some cool testing of bullets. I think they have the 6.5 mm ABLR on their list to try but haven't done it yet. They have videos on the 277 165 and 7mm 175 already up. This one is pretty similar to the ones you are using so you'll probably find it interesting. They definitely built the front half very soft to ensure expansion at long ranges. I think they are fully bonded but the front part is thin and it fractures off. They usually seem to retain 40-50% but that back half is pretty tough.

 

[Hunter26]

Finally got some measurements on them. One on the left is 72 grains (1st shot) & the other one is 70 grains, so approximately 50% weight retention. They expanded to .476" and the other to .492" at its widest. I honestly thought they lost more weight than that. They did pretty damn good!

 

[hunter24605]

Excellent