.30-06 165 grain Nosler Accubond

[filmjunkie4ever]

I have been meaning to post this for almost two years now, due to being stuck at home recovering from pneumonia, I finally got the chance.

The bullet in the picture was recovered from my 2022 Oregon Aoudad. It was shot from 150 yards through both shoulders, the bullet stopping just under the offside hide.
The load was 56 grains of IMR-4350, Win WLR primer, Nosler brass, and of course the 165 AccuBond. From the 24" Douglas barrel on my Model 70 Classic this load clocks 2800-2825 fps at the muzzle. Retained weight was 116 grains which is right at 70% retention.

I have two more just like it that I have stopped in elk over the years with nearly exactly the same retention. The more I use this load the more I am convinced of just how quality of a combination it is in the .30-06. Besides this Aoudad, I have shot several elk and mule deer with this load, I have never stopped one in a deer and only two in elk.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Here is one I caught in an elk. Same 70% retention, distance was 250 yards, behind the onside shoulder, stopped under the hide after passing through the offside shoulder. Love these AccuBond bullets!

Most of my personal experience with them is with my .30-06 however I have used them with complete satisfaction in other calibers. Dad uses them in his .264 Win Mag and .300 WSM, my brother in law uses them in his 7mm STW. They are great bullets!

 

[DrMike]

Splendid performance. That is precisely what would be expected for weight retention.

 

[Guy Miner]

Accurate and effective! Thanks for posting those Dale. I had 110 grain Accubonds loaded warm for my 25-06 when we were chasing aoudad in your neck of the woods.

Get over that pneumonia stuff buddy!

Guy

 

[PJGunner]

I've only shot one animal with the 165 gr. AccuBond from a 30-06. A cow elk during a cull hunt. My regular elk rifle is a custom Mauser chambered to the .35 Wheleln. Whilr checking the scope in this rifle the reticle turned toes up. I'd brought the 30-06 along as a back up and had been working with the 165 gr. AccuBond at about 2800 and change FPS. For some reason this rifle does not shoot heavier bullets well, probably due to the supposed 1 in 12" twist barrel. I have a Husqvarna M640 that is also 1 in 12" and it shoots 180 gr. bullets just fine. I think the twist may be even slower in the Mauser.

Anyway, it was the first day of the hun and about mid morning when we saw a herd of cow elk walking slowly int the trees. I picked out the last cow and the bullet hit in the short ribs and on into a lung. The elk want about 30 yards and dropped. Shot was about 100 yards. We never found the bullet and there was no exit that we could find. I can only conclude that it was still in the mess that what was left of her left lung. While I was a bit leery of using a bullet that light on elk, I can say it did the job just fine.
Paul B.

 

[Guy Miner]

I've only shot one animal with the 165 gr. AccuBond from a 30-06. A cow elk during a cull hunt. My regular elk rifle is a custom Mauser chambered to the .35 Wheleln. Whilr checking the scope in this rifle the reticle turned toes up. I'd brought the 30-06 along as a back up and had been working with the 165 gr. AccuBond at about 2800 and change FPS. For some reason this rifle does not shoot heavier bullets well, probably due to the supposed 1 in 12" twist barrel. I have a Husqvarna M640 that is also 1 in 12" and it shoots 180 gr. bullets just fine. I think the twist may be even slower in the Mauser.

Anyway, it was the first day of the hun and about mid morning when we saw a herd of cow elk walking slowly int the trees. I picked out the last cow and the bullet hit in the short ribs and on into a lung. The elk want about 30 yards and dropped. Shot was about 100 yards. We never found the bullet and there was no exit that we could find. I can only conclude that it was still in the mess that what was left of her left lung. While I was a bit leery of using a bullet that light on elk, I can say it did the job just fine.
Paul B.

Similar experience when I shot a cow elk at 340 yards with the 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip. Put it through her shoulder blade, and destroyed both lungs. She staggered downhill about 20 yards and was down & done! Looked like the off-side shoulder blade was cracked, possibly penetrated, but I never found the bullet despite doing all the cleaning and skinning myself. Lost whatever was left of the bullet somewhere in the cleaning process. Hmm, never found the bullet on the last cow elk I shot either, 405 yards with the 178 gr ELD-X. Broke a leg on the way end, then through the heart and pretty well trashed at least one of the lungs. The ol' 30-06 can do great things!

I think with the AccuBond or E-Tip (any unleaded bullet?) our standard cartridges punch above their former capabilities.

Guy

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Accurate and effective! Thanks for posting those Dale. I had 110 grain Accubonds loaded warm for my 25-06 when we were chasing aoudad in your neck of the woods.

Get over that pneumonia stuff buddy!

Guy

Thanks my friend. This is 4th time I have had the stuff. It sucks.

 

[noslerpartition]

Before going lead-free more than a decade ago, that was my choice in the 30-06.
Never recovered a bullet.
Just did what it was supposed to do...

 

[JD338]

Picture perfect results
Hopefully you are on the mend and back to normal soon.

JD338

 

[Gun nut]

I have been meaning to post this for almost two years now, due to being stuck at home recovering from pneumonia, I finally got the chance.

The bullet in the picture was recovered from my 2022 Oregon Aoudad. It was shot from 150 yards through both shoulders, the bullet stopping just under the offside hide.
The load was 56 grains of IMR-4350, Win WLR primer, Nosler brass, and of course the 165 AccuBond. From the 24" Douglas barrel on my Model 70 Classic this load clocks 2800-2825 fps at the muzzle. Retained weight was 116 grains which is right at 70% retention.

I have two more just like it that I have stopped in elk over the years with nearly exactly the same retention. The more I use this load the more I am convinced of just how quality of a combination it is in the .30-06. I have shot several elk and mule deer with this load, I have never stopped one in a deer and only two in elk.

Thanks for sharing. Hope you get over the pneumonia soon.
Duane

 

[Blkram]

Regardless of caliber and weight, AccuBonds just plain work!
Easy to work up loads for, consistent accuracy, and excellent on-game performance!
Can't ask for much more than that!

The only variance I can report from what others have experienced, is that all of the recovered AccuBonds that I have over the years, from various calibers, is that the weight retention of those I have recovered has been 90-95%. This includes 6.5 cal 140 gr, 270 cal 140 gr, 7mm cal 140 and 160 gr, 30 cal 180 gr, 9.3 cal 250 gr and 375 cal 260 gr.

 

[PJGunner]

Speaking of pneumonia, On the elk taken with the 165 gr. AccuBond, As we were walking up the hill I was having great difficulty even walking up the hill. Elevation was something like 8,500 to 9,500 feet MSL. I felt so bad by the time we got back to the butchershop that told them to just cut and wrap, don't bither hanging ffor a few days. Picked up the frozen elk the next day and went hone. The next day I got in to see my primary care doc and he said I had pneumonia. He dosed the hell out of me with antibiotics and told me to really take it easy. THat ws the last time I ever took a pneumonia shot. Seems every time I got one, sure as hell I'd come down with it. Kind of the same way with flu shots so I don't take either one anymore.
Paul B.

 

[SJB358]

Great recoveries. I have a few 165 ABs that were recovered from elk I helped dress and a decent amount of 200 ABs as well and in all cases they’ve worked excellent. Wide expansion and about 70% weight retention. It’s gotten to the point I’d rather use the same weight AB as a PT since they tend to be more accurate on average and carry a bit better at distance.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

Great recoveries. I have a few 165 ABs that were recovered from elk I helped dress and a decent amount of 200 ABs as well and in all cases they’ve worked excellent. Wide expansion and about 70% weight retention. It’s gotten to the point I’d rather use the same weight AB as a PT since they tend to be more accurate on average and carry a bit better at distance.

Same here. Plus it seems, around here at least, that the Accubonds go for $10-$12 cheaper per box than the Partitions.

On performance alone however, I couldn’t be more pleased with the Accubonds in all of the calibers I’ve used or seen them used in.

 

[Nannyhammer]

I've used Accubonds in .308 (125gr), 30-06 (150gr), 6.8 (100gr) and 243 (90gr) with shots from in your face to about 250yds. Everything I shot with them except one deer have died promptly with excellent bullet performance. The one deer was never recovered so not really sure what happened in that case. My .243 doesn't shoot them the best but everything else shoots them well.