Accubonds lack of penetration??
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Guy Miner
Master Loader
- Apr 6, 2006
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I was kind of thinking that myself. 200+ yards away, he hit with what is about the muzzle velocity of my .375 or .308 rifles...
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Gents:
What got me was the, almost identical shot from last year and damn near the same yardage.........I liked the Accubonds for the higher BC and being a bonded bullet I was expecting way better penetration.
After this hunt I went home and bought some Barnes LRX 265gr bullets (BC of .575) and with a load of 86.5gr of H4831 I managed under 1/2" 3 rnd groups and a velovity of 2860. I will be switching back to the Barnes bullets from now on, I know they are a pain in the arse that they have to be seated so deep....thats why I went with a faster powder!!! (if you can call H4831 Fast!! :grin: )
I have an upcoming moose hunt and will bring the .338 Rum along as backup, I'll be Carrying my CZ 550 in .416 Rigby with 400 gr. Barnes TSX, thhey run at 2430 fps and will hold less than 1 MOA for 3 rounds!! Should do ok with this!!! 8)
What got me was the, almost identical shot from last year and damn near the same yardage.........I liked the Accubonds for the higher BC and being a bonded bullet I was expecting way better penetration.
After this hunt I went home and bought some Barnes LRX 265gr bullets (BC of .575) and with a load of 86.5gr of H4831 I managed under 1/2" 3 rnd groups and a velovity of 2860. I will be switching back to the Barnes bullets from now on, I know they are a pain in the arse that they have to be seated so deep....thats why I went with a faster powder!!! (if you can call H4831 Fast!! :grin: )
I have an upcoming moose hunt and will bring the .338 Rum along as backup, I'll be Carrying my CZ 550 in .416 Rigby with 400 gr. Barnes TSX, thhey run at 2430 fps and will hold less than 1 MOA for 3 rounds!! Should do ok with this!!! 8)
Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
- Nov 6, 2009
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I am invisible?
A bonded bullet doesn't equal penetration. All the bonding does is prevent core/jacket separation so that the bullet doesn't "expload". I think you're basically expecting Partition performance out of what is essentially a bonded ballistic tip which is an unfair comparison. In my estimation the AccuBond performed exactly as it was designed, it expanded rapidly and delivered enough hydrostatic shock and trauma to kill the animal even with less than ideal shot placement. I guess what I'm getting at is you chose a bullet that wasn't designed to achieve the performance you desired. I'm not trying to be critical of you, but it does sound like the solid copper's or Partition are the bullet of choice for you and your expectations of bullet performance.
- Nov 4, 2004
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FWIW, here is the link to the 338 250 gr AB testing. Penetration was 6 water jugs.
viewtopic.php?f=52&t=16508&start=0
The 250 gr PT's were recovered in the 8th jug.
JD338
viewtopic.php?f=52&t=16508&start=0
The 250 gr PT's were recovered in the 8th jug.
JD338
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Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
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JD338":1ke7lfxa said:
Thank you JD!
Hello guys, this is my first post. I've only shot one animal with the Nosler AccuBond in a .338 RUM. This particular rifle was a long barreled, gain twist ( 1/30 to 1/10) pushing the 180 AccuBond at an honest 3500 fps! I shot a big Aoudad in West Texas around 250yds, through both shoulders, pass through. He stagered two steps and piled up. The exit hole was about 1", which led me to believe the bullet had acted just like a good ol Partition! My guide was so impressed, he bought the rifle from me for big bucks! ( It was ugly anyhow, a nice Howa action but in a god awful looking laminated stock. I had traded for the rifle from the smith who made it. I still regret selling it as it was the only gain twist rifle I ever used, awesome speeds!
Elk are just big, spongy critters, I think your bullet did fine. I do like Barnes TSX, but Partitions are next, and anything that is close to those two work swell to me. Congrats!
Elk are just big, spongy critters, I think your bullet did fine. I do like Barnes TSX, but Partitions are next, and anything that is close to those two work swell to me. Congrats!
- Nov 4, 2004
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preacher
Welcome to the forum, glad to have you here.
Man, a 180 gr AB at 3500 fps is smokin' fast.
Hope you can land another 338 RUM. It is an impressive big game cartridge.
JD338
Welcome to the forum, glad to have you here.
Man, a 180 gr AB at 3500 fps is smokin' fast.
Hope you can land another 338 RUM. It is an impressive big game cartridge.
JD338
DrMike
Ballistician
- Nov 8, 2006
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preacher,
Welcome to the forum; good to have you aboard. For sure, that 180 AB at 3500 fps is moving. I'd guess it will down any game it smacks.
Welcome to the forum; good to have you aboard. For sure, that 180 AB at 3500 fps is moving. I'd guess it will down any game it smacks.
35 Whelen
Handloader
- Dec 22, 2011
- 2,225
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Sorry you had a poor performance with the AccuBond bullet. Our experence with them has been just about the opposite from yours. Although I am not a big follower of the school of thought, that follows the line of thinking, that I want to see exit holes in everything I fire at anyway. I am more a follower of the "find the bullet on the opposite side" school of thinking, knowing that it then transfered ALL of the energy the bullet had, INTO the animal.However with that said, we have had a few poor experences with the AccuBond on Whitetail deer from a few different calibers all being TOO MUCH penertration everytime and shooting right thru our 250 lb Whitetail bucks when hit nicely behind the shoulder. Our take on all this; was that the bullet performs nicely on game over 500 lbs but and mushrooms correctly everytime. I was very happy with a couple of bull moose we had clients take last year, and one this season, with the AccuBond bullets . All weighed in between 750-900 lbs and the bullet works well in that areana, I just had a hunter on Tuesday eve shoot a running bull his pardner hit right in the shoulder with his 300 Win Mag, in the shoulder using 180gr Corelokts, the bull ran off like it was not hit.
The sub permitee backing him up, fired at it with the 35 Whelen, using a 250gr Partition bullets, and hit it the 5th rib back on the left side, at 150 yds, the bullet angled up through the compleate front end of a 910lb bull, and exited out the lower right jaw bone, taking most of it out, as it exited. Enough that we saw a huge amount of stuff fly out from his mouth as he tumbled head over backside, into a pile upside down, killing him instantly. How is that for penatration?????? :mrgreen:
OU812
Handloader
- Apr 18, 2006
- 2,099
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35 Whelen":2oxnpqvt said:
That's not penetration, that sounds more like a runaway train to me. :mrgreen:
Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
- Nov 6, 2009
- 8,406
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Welcome Peacher. Elk are sponges okay, bullet sponges!
Antelope_Sniper
Handloader
- Jan 25, 2008
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Ridgerunner665":1dj00z2c said:
This matches with my experience.
With the STW at 25 yards the 160gr AB didn't penetrate through on a quartering shot of a BIG mule deer.
At 1000 yards on an antelope it went straigh through with no problems.
- Nov 4, 2004
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OU812":biy9hjpr said:
The penetration of the 250 gr PT at 2500+ fps is short of amazing.
JD338
gerry
Ammo Smith
- Mar 1, 2007
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JD338":233f1tts said:
Might have to try them in the new 35 Whelen.
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Gerry
59.5 grs RL 15 and the 250 gr PT gets 2584 fps and sub MOA accuracy along with penetration into tomorrow.
JD338
59.5 grs RL 15 and the 250 gr PT gets 2584 fps and sub MOA accuracy along with penetration into tomorrow.
JD338
Oldtrader3
Ammo Smith
- Nov 6, 2009
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The AccuBond is a fairly new bullet. Compared to say to a Partition which has 50+ years of field experience, the field history of the AccuBond is short. I am not much help in this discussion because I have not used an AccuBond to kill anything only Partitions and they worked everytime. I am a slow adopter and just started using Accubonds.
