Reviving the 300 Win Mag / 200 Accubonds

[TackDriver284]

Just spoke to a hunting guide that does free range nilgai hunts, he has several places to hunt at. One place is at the Kennedy Ranch which has over 200,000 acres for trophy bulls and there are other ranches that he guides at. Dusting off the box of 200 Accubonds on my shelf and some H1000, and working up some ammo that I previously tested after encountering tight neck issues back in the summer. As soon as it dries up a little, I'll put some on paper, get the velocities on the Xero and input the data into my Kestrel. It should be around 3,000 fps give or take. I'll be using the hash marks on the ATACR 5.5 -20. Those nilgai gets spooked easy and I have no time for calibrating the elevation with the turrets. I have hunted in the past in free range low fenced and those nilgai can spot you a mile away in open areas and start running. Happened to me a couple of times where they glimpsed a glitter of sun off a windshield or the truck and they hightail it out of there and it gets tricky if you want to get up close. I'm going to print a small sheet of paper and put in the elevation data out to 500 yards and tape it on the scope or the inside of the lens cover.
I'm excited and my daughter texts me and says , "Dad, I want to go with you" and that gave me a warm feeling and its been ages since she hunted with me at deer leases in the past. Once she graduated from the university, and she started working, family, etc and she stopped hunting and fishing. I miss those days. I'm looking for a day that she is available to tag along. Waiting for the guide to text me back.

 

[JD338]

Sounds exciting Mark!
Having your daughter with you just makes it all the better. Best of luck to you on your upcoming hunt.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

Hunting with your child is the apex of the sport!

 

[salmonchaser]

Always thought the 300 Wm/200gr. Was about perfect. Having your daughter around well that just makes it more better.

 

[TackDriver284]

Hunting with your child is the apex of the sport!

Of course it is, its the family tradition hunting and fishing together. When I last hunted at my deer lease back in 2021 I believe, it was my last year before the group dissolved after the owner sold the place, hunted there for 13 years and its about 2.5 hours away. My daughter would accompany me there several times each season. It's a blast, beats hunting alone and bored in your box blind staring out the windows. I would teach my daughter the fundamentals of hunting / wildlife and answering tons of questions she would ask. It was a lovely experience for her. We would always see lots of deer and those beautiful spotted fawns. Wildlife was beautiful with all kinds of colorful birds hanging off your windows / looking at you and even flying curiously inside the box blind to sit right with us. Only thing I don't like is those pesky yellowjackets flying inside the box blind. Makes your skin crawl. They are fat and monstrous compared to the yellowjackets back at home.

 

[TackDriver284]

Would be nice to see the performance of the 200 AccuBond after hitting a shoulder. It should do far better than the softer ELDX that only broke one shoulder on a cow nilgai two years ago, and it never even touched the opposite shoulder, its too soft for bone and no recovery for some reason.
It reminds me of that 180 AccuBond that went from front to back lengthwise in a red stag cow and stopped short of the skin on the rear hams. Recovered it while processing.

 

[PJGunner]

My pet load for the .300 Win. Mag. is the 200 gr. SpeerHot Core or 200 gr. Nosler Partition over a striff chargeof the now long discontinued Winchester Magnum Rifle (WMR) powder. Velocity from my rifle's 26" barrel runs about 2880 FPS and in very accurate in five different .300 WM rifle, four Ruger #1s and a Winchester XTR as odd man out. I do believe I could increase the charge somewhat and get it into the 2900 FPS + range but why. I made the longest shot I've ever taken on game with that load, a cow elk at 530 yards laser measured. One round and done.

I'd like to see what it could do with the 200 gr. AccuBond but they've been almost unobtainium in my neck of the desert. I'm betting they'd work just fine.
Paul B.

 

[Cneelk]

Good luck and enjoy your time

 

[sako2]

Good luck. Nice to your daughter along.

 

[filmjunkie4ever]

In my last .300 Win Mag, I loaded some 200 grain AccuBond bullets on top of RL-22. The mv was only like 2775 fps, but it shot very well. Never did take any game with it though. I am sure it would’ve worked well on anything/everything!

 

[RL338]

Sounds like you’re loading up the right medicine for those nilgais. Having your old hunting partner back will make it more special. Good luck

 

[SJB358]

Would be nice to see the performance of the 200 AccuBond after hitting a shoulder. It should do far better than the softer ELDX that only broke one shoulder on a cow nilgai two years ago, and it never even touched the opposite shoulder, its too soft for bone and no recovery for some reason.
It reminds me of that 180 AccuBond that went from front to back lengthwise in a red stag cow and stopped short of the skin on the rear hams. Recovered it while processing.

My humble opinion, but a 300 Win with a 200 AB around 2800-3000fps is a do anything combo for about anything less than 1000 yards. We have gotten good expansion at 600-700 yards on elk. It’s usually really accurate as well. My little brothers main elk rifle is a 300 Win, with a 1-8 Krieger on it with a 2.5x10 NF. It plain works great.

 

[Blkram]

After trying the Federal Terminal Ascent 200 gr ammo in my 300 WSM, I started looking at reload data for the 200 gr AccuBond.
(My one test day so far did not quite break the 1 MOA standard I like for my bolt action rifles, but is still accurate enough for hunting (1.336" @ 100 yards), but I will try again, as it could have been me that day, and not the rifle.)
The 200 gr AccuBond has a BC of 0.588 and a SD of 0.301. (As a comparison, the TA has a BC of 0.601 and the same SD of 0.301.)

This will provide great retained velocity and energy at longer distances, and most importantly on the tough nilgai, great penetration as this bullet has that SD of 300+ that the PHs recommend for dangerous/thick skinned game for maximum penetration.
The most accurate powder listed is the IMR7828 providing a max velocity of 2898 fps from their 24" test barrel. This provides 2200 fps and 2149 ft lbs of energy @ 500 yards, with 37.9" of drop from a 200 yard zero.
As a comparison, the most accurate powder tested in the 300 Win Mag is MagPro providing a max velocity of 2910 fps from their 24" test barrel. This provides 2210 fps and 2169 ft lbs of energy @ 500 yards, with 37.6" of drop with a 200 yard zero.

Having a retained energy of over 2000 ft lbs @ 500 yards puts this bullet's performance in the same class as the old recommendation for elk and the still current recommendation/requirement for large bears and bison. Should work wonderfully on nilgai!

Have you tried the Terminal Ascent ammo in your rifle yet?

 

[TackDriver284]

Guide texted me back, says he has December 23rd available, I was like heck yeah and I would love to have a Christmas nilgai. Been getting the process gear sorted out today,,,, bus pans, seasonings for sausages, twine, one pound bags for ground meat, tape, etc. Checking what I have and taking notes if I need something. My wife will get some beef brisket from the local market the day after the harvest, planning to do a 70 / 30 grind of nilgai / brisket. Nilgai is lean and a bit of fat will do for hamburger. Rest of the meat will be back straps, steaks and cubes. I plan to use the shoulders, rib meat, neck and scraps for the grind. Not sure if I will leave the rib meat alone and cut the ribs into smaller shanks for smoking in the smoker for a day outside and watch the playoffs and snack on ribs. Thinking of some Christmas / New Year nilgai tamales if my wife is up for making some. The process will take about 2 days from previous experience because I'm meticulous in removing fiber and unwanted inedible connective tissues. Got the LEM grinder and stuffer out as well.

 

[TackDriver284]

After trying the Federal Terminal Ascent 200 gr ammo in my 300 WSM, I started looking at reload data for the 200 gr AccuBond.
(My one test day so far did not quite break the 1 MOA standard I like for my bolt action rifles, but is still accurate enough for hunting (1.336" @ 100 yards), but I will try again, as it could have been me that day, and not the rifle.)
The 200 gr AccuBond has a BC of 0.588 and a SD of 0.301. (As a comparison, the TA has a BC of 0.601 and the same SD of 0.301.)

This will provide great retained velocity and energy at longer distances, and most importantly on the tough nilgai, great penetration as this bullet has that SD of 300+ that the PHs recommend for dangerous/thick skinned game for maximum penetration.
The most accurate powder listed is the IMR7828 providing a max velocity of 2898 fps from their 24" test barrel. This provides 2200 fps and 2149 ft lbs of energy @ 500 yards, with 37.9" of drop from a 200 yard zero.
As a comparison, the most accurate powder tested in the 300 Win Mag is MagPro providing a max velocity of 2910 fps from their 24" test barrel. This provides 2210 fps and 2169 ft lbs of energy @ 500 yards, with 37.6" of drop with a 200 yard zero.

Having a retained energy of over 2000 ft lbs @ 500 yards puts this bullet's performance in the same class as the old recommendation for elk and the still current recommendation/requirement for large bears and bison. Should work wonderfully on nilgai!

Have you tried the Terminal Ascent ammo in your rifle yet?

Terminal Ascent seems like a well constructed bullet to me and no I have not tried it. Hopefully one day. Been hooked with Accubonds and can't seem to let go due to great experience with big game and accuracy with this bullet.

 

[wvbuckbuster]

Here's wishing you a successful hunt.
Dan.

 

[Slimfinn]

Sounds like you're all set, best of luck

 

[TackDriver284]

After trying the Federal Terminal Ascent 200 gr ammo in my 300 WSM, I started looking at reload data for the 200 gr AccuBond.
(My one test day so far did not quite break the 1 MOA standard I like for my bolt action rifles, but is still accurate enough for hunting (1.336" @ 100 yards), but I will try again, as it could have been me that day, and not the rifle.)
The 200 gr AccuBond has a BC of 0.588 and a SD of 0.301. (As a comparison, the TA has a BC of 0.601 and the same SD of 0.301.)

This will provide great retained velocity and energy at longer distances, and most importantly on the tough nilgai, great penetration as this bullet has that SD of 300+ that the PHs recommend for dangerous/thick skinned game for maximum penetration.
The most accurate powder listed is the IMR7828 providing a max velocity of 2898 fps from their 24" test barrel. This provides 2200 fps and 2149 ft lbs of energy @ 500 yards, with 37.9" of drop from a 200 yard zero.
As a comparison, the most accurate powder tested in the 300 Win Mag is MagPro providing a max velocity of 2910 fps from their 24" test barrel. This provides 2210 fps and 2169 ft lbs of energy @ 500 yards, with 37.6" of drop with a 200 yard zero.

Having a retained energy of over 2000 ft lbs @ 500 yards puts this bullet's performance in the same class as the old recommendation for elk and the still current recommendation/requirement for large bears and bison. Should work wonderfully on nilgai!

Have you tried the Terminal Ascent ammo in your rifle yet?

I forgot to add that the skin of nilgai is very elastic, the wounds closes up on the skin leaving almost zero blood trails. I have seen them run off with a broken shoulder or pass through lung shots and had to wade through 3-4 foot high grass to find a few within 60-80 yards from the impact area. Mostly the blood drop or drops starts around 20-30 yards where it came from the mouth / nose. It's when it get real challenging finding them without dogs. I had tracked them down twice two years ago when I bagged two cow nilgai when the guide was looking in the wrong direction. They ran about 60-80 plus yards, one of them circled back and was to the left and barely at the road when we though it ran away from the impact zone. Before I had the 300 Win Mag converted from 7 STW, I have taken a few nilgai facing me at about 100-150 yards with the 7 STW using 150 grain Partition and the Scirocco, right at the white patch on its front neck above that beard, wham and dropped right there. Most of the time they barely stand still and spooked that it keeps walking. I made a loud grunt a couple of times when they walked and walked and never wanted to stop before it got to the thickets where I could barely see them anymore, and as soon as they heard my grunt, they stopped walking / then faced my direction and its when the bullet hit home. Nilgai is a whole different animal from elk or big game where wounds tend to stay open. Those two nilgai cows I bagged two years ago, only one had a blood drop on the entrance or the exit, nothing more than that except the mouth area. I believe I have recent pictures of them on my older posts.

 

[JD338]

Sounds like you NEED a fast 338 buddy.

JD338

 

[RL338]

Nilgai is a whole different animal from elk or big game where wounds tend to stay open.

More horsepower needed