200 gr Accubond vs water jugs

Taking a tip from my old friend Lefty 315 (he posts here from time to time) I decided to try heavy bullets in the .300 WSM a few years ago. The Model 70 is very accurate with 210 gr Bergers, and a bit less so with these 200 gr Nosler Accubonds. H4350 is the powder that's done the best for me. As you can see, the looooong AccuBond takes up a fair bit of space in the .300 WSM case. Muzzle velocity is a bit over 2800 fps:



The bullet was recovered from the 6th water jug. I've found that bullets making it to the 6th, 7th and 8th jugs are very serious, deep penetrating bullets.

Retained weight is 137 grains and the bullet expanded to .62" diameter.

It don't get much better than that.
I agree with you Guy, 6+ jugs is a penetrating powerhouse bullet.

JD338

More and more I'm loading 200 grain bullets in my 300 WSM, Guy. Velocity is around 2800, which ain't peanuts. Penetration is great. It just feels right. The only thing I've had a problem with is the the 200 grain AB doesn't give me nearly the accuracy I witness with other bullets. I am working on the problem, however.

Here's some real world results of a 200AB from my 300RUM (3137fps) that I retrieved from my first bull elk, a spike at 150yds. The bullet went through the spine and punched a nice little hole through the offside shoulder blade.

Nice! I'm guessing you recovered it, stopped by the off-side skin?

Pretty common place to recover a bullet. After flattening out, the bullets seem to have a tough time getting through the elastic skin.

Guy Miner":2jok9567 said:

Nice! I'm guessing you recovered it, stopped by the off-side skin?

Pretty common place to recover a bullet. After flattening out, the bullets seem to have a tough time getting through the elastic skin.

Click to expand...

If I remember correctly, yes in the offside skin. My Uncle asked me what bullet I used as there was very little blood-shot around the entry hole, about the size of a silver dollar.

Again, great performance under tough conditions. The bullet is classic.

Very nice Rich. That is great to see. Getting pretty tough to see the AB as anything less than a great hunting bullet. Great shooting. Scotty

I hope I'm not breaking any rules here. May I ask what was the distance of the water jug? I'm thinking of having a 300wsm built, throated for 200 gr AccuBond. Nosler advised minimum speed for reliable expansion to >1,800fps, but I'd like to stretch it to = or slightly <1,400fps. I must admit that I'm a PT devotee, and 130gr in 270 win was my medicine for big Tanzanian lion, Yukon griz that won my guide the silver buckle, very big eland in Zambia and smaller one in Tanzania, 66" moose in Yukon, 2 bull elks etc. These were shot less than 200 yards. What are your verdicts about 200 gr AccuBond on elk at about 1,400 fps? I accept that the bullet must be well placed. BTW I've only tried Trophy Bond on buff, but I'd prefer higher BC, bonded from Nosler.

Hatari - welcome! Seems that you've taken game I'll only dream about. Congrats.

Thanks for asking the distance to the water jugs, I forgot to post that. The jugs were only 20 yards from me when I shot - very high stress on the bullet at that velocity. Haven't tried slowing it way down or long-range testing on the water jugs. As you noted, Nosler recommends a minimum 1800 fps impact velocity for the AccuBond.

Nice post Guy and RichRacer. Both of those bullets look like they performed just as expected, and really held together very well for you.

Guy when you get out there at 300 yards like I did when I was testing the 90 gr. E-tip and 165 gr. Accbond, those gallon milk/water jugs sure get a lot skinnier! It's not hard to hit them just right, but it's tougher getting you and your rifle lined up just right so the bullet penetrates in the same line as the bottles are set up. I had issues with them squirting out the side! :roll:

I know we can load them down to duplicate the slower impact speeds, but that is not nearly as much fun. I'm going to see if I can get a little larger jug that doesn't break the bank in $$$ and see if I can do this test at 500 yards this summer. I want to test the Partition, AccuBond, and the E-tip to see how they work. Thanks for posting.

David.

PS- what's the load with H4350 in your 300 WSM with the 200 gr.?

Why not a metal 55gal drum and after you shoot it 3 or 4 times weld the holes up and reuse!?!

David - I'm using 61 grains of H4350.

Hodgdon lists 62 grains as max, with a 200 gr Swift.

Haven't tried a 200 grain Partition from the .300 WSM yet, but I will! :grin:

The WORD PERFECT COMES TO MIND.... :mrgreen: