Nosler Accubonds Long Range

[Don Fischer]

Don part of the issue is that I have a 6.5 Creedmoor and there is so much hype and advertising along with YouTube makes one think they are going to shoot a mile and need everything LONG RANGE! I just want to shoot Accubonds but don't want to reloader this time. A few small hand loaded companies make 140g Accubonds but I had issues with the consistency from them. Nosler only offers a 140g with the ballistic tip for hunting. My guess is that thru thier R&D they found there is an issue with the 140g Accubonds in that Caliber so they don't offer it. Prob the same reason why the small manufacturers I've ordered from have similar issues. If I were running an AR10 platform or a looser bolt I probably wouldn't notice it as much.

My guess is the subtle difference in the ABLR at 129g performed well. Plus the bullets name, the hype, and good advertising gets people to pay 50 a box on sale $64.80 MSRP. Which I just did to test them. My original question was trying to figure out what the difference was with the new Winchester expeditions that they were on average 20 less. There is no official MSRP I could find but several sits show them list for $39.99. But those same sites could just do that as advertising because they charge around 32-34 a box.

For arguments sake: 64.80-39.99= 24.81 or 1.24 a round more for the Nosler over the Winchester. Both offer the same ABLR and are pretty close on the ballistic tables. What does that 1.24 get me besides a really long post about bullets?

Tell you what I'd do. Pick one that your rifle likes and practice out to 300 yds with it. Practice even more at 200 nd 250 yds. That could very well be as lond a shot as you get.

 

[mtmuley]

Terminal ballistics tests on groundhogs won't tell you much about any big game bullet. mtmuley

 

[Addicting]

Terminal ballistics tests on groundhogs won't tell you much about any big game bullet. mtmuley

I've been on here long enough to know that you know what your talking about. Can you please elaborate?

My concern is Elk bones are significantly tougher. If any shot less than broadside presents itself the likely hood of involving the shoulder bone increases. I am struggling to see a way these will penetrate a shoulder and still deliver enough energy/bullet into the vitals. Or on a quartering away not pepper the far shoulder with lead fragments.

 

[Addicting]

Double post.

 

[mtmuley]

I've been on here long enough to know that you know what your talking about. Can you please elaborate?

My concern is Elk bones are significantly tougher. If any shot less than broadside presents itself the likely hood of involving the shoulder bone increases. I am struggling to see a way these will penetrate a shoulder and still deliver enough energy/bullet into the vitals. Or on a quartering away not pepper the far shoulder with lead fragments.

Most of the time hunters bitch about the performance of bullets intended for longer ranges is because they don't use them for longer ranges. I killed three animals with the 210 grain ABLR in my .300 RUM. Farthest shot was 350 and change, closest was about 60 yards. (I didn't use them at long range) I don't have any complaints about the bullet, all three animals died with one shot. I do however, doubt that the ABLR is "fragmenting". Bonded bullets just don't behave that way, even at close range. Get some regular Accubonds. I switched back after my ABLR experiment. It's a better suited bullet for what most hunters do. Interestingly, I made my longest kill with a white tipped Accubond. And a few more way out there. Even one at bow range. It's a Hell of a bullet. mtmuley

 

[Addicting]

Thanks for the reply, I would rather be shooting the regular Accubonds but that will require me to hand load. That's not in the cards right now but I am hoping Santa is nice to me. My shots will all be under 500 yards imposed max range. So I am not using the ABLR for its intended purpose. Here is the biggest piece I could find in the second ground hog.

 

[Addicting]

I harvested a bull elk with these and they will kill at distance. This bullet was recovered from the neck of the bull after a 200 yard shot. As you can see there is very little left of the 140g. There were two other shots on this bull. One was a pass thru head shot, the other was in the body and there was only small traces of lead left throughout the meat. I also shot a small mule deer thru the shoulders and it looked like I hit it with a grenade. It was about a 100 yards and left a massive mess. Both front shoulders had to be discarded. I would NOT recommend these bullets. They are for fragmentation at a longer distance than most of us take. Anything under 500 is just going to waste meat.

 

[MThuntr]

I harvested a bull elk with these and they will kill at distance. This bullet was recovered from the neck of the bull after a 200 yard shot. As you can see there is very little left of the 140g. There were two other shots on this bull. One was a pass thru head shot, the other was in the body and there was only small traces of lead left throughout the meat. I also shot a small mule deer thru the shoulders and it looked like I hit it with a grenade. It was about a 100 yards and left a massive mess. Both front shoulders had to be discarded. I would NOT recommend these bullets. They are for fragmentation at a longer distance than most of us take. Anything under 500 is just going to waste meat. View attachment 76046

Good to know...was considering a change and now I think I'll stick with my Partitions

 

[belshawelk]

Bullet from bear. 150 yrds shot in chest, recovered bullet on back quarter very back of leg/rump resting against hide.

 

[Bigjav]

My dad used the Winchester expedition long range ammo in a 6.5 creedmore on an antelope at 200 yards and it straight knocked its dick in the dirt it took a 50 yd death sprint and upon gutting it the damage was very apparent, a few days later he took a big muley doe only the doe was tougher she didn't go down on the first shot so he followed up but the second shot didn't go off because the primer didn't detonate the powder so he cycled another one this went off and down she went. When we gutted her there was very little left of either the lungs or the heart. Goes to show how tough these animals are

 

[Don Fischer]

Little known point. At 350yds, the Accubond LR, Accubond and a cup and core bullet will all do a fine job killing if you do your part! I can see no advantage to premium bullet's except in the maker's bottom line and I don't hunt California so their rule's don't effect me! Year's ago I used 160gr Speer Hot cores in a 7mm Rem Mag. They didn't do anything special, they just killed animals almost as dead as premium bullet's.

 

[AussieHunter]

The images both Addicting and belshawelk posted look like fantastic bullet performance to me. Still some good weight retention and plenty of mushrooming.

I think a lot of hunters forget that BC is like diamonds - it is forever. Two bullets same weight and calibre and same muzzle velocity and the bullet with the higher ballistic coefficient is going to hit with more energy, less drop and less wind drift.

But we still need to think about what we are using the particular bullet for and what cartridge we are shooting it from. The 168grain ABLR is going to perform differently at 150 yards in a 300 RUM when compared to shooting the same out of a 30-06 due to the higher impact velocity. It is also my understanding and experience that the further out, ie slower a bullet is traveling, the more likely it is to mushroom and less likely to be frangible.

There is no perfect bullet for all scenarios and all ranges. We need to pick one that suits our individual requirements and is accurate and try and learn how it performs and potentially place it in a different spot on game at different ranges to to make the most of its performance. I appreciate that can be difficult for many Americans with limited opportunities on game in many states due to tag draws. It is a bit different here in Australia as we just need to find time to get out after our deer then put one or two or four on the ground with no tag limitations.

I have some 168 grain ABLRs loaded up to test in my 30-06, just not had the chance to complete the load development testing at this point. I will be limiting myself to 400 yards but want a good BC bullet to maintain energy and minimize wind drift which in my rifle is pretty important as it sports a twenty one inch barrel so I am getting just under 2800fps with my current load of Berger 168 Grain Classic Hunters whose performance I am not at all happy with.

I knew these were a lighter jacketed bullet going into load development. They shot 5 shots consistently into 1/2 inch at 100 metres if I did my part with very low velocity spread, 17fps. Hence I decided to change my preferred shooting style and go for chest shots and not shoulder shots.

In New Zealand this lead to me loosing a 13 inch Bull Tahr. when shot in the chest he made 250 metre dash along a face then over a 300 foot cliff never to be recovered. It was very dis heartening. I initially thought I had clean missed after the shot he ran so quick. It was not till we got upto the face where he had been that we found the blood trail in his tracks off the edge of the cliff.

The next opportunity I did not repeat the same mistake and shot that bull through the shoulder and then followed up with a chest shot. Upon caping we discovered the Classic hunter had gone through the shoulder blade and left a apple size crater in one rib beneath the blade with no further penetration. That shot was 350 metres. Yes sure the shot anchored the Tahr but I ended up having the opportunity to get that second shot into him it could have been different and he went over the ridge and I would not have found him and he possibly survived. the bull was would have weighed in somewhere between 260 and 300 pound. I regret not taking a photo of the wound

Hoping the ABLRs give me greater penetration. I will endevour to keep you blokes up to date on the performance.

 

[devon deer]

Good to know...was considering a change and now I think I'll stick with my Partitions

Me too, i have been tempted to load up some Accubonds, but in my case if it ain't broke don't fix it, i am so used to them and what they can do it's the bullet of choice for me, on anything from little English roe deer up to Elk.
Cheers
Richard

 

[Addicting]

I am going to be asking Santa for a reloading setup. I’ve killed 5 animals with the ABLR and not happy with how they performed. They waste too much meat and I hat finding lead fragments in my meat processing. I am mainly a meat hunter first so it’s not productive to why I hunt.

For the reloaders on here:
My rifle really likes to cycle the nickel cases that Winchester uses so I am hoping I can just pull the bullets from the 8 boxes I have left. Is that reasonable or should I just shoot them up? I don’t know what powder or primer they used in the factory load to start creating load development.

 

[devon deer]

For the reloaders on here:
My rifle really likes to cycle the nickel cases that Winchester uses so I am hoping I can just pull the bullets from the 8 boxes I have left. Is that reasonable or shoos I just shoot them up? I don’t know what powder or primer they used in the factory load to start creating load development.

I would shoot them, they will be fire formed to your chamber then, but the more experienced loaders than i might give better advice.
Cheers
Richard

 

[AggieOutlaw]

You should really send them to me. I'll shoot them and save you the hassle. I'll even pay for shipping.

But seriously, Richard's advice is sound. Shoot them and then neck size them and they'll be basically custom fit to your chamber.

And as you'll see, you won't save a dime reloading and you'll spend a lot of time doing it. You'll be glad to have the extra "plinker" ammo that you use to consider premium factory loads.

 

[Addicting]

I would be willing to sell them if someone is interested.

 

[Bigjay73]

I would shoot them, and then size them to bump the shoulder back .002. They will fit your chamber nicely. Some fire form and then neck size only, which is another option and school of thought. Which is better? Idk. That's the beauty of reloading. There's more than one way to skin a cat, and finding your way is half the fun and satisfaction.

 

[1_pointer]

Shoot them! The load them. Better fit for your chamber.

 

[Don Fischer]

I am going to be asking Santa for a reloading setup. I’ve killed 5 animals with the ABLR and not happy with how they performed. They waste too much meat and I hat finding lead fragments in my meat processing. I am mainly a meat hunter first so it’s not productive to why I hunt.

For the reloaders on here:
My rifle really likes to cycle the nickel cases that Winchester uses so I am hoping I can just pull the bullets from the 8 boxes I have left. Is that reasonable or should I just shoot them up? I don’t know what powder or primer they used in the factory load to start creating load development.

In my mind the thing wrong with AB bullet's period is they are designed to shed 30% of their weight, same as the partition. Shedding weight to fast gives an explosive effect I just don't care for. The Hornady Bonded they claim retains up to 90% of it's weight, I'd like that better! Interesting thing, there are those that won't use anything other than Monolithic bullet's for what ever reason, those that use bonded for whatever reason and those that use partitions or cup and core for what ever reason. For a lot of people the reason is they used whatever bullet it is for a long time with no complaints. For the people in the monolithic class, I think they are always just looking for something they think is better weather it is or not. For people in California, their government chose's their bullet for them based on the argument of, " I think"! I am always in awe of people that have used whatever bullet for years and never had a problem but they still switch to the latest and greatest as though their new choice is going to make the game they shoot more dead!