Experience with Nosler Accubonds

[superdutch]

I have used them in a 270wsm for many plains game animals, the largest being kudu and zebra, and in North America on mountain goat and dall sheep. All the recovered bullets look like they could be in a magazine advertisement- perfect mushroom. I think highly of them on all thin skinned game.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Does anyone know how the Nosler Accubond bullets are made? The use of the term "bond" would seem to suggest some sort of physical bonding of core to jacket (like Bill Steigers' old Bitterroot bullets), but is this actually the case? Steigers used a soldering process with his.

South Pender.
Don't know how they are made ,I just know they work. The photos show a 225grain accubond started at 2,850fps our of my 35 Whelan. Impact velocity at around 120yards was about 2,600fps. Hit a kudu front on and the skinners retrieved the the bullet from the ham. Around five and a half feet of penetration. The other bullet as good as the accubonds is the Australian Woodleigh projectiles

retained weight of 176grains

 

[Philip Glass]

Worked well for me in my .375 Ruger on many animals including lion. I don’t know much about manufacturing process.

 

[MarkB]

Used partitions many years ago but found they made to much sewing on repairs. Changed to accubonds and never looked back. Last safari 165 gr in 308 win, Namibia and 42 animals, nothing went far, and think we recovered 3. Last fall, 160 yds big old BC bull moose, 1 shot dropped him, then 2 weeks later 75 yds same for a nice elk, both these with same 165 gr in 300 wsm. This summer I plan on only using accubonds, 260 in 375 for lion and big PG and same 165 in the 300 wsm. Maybe we will find some so I can add pics to my hunt report. Accubonds always worked for me, will keep them as my only bullet, these are NOT the LR versions, because I like getting close.

MB

 

[bruce moulds]

is a good lion bullet also a good buffalo bullet?
bruce.

 

[MarkB]

is a good lion bullet also a good buffalo bullet?
bruce.

I am no expert, does 2 buff count and no African lion yet. But a say Maybe? I would not hesitate you shoot a lion or buff with a 300 gr 375 accubond. Second bullet may want a solid for the going away shot. Other with more experience can comment.

MB

 

[JGRaider]

I've killed at least 100 big game animals with accubond bullets of the 7mm variety....140's and 160's. I've had impacts on big mule deer at 30 yds from a 7mag, and 450 yd kills with 140's from a 7mm08. I have no complaints at all and am very impressed with their performance. Most of the time I got exits.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I've been using the AB's in North America for the last several years. Using 180s in a .300 Win Mag, I have taken a bull moose, a black bear and 2 mule deer bucks. Using a 7-08 with 140s I shot a blacktail buck at about 200 yards. All bullets exited and the animals died. I intend to use them for plains game in an upcoming safari. They are accurate and seem to work well.

 

[Mr. Zorg]

They are in a boxed that's marked as the normal Accubonds, I wondered the same thing, maybe a run of LRs made into the wrong box. I found one of the rounds from that box. Other than cutting it apart, I'm not sure there is a way of telling the difference?

The Accubonds are all supposed to have a white polymer tip.

The ABLR's are all supposed to have a black polymer tip.

Nosler Ballistic Tips are supposed to have different color polymer tips depending on bullet diameter.

If you can section one and easily separate the jacket from the core with pliers, or even without pliers, that would be a definite sign of inadequate bonding.

Were the bullets that displayed these effects noted as factory seconds by any chance? Just curious.

John Barsness posted on another forum only the rear half of conventional Accubonds are bonded, which is how the typical weight retention more closely parallels Partitions, between 60% & 70%, than Swift bullets, around 90+%, for example. I have no clues on the credibility of that info.

My only field experience with Nosler Accubonds was positive. I shot a 100 lbs-ish feral hog in the neck last April at about 100 yards using Federal Premium .25-06 Remington ammo loaded with the .257 110 grain Nosler Accubond at published 3100 fps muzzle velocity. Bang-flop onto that side of its body, but I gave it a finishing shot after the rear leg continued to kick for 15 seconds or so. Examining the carcass the first shot had a small diameter entrance and blew a golf ball size divot of the opposite side of the neck out, but had hit a little too high to directly break the neck. The finishing shot basically did the same in the opposite direction but was centered closer to the vertebrae. Neither bullet was recovered. I plan on using more Accubonds in 6.5mm & 7mm.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

The Accubonds are all supposed to have a white polymer tip.

The ABLR's are all supposed to have a black polymer tip.

Nosler Ballistic Tips are supposed to have different color polymer tips depending on bullet diameter.

If you can section one and easily separate the jacket from the core with pliers, or even without pliers, that would be a definite sign of inadequate bonding.

Were the bullets that displayed these effects noted as factory seconds by any chance? Just curious.

John Barsness posted on another forum only the rear half of conventional Accubonds are bonded, which is how the typical weight retention more closely parallels Partitions, between 60% & 70%, than Swift bullets, around 90+%, for example. I have no clues on the credibility of that info.

My only field experience with Nosler Accubonds was positive. I shot a 100 lbs-ish feral hog in the neck last April at about 100 yards using Federal Premium .25-06 Remington ammo loaded with the .257 110 grain Nosler Accubond at published 3100 fps muzzle velocity. Bang-flop onto that side of its body, but I gave it a finishing shot after the rear leg continued to kick for 15 seconds or so. Examining the carcass the first shot had a small diameter entrance and blew a golf ball size divot of the opposite side of the neck out, but had hit a little too high to directly break the neck. The finishing shot basically did the same in the opposite direction but was centered closer to the vertebrae. Neither bullet was recovered. I plan on using more Accubonds in 6.5mm & 7mm.

Mr Zorg
Have you had any experience with the 25 cal Nosler combined technology silver tip 115grain. Bought some to try. They group extremely well in my 25, 0.8 inch groups at 200yards. If they are anything like the 110 accubonds they should be good
Cheers mate Bob

 

[Mr. Zorg]

Mr Zorg
Have you had any experience with the 25 cal Nosler combined technology silver tip 115grain. Bought some to try. They group extremely well in my 25, 0.8 inch groups at 200yards. If they are anything like the 110 accubonds they should be good
Cheers mate Bob

Yes and no. I sighted my .25-06 Remington Interarms Mark X with Winchester factory ammo loaded with the Combined Technology ballistic tips in 2018, at 25 yards as prep for hunting on a friend's land that had limited shot distances from the blinds, and the floor of the blinds are about 8 feet above grade. The rifle grouped well with this ammo at the range. In the field, I completely missed 4 different deer at ranges from 3 to 30 yards with this ammo, no adjustments made to scope settings. The shot presentations were broadside, and I aimed about 6" up from the bottom of the chest each time. One Axis buck and three whitetail does. The last shot was at a doe at similar elevation to the ground below the stand and maybe 5 tards away, and I saw all these ripples kick up in a shallow area with standing water behind the doe. The shot went right over he top of the doe's spine! The next week I went back to the range and shot same ammo at 25 yards and it grouped well on target no adjustments to scope done.

So I sighted in Federal Power Shock 117 grain plain Jane PSP instead, and bagged a spike whitetail buck on that same property, broadside shot, head down, with perfect impact halfway between the corner of its right eye and right ear hole, exactly at point of aim, the last day of whitetail season in 2019.

Later I sighted the same rifle in with Fedral Vital Shock 110 grain Accubond at 100 yards, and took the feral hog mentioned in my previous post. I misstepped disembarking from the ranch truck bed after that when we returned to the bunkhouse, and my rifle and I were a bit skinned up. I skipped the predawn dropoff hunt and checked my rifle at the range with backstop set up bear the bunkhouse instead. The point of impact had shifted high and right. I sighted back in with Federal Fusion 120 grain factory ammo, and bagged a second feral hog for the evening hunt with Fusion, with not a twitch after dropping at the shot.

I still have no explanation for the results I experienced with the Winchester 115 grain CT Ballistic Tip ammo but I don't plan on hunting with it again with that rifle.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

is a good lion bullet also a good buffalo bullet?
bruce.

Bruce moulds.
Another bullet I like that holds together well is the Woodleigh protected point. These are very accurate in my Whelen and hold together very well. The big zebra stallion I shot with a 225grain Woodleigh PPSP. The bullet smashed both shoulders and destroyed the heart and lungs.
The bullet retained weight of 17grains. When the bullet was washed you could feel pieces of bone coming off it. The bullet impacted at around 2,600 fps at around 120 yards.

The 10 cent coin is 1 inch.
Cheers mate Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Bruce moulds.
Another bullet I like that holds together well is the Woodleigh protected point. These are very accurate in my Whelen and hold together very well. The big zebra stallion I shot with a 225grain Woodleigh PPSP. The bullet smashed both shoulders and destroyed the heart and lungs.
The bullet retained weight of 17grains. When the bullet was washed you could feel pieces of bone coming off it. The bullet impacted at around 2,600 fps at around 120 yards. View attachment 337833
View attachment 337834
The 10 cent coin is 1 inch.
Cheers mate Bob

Retained bullet weight should be 175 grains not 17 grains.

 

[Firebird]

Nosler Accubond is one of my favorite bullets. I had left nosler for a long time and that bullet is the reason I use some noslers again. Looking at the sheep picture I thought in my head that it looked like a ballistic tip and the very reason I dont like them. Accubonds are fully bonded from tip to tail and I have never seen one come apart. I shoot them in my .300 win mag at 3050 fps and can account for multiple deer, and elk, coyotes with them, including the 200inch mule deer my brother killed with it. My nephew used my 7mm-08 and the 140 to kill his first elk with no issues. Bad things happen and nothing is flawless but I am surprised to hear anyone say they had a bad experience with accubonds. I've even had great success with the long range accubonds though only on deer and antelope, have not tried them on anything bigger.

 

[C.W. Richter]

In short, I've had bad experiences with the accubonds in Africa, from calibers (7mm/.30/.338) shooting @ ~2,750-2,850 fps muzzle velocity. Once made perfect shots on a Kudu and Blue Wildebeest (4-5x the size of American deer; the 1st recovered @ 500 yds and the other ran into the next country.) With higher velocity calibers (>3,000 fps .257, .264-.35 particularly w/ the higher SD) they worked fine. But, after the aforementioned experience, in Africa I've ditched the "plastic tips" in favor of the tried-and-true Nosler Partitions, Woodleigh SP and Weldcore, Barnes TSX and Banded Solids, and Swift A-frames. Their terminal performance cannot be beat. There is NO advantage for a plastic tipped bullet used in hunting game at yardages of ~400 or less (and in Africa it will nearly always be considerably less than that unless you requested some long-range culling). There will be something in the way, you can always get closer, and your PH will not approve of it. Facts. I prefer hunting bullets over target bullets anyday (no matter what the sales & marketing department tells you.) African game is a whole 'nother ballgame as compared to thin-skinned American game. The only exception I'd make in Africa to the above is use of the Barnes TTSX. Nothing wrong w/ a plastic tip on a monolithic copper bullet behind it-they generally group 1/2 the size of the TSX (i.e. 1/2" vs. 1" or less) and perform just as well in the end. The latest, greatest thing they have to sell (and I know the accubond has been around since at least '07-as that's the last time I used them. Expensive experiment) is not typically what's best.

 

[C.W. Richter]

Bruce moulds.
Another bullet I like that holds together well is the Woodleigh protected point. These are very accurate in my Whelen and hold together very well. The big zebra stallion I shot with a 225grain Woodleigh PPSP. The bullet smashed both shoulders and destroyed the heart and lungs.
The bullet retained weight of 17grains. When the bullet was washed you could feel pieces of bone coming off it. The bullet impacted at around 2,600 fps at around 120 yards. View attachment 337833
View attachment 337834
The 10 cent coin is 1 inch.
Cheers mate Bob

Those are fantastic hunting bullets! The 160 in .264 has an exceptionally high BC and SD which I've used extensively on plains game in Africa. Also legendary for 1st shots on Buffalo, but I used the Swift A-Frames as the supply of Woodleighs in America seems to be on a tidal cycle...

 

[tedthorn]

As of late....I've witnessed the Nosler Accubonds and Nosler Balistic Tips are having similar performance on game from our group of hunters. On recovered bullets of each type we are getting 66% weight retention from both.
In this photo example you can see the jackets of these are not all created equal but the Accubond in the middle is very similar to the two .308 bullets on the right

 

[tedthorn]

Oh....
To answere the question
Since 2008
My wife and I have killed close to 100 deer, a hand full of elk and pronghorn as well as eleven different species of African game and even a handful of turkey with Accubonds. No problems

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

As of late....I've witnessed the Nosler Accubonds and Nosler Balistic Tips are having similar performance on game from our group of hunters. On recovered bullets of each type we are getting 66% weight retention from both.
In this photo example you can see the jackets of these are not all created equal but the Accubond in the middle is very similar to the two .308 bullets on the rightView attachment 337842

Tedthorn
My son mainly used 150grain accubonds in his 308 Howa with a chronoed muzzle velocity of a bit over 2,900 fps. Never experienced a problem, most shots thru and thru with normal entrance holes and exit holes around double size. Even complete penetration on an Oryx cow at 180 yards, 1 shot and down.
They are now one of his favorite bullets along with the 140gn outer edge monolith.
Cheers mate Bob

 

[tedthorn]

Tedthorn
My son mainly used 150grain accubonds in his 308 Howa with a chronoed muzzle velocity of a bit over 2,900 fps. Never experienced a problem, most shots thru and thru with normal entrance holes and exit holes around double size. Even complete penetration on an Oryx cow at 180 yards, 1 shot and down.
They are now one of his favorite bullets along with the 140gn outer edge monolith.
Cheers mate Bob

My wife and I shared a rifle back in 2014 in South Africa.
.308 dia 150 grn Nosler Accubonds at just under 2900 fps
We killed everything that we pointed the muzzel at....most didnt hold a bullet unless it was a frontal shot