Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Accubonds in Africa

Please tell me about your on-game experience with Nosler Accubond bullets on plains game in Africa. Let me know the bullet weights, cartridges and ranges at which the bullets used.

Thanks, RS

I can't answer, never been.

But, how about a link to a really neat NAB story told by a really neat guy.

160 gr. NAB's, 7RM Tikka and a half decent trigger man...

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8855404/1

DF

I would say that as high as 80% of my hunters use some type of Nosler, whether Accubond or Partition. I personally believe that an Accubond is the better design, and have yet to have either one fail on any animal over many years.
I can't recall all of the calibers, but it would have typically been 30 cal or 7mm or something along those lines.

Don't think that you have to worry about the performance of Noslers at all.

RipSnort,

Since AccuBonds were introduced over a decade ago, I've seen several dozen used in Africa. The bullets ranged from the 140-grain 7mm to the 260-grain .375, and the cartridges from the 7mm-08 Remington to the .375 Ruger, with the most common combination the .300 Winchester Magnum with 180's.

Overall they've worked very well. The 7mm-08 with 140's killed several animals without any problems, including a trophy nyala and a blue wildebeest, which took one behind the shoulder and folded up dead within 50-75 yards. In fact, all the combinations worked fine on the larger plains game such as kudu, zebra, gemsbok and blue wildebeest.

The only one that failed was a 180 from a .300 Winchester Magnum that hit a big bull eland in the shoulder. It broke the shoulder but only penetrated one lung. The bull stumbled around a little, then stopped, and a second shot behind the shoulder put it down. Gauging from the results of two hunters who used the 260-grain from the .375 H&H and .375 Ruger, it would have been a better choice for shoulder-shooting eland.

One hunter used the 225-grain from a .338 Winchester Magnum on over a dozen animals, killing all but two with one shot--and one of those was a blue wildebeest he tried to head-shoot, because he planned to make the hide into a rug and didn't want any holes. His trophies included several tougher plains game animals, aside from several wildebeest including waterbuck, zebra and gemsbok.

Over 80% of the bullets exited, with about half the non-exits on angling or lengthwise shots. I took a bull gemsbok with a facing shot with the 250-grain from a 9.3x62, and while the bull dropped right there the bullet ended up somewhere in the guts and was never found.

Ranges varied from up close to over 300 yards. Weight of the recovered bullets ran from 65-80%, with the .338, 9.3mm and .375 bullets at the heavier end, since they're designed to retain more weight.

Dad used 250 gr accubonds in his .338 RUM, on his plains game, in Makuti. They nicknamed him "Colonel One-Shot" by the end of his safari. Here's why....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ki0OVgqFFUU

This shot was a skinny 350 yds, check out the reaction of the tracker, after the shot. Almost as good as the Sable's reaction!!! Andy#3

Have used Accubonds on 14 plains game animals with excellent results. The other 4 plains game animals were taken with Nosler Ballistic Tips. I shot a Hartmans, mountain, Zebra with my 300WSM loaded with 180 grain Accubonds. He was running up hill at approx. 200 ydfs. I placed the shot on his right shoulder and the Accubond passed through both shoulders. He could not continue running up hill and turns to run back down. I placed another shot on his left shoulder and the Accubond passed completely through both shoulders breaking them both. I am a convinced hand loader that these are excellent on heavy skinned and boned animals. Good luck! MTG

I used a 300 Winchester w 180 grain accubonds on zebra, hertebeest, springbok, kudu, eland & multiple gemsbok. Works perfect if you put em where they are supposed to go. The eland was the only one requiring a follow up but that's because the 1st was poorly placed by me.

I've see a lot of these type videos and this is one of the best. It set the stage and showed the human element of those of use that kill animals and not the hype and hysterics that so many TV shows present. Nicely done.

My only Accubond input is CONUS and I have been very pleased with it with the 110 gr on deer from the .257 and the 180 out of a .300 H&H on elk.

Thank you for sharing the video. Really enjoyed it.

My pleasure, Marius. He did pretty good with his .500NE, also. 1 month before his 80th birthday! Andy#3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u14WMSjA49o

I am a big Accubond fan. I can also mention that the local reloaders and hunters are also huge fans of these bullets. I used to shoot it, out of my 300H&H, 180grn @ 3084fs. My only problem was, as a local hunter, ( hunting for venison) I had some issues with excessive meat damage, at closer range. I tried to download for less velocity, but could not duplicate the small groupings. This was all due to the fact that I could not replicate an optimum barrel time(node) at a lower velocity. Nothing to do with the quality of the accubonds. Their killing prowess,consistency and reliability never let me down on any of the plainsgame, as far as one shot kills goes.

GF used a 180 AB in her 30-06. An Oryx and Zebra, each just over 100 yards, succumbed to them.

The Oryx was hit perfectly, but still ran 300 yards. The Zebra was not hit nearly as well, but was easily recovered. One shot each. The bullets were not recovered.

I have killed eleven different species of African plains game with a 150 grain Accubond from a plain old 30-06

This thread tells a lot about Nosler

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/11774237/1

My youngest son, then 13 years old, took all of his plains game (seven or eight critters) with the 160 gr AB via the 7x57. Here's one.

325 WSM with 200 grain AB's my PH calls it the hammer.

Used 160 gr AB's in my 7mm mag and 7 SAUM last 2 trips to africa. Dropped a big Kudu so fast my PH asked where he went! I think something like 21 animals in those trips. Worked well. Bruce

Nosler E-tip 180 grain in 300 WM produced 5 one shot and drop kills when I was there last week. Recovered 2 of the bullets but have not weighed them yet. Perfect performance

That's awesome!

I shot a .300 Jarrett (8mm necked-down--very similar to a .300 Weatherby) with 165 grain AccuBonds in Tanzania a few years back. I shot everything from a head-shot on a hippo to a dik dik with this round. I would definitely kick it up to at least a 180 grain next time. Perfect 250+ yard shoulder shots on a waterbuck and hartebeest were indicative of being a little under-gunned.

I have been to Africa only once. I used a Nosler Rifle in 280 Ackley improved, shooting 140 grain AccuBonds. While the outfitter, PH and my hunting partner believed I was undergunned, all four animals required a single shot. The AccuBonds have performed flawlessly here stateside too on elk and mule deer. If I ever go back, I'll use the same rifle and load.