Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting partitions or accubonds for my 308?

i have a box of 150gr interlocks left over from last year but was wanting to try something else this year. anyone shoot partitions or accubonds in their 308? would one be a better choice than the other? ive read that accubonds dont open up fast enough in some cases but ive also read its an outstanding deer bullet. ive wanted to try partitions but some guys say those r for bigger game than deer

I can't speak for Accubonds, having never used them. But if you stick in a 150 gr. Partition and can tell the difference in performance between that and a Hornady interlock, then you are ahead of me.

Its not that the partitions aren't that good, they are in fact great performers. But also in fact the interlock is a superb performer, especially at .308 velocities.

I suggest looking into the regular Ballistic Tip 150 for a 308 deer load.

I've killed a truckload with the 150gr Partition, never caught a bullet and all stuff has died.

Of late my 308's and 300 Savages are feed the 130gr TTSX, haven't caught any of them an all stuff has died.

I have a few boxes of these and they are what I intend to use next. I sling the 130gr TTSX at 3100fps in my 308 so I'm assuming I can get at least that with this bullet.

I'd also say that most anything in a 30 caliber will kill deer.


(photo lifted from net)

For sure, at 308 speeds a lot of bullets work great.

The Ballistic Tip 150 is plenty for deer duty. I've put one through a 200 pound buck with a quartering away presentation, in through the ribs and out through the opposite shoulder.

Hell, I hit a running 300 pound hog amidships with a 95 BT from a 243 and it went through and through.

Now I want to cap a big hog with a 100 BT from my 250 Savage.

I'm figuring out I don't need to shoot cannons like the 308 and 300 Savage.

id like to try the 130gr ttsx. only thing is i dont reload. all they make in factory ammo is 150gr or higher. i heard the 130gr performs much better

Killin', I have always used the 165 Pt and max book loads of I-4064 (LC match cases)in my 308 and have full length-ed WT, B. bear and almost all the way stem to stern on a mulligan moose, all died on the spot. -Muddy

I've shot a few with a 180 gr NPT, one each, all exited, all died within a few yards. Partitions work.

Deer ain't hard to kill. I've killed mule deer with Partitions and I've killed 'em with cheap factory loads.

Were I you and were I hunting only deer, I'd go with Sierra GameKing. I can't recall shooting a more accurate bullet. And you'll get twice as many for half the cost.

Back to the original question.......both will work fine and neither is necessary if whitetails are all that you plan to shoot. If you just want to use those bullets, then let your rifle choose which one it likes best.

"...let your rifle choose which one it likes best."

Couldn't agree more.

DF

I can't speak to the 150, but I can say a 180 Partition from a .308 is great medicine on Deer!

One of the best for a .308W, but I would like to try those 125 Accubonds especially in a .300Savage at around 3000.

Further agreement. My 30-06 seems to dislike 180 Accubonds for some reason. Always shoots the 180 Partitions better.

With the '06, you can kill WT's with just about any projectile...

DF

If I was only hunting big Mulie's or Canadian Whitetails, the 150 grain Nosler Partition would without a doubt always be my first choice! I've never had a Partition fail me on ANY type of animal.

While hunting our small body whitetails here in TX, I prefer the plain old Remington 150 Corelocts, as my little .308 will shoot them all into less than a 1/2" hole at 100 yards. Not to mention they are cheaper to shoot. And they have also killed a truckload of feral hogs here the Ranch.

+1. The only bullet I used in my 308, back when it was the only rifle I owned, was the 165 gr Hornady.

I rebuilt an HVA '06, very light weight rifle. I use 130 gr. Honrnady bullets to keep down recoil. It's a perfect WT killer. Good entrance and exit wounds with lots of blood, lots of devastation in between.

In my Kimber/Broughton .308, I use 150 gr. NBT's. Also good WT deer killers.

I may choose different bullets for tougher game. WT's aren't that hard to kill.

DF

I look at the Accubond as a long range Partition. The performance mimics each other. Both fine slugs use which ever shoots best.

I've loaded 150gr. NBT at slower .308 velocities for kids and other new hunters in the family for years and found it's performance on deer to be exceptional. If I had to choose between a Partition and Accubond for normal to upper .308 velocities, I'd choose the Partition. It's the bullet that all other premiums are compared to.

If your gun will shoot them and you think you will ever be elk hunting partitions all the way never had one fail me.

isnt the accubond basically a partition with a tip for better accuracy?

The tip has little to do with accuracy. It's to initiate expansion and to keep people from getting fussy about the nose of lead tipped bullets getting beat up in the mag box. Guys around here will throw ammo away with beat up tips thinking they won't be accurate when they will still fly true as new. The base has much more to do with accuracy than the tip.

Partitions can be very accurate and Accubonds can in inaccurate, all depends on lots of things.


If you are looking for a deer bullet the Hornady SP or Nosler Ballistic Tip is hard to beat.

My 300 WSM's are the same way. AB's aren't nearly as accurate as PT's. In fact out of about 6 or 10 different bullets I've tried the 180 Partitions are the most accurate.

And they work great on deer. Very little meat damage(mess) on lung shots.

Do you think that may be a function of flat base vs. boattail bullet shape?

DF

what i used last year was the hornady american whitetail 150gr. no complaints really although i lost a huge blood trail on a doe i shot. probably my fault. just always wanting to try to find that perfect bullet i guess. i used BTs out of my 270 a couple yrs ago killed 3 bucks and all three there was zero blood trails even tho 2 of the bucks werent hard to find. the 3rd i found one drop of blood and after wandering thro the woods aimlessly for a couple hours finally found my deer. shot behind shoulder a little low. i just like a good blood trail. always had a good blood trail with corelokts out of the 270 maybe i should stick with those lol.

I am a fan of the heavy blood trail also, the only bullet that I did not get a good blood trail from was a 140 Sierra BTSP from my 260. Hard quartering shot @ 20yds, hit the offside shoulder with no exit. No more Sierras for me.


The deer I have shot with ballistic tips from my 30/06 have been down quick with heavy blood trails, I shoot 180s from it and I have never recovered one from a deer as all have passed through.


Look at the Barnes Vor-Tex ammo if you don't reload. They show a 150 TTSX for the 308 Win. I am much a fan of the 130's, again from my 30/06's.

Technically....no.

The plastic tip does not make them necessarily more accurate.

Actually shooting both side by side, I don't see any difference to 500-600 yards.

Same here. I've had excellent results with the partitions and just mediocre accuracy with the AB's. However, I have not tried them in years. I may have also been loading too close to the lands with the AB's. From my experience, the partitions aren't as fussy...

I like the way you think.....I'll also have to add the BTSP Hornady interlocks to that list as well...

is that what the american whitetail hornady ammo is? the btsp?

I believe it is the flat base.

As I posted earlier, asking about the difference between flat base and boattail, does anyone know how a "tight" bore vs. one not so tight may favor one type bullet over the other?

I'm thinking a looser bore may perform better with the obturator effect of the fired charge behind the flat base NPT. That bullet has an exposed lead core, which could facilitate easier expansion of the base to conform to the rifling, whereas the boattail design won't do that as easily.

I'm also thinking a tight bore may not favor one over the other as much. So, it would be interesting to know the bore diameter of those guns favoring the NPT over the NAB.

Just thinking...

I know, I know, that can be dangerous...

DF

Interesting....never thought of that with the BT bullet.

Well I put a lot of game on the ground in and meat on the table with a 140 gr Nosler Partition out of a 7 x 57. I am sort of a lazy fellow, I work up a load for a rifle, in this case a first generation Steyr Mannlicher Model M Professional that I have had since 1975 when I bought it. 50gr of IMR-4350 and a Winchester Western Case. One load for every thing I am willing to shoot with a 7 x 57. Yea the partition will be fine out of your 308 and so would the hornaday. If the load you have is working for you keep shooting it and spend more time at the range than the loading bench.

My bullet in my .308 has been the 140 grain Barnes X bullet. When those are all gone 150 grain NBT's will replace them. The only reason I used the X bullet was I found a couple boxes of old stock very cheap when I first built the rifle. Also I wanted a load for both deer and black bear. In my opinion for whitetail deer the .308 with the 150 grain Hornday Interlock is plenty. I am a big Nosler fan though. I have killed more deer with the NBT in one caliber or another than anything. between Partition ot Accubond I would pick the one my rifle liked best.

I would like to try the 130 grain Barnes though.

Could be a function of the remaining 1/3rd of the jacket material on the Accubonds. but, as in any rifle/bullet combination, listen to the gun, much like Women, she'll tell you what she likes.

To the OP, either in 150 gr weight in your 308W will reliably kill any deer thats ever taken a breath of air.

Gunner

Gunner,

You thinking the thicker jacket, back 1/3rd of the NAB, may be less pliable than the back 1/3rd of the NPT?

DF

Yes.

Gunner

What's your thinking on the tighter bore rifles shooting both about the same and maybe the not so tight bores, favoring the FB NPT?

DF

DF, I have no idea.

The two 300 WSM's both shoots 175 SMK's and 175 Nosler Custom Comps to the same POI(accurately) as the 180 Partitions so who knows.

Interesting to ponder why some type bullets are favored by one gun and not another.

I know, I know...

Useless info that keeps Loonies awake at night...

DF

Dirt, My HVA 308 is just like yours-Muddy

DF: What I have seen is that the Partitions tend to shoot well with loads at or near max for the powder in question....I guess under higher pressure the open base bumps up into the grooves and "fits" better.

I have shot the Partition bullets in various calibers with barrels intentionally cut a full thou or more over sized,ie .278 in 270,.285 in 7mm,.309 in 30 cal,and as much as .378 in 375 caliber (this was an original pre 64 M70 factory barrel. You would be surprised how many pre 64 barrels are "oversized" through the grooves).

I have also had some "tight" button rifled barrels, like Lilja, Douglas,etc...generally the Partition has shot well in all of them when loads got near top end(not dangerous, just max loads).

The oversized barrels generally took slightly heavier charges to reach full velocity than the button tubes;and some of those tighter button barrels were real dogs in the velocity department. We had one McGowen barrel that blew primers until we sent it back to Harry...he slugged it at .276. He actually lapped it out and when we got it back it gave 100 fps more velocity with 130 gr Partitions and the pressure problems had gone away.

Along the way all these barrels also saw other bullets,mostly Sierra's(BT and flat base) and Speers and I can't recall that any did not do well,really too many to single out any examples.Have not shot as many AB's bu my luck with them has generally been good.The only AB to give me a problem is the 270-130...for some reason I have not been able to get them to shoot as well as a Partition...everything else has been good.

Partitions I have measured are not full diameter, ie a 7mm will mike at .283 at the fullest diameter,where as many other bullets are at full diameter...don't know about AB's since I never measured them.

Maybe those loading AB's and having issues might load a bit hotter;or change to a double base powder...I bet the AB's have heavy bases and might need a bigger boot in the arse to obturate into the grooves....not sure.

I know the old Bitterroot would not shoot many times until you reached "max"; the bases were very thick and heavy and it took heavy charges to get them to shoot, especially in magnum cases. But actually I used to work up loads for the BBC by using Partitions first(still do for any new rifle)...the loads interchanged nicely between the two bullets,and many of my hunting rifles impact the two bullets together,even out to 400-500 yards..

I doubt this answers your question but maybe it's food for thought.

I really like that gun.

Link to the build. http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/7722726/1

DF

Great info, Bob, as always.

Thanks, that does stimulate the discussion.

I don't know if we'll ever have all the answers to those questions.

DF

Now, Bob, had you been marching lock step with Kosher/politically correct thinking about that round here on the Fire, that issue would never have come up...

DF

DF I ain't listening....bought another one this morning.

Much like the Barnes X bullets of old with tight or loose bores, it was a crap shoot, and like Bob said, the Partitions ability to squirt [swage] a buttom of lead out the rear core of the bullet to make itself more conforming to differing bore diam's may be one of the keys to it's success in so many guns.

Gunner

Sometimes, I think we try to put too fine a point on bullet selection. We fuss about seating depth to the 0.001 inch, and then the next lot of bullets has a slightly different ogive. We shoot test groups at 70 degrees and 3100 fps, and hunt when the rifle is at 20 degrees below zero and all things (velocity, the way the bullet upsets to fill the grooves, barrel harmonics, and more) are changed. We hit a 90 pound antelope in the sholuder and the bullet tumbles (as I am told is an almost always thing), and then shoot a 300 pound mule deer in the ribs and the bullet acts totally different.
I try to play the odds. A Nosler Partition and the Hornady interlocks have been very predictable in their performance. There are others that are as predictable, I am sure, but those two I have experience with, and will stick to them. Out to at least 400 yards, any of those in an appropriate weight, placed in the lungs will kill any North American land mammal in seconds.

Bob's point about higher velocities/max loads and the AB's is a good one IME, particularly with the 7mag. I've found my groups tightened up considerably then.

Careful...

Certain unnamed Fire members will be making references to your manhood, etc...

DF

JG,

You should be Nosler's poster boy for the 160 gr. NAB in the 7RM. You scored some super trophies in Namibia (an Accubond sweep) and wrote up a great "I Suck" piece here on the Fire. I enjoyed every word and picture.

You done good...

DF

Gracias Amigo!

Dirt, my HVA is strictly factory and I also have a factory full length stock for it as well as a 3338/06 factory contour barrel. That will really get your attention but shoots great and I killed my first elk with it and a 250 gr. NPT. The full stock came from my first one I got in Jr. high in 243, I shot out the bbl. on gophers and the metal was on the way to smith in Spokane when it was stolen but I still have the orig. stock and bottom metal, and no its not for sale ha ha-Muddy

No, the Partition has a copper partition (surprise). The Accubond has a similar construction to the Ballistic Tip but the lead core is bonded to copper jacket to help prevent separation.

A friend uses the Accubonds in his .338 Federal and tells me he has never had one where the lead has separated from the jacket.

Different construction no doubt, but very similar performance on game, IME. Both will retain 60-65% usually.

I fixed your post...

Take a look at the hornady 130 in the 308 for deer. Kills em pretty good.. No real need for a premium bonded or partition at 308 vol.

Depends on where you hunt and whether you can stalk closer to hunt with my favorite ammo for .308 Winchester. I really like the performance of 180 grain round nose Remington core-lokt ammo for shots out to about 225 yards or so. The bullet opens up upon impact like the faster 150 grain but has the momentum to smash through bone or anything else to produce a wide exit hole. I've had very good luck with this ammo for deer, elk, and bear.

Sherwood

think ill stick with the interlocks. i did however pick up a box of winchester powermax bonded just to mix it up some.

You know now that I think of it I've never gotten much of a blood trail from the deer I can recall shooting with interlocks. For years most of my CF rifles were fed bulk corelok bullets so I have a pretty limited sample of 4 kills all within the past few years with various rifles using interlocks.

First was at about 15yds with a 270 and a 140 gr btsp she dropped at the shot bullet angled from ribs to in front of the off shoulder at a steep downward angle breaking the off leg after exiting the chest no bullet recovered.

Second was at about 200yds a 165gr btsp out of a 308 drt. Bullet angled through rib cage to exit if front of off shoulder no bullet recovered

Third and Forth were 117gr btsp out of my 257 Roberts one ran a shot distance 10yds or so and I saw him fall so I can't recall much about the blood trail, shot was broadside thru ribs behind shoulder a double lunger. 2nd entered rib cage and angled thru off shoulder no bullets recovered. 2nd was the only deer I ever took running, his nose immediately dropped to the dirt and he flipped and landed on his side and he never wiggled after that.

For some reason though despite not leaving any blood trails I think Hornadys are great bullets for whitetails and have used more of them lately as the coreloks have increased in price and my supplies have been used up. If your rifle likes them and you have them already, I see no reason to change.

I would choose Partitions for whitetails of the two bullets. Fast expansion and exit holes work for me. If I were doing a lot of long range shooting I would use the Ballistic tip or the Sierra BTSP. These would be in 165 grains. But it would be a much shorter list if we were looking for bullets that were absolutely unsuitable for hunting deer.

I would load up some 150 or 165 Partitions (whichever your rifle prefers) and go kill chit.

Have fun and good luck, Tom

I shoot both. At 308 velocities, the partition will give a little quicker kill IME if you do not hit bone.

Both will kill the deer just as dead if placed properly. If it has not been said, use the bullet that shoots most accurately in your rifle/load. For confidence if nothing else.

EDIT: 150 Hornady Interlocks will kill deer just as well, and possibly better.

yea i pretty much decided to keep shooting the interlocks for now. ive got plenty left anyway.

Just read a pretty good G&A article on PT vs AB vs BT. They say the PT penetrates 10% more than the AC but the AC opens to a (slightly) larger diameter -- hence the slightly shallower penetration. Weight retention is similiar in both. I didn't read anything that would cause me to switch from Partitions --- which shoot well in both my Deer and Elk rifles. The AC would be my next choice though.

I ALSO like InterLocks for Deer: and Ballistic Tips.