Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 160 gr. Partitions and Accubonds from a 280 AI

I drew a tag in area 97 in Wyoming and since the 280 AI is my newest toy I want to use it. It is sighted in for 140gr. Partitions at present pushed to somewhere near 3100fps. I have plenty of the above mentioned 160gr. bullets but will I really get much in the way of improvement? I can easily get 2900fps with either of them. I don't mind working up loads for the heavier bullets and I like the BC of the 160gr. Accubonds. Would this bullet perform as well in the timber or would a Partition be preferred?

Both are deer/elk killers.. I went to the Accubonds because they hold up a bit better at longer ranges..

Either / or are good bullets in your 280. My son is splitting the difference and running the 150 PT's this Fall in his 7mm Mauser, but I can't imagine any of them leaving you high and dry.

I think they designed the 160 Partition...and then someone made elk to kill with them.

Your probably right about that Bob. Haven't heard of many being disappointed with the 160 PT launched from a fast 7.

I never use anything but the 160 gr's in my 280 Ack . Speer Hot Cor 160 FB is my favorite with H4831 . If going after Elk i would change to the 160 gr Nosler Partition

The 160gr. Speer HotCor flat based bullet was long a favorite of mine in the 7x57 but now I have a variety of bullets to use and have not used the Accubond yet. I will probably work up loads for both bullets, sight one in at 3 inches high at 100 yards and see how close to that the other is. I suspect it will be the Accubond as it has better BC and the Partition will probably be plenty close for timber. Area 97 has plenty of wide open and timber to go around.

I've been having great success with VVn165 and the 160 NP out of my 23" 280AI as far as developing a load. Going on a New Mex elk hunt this fall where it will be used.

I researched a lot of bullets and it seems the 160 NP (or NPs in general) get the same reviews as the 30_06. They work.

Never shot an elk at all, but was shocked last season when my father caught a 160grAB on a 100yd whitetail (175lb) with a double shoulder shot. MV was 2,900fps. Deer dropped right there with no exit.

Aside from that one, we've not caught any in deer or hogs. I'd have confidence in it as an elk bullet, but would likely go for lungs to be safe.

I'd just run your 140 grain partition load. It sure won't bounce off an elk

Two hunts two different bullets. First hunt was an elk, the first elk I killed. I was using a wildcat short fat seven firing 160 partitions about 3,100 feet per second. The elk was at a ranged 400 yards. The entrance wound on the broadside shot made a six inch bruise and the exit made a three inch bruise; at least that�s what the taxidermist told me.

The next hunt was with a 7STW for caribou. We were firing 140 partitions at 3,400 feet per second. This one was sorta quartering toward me. The bullet entered the right shoulder and exited at about the diaphragm.

I'd not run a 160 Accubond if someone gave them to me free. Been there done that in my 280AI with poor results! Stick with your Partition load and not give it another thought.

Palidun �

First, good luck on your hunt. Partitions or AccuBonds will both work, whether 140g or 160g.

That said, my choice was a 160g weight Speer Grand Slam for 20+ years in my 7mm RM. When I finally got a chrono I discovered my 7mm RM was launching at .280AI or even .280 velocities as I had backed off velocity to improve case life. Elk didn�t know the difference, with most dropping at the shot. The Grand Slams very reliably made two holes and it wasn�t until the last year I used them that I finally recovered one. That particular bullet destroyed both shoulder joints on a 5x5 bull and stopped up against the hide on the off side.

If in doubt, go with the Partition. I�d trade a little accuracy for confidence any day and chances are high that the difference in trajectory will be a non-issue.

Just two examples among others;but I was on the scene when a little huntress dropped a big 6x6 in mid bugle with a 160 NPT from a 7mm Rem Mag at about 500 yards.He was killed so abruptly that he just about bounced.....shoulder shot, in and out and done.

This was in the days when we didn't know we were handicapped without a plastic tip,and had not read that NPT's lacked the accuracy and BC for that type shooting

My last bull 4-5 years ago was hit through the shoulders with a 160 NPT from a 7mm Rem Mag at about 180 yards.He was dumped mid stride and cascaded down the mountain for 60-70 yards...pretty dramatic to watch. Again,in and out the other side.

I point this out to bring up something about the 160 NPT that I have noticed about Partitions,in other weights and calibers, and that is that,quite frequently and regardless of distance(out to 500 yards,as far as I have used them), you are going to get the expansion AND the penetration with frequent exits(not always, I have recovered a few),regardless of distance.But penetration has never been lacking.

This is something that may be hard to duplicate with other designs,and can be very helpful dealing with large animals at close range should the need arise..

Whether the AB always does this I have no idea; I have only used one on an animal.

I run 160 ABs in my 280AI. I killed a mule deer two years ago at 300 yards - dropped dead at the shot. I killed an elk last year at 336 yards - dropped dead at the shot (unfortunately rolled 150 yards into a hole).

From my limited experience, animals drop dead from 160ABs from a 280AI.

The 160 Partition is a fantastic bullet. I push them to only about 3000 fps from my 7 mag. With Reloder 33, I can best that quite a bit, but 3000 works well. They shoot sub-half-minute in two rifles. I punched one through both shoulders of a big cow elk at 443 yards last January. It is an impressive bullet and my go-to for elk. The Accubond should be just as good.

The 140 will do the job also, but as long as you don't mind playing a little, I would go with the 160.

Well it seems both bullets have supporters. The last elk I shot was with a 7MM RM pushing a 175gr. Hornady on top of a bunch of Reloder 22. He was only 125 yards away, hit at the back edge of the shoulder he dropped but was trying to get back into a big deep ditch so I shot him again. Neither bullet exited and the angle was not severe. Absolutely major tissue damage and the destruction of one shoulder due to bloodshot. I had some 160gr. Partitions loaded but for some reason the Hornady was in the chamber when the elk climbed out of the head of a long draw. I have shot many deer and feral hogs with the 140gr. Partition and results were always perfect. Checking the flight characteristics of either bullet shows there is a plenty flat trajectory out to 500 yards which is farther than I want to shoot but might have to. Going to flip a coin. Heads, the 160 gr. Partition wins.

My hunting partner shoots the 160 gr. Accubond to about 3000 FPS from his 7MM Mag. We only started hunting together two years ago but hes dropped two cow elk with that load, one at about 180yards and one at a lasered 317 yards. Both were bang flops DRT. H erecovered the bullet from the first elk (317 yd) and it look almost like the few recovered Partions I've seen. I shot mine with a .35 Whelen.
I don't have a .280AI but I do have a straight .280 Rem. and I've been playing with the 150 gr. Accubond long range. hat's one slippery bullet. I'm getting 3010 using the data from the Nosler manual and IMR 7828SSC. Now I have to play with the seating depth to see if I can get better accuracy. I've tried them in a 7x57 as swell but thar rifle flat out hates that bullet. A friend told be of some very fantastic velocity he got from his 7x57 M70 FWT running Re17. He was kind enough to give me his data as I have the same rifle. He said he had absolutely no pressure signs. Dunno if I have the stones to try all the way for his final load. I have the test loads made jup. Now if I could get some cooperative weather I'll find out.
Paul B.

^^^^^THIS^^^^^

But I love the heavies too, I'd have to use the 175 Partitions.

Starting load workup with R22 and Winchester LRM primers. Should easily be able to get 2900 fps which should suffice and give good brass life.

Before I was enlightened to the fact that elk had armor I killed more than a few elk with a 7mm Rem mag shooting 154 hornady Interlock flat base spire points. All the bullets you are talking about will do just fine (unless you find an armor plated elk).

What you need is freezer wrap!

enjoy your hunt
8mmwapiti

Why mess with it?

I suppose the 160 works better? hmmmm

You already have a load for a 140 and you are sighted in?

Get out and practice shooting this new rifle and get very familiar with it

Stop phuggin with load bs and get proficient

I agree about the 175s, but was not all that impressed until I recently tried Re33 with them. .5 grains under max, got me 3075 fps with Hornady and Nosler from my 26-inch sps. If I did not have so many 160's, I may consider switching back to the 175.

Prepped 30 cases but the idea of using the 140gr. Partition load I already have worked up and is very accurate is starting to appeal to me. Not enough though to stop me from burning some powder and shooting some paper with both 160 gr. bullets.

I killed a 4x4 last year with a 140 Partition from my 7mm-08. One shot, DRT. Same bullet you're talking about.




P

Load em up with the R22 and go shoot em. If you have a clock and know what they're running, do it again at 40 degrees or lower and see if you have the same speed.

I've found R22 to be very temp sensitive, Good lock to ya

I use Re22 a lot. Sighting in at the same range of temps you will be hunting at, negates the temp swings. All powder is temp sensitive to a point. Some are less than others, however.

It doesn't help that I will do the workup in 85 to 95 degree temps either. I have some H4831,not short cut, would that be less temp sensitive?

Where did you hit him? How fast were you pushing it?

If you work it up in the heat, it will not be a hot load in the cold. It is no big deal. Just sight in before you go hunting and if you have a chrono, check to see how much difference there is. Usually, I have found that poi does not change a lot over all.

MV is 2873 ft/sec, distance was 68 yards. He was broadside to me and I hit hit about halfway down the left scapula, near the long ridge that runs down the bone horizontally. The bullet took out both lungs and lodged under the hide. The bull took two startled steps forward then staggered backward and collapsed.






P

There is a range that goes to 600 yards we check our rifles on before we go hunting. I usually bring enough ammo to play on it a while.

Pretty photo. The bullet looks perfect considering the high impact velocity and the thick part of the elk it hit.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8868980/1

I'll let JG talk about 160 NAB's out of his 7RM.

DF

I love it!

My uncle and a buddy of his have probably 6 moose and as many elk they've killed with 160gr partitions out of 7 mags. Very effective bullet in the .284 caliber.

If I keep reading about .280 Rem's, I'm liable to sell every rifle I own and buy one.

I know very little about the .280 AI, but I do know about the .280 Rem. It doesn't give up enough to the 7MM Rem Mag to cause any big game to know the difference, and I like 22" barreled rifles. And I also know that there's magic in .284 caliber bullets.

My elk hunt starts on Sept 13. I have about 90 160 grain 7MM Rem Mag Paritions loaded with 67 grains of H-4831, a load that I got out of data that was printed in the 70's. It is completely safe in my Sako. In fact, I could increase it were I inclined. But I'm not. I'll take it as it is. I've chrono'd it at better than 3100 FPS. I did buy a hundred 175 grain Partitions. I'm not going to load then. I'll use the 160 grain Partitions I have.

BTW, my worst shot was on a mule deer buck. I usually hunt mule deer with my .270 Win. But my brother was using it. So I used my 7MM Rem Mag with 160 grain Partitions. At about a 100 yards I hit a buck square in the gut. No excuses: it was a horrible shot. He dropped immediately. I did have to shoot him again. I hate second shots. Anyway, I was impressed with the Partition's ability to drop game with horrible shots. I hope to God that I never repeat such horrible shooting.

Don't need a .280 when I have a long throated 7x57.




Here's a cow elk I killed with a 7mm Dakota. Shot it around 100 yds away,with a 160 gr NP at just a hair under 3200 fps mv.

elkhunternm,

God only knows how many of all North American big game were killed with a 7X57.

A 160 grain .284 Partiton at 2800 FPS will kill anything in North America.

I learned this far to late: it ain't ow fast a bullet goes, it's where a bullet goes.

When I began hunting, my hunting friend who's now in Heaven used to tell me that the MM in 7MM Rem Mag stood for might miss, the point being that velocity is useless if a bullet does go where it needs to be.

I've killed deer,elk,jackrabbits,coyotes and antelope with the 7mm 160 gr NP, so far no complaints yet. Used the 160 gr in 7mm Rem Mag and the 7mm Dakota.

In the 7mm Dakota I'm now using a 140 gr NBT as it's new role is for deer and antelope. It has a Leupold 4.5-14x on it also. The Leupold CDS is also gone.



To your last point,if you can't hit it,you can't kill it. Baring something out of the shooters control ie..wind,animal moving,hit a twig/branch etc...

I decided to use H4831 to reduce the effect of temperature. It was 99 degrees and I worked up to Noslers max of 59.0 grs. with both bullets. I liked the accuracy better at 58.0 grs so I backed down to that but I had no pressure issues. I like that both bullets hit pretty close to the same point of impact. A six shot group using 3 each Accubond/Partition came in under 1 1/4 inches as I think the partition may center just a bit to the right from the Accubonds but I can live with that.

I've killed over 30 elk with the 160 Partition out of a 280 RCBS. Ranges from 50 to 600 yds. Have also killed elk using the AB, I much prefer the partition especially at shortest and longest ranges. I like how the nose of the partition opens up at long range. Its base punches through at short range.

They say the AB performs like a NP, I've not seen it. I don't trust the AB for a shot up the six either.

For large mule deer or elk at any angle the 160 will better the lighter ones in penetration in my experience.

The 175 NP at 2,800 doesn't slack either. The 280 AI can handle that bullet great too. Don't overlook it.

This has been my experience as well. I feel the AB is much more Ballistic Tip in performance than a Partition.

I've had nothing but great experience with the 160 gr. NP.

The 160 gr. AB gave me some great results, but with enough exceptions to steer me away from it.

KCBighorn,

I've used Partitions. I know they work. Ballistic Tips do the job on mule deer. I have some AB's, but I've yet to try them. In fact, I ain't yet loaded any.

On my upcoming elk hunt, I'm going with Partitions. It will be a de facto once-in-a-life trophy hunt for me. I can't risk screwing it up. So I'm going to load 150 grain Partitions for my .270 Win. I already have a lot of 160 grain 7MM Rem Mag Partition rounds loaded.

BTW, were I to use factory ammo, I'd use Core-Lokts.

elkhunternm,

I will write that you do have good taste in rifles. That Dakota has a gorgeous stock.

Got a call from the farmer that has the property next to mine. He said the hogs were all over. I took the 280 and parked my truck just below the graveyard, walked out 75 yards or so and put a five gallon bucket of soured chicken scratch out. Right after dark a bunch of piglets and a couple sows headed directly for my bucket. The biggest sow was only 150 pounds but that didn't stop me. Just after she tipped over the bucket I shot her thru the head. No real bullet test just a dead pig but the Accubonds are accurate.

Excellent!!!........

Alpincrick: With a 7 RM and 160 NPT, there isn't any "7 Em Em, shoot 'em again"...

I have heard that said in Australia deer camps in relation to the .270 and the Red Deer.

John

John I guess those guys in the red deer camp don't follow the CF.....they must be too busy killing animals!

practice putting whatever your choice in the right spot and all will be well. There is a ton of Elk killed each year with 100 grain Broadheads, I suspect your Partitions will do pretty well.

Randy

There it is again...the 270 butts into another 7mm thread, acting like it belongs. It's like the little brother that tags along, no matter how much it gets picked on! I hate to keep reminding people, but that .007" difference in diameter can mean the difference between lost game and recovered game. I saw it several times in my youth!

Jason that's because the 270 is "7mm".

It's mostly all twist and boolits

(That should liven things up!)

I'd worry a lot more about finding an elk than I would about whether to shoot an accubond or a partition.

That is my experience. Can usually find them when carrying a camera but not when carrying a rifle.

I gotta get my ass in gear and load 150 grain .270 Win Partitions and try 'em. My elk hunt begins on Sept 13. I damned well better be ready.

I think I'm going 59 grains of R-22. A 150 grain .270 Win Partition ought to rearrange an elk's blood oxygenating apparatus.

John I guess those guys in the red deer camp don't follow the CF.....they must be too busy killing animals! [/quote]

There it is again...the 270 butts into another 7mm thread, acting like it belongs. It's like the little brother that tags along, no matter how much it gets picked on! I hate to keep reminding people, but that .007" difference in diameter can mean the difference between lost game and recovered game. I saw it several times in my youth![/quote]

This coming from someone who advocates the use of 7mm match bullets on elk? Give us a break.....

Yes but one interesting separation between the .270 and 7mm rem doesn't get mentioned often, the fact that the Remmy can propel 175 grain bullets down range at the same or higher velocity than the .270 can propel 150's.

Much higher BC and SD if you are so interested and more thump upon arrival.

Now, does that matter?

My comment was made in jest, but you taking it as attack is telling. I don't think there is much difference between calibers from 243 to 323 when an expanding, heavy for cal bullet at moderate to high velocity is put into the heart/lungs of any of the game in the CONUS. Is there any real difference? It isn't quantifiable by several measures, including wound measurements. The only real difference between 7mm and .270 cals is the heavier bullets that are standard, due to generally faster twist rates in 7s. The 270 is the stepchild here on the fire, and I like to read the prodding that goes on from both sides, both pro- and anti-270. It is fun for me because what is really being arguing is our own histories with guns, hunting, and lore.

As far as using match bullets on game, well I do it, but I don't advocate for it, nor do I proselytize. Use what you want? Why would I care? I do try to inform, especially when confronted by someone who throws it at me like an accusation. You, I'm not going to bother with.

Either/or. I've only used the Accubonds on elk, but I promise both will work.