Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 200 grain Accubond

A couple myths that hang around here: premium (bonded/partition/mono) bullets and fast twist. Although fast twist isn't the subject here, premium billets are.

I have used the 200 grain Accubond bullets with outstanding success, but have come to the conclusion that anything you shoot in the lower 48 doesn't need a premium bullet.

I have had great success with Hornady spire points and Nosler BT to realize that there isn't a need to use the other bullets. If you want to use them, I have had enough success with them to tell you they will work great, but they really aren't necessary...

It's an Al and Roger Biesen built on a 1941 Model 70, original barrel with the sight boss turned off and rechambered to 300 Win Mag. Wood is a piece of Australian hard shell walnut.

Thanks

And yeah, beautiful rifle GF1! That is all class right there!

This must be why you go by the name "shrapnel"?

I agree with shrapnel the 180gr bt and other heavier bt are built like a tank.

Yeah, a few years ago Nosler changed the jacket on the 180 BT to an ultra-heavy like to jacket on the 200-grain .338 BT. It wasn't a fragile bullet before that, but it's even tougher now. If anybody happens to recover on the ultra-heavy jacketed BT's they usually retain around 60% of their original weight.

+1 - well said

I'd add that if you choose to shoot a very high velocity cartridge, you may need a premium bullet. There are cup and core bullets out there that can't handle 2700fps.

Hornady Spire point bullets is my go to bullet on most game any more. But then, I don't shoot ultra-mags or Weatherby Mags at deer, elk or antelope. Thinking about a high velocity cartridge on Coyotes though.

Years ago, I shot a doe in the shoulder with a 06 and the bullet blew up -- never entered the rib cage, just hamburgerized the shoulder. 165 grain bullet - I won't mention the manufacturer as some people seem to like their bullets.

Some of the very first larger caliber ABs had issues in the field. but Nosler jumped on the problem and fixed it really quick before production ramped up. I think they refined their bonding process along with a few other minor tweaks.

The 200AB is a go to bullet in any 30 cal.

As far as cup and cores go, I would also include potential bone impacts alongside speed conditions. You can't expect a cup and core, regardless of it's locking mechanisms, to hold up when impacting big, hard bones such as the leg bones or pelvic structures of the larger ungulates. Super heavy jackets bordering on 'solid'-type bases probably overcome this issue just a bit, as do the old rules commonly used for bullet selection with 'less tough' bullets: using longer, high sectional density types when shooting heavier animals. I like Interlocks and Core-lokts or other 'ordinary' bullets just fine for lighter animals like caribou, but have seen these bullets get quite messy even at modest speeds when they start breaking tougher things. Then again, there are a few in specific weights and calibers that have never been an issue; not sure if that is statistically valid however.

Some people get it.

The 180gr BT is a premium bullet in my book. They have worked very well for me out of the 300 RUM from 25 yards out to 400+. And no Barnes 100 yard dash either.

I'll get out my 375 and shoot solids next time I go out to shoot a doe in the shoulder...

I've been hunting deer for 50+ years, elk and antelope not as often. Sometimes I'm lucky and have had 6 licenses for deer in a year.

My hunting partners and I and others will get together and discuss the highlights and failures. One bullet manufacturer has come up several times as failure to perform - Brand Y. No, the issue isn't failure due to hitting a large bone on a huge animal. Bullets not penetrating into the ribs or shoulders has been the issue.

The bullet testing I've seen compares bullets in a same medium such as gelatin. It gives a guy a good idea how the bullet will perform in such media. But I wonder if this translates to game animals, ribs, shoulders and yes leg bones and heavy hides.

I've never had a bullet failure in all those years using Remington Core Lokts or Hornady Interlocks. But I've experimented with a couple of other manufacturers' bullets and have had failures as have others in our group. The worst is no penetration, but I've also seen total penetration with evidently zero expansion with brand X. The first failure I saw was with a 264 WM and evidently the wrong bullet Brand Y. The hit was in the center of the chest, in the lung region. We followed that blood trail quite a ways after a 30 minute wait. It was Brand Y again that would not penetrate a doe's shoulder.

There are those that insist on shooting bullets that get the most accurate results. 1/2 MOA is twice as good as 1 MOA. And these people refuse to believe that all cup and core bullets perform in different ways.

I have bought a bunch of Core Lokts recently, more than I'll ever be able to shoot. And I have a good stash of Interlocks.

I believe that these two bullets are some of the best when it comes to cup and core. I also believe that these bullets will continue to work excellently as long as I hunt. If I were to shoot bullets 500fps slower - then the fast expanding bullets might work well. But I mainly use 06 or similar cartridges on deer.

The shoulders always seemed to be a perfect place to poke caribou when using the old Barnes X bullets (which so many people didn't like.) But easy rib/lung shots have always been very fast and effective with Pro-hunters, any variety Speer, Interlocks, W-W Power-points, Corelokts, Nosler BTs. Never have been crazy about rapid expanders in the shoulders however.

i was stunned by the amount of meat damage a factory load 140 Nosler Partition (7x57 Mauser) did to a whitetail last year... deer was perhaps 40 yards away. So for the 300RSAUM, I am searching for a reliable opener/deep penetrator that won't wreck too much meat when bullet hits bone. thanks for the many recommendations to date

MD, do you know if they changed the 170 gr 8mm BT jacket as well? Bumped into two boxes recently, and bought them for my 8X57 Husqvarna.

Pardon the brief sidestep, Dogger.
Ted

The one thing that's certain is that every bullet will leave you thinking you could have gotten better results with something else from time to time. Partitions have a very long and successful track record. But they are not exempt from the rules. One of the messiest butchering jobs I've seen wasn't a wreck. Rather, it was a bullet which opened poorly, penetrated poorly, and, by slicing a deep artery, poured blood into multiple layers of what should have been edible meat. (And it was a highly regarded 'premium' bullet.)

Ted,

Yes, the 180-grain 8mm Ballistic Tip is one of the super-heavy jacket models. As I recall, it had the heavy jacket from the get-go, like the 200-grain .338.

Thanks John.

I will leave the 9.3X62 at home, and give them a try on black bear this Spring.....

and report back.

Ted

I suspect you'll find they work pretty well!