Originally Posted by bsa1917hunter
Originally Posted by baldhunter
I wasn't too impressed with Reloader 26 until I used it for 180gr bullets in my 30-06's.It certainly works for 180gr and heavier.So what is better,a 180gr at 2992fps or a 200gr at 2815fps?I chose the 180gr to shoot a red stag and it worked very well.
[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]

It depends on what you define as "better" Obviously your 200gr Accubond load is shooting better, based on the 2 pictures you posted. Who knows if its' consistent, you say you were not impressed with RL26 until you used it for the 180gr. Why? Your 200gr load appears to be more precise, unless there's something your are not telling us. Is that load consistent? How is it for 5 shots? I'd take the 200gr load any day over the 180, but that goes back to what your take is on "better". I've used 180's on elk and they stop them, even the Nosler partiton. The 200's tend to penetrate deeper and within reasonable hunting distance, you won't notice a difference in trajectory between the 2. Having shot the 30-06 all my life and using many weights of bullets, I have personally settled on the 200 gr partition as a do it all bullet for the old war horse. It does great things and there's a reason Win458 loves that combo so much as well. You can use the 180's if you want, but there's a reason so many of us like the 200gr pills.

I tried Reloader 26 with 168gr bullets in the 30-06 and didn't see any better velocity increase over what I could get from Big Game,4350's or Hunter.Both loads are consistent.I see no need to shoot five shots if it shoots consistent groups of three.I haven't had to shoot but one well placed shot in years,so the first shot is what is important to me anyway.I'm not knocking a 200gr bullet but a 180gr bullet traveling nearly 200fps faster is going to carry a little more energy.If both bullets exit,how much difference is it really between the two.

~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
As Bob Hagel would say"You should not use a rifle that will kill an animal when everything goes right; you should use one that will do the job when everything goes wrong."Good words of wisdom...............