Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Australia .338 250gr Accubond Users?

Anyone down there use the 250 grain Accubond in their .338 caliber rifles? I'd love to hear how you feel they perform up close and far, thanks.

Accubonds preform like a Partition with better accuracy; just that simple.

Nosler's intent when they introduced the Accubond was to faze out the Partition.

Partitions will penetrate deeper.

Reba,

Where did you get the idea that Nosler intended to "faze" (the word is phase) out the Partition when they introduced the AccuBond? That was NOT the intent at all. Instead they wanted to provide a bullet that approximated the on-game performance of the Partition, but with a plastic tip (for those hunters who prefer one) and a bonded core, which says "magic" to some hunters.

They succeeded, but never intended to drop the Partition. In fact I recently discovered that Nosler sold more Partitions last year than they've ever sold before. Why would they get rid of such a successful product?

Jim I used some because a mate gave me half a box. I used them on some pigs, only loaded to about 2550fps because they kicked too much.

They killed the pigs of course but no different to the 200g Hotcors I usually used.

Thanks Uncle Bob...I'm not going to looking for all the speed I can get either, but want at least 2600+....like a factory 250gr load, etc. I learned with my old 35 Whelen Ackley that anywhere around 2550-2600 was just awesome with the 250X. Since I've killed so much game with Barnes X,TSX and seen the TTSX used, I'm going back to cup n core for awhile.

Your're reaching pretty far with that statement.... The only way the partition would EVER get "fazed out", is when they outlaw lead hunting bullets all together...

Not in Australia but I'm Burning 69.5 gr H 4831 SC Nosler brass Fed 215M. 20 thou off the lands with a 24.5 RKS gain twist tube chambered in 338 Win.. So far on moose DRT no recoveries. Highly recommend.

Haven't heard from you in quite a while, welcome back......................

Amen to that!

Three years ago, I shot a bull moose on the point of his shoulder at 55yds. The 250 Accubond had a muzzle velocity of 3,000 ft/sec. At the shot, the big bull reared up and flipped over backwards. His palms slammed into the ground and he never moved again. The bullet traveled through both shoulders and was caught in the off-side skin. IIRC the expanded bullet weighed in at 140gr.
Quite remarkable performance.
Interestingly enough, I am hunting moose in Newfoundland again this week. I decided to not mess with a good thing and I'm using the same gun and load. The fact that it shoots .5moa at 400yds doesn't hurt either.

The moose i shot last week was a straight pass thru. The bull never took a step. Range was under 100yds easy.

That's great! I won't be shooting moose, ha, and our cow elk run around 375-450 on the hoof. those are the "nice ones". I have shot a younger cow (she looked bigger compared standing next to her fat mama that was laying down!) that went around 325, that was the one I shot with the .375 H&H and 300SBT, ha.

On my way home from Newfoundland now. Bulls seemed hung up in the timber and calling was less productive than usual for this time of year, Spotted a decent bull at 350 yds and decided to take him. He was walking towards me between a sparsely treed section. I put the crosshairs on him and waited for him to turn. At about 315 yds he quartered towards me and I took aim at the crease behind his shoulder and let a 250 Accubond go. I lost my sight picture for a second but was able to see the bull take a couple of steps towards a dense treeline. I took a quick follow-up shot before he disappeared.
When I got over to the area where he stood I could see that he collapsed within 20 yds. First bullet landed true and entered behind the shoulder and exited between the last 2 ribs on the opposite side. Second shot landed low in the chest and exited.
When I field dressed the moose I found the lungs to be pretty obliterated and blood pooled everywhere. The second shot was definitely not needed but the moose didn't seem to react to the initial impact so I was unsure of the hit at the time.
The 250 Accubond is a very effective bullet on moose size game IMO.

Awesome glad you connected. I think i will stick with that 250 Accubond in the 338. Seems to work well.

Hey Jim, google terminal ballistic research and go to Nathan Fosters website ... this kiwi has done field research on almost every well known caliber and his evaluation of projectiles for the 338 cal's is a must read!
Click on "cartridge research" and there is also "wound research" . I'm in the process of finding a alround projectile for my 338WM and his webpage was extremely helpfull. In his Forum under "rifles general discussion" there has been a resent post on 250AB in 338WM

I have 2 recovered 250 Accubonds from a hunt on Thursday. In the general big game section

That's good stuff there... Thanks for sharing your results on the accubond. I may have to give those another try...

No sweat happy to be of service, You guys have helped me out plenty over the years..

Glad those .338 ABs are working out for you, 7.

Thanks again Tim. If it wasn't for you sending them up to me I wouldn't have the opportunity to use such a good bullet. They are unavailable around here.

I have tried 225ABs in a couple of my all-too many .338s, not impressed by the accuracy so far. I think I may have some 250s in my cupboard of bullets and powders, or, in one of the MTM ammo boxes full of handloads I have for each rifle.

My overall performance from 250NPs, from the dozen .338s I have owned since January, 1968, first cartridge I handloaded for and still my all time favourite round, has been so satisfactory that I use these almost exclusively for hunting and have since the late 70s-early 80s, when Nosler, improved them with redesign and whatever.

I am now testing the 225TTSX in my Dakota No. 1 as it is a "slow" bbl. and does only 2600 with my usual load of 250Nps RE-22-76, WLRM, WW brass. My four "old Model 70s" beat that by 200 fps and this is not all their factory 25" tubes. So, gotta speed it up as I wanna go Moose hunting with Mike!

I loaded up some today for my 340 Wby. If they shoot well, I will use them on my elk hunt. Otherwise I still with the 250 grain Bergers.

Did Reba have her hat on backwards? I prefer the 225 gr partition myself.

Was this an internet two inch group at four hundred yards?

Where did you come up with this?

Larry posted - "Was this an internet two inch group at four hundred yards?"
If your post was in response to mine - Not really. However I couldn't find a digital image of a 250 Accubond group but have several with the 250 Partition. This one should come in below the .5 moa that I mentioned. At 400yds it would have come in well below.

My 338-06 shoots this bullet really well.

Snap- have you ever had any temp issues ( really cold) with your 76gr R22 load? I am so thoroughly spooked with a (granted, it was only one time) bad experience with R19 so don't use it, but I have a wad of R22 and while I never had a cold weather issue with it ( 280 AI) I did get some sticky bolts when it got warmer. I just adjusted for it. I normally used H4350 with the older Barnes 185 XLC in my last 338. ( I haven't messed with another 338 since for 20yrs, starting back for nostalgic reasons. I used a 338 RUM a bit in the interim) I have an older Ruger "tanger" (Win Mag) coming and I plan on a lot of 250gr load workup for it. I like lighter weight bullets for deer, cow elk, etc, but I always work up a load in any rifle I have with a heavier bullet for "when I really want to thump them", ha. I will even be trying the Woodleigh 300gr later on. Thanks, Rev Jim Knight

I have had excellent results with Nosler 250 gr partition and Hawk 225 gr bullets. The Hawk bullets performed like bonded core versions. Both bullets
did well in Winchester pre-64 Model 70s in 338-06 and 338 Win magnum. The semi-wildcat 338-06 in the M-70 has the original barrel
which means a riflesmith in Washington State knew his barrel and chamber work. (At least based on the 1 in group it printed today.) Think I have
a lifetime supply of partition bullets.......

That being said, as much as I like the 338-06 and 35 Whelen partition bullets.......

Alaska Bullet Works-Juneau;Woodleigh, and Hawk bullets are amazing in the .348 Model 71 Winchester. My last moose went south
to a well-placed 270 gr Hawk flat point (348 Ackley Imp). The Model 71s are increasingly popular in Canada and Alaska because of bears that show up
regularly at kill sites. No bolt action can keep up with a smooth 1886 or Model 71 in experienced hands for repeat shots. Fast handling can be critical in
close bear encounters.

______________________
A good sled dog..........Albert Johnson shot Constable Edgar Millen, RCMP- near Rat River, Yukon Territory

I couldn't get them to group any better than 2.5" @ 100 yards so I didn't even load any for this hunt. Back at it in the AM

Well I was hoping that 250 AB would shoot well out of that 340. What kind of velocity are you seeing, Dennis? 2900?
Best of luck on finding a good load.

My 338 Winchester loves that bullet. Scary accurate the 250 Accubond in that rifle

Sorry, I missed this, but, no, although I do not really use a .338WM in what little cold weather (sub-zero F) hunting I do. Usually, my hunts have been in cold from maybe 10*F to about warm weather about 65*F. So, I have not noticed any issues of that type using RE-22 or RE-19 in my .338s.

For cold weather deer hunting, as it is seldom very cold in southern BC during most hunting seasons, I tend to carry a light .308W, 7x57 or 7-08 and since shots are less than 150 Yds, usually only 50-100 yds and even less, one does not worry about this issue. Finding the deer now is the real problem, due to wolves, Indians and general poor management by governments.

Thank you sir. I see were several users have been using/recommend the 250 anything with 75-76gr R22. I used 76gr R22/180 XBT in a 300 Win mag in Namibia. It was 20 deg in early A.M. and 120 deg by noon! Never had an issue "in that particular rifle or load". It was a miserable place to hunt, to tell you the truth. The only saving grace was I was only paying $275 per gemsbok and $175 per Springbuk. Shot 4 of each! ha.

3000 fps using Mag Pro or R17

Dang! I can like that. About the best I ever got out of my 340( didn't have RL 17 then) was just under 2900, if I recall.

I have a few boxes of FACTORY Norma ammo using 250 grain Woodleigh roundnose bullets that chronographs an honest 3200 fps. I have pulled bullets and weighed them and shot it over 3 chronographs. Not sure how that bullet would hold up at those speeds but it gets your attention when you pull the trigger!

They are loaded with pixie dust I think.

There are a lot of new powders I haven't tried but three of the best have been R17, MagPro and R19.

3200? Holy smokes! I chronographed a couple boxes of the factory ammo with 250 grain partitions. I saw between 3000 and 3060 ft./s. And that over a Oehler chronograph-and I thought that was moving...

I tried them in a Weatherby .338 Win mag many years ago. Federal Premium.

Did not group so well. Don't recall the group size. Guessing right around 1.5 inches @ 100 yards.

Did better with other Federal loadings. I guess that I should not complain. But the rifle came with a
sub minute guarantee. And it does do that, just not with accubonds.

Interesting that's for sure,still comes back to what your barrel likes, haven't tried them in my 338 semi- custom, but she does like them partitions ,hornadys ,and sierras, my 338 is more of a target chaser, dennis your 340 should perk with RL-26 rl-25 H-1,000 ,retumbo, , any of these should hit your Jackpot!, wow 3200 is smoking, but Norma makes great everything Dat's a fact!

RE temperature sensitivity with R22: Here we don't get extreme cold hunting temps the range is from 10-100 degrees and I have only noticed about 50 fps change. But what I have noticed is the lot to lot variation and this could be mistaken for temperature sensitivity. I now buy either large containers or cans of the same lot or switch to MRP

R23 and 26 are better in this department and worth a look if just starting load work up.

Has anyone used the AB on Buff or Brumby?

I think you are right Tex , lot to lot seems to be pretty varied in R22. I have always tried to get the same Lot# in any powder I used, but one time ( back during the Great Bill Clinton Primer Scare) I had to use different Lots. I didn't get any pressure signs ( 300 WM) but my 76gr/180 XBT group had to be re zeroed about an inch horizontally. When I was playing with the .224 TTH I bought a 5# jug. I still have some left I'll use. I did get some R23 and R26 to try. Here in Utah, its rare for it to get below 10deg during the Fall hunt ( say a storm comes in) but the late season antlerless hunts ( Nov-early Feb) can be pretty rank, though seldom below zero, usually single digits. Merry Christmas guys!

Yea! Finally got my Ruger 77 "tanger" 338WM home! I took it apart/inspected everything, reassembled with proper torque to all screws. Put my Leupold 1.5x5 on it. Someone had really worked on the stock...slimmed up/trimmed up and re-checkered. It is very lively between my hands. It still has the old "Red Pad" recoil pad they used back then, which may hurt...if so I'll have a Limbsaver put on.

Nice!
😎

I use the 250 for Sika deer and they do a good job. They would probably work on whitetail but I have a 375 H & H for them.

What do you use your 416 Rem for ??????????????????????

That's awesome shooting right there. It really shows the capability of the partition. I've always had good luck with partition bullets. Not so much with the Accubond. I may give the accubond another try though. Next time I'll have to back them off the lands a lot more, I guess...

I looked for some .375 260gr Accubonds for more than a year without any luck. Bought a few boxes of 260gr Partitions to get ready for an upcoming buffalo hunt. To my amazement, the Partitions shot < 1 moa groups at 300yds from a bone stock Ruger Guide Gun in 375 Ruger.

Ended up shooting a buffalo twice with the Partitions. Both bullets impacted in the crease behind the shoulder. The buffalo barely even flinched but fell over dead a minute later.

Recovered both perfectly expanded bullets in the hide on the opposite side. Partitions seem to have very predictable terminal performance and better accuracy than you might expect.