Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Nosler Accubonds

RE accubonds splattering on impact- it's a bunch of BS. For several years I used the 30 cal 165 AB launched at 3450fps. Never had one do anything but text book performance. Never recovered one either.

I launched a 140 grain ab from a 7mm08 last year on a doe mule deer at 203 yards roughly. Dropped like a bolt of lightning hit it. Walked over couldnt find a drop of blood. No visible entrance exit wound. I field dressed it. No damage to heart lungs. Was like wtf? Did i scare it to death.....found a perfect 7mm hole in the high shoulder which hit spinal cord and killed it. Saw a hole exit the opposite side. Acted like a fmj. This was my first kill with it and a 7mm08. It appesrs to be a sturdy bullet. Try it on elk this year.

Well, it has been explained numerous times that early ABs had a production line problem with the tips. Other hunters that had hunted around the world reported breakups on some of the early production. So yes, yours is another positive data point; but no, unless you are accusing them of all being liars, there were some problems at times.

NICE!!!!! good to see this, my Mashburn boots the 160 NAB's out at 3220 fps, it should do well for an elk hunt, backup rifle is a big 33 that boots the 300gr Accubonds out at 2900-3000 fps, the 2900 fps load is a bit more accurate and easier to shoot well.

I read complaints on line, but I have never seen one do anything but work perfectly myself.

I have killed 3 antelope with a 25-06 with 115 grain, a handful of deer with 6.8SPC, 110 grain, (thinking back I believe it's 7 so far) one deer with a 270 Winchester, 140 grain, one deer with a 308,150 grain, 2 antelope with the same 308 using 125 grain, and one deer with a 9.3X57 250 grain. For myself, I think that's my complete list so far.

Game I have seen killed with them is a lot larger list.
Probably 25 other antelope with 243, 25-06 6.5 Grendel 6.5X55, 6.5 CM 260 rem, 6.8 SPC 270 Winchester, 7-08 7MM Mag, 30-06, and 300 mag.

I bet I have seen about 30 deer killed with them with shells running from 223 , 243, 25-06, 6.5 Grendel, 6.5X55 260, 6.5 CM, 6.8 SPC, 270 Winchesters, 270 Short mag, 7MM Mag, 7-08, 30-06s 300 magnums 338 Lapua and 325 Short mag.

Elk I have seen shot with Accubonds have run from 270 Winchester, 7-08, 7MM Mag, 308s, 30-06s, 300mags, 8X57, 8MM Mag, 325 Short mag, 338-06, 338 Win Mag, 338 Laupa, and 375H&H.

I have also been along side a man who killed a large buffalo bull with a 375H&H using the 300 grain Accubond and one woman who killed her cow buffalo with my Ruger #1 in 9.3X74R using the 250 grain Accubond.

Overall that's a pretty good number of kills which I have either done myself or seen done, and so far I have not seen a single poor performance from an Accubond.

Some kills were better then others, but all those that were not as good as they could have been were not the result of the bullet, but where the bullet was placed. Most exited and the few that didn't looked like the ones in the Nosler advertisements. They worked perfectly. So those that gripe about them must be using some "other Accubond" because I have not seen the same "blow ups" they talk about.

On the subject of AccuBonds breaking up, I'll repeat what I KNOW about the situation, which happened long ago but apparently will never be forgotten on the Campfire.

It was NOT problems with "early" production, if we define that as the very first AccuBonds. Nosler thoroughly tested them before the introduction, and at least the first year's production worked so well that demand rose very rapidly.

Somewhere about 1-1/2 years into production, one of the guys working on the Nosler production line got the bright idea of speeding up his station, so more bullets could be produced to help fill the demand. Unfortunately, his job involved bonding, and the speed-up not only resulted in unbonded bullets, but since the bonding process (as with many bonded bullets) involved heating them until the lead core melted slightly, and soldered to the jacket. This also resulted in some loose tips.

Since Nosler test-fires bullets frequently, both for accuracy and penetration, the problem was discovered pretty quickly--but not before a FEW boxes were shipped. They recalled what they could, but some did end up in the hands of handloaders.

The number wasn't great, and apparently I was lucky. I started using AccuBonds as soon as they appeared, and have used them considerably since on animals from whitetail does to my biggest kudu and only grizzly--and seen a bunch used by hunting partners as well, on a similar range of game size. All of them performed like Nosler designed them to, very similarly to Partitions of the same weight and diameter.

But yes, a few defective ABs went out for a very brief period--as have some bullets from other manufacturers.

Thank you John.
That is sure to be the reason I hear the bad reports, but they are all just rumors to me, and that's how I think of them.

Personal experience in using them, and watching them get used, has been exactly the opposite of the nay-sayers reports.

Just out curiosity, when were those few bad ones made? What year?

I don't recall exactly when AccuBonds were introduced, but my hunting notes show I used my first on big game in 2004--which had to be very shortly after they appeared, as during the decade from 2000-2010 I was doing a LOT of bullet testing on big game. So am guessing the "bad bonding:" incident took place in 2005 or 2006.

Do know that after that I have used AccuBonds on 10 species of big game, and watched hunting companions take another 16, both in North America and Africa. The bullets included 6.5mm 130; 7mm 150 and 160;.30 150, 180 and 200: .338 200 and 225, and .375 260, with plenty of animals larger than "deer-sized," including caribou, elk, grizzly, gemsbok, kudu, blue wildebeest, zebra and eland--as well as some smaller than deer, including a wolverine and a couple baboons. None of them "failed."

I sometimes wonder is those folks writing about how bad the "accubombs" broke up were confused and shot the old Solid Base Ballistic Tips instead. Now those I also have used and seen used, and they were awful game bullets in every case I ever saw them used. But they were a cup and core bullet with a jacket about as thick as a piece of good writing paper and the plastic tip covered a large hollow point, so it was not a big surprise they they would break up all the way back to the base.

I used the early BTs in 270, 7X57, 25-06 and 257 Roberts and they were REALLY accurate---- and REALLY poor on deer and antelope. My friend Bob B. used them (against my advice) on deer from his 257 Weatherby Mag and the results were just like those I used in my 25-06. Awful. I have a friend in Green River, Rich N. that tried them in his 257 Weatherby too, and with the same results, shooting an elk. And another man I know in Gardnderville Nevada that used them in 30-06 and 25-06 with the same results. The one that was the most relieving was a friend of mine named Irvine C. who got a Wyoming moose tag and took his 45-70 and his 338 Win Mag up to the camp. I was with him on his hunt. He shot a bull with a 210 grain Ballistic Tip and hit it right over the shoulder blade, shooing down hill at a steep angle. The bull ran off and we tracked it down. It took us about 4 hours to catch up to it and he killed it with an LBT hard cast bullet from his 45-70. I personally field butchered the moose. The bullet hit the shoulder blade and broke up, and not one piece of it made it into the 1st lung let alone the 2nd lung. The shoulder meat around the hit was ripped up badly but the penetration was about 8-9 inches max. The shot was from his 338 210 grain Ballistic Tip bullet, and the range was about 75 yards. The 2nd shot from his 45-70 was also from about 70 yards or so. It hit the moose about mid belly and came out it's neck about in the middle. The moose dropped instantly from that shot. The 450 grain LBT bullet clipped the bottom of the neck vertebra which is why "it's legs disappeared". So it was a neck shot, but he shot through half a moose to get to the neck.

There are few more horror storied about the old BT Solid Bases bullets too, but I often believe those that curse the Accu-bonds mistake them for those older BT bullet because "they have a plastic tip" and seem to think that they are the same bullet.

There may be more to the story, but tha's what I have seen over the last 20-25 years.

Steve,

I know some of the instances were NOT early Ballistic Tips.

Nosler introduced BT's around 1985, and yes, some were pretty tender. This apparently was due to just sticking plastic-tips in the original soft-point Solid Base bullets, which were NOT very tender. I know this from me and Eileen killing a bunch of stuff with them, with bullets from the 100-grain 6mm to 165 .30. In fact, they were on the tough side; the few I recovered retained as much weight as Partitions.

But plastic tips tend to enhance expansion, because their shanks must be inserted into BIG cavities. Which is why many of the early Ballistic Tips "over-expanded"--though not all. But the problem was pretty quickly corrected by using a harder-alloy lead core, or a thicker jacket, or both. The 200-grain .338 Ballistic Tip, introduced in 1992, was the first with a REALLY heavy jacket, about 3/4 the weight of the entire bullet, and acted more like a Partition. I know this from testing them in both media and animals that year. (Today the same basic bullet is only available as the Combined Technology Ballistic Silvertip.)

I kind of doubt many of the original, "tender" Ballistic Tips were still around when the AccuBond appeared almost two decades later.

Not specific to you or Accubonds but I've killed a ton of stuff and no bullet is not capable of a WTF? moment....

I have bad results with TSX, TTSX, and Accubonds with multiple samples that I don't care for any of them but other swear by them. I know what I've seen. Others know what they've seen.

Crap happens, shrug shoulders, move on as best you see fit....

I'm in Berger VLD mode exclusively these days from big to small.

Back in the 80's I used a lot of the 180 grain Solid Bases from my '06 to kill coyotes, deer, and elk and only recovered one. I shot a 5x5 at a hair singing distance and recovered only the jacket, which some say is failure and may be but, I ate the elk. I still have about a half box left which I may load up and have a nostalgic hunt this year.

270 Win, 130 grain Accubond at 200 yards.

This is the entrance. No exit.

WOW! I have never seen an Accubond blow up on the entrance like that. It looks like the spine was hit, but still I would not like that kind of blow up.

None of the ones I used or saw used ever did anything like that, but many of the early Ballistic Tips Solid Bases I mentions above did. In fact it was not at all unusual.

And another great Accubomb kill is in the books! Just shows that even the much heralded Accubond is not immune to failure from time to time. Regardless of how much good/great luck you may have had, there’s always someone else who had terrible results.

I’d guess that bullet ticked something on the way in and was helicoptering on impact. Seen same thing on a white tail doe , with a 30’06 and 165 gr TTSX @70yrds. Appeared broadside but must have been slight quartering to. Hit a willow about 10’ from doe, spun in helicoptering tore a hole like that from front shoulder down the inside of the ribs and wound up in rear ham. Pretty much ruined the complete half of deer. Huge entrance like above and the bullet recovered in the ham could have practically been reloaded again. Nose had a slight bend tip was missing.. sometimes bullets do strange things.

I’ve also learned the sight picture often changes SS you near a downed animal. Often little brush and shrubs that didn’t appear in the scope are present. File it under [bleep] happens , you could take that same shot 100 times over and never duplicate that exact result.

Maybe it was deflected but maybe not. I had similar results back in the 70s with old Hornady spire points, both on antelope like the above picture. 200yds and under with a 264 mag and one with a 270 got me to switch back to partitions.

Ya that’s true , unless you had a slow speed camera at impact we can only surmise from the picture. Straight ol cupncore bullets have definitely given some less then stellar results in many cases , yet a majority of time work fine. I prefer to tip the scales with mono or bonded construction.
My hunting buddy killed a decent bull moose that in my opinion should not have died. It defied physics but we skinned the bull out. 300 yrd shot 7mm RM and his hand loads of 154 gr interloc . Perfect standing broadside shot ( I was glassing/ranging) seen a good impact in the boiler room tight behind the shoulder. We had to track that bull about 100 yrds but he was stone dead when we got to him . On skinning we found the bullet with a good mushroom between the hide and the rib .... on the impact side. No hole in the diaphragm, basically blunt force trauma to lungs and liver.
I believe holes kill , but how do you argue with a dead bull.

Worst part is my stubborn ol pal is still loading his favourite load, one bullet I’ll leave out of my reloading room without question.

So I have 2 Accubond stories.

Both from the same 22" barrel 308. 165gr NABs over 45.5gr of Varget.


First was a whitetail. Jumped from his bed about 20yds away. Entered just in front of the shoulder in the neck bone. Never exited. Got like 4" of penetration. Dead deer...bullet held together and mushroomed out but nothing crazy.


I think it was the same year but prior to the buck. Coyote runs out of a corn field. I'm sitting on the edge of a hay field. Wide open clear shot. 30-40yds quartering to me. He spotted me and locked up. I put the crosshair on his left shoulder and touched her off. He dropped and rolled around biting at whatever just stung him. Figuring he was dead I focused back on the corn my buddy was pushing out. Sure enough the coyote got up and trotted off. I watched him run the field for 250yds. Couldn't get another safe shot. Not much blood to follow.

Almost 2 weeks later...I was closing the back door on a push a few miles away. Already killed the above buck so no gun. Here comes a coyote. It got within 20yds. I couldn't believe my eyes but same coloring as the one I shot and it had a GIANT fist sized crater on its left shoulder.


Sold that 308. Ended up buying another this year. Didn't really have time to work up a load of anything and had like 40 of those loads left. Made sure it was safe in the rifle and they shot straight.

I was very hesitant to hunt with them. But wanted to carry the gun. Lol


Last day of the season in the pouring rain a buck catches me off guard. He's quartering to me pretty hard. Put the crosshairs on his right shoulder and touched it off. I don't think he ever kicked. Absolutely lights out. Shoulder was completely wrecked. Bullet exited the last few ribs on the left side. Completely different performance.


I've shot a coyote with a 140gr from a 280 that was nearly facing me. It went in the front of the chest and came out at the front of the right hip. The entire body cavity was bloodshot purple and the fur needed a lot of needle work lol. Actually mostly all entrance.


Killed several deer with 225s from the whelen. Always like a lightning bolt.


No idea why I had 2 freak cases with the 165s from the 308. A coyote shoulder is not that hard of a bone. And the angle of that shot, there's no way it could have just raked that shoulder.

Oral tradition dies hard if at all.

I was on the receiving end of some of the original AB’s. But, I was more interested in their long term potential. Fortunately, so was Nosler. Always been impressed with their uniform performance.

And, I might add, I have been so pleased with the terminal results from the 140 AB’s, i have found no reason to move to the 160’s. That part was tough for me as I am all about 150’s.