Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Nosler Accubonds

Your awesomeness deserves a great bullet...

He is to Accubond's what Swifty is to Dyna Bore Coat.

The critters do...

Careful there Uncle Rico...

I am stating simple facts and you seem to have issues with that.

I question how so many sycophants say they have never caught an Accubond and I have never seen one make an exit hole and across a broad range of bullet weights and diameters, ranges and velocities.

I also question the fact they claim a similar exit hole performance for TSX and TTSX. I have shot a bunch of critters using a number of them and have seen very few caught and have never personally caught one. The hunters I know using them have very similar results to mine. Some of them are laughing right now at the claims.

My Accubond experience is thin, but if only one in five get stopped on average I need to see nearly 150 exits in a row to come back to even. That includes four 300gr 375s failing to exit a broadside bear when a 270gr TTSX had just gone full length through the same bear. That is supposed to be a tough bullet.

And for the record, they are not "bad" bullets any more than Partitions are bad bullets. I simply think if killing is the only goal most bullets are equal. If the other parameters make a difference it is easy to do better.

My AB experience isn't "thin", and mirrors what MD says, and his experience is as far from "thin" as it gets. I have never said they mirrored TTX/TTSX penetration characteristics that I'm aware of. AB:s are killing machines, whether they exit or not and to say otherwise shows a complete lack of knowledge and/or experience.

For sure. I still love my .284 150 CoreLokts, have killed three times the animals with them than all others combined. I understand Hornady makes those for..........what once was .......Remington. Don’t know who they are now.

The last elk I killed was at 450 yds with a 280ai. pushing a 160gr accu bond. Ran 20 yards and fell over dead. I know it wasn't a max load. Exit hole was a little larger then a half dollar.

I'm currently running a 150gr TTSX in an -06 at just over 3000 fps. Ain't noting in NA gonna stop it I swear to god. But I did hit a whitetail doe this fall in the ass and holy [bleep] it removed the phuzy, the chiit condom, and half of both hind quarters. It's still chucking going. Caused way more damage than I've ever seen a partition or accubond cause. But I'm mostly hunting Hells Canyon Country and that TTSX is gonna anchor anything period. Not even a discussion. It's the most wicked combo I've ever seen. I'd run a 165TTsx in a 300wsm or win mag. And a 180 TTSX in any bigger .30 cal like a RUM or a Bee. Again all my Accubond kills were Identical to Partition. kills. Nothing goes very far, the entrance, the exit, and everything in between VERY Partition like. Used to be which ever shot better was my choice. Not doubting your experience at all. Don't even get me started on Ballistic Tip Failures...

A bunch of folks are laughing right now... claims of near equal exit wound percentages between X and ABs is beyond laughable.

The differences in the amount of meat lost to each is very obvious if you have a large enough sample. There are the occasional anomalies but it does not take a huge number of samples to show the obvious.

Your fantasies are your own and I will happily stand on whatever metric you think you stand a chance of competing on. Disabusal will be harsh.

I have been running the 168gr TTSX in a 30-06 for about six years while doing all my hunting with either a 30-06 or a 375AI. It has been an amazing bullet.

I run 168 TTSX in my .300 Wby and 165 TTSX in my .30-06 and 100 gr TTSX in .257 Roberts. Never could get the AB to shoot well in the Roberts.

You need to read slower and talk less sometimes.

So you agree 20% retention for both bullets is clearly outside your experience?

And you agree Accubonds exit far less frequently than TSX or TTSX?

I agree that monos will out penetrate c&c's most every time, and that AB/Partitions will shed more weight and sometimes the exit and sometimes they don't. Never said different. I also have seen from my own and the hunters we have in camp, which once again mirrors what MD has said, is that AB's/Partiions/ C&C's in general kill quicker than monos. Never said monos weren't efficient killers, ever. I also KNOW that AB"s are very, very effective and efficient killers on game up to and including large African sized animals.

Art,

I never said that AccuBonds penetrate as well as Barnes X, or other monolithics. I merely pointed out the statistics derived from my hunting notes, which include a LOT more AccuBonds than five, and not only at least as many Barnes X's of various sorts but Nosler E-Tips and Hornady GMX's.

I also pointed out that the Barnes X's tended to be smaller and lighter than the AccuBonds for the same size of game, and the reason is (of course) is that smaller, lighter monolithics (along with similar-acting bullets like the late Fail Safe) tend to out-penetrate just about all lead-cored bullets--"just about all" because some lead-cores, such as the North Fork, penetrate very similarly to monos. But Noryh Forks only have a little sliver of lead in the tip. (The Fail Safe had a lead core in the rear, but the front end opened just like X's, E-Tips, etc.

In general, for a certain job I tend to pick AccuBonds of the same weight and caliber as Partitions, but expect a slightly smaller percentage to exit, because AccuBonds usually end up expanding into a wider, more rounded mushroom. But when I do pick an AccuBond of the same weight and caliber as a Partition, I still expect it to exit on broadside shots, though sometimes they don't when going through both shoulders and spine, But then the animal is down anyway. Oh, and sometimes they don't exit animals in the 1000+ pound size-range on broadside shots, but then neither do all monolithics.

Damn if I an't interested in a .375. In your experience has the AI actually been worth it? Or in all honesty would a .375 Ruger or HH be just fine... You live there. You've BTDT....

The AI is worth it only because of case life. The H&H is a beautiful cartridge, but my experience has been limited case life and constant trimming.

The little increase in velocity is mostly moot. I have had several H&H versions and aside from trimming they were great beyond the nostalgia. My AI has a 20" #5 Pac-Nor and the stock has a little cast on. It is a real kitten.

The Accubond is a very fine bullet. It does well at a wide range of impact velocities. The 50yard timber elk is DRT and the 800 yard cross canyon bull is a ten step and down. Impact velocity has a great deal of influence on a bullets performance. The accubond covers the curve of caliber and ranger as well as any product on the market.

Anyone that cares if a bullet exits blank percent of the time spend far more time BULLSHïTTiNG than killing. If the hide on the far side catches a bullet the said bullet did a perfectly fine job. To add a TSX in the same conversation is the equivalent of telling everyone in the discussion (well guys I’m full of shït BUT the meat loss is _________ ).

For about two solid months a year my cooler looks like this and 75% of the victims are accubond deaths.

It’s all meat loss if the critter runs off. I have just developed a preference for Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets based on my experience with them. I have recovered every animal I ever shot with one within 15 yards or less and have never recovered a bullet, just exited. An entrance wound and exit wound forward of the diaphragm usually lets the air out of the critter. Nothing wrong with Accubonds either. Several hunters in our camp shoot them well with good results on the meat pole. Less filling, Tastes great....Happy Trails

I'll take the opinion of a guy who has lots of experience with a bullet over someone with virtually none but has strong opinions.