Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa 7mm 160 grn Accubonds

I just changed scopes on my rifle. Put a Zeiss Conquest 3-9 Z600. Ran the information into Zeiss website, got my scope power(8.58)and went out shooting.

The gun/scope was dead on, shot 3 times at 400 yards hit 3 ballons, shot 3 times at 615 yards and went 2 for 3 (pulled a shot).

I'm a big fan of the accubonds, I'm getting tiny little groups at 100 and sub MOA at 200.

I've heard bad things about AB's from a few PH's. They all say they are very accurate, but as Mike Kibble who is a DG rated PH in Namibia said: "they bloody crumble". He chases more wounded animals with them than any other bullet. He hates the things.

The heavier weights in any given calibre tend to have heavier jackets though............

210 Scirocco's out my 338RUM accounted for 21 warthogs on my last trip.......we didn't lose one. And 4 oryx shot for meat were all bang flop. So the choice is simple for me...............

Warthogs don't reqire much. I've killed some mature pigs with a 160 Sierra GameKing from a 7x57 with no problem.

Like any other lead-cored bullet, AB's require some judgement about the overall package. I've seen a bunch of African game killed with AB's from 140/7mm up to 9.3/250 and haven't witnessed any "failures" yet, including 160 7mm's shot at 3100+ into medium-sized plains game at under 100 yards. In my own rifles the 250-grain 9.3 has shot 3-4 feet through larger animals.

One of tghe big problems in Africa is that so many American hunters want to shoot very light bullets at high velocities. This doesn't always work out well, and not just because it's Africa.

I really, really, really do not get the whole light-bullet-fast thing. Really.

Screw 8.5845329x.

Just jigger your zero a little and run it at 9x. It won't change your 100/200 yard zero enough to matter.

The easiest way to zero a reticle of that sort, IMHO, is to just zero the 400 or 450-yd stadia at that yardage. Your 100/200 zero will be fine...

That's because your hunting experience can be measured in microns...

He hasn't figured out how to vote yet either.

The 160`s at 100 sounds good. This hunt isn`t booked as a "precision long range rifle" hunt, as was the last one. 300, per our PH, was the longest shot made on a springbok. Closes was about 75, my first shot in Africa, that too a springbok. Both animals DRT using 8mm Sierra 175 grners. No aminals required tracking of any sort.

We are to expect shots from 100 to 250 on this hunt.

Thanks

Lol... well, I dareth not tilt with thou (get the micron reference? <g>) but aside from recoil I have yet to see an argument for light/fast that cannot be addressed essentially the same or better by the correct heavier bullet.

But- I don't know chit about African game, and I just realized this is that forum, so I'll defer to your knowledge on the subject. This thread just caught my eye because I'm shooting lots of the 160's...

It applies to ALL hunting. African game dies the same. The heavier slower argument went the way of the horse buggy. With properly constructed bullets (like the TSX for example there are others) one can go down in weight whilst bumping up the speed and achieve equal or better results. Or if it's more killing power you want, stay with the same weight and drive it faster.

BTW, there's nothing wrong with an AB and a 7mm. Good bullet. I just prefer the TSXs for all game.

The 160 AB will be fine. Even too tough in my book if the range gets a bit long. Blesbok and Impala are .243W fodder and Kudu are perfect targets for any 7mm.

Mature Blesbok with holes from a 6mm 100 grain Partition shot at 150 metres.

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Examples of very light, please?

I was shooting the lightter ABs back about 5 years ago(older production?) The 140 out of my short winny was getting about 3200 fps muzzle V. Most shots ok, but then shot a 90# whitetail at 100yds. Near side was bloodshot from neck to ham and the exit wound was about 1/4" Almost no blood trail and animal ran about 70yds into heavy cover. I wound up using the Barnes 160 TSX @ 3050 on our trip to the Limpopo in May. Didnt use the 175 due to limited case volume. The only relative disapointment was on eland where the humerus was struck and only bullet fragments made it into the chest. The bull only ran about 90 yds before crashing, did require finishing shots( heavy brush, very dark). I honestly dont know if there were earlier production issues where bonding occasionaly failed or whether velocity, impact site failure was possible. Apparently there is some mixture of opinion.

rogn sorry I am confused....did the eland incident happen with a Barnes, or an AB?

Thanks

Sorry, I guess Id rambled a bit. The eland was taken with the Barnes, the problem was the bullet took on the humerus and even though a monolith it didnt get full complete penetration into the chest. There was penetration by bone and bullet fragments. The combined effect of totally shattered shoulder and moderate lung trauma, and the bleeding into the wound cavity in the shoulder brought the bull down in short order. My disapointment was the inability of the bullet to overcome the massive shoulder bones. Ill stick my neck out and say I dont feel the AB would have performed even as well. Excuse my rambling again.

Thanks, not a problem....

That's a pretty heavy bone from what I understand.

Eland have really heavy bones on the shoulder. Do I understand correct that you used a monolithic solid, or is it something else?

The 7mm's have been doing well in the bush and will continue to do so for many more generations. The fact you got the eland says it all, well done.

Do you perhaps have pictures of the carcass?

Peter, rogn used a 160 Barnes on the eland.

Thanks BobinNH. Pity about the break up then as I have a healthy respect for Barnes.

Even if Barnes TSX's are monolithics, they are still made of pure copper--not exactly one of the hardest metals.