Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Poor Accubond Performance

I took my 30-06 to Idaho and my family used it to fill their elk tags, load was a 165gr Accubond at 2850fps. The first elk was shot at about 30 yards in the neck, elk dropped in it's tracks, no bullet recovery. The second elk, a small cow, was shot in the high shoulder area to anchor her as she was at the top of a very deep and steep drainage. The shot was 30 yards broadside and up hill. The bullet splashed on the shoulder blade and I could instantly see a 4" diameter wound and the exposed shoulder blade. The cow turned away and a second shot to the base of the skull put her down. During the field dressing and skinning it was apparent there was zero penetration past the shoulder blade. Maybe a fluke but I really expected better performance at out of that bullet. I have taken other game animals with the Accubond with lung shots with no issues and have yet to recover a bullet.

Its not even bloodshot around the hole.


Something fishy...

You are seeing what the wound looked like after removing the hide. Believe what you wish.

Wow, interesting. What's that? 1/2" penetration?

This was the bullet impact at 30 yds?

Accubomb bites again.

There are sporadic reports of them doing this--it just doesn't happen very often. But it does happen.

Saw the same on a buffalo once. Shot at 35 yds and blew fist sized holes
in the meat with zero penetration.
Too soft for close range I guess

...broadside and up hill...

AC do you think the bullet hit at an angle and skidded instead of digging in,given the angle and the impact with the bone? A friend had that happen on a brown bear one time....not with an AB though.

Bob, I've seen that very thing with a black bear and a Nosler Partition.

pathfinder the fellow it happened to was using a 200 gr BBC in a 338 Win Mag.....can happen with the best of them I guess but never had it happen to me personally.

But I can see how it could....at 30 yards and 2800+ fps that elk shoulder would be about like a steel plate.Bullet hits at an angle and sort of deflects instead of digging in.

I've seen three elk killed with AB's now.......contrary to some breathless early repots, so far I wouldn't mistake it for a Partition.

Had a friend who has hunters on his family ranch, he essentially said the same thing this past month.

Don't get me wrong, the AB is a better than average bullet........

Casey

Bob
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe the shot angle had it skimming along instead of penetrating the shoulder.

Accubonds are not too soft for close range. Not even at ridiculous speeds. mtmuley

I have seen this twice on white tails.

MM: I never said they were.... I said it could have skidded instead of digging in because of the angle of the shot..... That has nothing to do with softness. It has to do with the angle it impacted the shoulder bone.

Is an AB the toughest bullet you've used?

805: Exactly my thought.

Any chance that bullet hit something else first a stick or tree top I have been finding these cases are due to unseen bullet breaking obstacles. Happen two times this year to our hunting crew both animals had to be shot twice.

In fact the buck in the pic was one of them a small tree about three feet in front of the deer made the bullet explode just small peices if shrapnel hit the deer the second shot was a brained and he was done.

Bob, I've been using them in a .300 RUM since the 200 grainer has been available. Lot's of dead critters of every size at lot's of yardages. They are a damn tough bullet and I've pushed then to the limit. mtmuley

I nave seen bergers do that but not AB's. I guess they all fail from time to time. Look at this one......300 WSM 165AB at 3134FPS