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

I agree. And I've shot them fast out of stuff like 300 Wby and 7STW.

Darn good bullet.

mtmuley yes, the 200 gr is a good bullet. A few friends use them from 300 magnums and one killed a 6x6 with a couple last year. Not arguing it isn't good....but apparently what might have happened here could happen with any of them if they strike bone at an angle and simply don't dig in.

I know they work. But if they strike at an angle any bullet could deflect off bone under similar circumstances.

If that happened I can't regard it as any sort of a "bullet failure", regardless of make.

+2. Steep, uphill angle and wound high on the shoulder.

After shooting several elk with 180 gr AB's in a 300 WSM, that's exactly the kind of performance I expect from them. I won't use them again.

Obliterated one shoulder, lodged in the hide on the offside of a decent sized bull this year. (160gr from 280 - 302yds)

I've seen the 7mmRM, 160AB, 3000fps take 2 wildebeest, 2 oryx, zebra, and a kudu, all pretty tough animals. Performance was what I'd call exemplary, especially since crushing through shoulders is preferred over there.

+3. I've had great performance out of them in my 7wsm with 160s@3000 fps from 30 to 550yards

No way a 165gr at 30-06 speeds could have done that with a direct hit. Just isn't possible.

I think some of the comments regarding the steep up hill angle and contact with the blade makes sense. I think it was a fluke but am still amazed by this happening.

all rifles will fail, all scopes will fail, all ammo will fail.

I think the angle was probably the biggest issue there.

I am still waiting to see a barnes fail for me or friends, but I expect I"ll see it sooner or later.

Personally for elk in an 06 I'd be running 180s of about any standard bullets flavor. But I really think that the angle was the issue here. Like tossing a stone at a flat water surface... I suspect it kind of skipped in a way.

Being that high of an angle the ideal would have been a very low entry shot though, and exit high due to angle. As it was if this one had penetrated it may well, dependign on angle, only stunned the elk with a hit above the spine, rather than killed it.

Bottom line, the shooter knew to never drop your guard, and to keep shooting, till its down and out, and all was good.

Loved the story and pics. Especially the last picture.

Thank you

I see nothing to indicate the bullet glanced off bone.. rather it was such a shallow angle the bullet went straight through the little bit of flesh presented to it. That opened it enough to see bone, but the bone from the pictures is not damaged like one would expect of a glancing bullet.

I'm certainly not any kind of expert on bullet performance considering I've only shot one deer with a 165gr accubond from a 30-06 at 50 or so yards last year. Performance was exceptional on sample size of one. Never found the bullet.

Armed with 140gr accubonds for my antelope hunt this coming week out of a 280AI.

If I were to follow all the threads on bullet failure here and take them all to heart, I don't think there would be a bullet left to use! So I guess I just pick the best I can and take my chances, hope for the best.

A lesson in shot placement glad the follow ups worked well.

I look at the AB as a better Ballistic Tip and would aim accordingly.

Use Partitions if you want Partition performance, not sure they wouldn't have acted same way in this situation though.

Mike

That could be, too.

So the bullet never struck bone? Just exposed it. Interesting theory.

I just ain't buying that this was a direct hit. The bullet either hit something prior to entry or was at such an angle that is just skinned the elk. I have seen many wounds like that and all were from poor entry angles.

There is just no way an accubond did that.

Beat me to it.

I have the "luxury" of having seen quite a few poorly placed shots over the years. Bullets bouncing off bone do not leave white bone behind. If I read the pictures correctly there is white bone at the bottom of that wound.

165 Ballistic tip (.308) at 2750 fps impact. Accubond should have done much better!

C'mon man.. Shooting into water?

Apples and apples is a little more meaningful.

In your mind, what is average?

Excellent post rost. I agree that the shot placement was off at that angle as well.

If it blew up were there bullet fragments imbedded in the meat or hide? Should have been more than couple with that small amount of penetration. If not, then something else altered a normal outcome.

I too shot an AB this year into a moose and had it "blow up" the shoulder. I will take some responsibilty as I should have used a heavier than 165 gr from a 300 wsm.

I may have been misinformed but I was told that water puts severe strain on a bullet.

Hey Fotis, how goes it?

Yeah, I think the water jugs are an acceptable test med, for a soft-tissue shot on game, but I don't think they substitute for an elk shoulder blade very well.

Still, in general, my "water jug testing" has pretty much shown the same thing as my in-the-field observations:

The heavier constructed bullets penetrate deeper, expand less.

The lighter constructed bullets expand more and penetrate less.

Not really all that difficult for me to accept. Bullets like the TSX, Nosler Partition, Nosler Accubond, Swift A-Frame, all penetrated well. The Ballistic Tip impressed me by hanging together as well as it did, and I've seen it do the same thing on game, meaning it performs pretty doggone well.

Why this particular Accubond & elk shoulder didn't work out so well? I don't know, but I tend to go along with the guys who are thinking it was the angle of impact. That's got to play a significant part.

Okay, hopping in the Jeep now, looking for a big ol' trophy spike mule deer dink... Hopefully the Ballistic Tips in my .25-06 will be adequate. Again.

Regards, Guy

If in fact it was a dead on hit that shoulder bone should have been broken as a minimum. And I am not limiting that statement on the AB alone. Hornady, Sierra, and other non premiums should be able to crack that bone too.

I have seen this done on a 7x7 bull elk in Laramie peak.

180 gr BTSP Interlock at 3050 from a 308 Norma mag. Impact at 30 feet. I still have the bullet at home.

We cut the meat up tonight and did find the shoulder blade was broken. We did not find any evidence that the bullet penetrated beyond the blade though.

Any chance you hit a limb before the elk

I was standing next to my uncle when he made the shot, he had a clear line of sight to the elk.

A few years ago I shot an antelope at 100 yards with a 140ge 7mm Accubond. The animal was facing me. I figure the impact velocity at over 3000 fps. The bullet entered just in front of the left shoulder and never exited the chest cavity. DRT.

The bullet acted just like a Ballistic Tip. I still us them.

I went searching for the bullet that put the cow down. It entered the back of the neck, devastated the vertebrae, broke the jaw bone, nocked out some teeth and exited through the mouth. This is impressive to say the least, I only found one small piece of jacket in this mess. Conference restored.

Scary what it would have done at that distance with a hot gun/load.