JB. What’s your opinion of using 225 grain Accu bonds versus 225 grain partitions in 35 Whelan on elk. I know you like partitions how about Accu bonds?

Unlikely that the elk will be able to tell the difference. No bad choice here.

Like stated above either one is a very good choice. Just do your part with shot placement.

grayfox,

Either bullet will work just fine. In fact, after using AccuBonds (and watching my hunting partners use them) on big game up to well over 1000 pounds I sincerely doubt you'll be able to tell the difference.

The elk would prefer that you not to use the one which shoots the best in your rifle on the off chance that you might miss.

Partition! memtb

The experience in this Alaskan hunting camp is that the performance of accubonds and Partitions are virtually identical

I'll have to see how they shoot in my rifle. So far the 225 gr. TSX is batting a thousand. Six shots, six elk. Excellent accuracy.
Paul B.

Heads you win
Tails you win.


Flip a coin.

Thanks to everyone for their input appreciated.

Gray Fox,
Though I have settled on the 225 TSX for my Whelen this fall, the 225 NAB shot very well during load work-ups, and I started a thread here to get input from people who had killed elk with the 225 NAB. Might help you.
Who has killed Elk with the Nosler 225 Accubond?
I started an identical thread on the Shooter's Forum to get more opinions - you might read that one too:
Same subject, different forum

Probably no wrong answer, as others have said,
Rex

Last 2 elk I shot were with the 225 gr Partition in the 35Whelen, like Elmer said you can eat right up to the bullet hole. If it isn't broke don't fix it. MB

I know four guys that use the .35 Whelan here in Alaska. Every year they shoot moose and caribou and I believe all but a few caribou were taken under 400 yards. They all use the same 225 grain Accubond and powder charge.

Between the four of them in the last 10 years they have racked up a pretty big gut pile all combined. The early season big bull caribou this year was shot at 438 yards and was a first shot hit and a one shot kill. Every year most of the moose are one shot kills. Most of the shots are from tree stands looking over a very big swamp. Given all the moose and caribou they have shot I can't imagine that same load not being a hammer on elk.

My experience as well.

Wait, isn't it: "Heads you win, Tails elk loses"?

FWIW, I could not get the 225 NAB to shoot in my 1:12 Whelen, so I'd go NPT.

MuskegMan,

I doubt if the twist was the problem. Instead it was probably some deal with chamber throat length. Have had the 225 AB shoot great in several .35 rifles with the traditional 1-16 twist, along with a custom 1-12 barrel.

Loaded the 225 AB in my 35-06 JDJ. It held 1/4 moa from my Encore, 16”. 65 gr’s Reloder 15 pushed it to 2750 fps

My experience with .35's is limited to the .358 Win and I used 250 Hornadys. Shot exceptionally well. Why use 225s?

Why not?

Out of those two, just pick the one that shoots the most accurately.

Because the 225 grain bullets shoot so well.

With my 35 Whelen, I have killed elk with both 225 gr. Partitions and Accubonds. I could not tell any difference between these two bullets in performance on game, but the Accubonds just seem to fly better in all of my rifles. CP.

I dunno. 225 is an odd number ?

Mebbe I should buy one just to find out. Problem I had with the .358 was it shot everything very well. Boring gun. Figured all the.35's were like that back then, maybe I was wrong.

Actually, I suspect the reason a lot of people like 225's in some .35's is higher muzzle velocity, so they shoot flatter. Among the most reliably accurate loads for the 225 AccuBond is enough Varget to get 2700+ fps, which makes it easy to place shots at 400 yards.

Exactly!

In my youth I was deeply concerned about higher velocity. Not so much anymore. You gentlemen can carry on without me.

Quigley

PS: other than SEA I've never hunted where a shot much over 150 yds was possible.

I sold my 358Norma to my manager, along with a couple of boxes worth of 225 accubonds. He eats elk every year he hunts with it, and deer every year.

Tells me it reliably kills elk and mulies.

Who would have thought?

'Splain to me how a BC of .430 significantly outperforms a BC of .421 at the 2,700 +/- fps MV of the .35 Whelen, please.

It's too early in the morning for gak.

WAM, I sincerely doubt the BC's of the 225 AccuBond and Partition are as close as the .430/.421 Nosler lists. This is based not just on the "form factor" of both bullets (especially plastic vs. softpoint, boattail vs. flat base) but some experience with shooting both of them at ranges beyond 100 yards, along with plenty of other AccuBonds and Partitions of the same caliber and weight.

fully agree.....that said, why not try the 200 grain TTSX? They have proven themselves to me and as a bonus, we are finding increasing demands for lead free bullets.....the ranch I hunt requires it and more will follow in the future. IMO they are as good at terminal performance as it gets.....and many others are singing it's praises as well....not just me.

Per Mule Deer, "Among the most reliably accurate loads for the 225 AccuBond is enough Varget to get 2700+ fps, which makes it easy to place shots at 400 yards".

Varget is what my friends use for there 225 Accubond load. One of them with the tricked out Remington 700 and the big Burris Eliminator scope has no problem hitting the Ram at 800 yards at our local range. What is really impressive is when he hits the Ram's the nose, on purpose. If I was not a long time fan and user of the .338 Winny and 338-06 I would be using the same Whelan load and make up an under 7 lb. rifle for it.

I believe that load is a candidate for an all around Alaskan big game load. It seems to have all the "right stuff" for big critters near or far, good bullet design, large diameter and sufficient muzzle velocity for delivering sufficient impact velocity at real world hunting distances. It also does not recoil like a .338 Winny in most rifles and one can usually get 4 to 5 rounds in the magazine. Not that 4 to 5 rounds in a magazine is needed in a magazine if the shooter does their part, but the magazine is a great place to store extra ammo!

Mule Deer, what would you say are the “real world” BC’s of the 225 A/bond vs the 225 Partition? I’ve always thought that the BC of the A/bond and the discontinued 225 B/tip would be better than reported, or at least there would be a bigger difference between them and the Partitions.

MD, I agree with you. The BC of the 225 gr Accubond was advertised as .421 a few years back when I had a custom CDS turret made. So now listed at .430 by Nosler an NPT at .421? Me thinks there is more than one something rotten in Orygun. Happy Trails

Meanwhile, I patiently wait for my rebarrel .350 are Mag to get done.
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