7mm Rem Mag & 140 gr Accubonds

[Guy]

Spent part of yesterday morning putting together some 7mm Rem Mag loads to test, hopefully soon.

Reloader 22
Federal 215's
Winchester cases
140 grain Nosler Accubonds

Looking good - soon I'll see how they shoot. Remington factory 140 gr ammo was promising.

 

[Chordeiles]

I’m working on a couple of 140g loads for my 7mm mag as well.

Found a good one using H1000 and 140 NBTs, next up is the NABs.

 

[manitou1]

l know my .280s LOVE the 140 gr accubonds under a heavy dose of H4831sc.
I am running 3040 fps wih no pressure indications, mild recoil and great accuracy (-.5").
The .284 accubonds perform with authority. Most big game animals I have shot with them have died where they stood... so quickly there is little blood.
This pronghorn buck showed blood since I drug him about 20 yds out of the water where he dropped, a 621 yd shot. (it had been raining and snowing for several days)
To say I have been pleased is an understatement. I hope you have as much
luck with your load.
Bullet on left was from the pictured whitetail buck@20 yards, front quartering, recovered opposite side under skin at last rib. The accubond on the right was recovered from a muley buck I shot @ 351 yds, broke both shoulders and was just under the skin on far side.

 

[manitou1]

Chordeiles: You probably already know this... but the NBTs and NABs print almost identical at 100 yds.
Fom my rifles, you can't tell a difference at the target.
I have not, however, shot the NBTs at distance.

 

[Chordeiles]

I’ve heard that before, but never tried it.....until now. That’s what I’m hoping for. Thanks.

 

[Sekora]

I have the same experience with the NBT's and NAB's. BT's are cheaper so I usually experiment with them before I dial in and test the AB's on paper. I have shot game with both, and prefer the AB's out of my .280. For the 7Mag, I would also check out the 160 grain bullets.

 

[Kimber7man]

Nosler makes a 150 grain Accubond now to split the distance between the 140 and 160, might be interesting combo. Not the long range version, just standard.

 

[Guy]

Ya, I've been very pleased with the various Ballistic Tip bullets I've used. Decided to try the Accubonds because I anticipate a pretty high muzzle velocity from the 7mm Rem Mag and thought the Accubond should hold together better if I get a short range shot on a big mule deer, or even heavier game like elk.

Really can't complain about my experiences with Ballistic Tip bullets on game though. Everything hit has dropped quickly. That's been with 6mm Rem, 25-06 & 30-06 rifles.

Guy

 

[Piscatory_4]

l know my .280s LOVE the 140 gr accubonds under a heavy dose of H4831sc.
I am running 3040 fps wih no pressure indications, mild recoil and great accuracy (-.5").
The .284 accubonds perform with authority. Most big game animals I have shot with them have died where they stood... so quickly there is little blood.
This pronghorn buck showed blood since I drug him about 20 yds out of the water where he dropped, a 621 yd shot. (it had been raining and snowing for several days)
To say I have been pleased is an understatement. I hope you have as much
luck with your load.
Bullet on left was from the pictured whitetail buck@20 yards, front quartering, recovered opposite side under skin at last rib. The accubond on the right was recovered from a muley buck I shot @ 351 yds, broke both shoulders and was just under the skin on far side.

View attachment 151000

View attachment 150998View attachment 150999
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At 20yds that built only got through the buck to the far side? Should have punched right through him I would think.

 

[manitou1]

Possibly... but it entered the point of the shoulder, traveled through the chest cavity, busted a far side last rib and settled under the skin on a very large bodied deer.

I DON'T measure a bullet's terminal performance by an exit wound. I judge a bullet by quick, clean kills, which the accubond does very well. I switched to the accubond two seasons ago and after 12 animals and only one moving out of its footprints after being shot, I am happy with the outcomes.
A animal shot at close range causes bullet upset faster, dumping kinetic energy into the animal. I'm no scientist, but a bullet traveling at 3040 fps is going to expand and dump energy quicker than the same bullet entering an animal at 2400 fps. What is great about my experience with this bullet is that it kills equally well near and far.

 

[N2TRKYS]

My 7 SAUM shoots 140 grain Partitions and Accubonds with equal accuracy as it does 160 grain Partitions and Accubonds. I only shoot the 160s in it. The 160s work very well on deer and elk.

 

[Studd muffin]

My 7mm RM shoots the 160s very well and they are hammers on deer. I also shot a deer very close and found the bullet on the farside under the skin.

 

[theleo91386]

They're pretty tough for a 140gr bullet. I've been using them for years in my 280ai pushing them at 3,100 fps and have yet to get one back. Last elk I shot with them was a nice 6x6 just under 90 yards. He was dead on his feet with the first shot but I put 2 more into him thinking it'd be my best chance to see if they would blowup, but all 3 exited. For refernce I've shot a spike at a similar distance using a 200gr BT out of a 338-06 and found the copper jacket just under the hide on the off side.

 

[Guy]

Thanks for all the info guys, appreciated.

In the past when I've used a 7mm Rem Mag, I've typically used 160 - 175 gr bullet, and I may do so again, as I have a fair stash of them on hand.

However, this time I want to try the 140's. When I've dabbled with 140's in the past, I found them fast & accurate. I suspect that they'll do just fine. Haven't taken the rifle back to the range since loading up these rounds to test. No hurry.

Regards, Guy

 

[CHWine]

I used to load for all three 7mm's: 7-08, 280 and 7mag. I wanted a good spread between them so loaded 120's, 140's and 160's respectively. I love the overall performance of 160 AB's in my 7mag. H4831SC works great for me but have also had great results with H1000.

 

[muddydogs]

This past seasons elk kill left me wondering a little about the Accubond. I shot a bull at 220 yards with the 7mm RM and 160 grain Accubond. The bullet pencil hold right through the elk, I did't even hit a rib going in or coming out. My shot was a tad high which could have effected the lack of blood trail, at the shooting sight I found blood sprayed 4 feet back behind where the elk was standing on the oak leaves then no other blood for the 100 ish yards the elk traveled before falling over.

3 years ago I shot a cow and bull at about 80 yards, first shot on each got no reaction from the animal and they continued to walk along at a slow pace, second shot showed some reaction but the animals didn't act to concerned. The third shot on the cow put her down and the bull was going down when the trigger tripped on his third shot. All three shots on each animal where vital hits from broadside to quartering one way or the other. Granted killing both elk took less then 2 minutes but I sure didn't get that band, drop, flop that everyone raves about with the Accubond. With the bull I assume he was so love struck that it just didn't register what was happening, heck he had 3 warning shots while I was putting the cow on the ground before he stepped out and said shoot me to but I figured the cow would have bolted with the first shot on her.

 

[LaHunter]

I doubt that the Accubond ‘penciled through’. They are essentially a bonded hollow point, and the hollow point opening is large. The polymer tip is not going to stay together on impact. The high shot placement is most likely the reason for a lack of a blood trail. Sometimes animals don’t just die immediately after a good shot. I have killed several deer and one elk with the 7mm 160 AB and all have had significant internal damage, never a ‘pencil through’.

 

[JasonWi]

I've always used the 160AB in my 7mmRM and haven't had any negative issues. I've shot three bull elk and all three died in under 100 yards.

I'm running mine with 64.5 grains of RL22 and Hornady cases with 215 Fed primers.

 

[Twisted_Addiction]

Not to go away from the AB's. I shoot the 160 gr AB in some federal factory ammo. Shoot well, however has anyone tried the Barnes bullets? Interested in trying a new bullet and a few people have recommended it. Anyone have any suggestions or possible ideas with the 145 gr LRX ? Likes/dislikes?

 

[JasonWi]

Not to go away from the AB's. I shoot the 160 gr AB in some federal factory ammo. Shoot well, however has anyone tried the Barnes bullets? Interested in trying a new bullet and a few people have recommended it. Anyone have any suggestions or possible ideas with the 145 gr LRX ? Likes/dislikes?

I've shot or seen shot 8-10 animals with the TSX and the TTSX (no experience with the LRX) and all animals have been recovered quickly..this included deer, antelope, elk and bighorn sheep. Closest was 30 ish yards out to 300, in calibers from .243, .270WSM, .35 Whelen. The one thing we've noticed is you can't push these type of bullets too fast. We haven't recovered one yet.