Accubond vs Partition

robtattoo

robtattoo

WKNR
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Mar 22, 2014
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Location
Tullahoma, TN
So, I'm looking to drop down to a 150gn bullet in my .308
I've been shooting 165 partitions & they work as expected on the whitetail I've shot with them, but I've never been 100% happy with the accuracy. It's good enough for my intended targets (elk inside 300yds) but I'm not completely confident in them.

Performance cannot be faulted, from my limited experience, but I'd like to squeeze a little smaller group if I can.
Right now, I'm shooting an average of 1½" 5 shoot groups at 100, but that's opening to around 7" at 300. Again, good enough but I think a lighter bullet could do better. They're running along at around 2700fps.... It seemed, during development, that the faster I went, the better the groups got. These are loaded as hot as I dare go & they're around ½gn off showing pressure signs.

So, I'm thinking of dropping to a 150 bullet with the velocity upped to maybe 2900+
Inside of 300 the energy difference is minimal & still well above 1500ft/lb but obviously I'd like to stay with a premium bullet. I've tried TSX/TTSX/GMX style solids & couldn't get accuracy any better than the 165 Partitions, so I'm looking solely at Nosler.

Opinions?

(Yep, it's 'thinking' season. Sorry.)
 
I load 165gr Accubonds in .308 and have gotten great accuracy with those. I know I've loaded the 150's as well but I can't remember why I stuck with the 165's. It might have been the accuracy thing.....can't remember. I'd have to find my notes to see. I load the 165's to right about 2840fps.
 
Yep, I tried 4 different powders. I got better groups with 3031, but with a large velocity handicap. Right now I'm loading over CFE223
IIRC the 3031 was giving me around 2500 (20" barrel)

Sent from a mountain somewhere, using telepathy.
 
I have great success with the 165 gr. Partition & Accubond in my 30-06.

With your .308 I think the 150 gr. weight would be a good compromise and would work for anything that you want to hunt essentially. The 150 gr. Accubond is a great bullet for that cartridge and it should get you some good fps out of it. The Partition should work just as well. I would give those a try. Who knows maybe for some reason your rifle does not like the Partitions.

I've tested the Accubonds, Partitions, and E-tips into water jugs at 25 - 100 - 200- 300 - 400 - and 500 yards. (Only the E-tip is left to test at 500.) The expansion and weight retention on all of these bullets has been exceptional. I really like how they perform, and they do just as well on game in my experience anyway.

Best of luck.
 
Are you using a magnum primer? If not you'd likely see groups shrink by switching to them with that powder. Accubonds are a solid bullet choice and I'd have no problem using the 150gr version on elk.
 
I'd never considered magnum primers. You say they're better for CFE powder?

Sent from a mountain somewhere, using telepathy.
 
Hmmm.......I've never tried the CFE with the 308. I always thought it was a good small round powder made for speed like the .22-250, that's what I use it in.

The best speed and accuracy I got with the 165's was with TAC and RL-15.
 
In my experience about 80% of the time you can shrink groups with ball powders, like CFE 223, by switching to magnum primers. There was an article a few years back in Hanloader over the subject and the author found magnum primers help produce a more consistent burn with ball powders. The theory was the extra flash was beneficial for the ball powders due to how tightly they settles in the case than extruded powders do. You'd have to start midway in the load data and work back up as it seems your current load is rite there at max, but it's definitely worth trying.
 
For whitetails, ballistic tips do great with my rifles. I'd drop lower than the 150gr.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk
 
My .308s prefer 150 sciroccos over 150 accubonds. Never loaded the NPT 150 grainer so can't help there.
 
You're for certain it's the ammo? I rank 308 slightly higher in the "I ain't handloading" department than an '06. NPT's have never been known for bug holes, but there are plenty of photos floating around of it.

178 ELDX might be the ticket.
 
Yeah, I've had better groups with different powders, albeit at a fairly significant velocity penalty. I haven't tried 178s, but tried SMK 175s & Nosler 180s & couldn't get either to group well at all.
If I have to stay with the 165s I'd be absolutely fine with them, but it does appear that the barrel likes more speed (don't know why, it's just been a trend I've noticed with it) than I can get out of heavier bullets.
I haven't tried any factory ammo. Actually, I haven't bought any factory ammo for 4 years or more.

Sent from a mountain somewhere, using telepathy.
 
Accuracy issues can't be blamed on the bullet alone as has be discussed. The Partition is a time-tested elk killer. I've found them to be highly accurate with the right load combo. For your stated range limitations there's probably not a much better choice. Nothing wrong with experimenting either. There's lots of things to consider here. For example, what kind of scope are you using for accuracy at 300 yards?
 
I've topped my rifle with a Vortex Diamondback 2-7x35
As I say, I can live with the accuracy I have. I know that the bullets I'm shooting are also perfect for what I need. I'm looking to 'potentially' trade off a little performance for a little better accuracy is all.
I'm 100% sure I could find a load that is better with the 165s, but frankly I don't want to buy more powders. I've tried every combo of powder I have in stock with every bullet I wanted to try & the CFE/NPT combination gave me accuracy I could live with at velocity I could live with. I'd prefer a little more of both.

Sent from a mountain somewhere, using telepathy.
 
IF you would read the Nosler description of Accubond bullets it says they were striving for the "accuracy of a ballistic tip and the terminal performance of a partition" and IME they got it right - I haven't hunted with them as yet but in '06's the 150 Etip has been giving me good 100 yard accuracy with the new IMR Enduron powders but I can't say which one as I'm away from home now, will post when I'm back at the end of the week - I'm soon gonna test some loads at 200 & 300 to see if they carry out to distance (but I think they will do just fine) I know CFE223 is a ball powder and I've had good 100 yd results with it and 130 TSX and 150 Accubond with 308 but with 210M primers, I'd CAUTIOUSLY approach a mag primer though, seems like a hotter powder than the normal ball propellants
 
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