Federal TBT vs Nosler Accubond for Elk?

[BCD]

I'm looking at both of these bullets for both my 300 WSM and Rem 700 3006 (backup Rifle) for elk. How are these 2 bullets different and similar and which would you prefer for shots from 0-400 Yards?

Thank You!

 

[nobody]

I run the TBT simply because it's cheaper and a local gun shop has them more readily available than the Accubond. They're accurate so far, and should perform perfectly since they're just a "jazzed up" Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. I don't think you'd notice a penny's worth of difference between the two on an elk. They're both a premium bonded bullet with a boat tail and a plastic tip. I will say, in the 7mm, a TBT has a higher B.C. than the same weight Accubond, if that matters to you. Not sure if it's the same with the 300, but may wanna check. I wouldn't think twice about using either.

IMO, I think Federal Premium is often forgotten and swept under the rug and ignored far too often. They really do put out a great product, and that includes their own stuff. The best part is that you can usually get quality stuff for less money than anything comparable from another manufacturer. A box of the TBT's I buy are about $27 locally, while the Accubonds are about $40. While I have no issue with Nosler at all (love the Ballistic Tips!), you definitely pay for their name.

My advice is to pick up whichever is more readily available and run with it! They'll both be great.

 

[Forest]

Potatoe potato. Both great bullets. Likely never ever see a difference. Used the new terminal ascent from federal on an elk this year, also an excellent choice. I agree federal seems to get swept under the rug and I think that mostly is because they just don't have the flashy marketing Hornady or Nosler have. Find what's available, give it a chance, and hunt with confidence!

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk

 

[WCB]

Trophy Bonded is 90% weight retention...Accubonds around 65%. As others stated Nosler really fancies their bullets and prices them accordingly. FYI, TBT is my go to in 5 different calibers and shoot absolutely lights out.

 

[Elkchaser24x7]

I know you are asking specifically about Federal TBT vs Nosler Accubond. I'll throw in my 2 cent on my overall experience with the product brands.
I have good performance with Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw, with Elk, Deer, Bear, Moose, MNT Goat and Antelope.
My daughter took the bull below cleanly with a .270 , Found both bullets and weighed each 140 grain TBBC and 98% weight retention and perfect mushroom. Bull went 30 yards and piled up, dead on his feet with first hit, 2nd insurance policy. 380 yards with a dead rest.
As long as I do my job and hit the "boiler room", they shut the lights off fast and efficiently

Was a Nosler fan when I reloaded and due to the bench shooting accuracy But I walked away from Nolser brand when they first came out with the Ballistic Tips, accurate bullet, but I witness and had to many failures on game. Maybe they fixed the issue, but left a bad taste in my mouth.

That being said, I have been thinking about getting back in to reloading and trying Hammer bullets, I have heard and read good reports.

 

[Finaddictions]

I think of these two bullets as completely different families even though they are both bonded, and they both have plastic tips. The trophy bonded tip is a monolithic or solid shank at the rear, with a bonded lead tip and a HEAVILY tapered jacket to slow expansion so the bullet will retain a very significant portion of its weight. It has a fairly deep hollow point and the jacket is skived, meaning it has light cuts in the jacket to help start the expansion, but the heavily tapered jacket helps to keep it from over expansion. They generally will maintain mid to high 90 percentiles of their original weight. Because they are a heavily worked bullet in the manufacturing process, they can sometimes be a little more finicky to get to shoot well because the hard jacket and solid shank sometimes don't engrave the rifling quite as well.

The Accubond is a bonded bullet that does have a significant portion of its weight derived from the jacket material, but the lead core does go all the way to the base. It's also heavily tapered, but not nearly to the extent of the trophy bonded. The design of the Accubond is to mimic the performance of the Partition but with a plastic tip. It does a good job at this, opening quickly and shedding a decent amount of weight but maintaining the rear portion of the bullet for penetration. They generally will retain 60-70% of their initial weight. Because of the gilding metal jacket these generally engrave the rifling very well, and can be very easy to get to shoot in most rifles.

Overall the Accubond will give you a more devastating wound channel with slightly less penetration and kill very well. There will be more blood shot if you hit meat or bone. The Trophy Bonded Tip will give you deeper penetration, less blood shot but also a less devastating wound channel. You have to pick what you're looking for. For thin skinned game I love the Accubonds, and they perform wonderfully even on larger animals, but you have to understand they can have some large wound cavities and blood shot on the entries, while the TBT will have much less blood shot and less devastating cavities so excel at larger game like elk, moose or eland.

Both are excellent designs and I've used both quite a bit. I generally prefer the larger wound cavities of the Accubond because the animals often die very close to where they were shot, especially when targeting deer/antelope sized critters. I like the TBT's a lot when I'm hunting elk or larger game for the dependable straight line penetration.

 

[Elkchaser24x7]

I think of these two bullets as completely different families even though they are both bonded, and they both have plastic tips. The trophy bonded tip is a monolithic or solid shank at the rear, with a bonded lead tip and a HEAVILY tapered jacket to slow expansion so the bullet will retain a very significant portion of its weight. It has a fairly deep hollow point and the jacket is skived, meaning it has light cuts in the jacket to help start the expansion, but the heavily tapered jacket helps to keep it from over expansion. They generally will maintain mid to high 90 percentiles of their original weight. Because they are a heavily worked bullet in the manufacturing process, they can sometimes be a little more finicky to get to shoot well because the hard jacket and solid shank sometimes don't engrave the rifling quite as well.

The Accubond is a bonded bullet that does have a significant portion of its weight derived from the jacket material, but the lead core does go all the way to the base. It's also heavily tapered, but not nearly to the extent of the trophy bonded. The design of the Accubond is to mimic the performance of the Partition but with a plastic tip. It does a good job at this, opening quickly and shedding a decent amount of weight but maintaining the rear portion of the bullet for penetration. They generally will retain 60-70% of their initial weight. Because of the gilding metal jacket these generally engrave the rifling very well, and can be very easy to get to shoot in most rifles.

Overall the Accubond will give you a more devastating wound channel with slightly less penetration and kill very well. There will be more blood shot if you hit meat or bone. The Trophy Bonded Tip will give you deeper penetration, less blood shot but also a less devastating wound channel. You have to pick what you're looking for. For thin skinned game I love the Accubonds, and they perform wonderfully even on larger animals, but you have to understand they can have some large wound cavities and blood shot on the entries, while the TBT will have much less blood shot and less devastating cavities so excel at larger game like elk, moose or eland.

Both are excellent designs and I've used both quite a bit. I generally prefer the larger wound cavities of the Accubond because the animals often die very close to where they were shot, especially when targeting deer/antelope sized critters. I like the TBT's a lot when I'm hunting elk or larger game for the dependable straight line penetration.

Great synopsis, I learn something today. Thank you for sharing ,@Finaddictions

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Good morning, I'm new to the site and am heading to NW MT this September for my first elk hunt.

@Finaddictions- your response was exactly what I was looking for to confirm my bullet choice. I built a custom .308 for this hunt, and have 2 boxes of 180 grain Federal TBT waiting to get sighted in... Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed response.

 

[Finaddictions]

Good morning, I'm new to the site and am heading to NW MT this September for my first elk hunt.

@Finaddictions- your response was exactly what I was looking for to confirm my bullet choice. I built a custom .308 for this hunt, and have 2 boxes of 180 grain Federal TBT waiting to get sighted in... Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed response.

Thanks for the reply, and I hope you have a fantastic hunt!

 

[BCD]

Thanks for the reply, and I hope you have a fantastic hunt!

How does the Partition compare to the TBT and Accubond?

Thanks for the great response above!!

 

[Finaddictions]

How does the Partition compare to the TBT and Accubond?

Thanks for the great response above!!

The Partition is the original controlled expansion premium bullet and is amazing for the fact that it's still a premium bullet and is completely applicable to todays hunting markets.

The Partitions design is essentially two cup and core bullets separated by a partition. The front of the bullet readily expands, and will even often lose its front core, but the back of the bullet is essentially a full metal jacket at that point and it will continue to penetrate. Because the front of the bullet is a cup and core with a tapered jacket and a fairly soft lead core, it expands rapidly and creates a pretty devastating wound cavity, and then the back of the bullet continues to penetrate. Most of the Partitions are designed to maintain about 60-65% of their weight, but as you move up in caliber size and bullet weight, some of them have harder cores and the partition itself is moved forward so they maintain even more of their weight. I think this migration towards harder cores and forward partitions is the .30 cal 180 grain bullet, but I would have to check with Nosler to be sure. These bullets will often maintain 80-85% of their bullet weight.

As mentioned above about the AccuBond, this bullet was designed to have a plastic tip, but essentially give similar performance to that of the Partitions. Often the jacket alone will be 60-65% of the bullets total weight, hence the way they will often have similar weight retentions to the partition.

 

[huntdoc]

How will each respond to placement that hits bone before vitals? Wondering which is more forgiving of poor placement. Better placement is the goal but things happen.

 

[Finaddictions]

How will each respond to placement that hits bone before vitals? Wondering which is more forgiving of poor placement. Better placement is the goal but things happen.

Huntdoc, the Accubond and Partition will act very similar, although the Partition has a slight edge here. They'll both plow on through, although the Partition has a good chance of dropping it's nose and just driving through with the base on a hard shoulder impact. The TBT is gonna just plow right on through and maintain the mushroom on the front. It might not penetrate quite as far as the Partition in this scenario because of the frontal mass that's maintained on the TBT. Of course it's always hard to say exactly what would occur because every single shot instance is always a little difference. Suffice it to say, that I wouldn't worry about using any of the mentioned bullets shooting through bone.

 

[nobody]

How does the Partition compare to the TBT and Accubond?

Thanks for the great response above!!

Apples to oranges comparison. Nothing against the Partition, as more big game has probably been killed with Partitions than any other bullet on the market. But they are a ballistically inferior bullet IMO. Flat base, broad lead tip. They were revolutionary in their time, and they can be very accurate for sure. The Accubond (and TBT) are a plastic tip boat tailed bullet with a high ballistic coefficient which makes them better for longer range work.

Does that mean you can't shoot a partition and kill a mule deer at 800 yards? Nope, if it shoots well then have at it. But you'll have to account for more drop and more wind drift in order to make that hit than if you were shooting the Accubond.

Additionally, the Partition is not a bonded core bullet. As discussed above, it's essentially a cup and core (think Remington Core Lokt) with a solid base for better penetration. So you shed basically all of your lead weight in the front of your bullet, and the shank stays together like a monolithic ball to get deep penetration.

All 3 are great for western big game, but they kill through VERY different means and perform VERY differently on impact.

 

[BCD]

The Partition is the original controlled expansion premium bullet and is amazing for the fact that it's still a premium bullet and is completely applicable to todays hunting markets.

The Partitions design is essentially two cup and core bullets separated by a partition. The front of the bullet readily expands, and will even often lose its front core, but the back of the bullet is essentially a full metal jacket at that point and it will continue to penetrate. Because the front of the bullet is a cup and core with a tapered jacket and a fairly soft lead core, it expands rapidly and creates a pretty devastating wound cavity, and then the back of the bullet continues to penetrate. Most of the Partitions are designed to maintain about 60-65% of their weight, but as you move up in caliber size and bullet weight, some of them have harder cores and the partition itself is moved forward so they maintain even more of their weight. I think this migration towards harder cores and forward partitions is the .30 cal 180 grain bullet, but I would have to check with Nosler to be sure. These bullets will often maintain 80-85% of their bullet weight.

As mentioned above about the AccuBond, this bullet was designed to have a plastic tip, but essentially give similar performance to that of the Partitions. Often the jacket alone will be 60-65% of the bullets total weight, hence the way they will often have similar weight retentions to the partition.

So of the three options discussed, you would choose the TBT for elk assuming they all shot equally well out of your rifle?

 

[Batch]

I've never used the TBT but I do use accubonds almost exclusively in mine and my sons rifles. I've never had a failure. My first time using them I shot a spike bull at about 40 yards with 300 win. Complete pass through and dug the bullet out of a pine on the other side. Weighed it at home and still retained 70% of its weight.

 

[Finaddictions]

So of the three options discussed, you would choose the TBT for elk assuming they all shot equally well out of your rifle?

Actually not generally. I think they're amazing bullets, especially if you're going to shoot for bone or high shoulder type shots. I'm a behind the shoulder guy and the Accubond is by far my favorite bullet. It's such a great combination of a bonded bullet that will penetrate, but yet it sheds enough weight and opens fast enough to create really good wound cavities. In my experience animals just don't go far. I killed my elk this winter with one and it took 3-4 steps and died. What better performance could you ask for?

If I was hunting Africa where the meat is secondary and you've got great trackers to boot, the TBT would probably get the nod. PH's love high shoulder shots and if that's the shot I was taking the TBT ranks right up there as one of the best of the best. It'll perform right along side the Swift A Frame with a slightly smaller mushroom.

 

[WCB]

I've shot a ton of animals with TBT. I have shot a few with Accubonds. My go to bullet for every thing is the TBT. Hit them through the lungs with either bullet and they could stand there and die or run 100 yards and die. I've seen it with both.

I like one bullet for everything I may hunt. For me that is the TBT. ANYTHING in NA with those calibers the TBT will get done and 99% in the world. Realistically though any of the three discussed here will get the job done at the distances you are looking at. And, there is really not a shot I would take with one that I wouldn't with the other at those distances with those calibers.

From the bullets I have pulled from animals guiding and hunting Partitions and Accubonds usually finish out about 65-70% weight retention. The TBTs have all finished out from 90-95% included 3 of my own I have after breaking major bone in animals. I have seen/experienced a lot higher rate of pass throughs with TBTs than the other two also.

 

[Daniel Boone]

The five elk that I have killed with my 3006 using the Federal TBT have all died very quickly without a lot of bloodshot meat. I now have a 300 WSM and will be using the Accubond this fall but that is only because I could not find the Federal TBT anywhere. I don't think you could go wrong with either.

 

[Snyd]

Either one. I killed 3 moose with these .323 200gr AB's from my 325wsm, 2950fps MV. They all weigh 140gr which is 70% of their initial weight like Nosler says they'll retain. 150, 315 and 400ish yds. The one on the left was at 315yds and broke vertabrea which are the hardest bones on a critter. It held up. Pretty impressive really. It's poked holes through 4 Dall Sheep also and really no what I'd call excessive bloodshot. Accurate too.