Nosler Accubond LR vs Hornaday ELD-X 6.5 PRC

[ElCidAviator]

For those that may be concerned about the ABLRs accuracy, my .28 Nosler shot a .137” group with 175 grain ABLRs at 3115 fps. My wife’s 6.5 PRC is pushing a 150 grain ABLR to 2935 and getting just under a .5 inch group.

Each rifles different but both of ours seem to really like the ABLRs.

 

[swMontanaHunter]

I've been shooting Nosler factory ammo as I don't reload. I've had good success on elk with Nosler 180gr Accbnd's out of my Browning Xbolt HCLR .300 win mag. I haven't been able to find this 180gr Accbnd ammo for almost two years and I'm going to switch to something else. The 180 Accbnd has killed elk from 30 yds to 850 yds and shoots just over 0.5 MOA out of my Xbolt. I picked up a couple boxes of Nosler 190gr Accbnd LR and fired some test rounds. This ammo grouped just over 1.0 MOA. I am not overly happy with 1.0 MOA and I've also heard some bad press about Accbnd LR for terminal performance??

 

[ElCidAviator]

Here’s some field findings from bullets recovered in game animals. Although not a perfect head to head comparison, it will give some data to help others make a decision.

The bullet on the left is a 150 grain ELDX from a 6.5 PRC, factory loaded Hornady Precision Hunter round. It was a 30 yard broadside shot on a smaller pig, IIRC the pig was about 60 lbs. The bullet was recovered in the opposite side hide from a typical “whitetail” double lung shot without hitting shoulder (not a great shot on the pig, but they were a movin).

The bullet on the right is a 175 grain ABLR from a .28 Nolser hand loaded going 3115. It too was a 30ish yard shot into a good sized 8 point whitetail. It was a front shot into the neck, the bullet was recovered in the back hind quarter hide after traveling almost through the deer. No shoulder was hit in this shot either. This was like hitting a squirrel with a howitzer, DRT. I brought the .28 out as I was planning on taking a much longer shot that day (and it’s my only hunting rifle sighted in with a suppressor), but this buck had doe on his mind and followed his girl right up the trail toward me to his demise.

Take a look for yourself, it proved which bullet I trust more.

 

[HoneyBadger2484]

I know this thread is a little older but I'm working up some loads right now with said bullets. I am loading all with H4831SC, H1000, and Retumbo.

- 142 ABLR is promising showing a .4 group at 2970fps with an SD of 1.6.
- 150 ABLR is worst of the group so far with a .75in group and SD of 9. I am planning to jump it more as this seems to be the remedy. getting about 2925fps
- 156 Berger EOL is shooting right there with the 142ABLR for accuracy about .3in group and a 1.4 SD around 2915.

Has anyone found success or powder recommendations for these? I will post pictures and info once I have more definite results.

 

[Mike D Texas]

If you can get the ABLR to group well, I think it’s a far superior bullet to the ELDX.


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[Formidilosus]

If you can get the ABLR to group well, I think it’s a far superior bullet to the ELDX.

Can you post the animals you’ve killed with both, the outcomes, and the reasons you think that?

 

[Nbowlin]

Can you post the animals you’ve killed with both, the outcomes, and the reasons you think that?

Oh the battle ship mouth and a row boat ***.........call out...
Facts are fun.

 

[Flyjunky]

The irony of bullet performance reviews on dead animals makes me giggle.

I was thinking the same thing.

“With that said, it has killed everything we’ve shot with it, and none of them have a taken a step.”

Sounds like a solid reason to switch bullets.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Can you post the animals you’ve killed with both, the outcomes, and the reasons you think that?

Between those 2 bullets I have killed 9 game animals and several pigs. I killed 4 axis and white tail with the ELDX ranging from 50’ish yards to just over 400 yards using a 6.5x47 Lapua and a 260AI. At longer distances the ELDX did ok. At less than 200 yards I rarely got a pass though.

The other 5 game animals I killed after I had switched to the ABLR under similar conditions I had repeatable pass through and better blood trails. That included the same axis and whitetail plus a red deer hind and they all performed exactly how I expect a bonded bullet to perform; pass throughs and heavy blood trails just like I prefer if they don’t drop.


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[Vern400]

I have not had success getting secant ogive bullets to shoot well in any of my rifles. There are plenty on the market so I think others have, but I stick with the regular ABs and other tangent ogive bullets.

To a degree, I have had the same experience. Some of the very long bullets don't shoot well out of my 308, and if I want to shoot 100 yards and shoot groups I need flat base bullets because the boat tails take longer to stabilize. With 165 ballistic tips my 200-yd groups are about 1.4 times the 100 yd group diameters. It's repeatable too. Bullet hasn't gone to sleep at 100 yards. I showed the groups two Nosler tech support and they confirmed it. Dang those things will shoot but I won't use them on game. Theyre milk jug busters at long range

 

[Vern400]

I stopped shooting ELD-Xs from my 6.5 PRC after shooting a 40lbs hog and finding the bullet in the hide weighing 78gns. If I can’t get a pass through on a little hog, then I don’t think it’s the best round for Elk.

With that said, it has killed everything we’ve shot with it, and none of them have a taken a step.

Also, is anyone shooting 150 ABLRs? That’s what we went to, but I haven’t loaded them up yet. Hopefully we get good accuracy with velocity over 2900fps.

With soft bullets, high impact velocity can cause them to fragment and lose weight.

With hard bullets low impact velocity can cause them to pencil through at longer ranges.

One situation results in tremendous energy dump into a game animal at 40 or 50 or 100 yards where you can see reasonably. And it's going to die real quick even if the blood trail is not great.

The hard bullet situation results in an animal at long range that got a fairly light hit almost like getting hit with a full metal jacket. Unfortunately I lost a deer 2 years ago because of this.

I tend to err towards the bullets that initiate expansion rapidly. At longer ranges where it really matters more they hold together better at the lower impact velocities. But they DO open up.

 

[texag10]

Between those 2 bullets I have killed 9 game animals and several pigs. I killed 4 axis and white tail with the ELDX ranging from 50’ish yards to just over 400 yards using a 6.5x47 Lapua and a 260AI. At longer distances the ELDX did ok. At less than 200 yards I rarely got a pass though.

The other 5 game animals I killed after I had switched to the ABLR under similar conditions I had repeatable pass through and better blood trails. That included the same axis and whitetail plus a red deer hind and they all performed exactly how I expect a bonded bullet to perform; pass throughs and heavy blood trails just like I prefer if they don’t drop.


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How quickly did the animals shot with the ELDX die?

 

[JGRaider]

With soft bullets, high impact velocity can cause them to fragment and lose weight.

With hard bullets low impact velocity can cause them to pencil through at longer ranges.

One situation results in tremendous energy dump into a game animal at 40 or 50 or 100 yards where you can see reasonably. And it's going to die real quick even if the blood trail is not great.

The hard bullet situation results in an animal at long range that got a fairly light hit almost like getting hit with a full metal jacket. Unfortunately I lost a deer 2 years ago because of this.

I tend to err towards the bullets that initiate expansion rapidly. At longer ranges where it really matters more they hold together better at the lower impact velocities. But they DO open up.

I tend to go the other direction. I've hunted deer/big game since 1971, and guided over 160 hunters. 99% of the hundreds of game animals taken were killed under 300 yards. I don't consider high BC's, heavy for caliber bullets, etc as a priority. Instead, I'll take a tougher bullet with "inferior" BC every single time. The best "tough, high BC" bullet that is most reliable IME is the 7mm 139gr Scenar.

 

[Formidilosus]

Between those 2 bullets I have killed 9 game animals and several pigs. I killed 4 axis and white tail with the ELDX ranging from 50’ish yards to just over 400 yards using a 6.5x47 Lapua and a 260AI. At longer distances the ELDX did ok. At less than 200 yards I rarely got a pass though.

The other 5 game animals I killed after I had switched to the ABLR under similar conditions I had repeatable pass through and better blood trails. That included the same axis and whitetail plus a red deer hind and they all performed exactly how I expect a bonded bullet to perform; pass throughs and heavy blood trails just like I prefer if they don’t drop.


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Thank you. My experience with ABLR’s is not statistically large, however in that they did not produce exits more than ELD-X’s of like weight.

 

[Kimber7man]

I tend to go the other direction. I've hunted deer/big game since 1971, and guided over 160 hunters. 99% of the hundreds of game animals taken were killed under 300 yards. I don't consider high BC's, heavy for caliber bullets, etc as a priority. Instead, I'll take a tougher bullet with "inferior" BC every single time. The best "tough, high BC" bullet that is most reliable IME is the 7mm 139gr Scenar.

6.5mm?

 

[JGRaider]

6.5 mm 139 Scenar. Thanks for catching that.

 

[Kimber7man]

Yep, knew what you meant!

 

[Mike D Texas]

How quickly did the animals shot with the ELDX die?

Varied depending on a lot of factors. Being in some relatively mild cartridges, I don’t recall any DRT. Most ran anywhere from 50 yards to 100+ on the longer distance shots.

To be somewhat fair, I only had a couple drop with the ABLR, but those were typically high shoulder shots.


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[Vern400]

I tend to go the other direction. I've hunted deer/big game since 1971, and guided over 160 hunters. 99% of the hundreds of game animals taken were killed under 300 yards. I don't consider high BC's, heavy for caliber bullets, etc as a priority. Instead, I'll take a tougher bullet with "inferior" BC every single time. The best "tough, high BC" bullet that is most reliable IME is the 7mm 139gr Scenar.

I use 308/150 Sierra Spitzer Boat tails on deer to the tune of 100 animals. I've lost 1 hit deer. I consider them a fairly soft bullet.

I use 308/165 partitions on animals that may try to eat me. They're awesome but they aren't as accurate as some others for me.

I think we're mostly having the same thoughts. And it's nice to converse with someone who should be speaking on the topic.

Would you consider a 150 accubond a good choice for 308 for deer? I'm sending them at 2800 fps or a shade more. I've GOT to drop them immediately with high shoulder shots. I'm in swampland. 50 yards through a thicker and they'll sink in water or the river.

 

[JGRaider]

I have had such good luck with accubond bullets in 7mm 140 and 160gr, 6.5mm 130 and 140 gr that I always recommend them. A high schoulder shot with an AB will drop them like a prom dress.