What is the issue with Accubond long range bullets?

[Gunsandfitness]

Has anyone had issues with them just blowing up completely?

I shot them in 300 win mag a while back and they shot awesome for groups (200grains).

Then I shot an elk at 340 yards in the shoulder with minimal effect. Another follow up in the lungs and it was a done deal but I found both bullets completely fragmented to the point, I never did find the core portion of the bullet. Shoulder had minimal penetration.

Shot a bigger bull the next year around 180 yards. Again, put it in the shoulder and had little effect. Ended up getting another bullet in the neck and that one slowed him down enough to get another vital shot. Again, I found the shoulder and Neck shot bullets completely blew apart.

At the end of the day, I hate biting into bullet fragments when I’m eating. I think they work but I just didn’t like the penetration and performance on shoulder and neck shots.

This has been my experience. I’m from Oregon and Nosler is a home state hero… but man… when I put that cross hair on that bull at 100 yards I wanted performance and I got “Accubomb” Bullet “splashed” and barely penetrated past the shoulder. Maybe it was still moving too fast… but other cup and core manufacturers products have never done that to me… Just saying.

 

[Idmtgoat]

Overpriced

 

[BadEarth]

I switched to 168 gr ABLR a couple years ago after struggling to group Barnes and bergers. Loaded 3 groups and all shot under an inch with the best under .5” out of my weatherby vanguard 7mm. All were .100” off lands. Shot two deer at 350, one antelope at 350, and an elk at 400. Nothing went more than 10 yards. They’ve been great for me

 

[EdP]

Some folks seem to be able to get secant ogive bullets to shoot well and some not. I'm in the "not" crowd so I stick with standard Accubonds when I want a bonded bullet and have been happy with them.

 

[country_20boy]

In my limited load work with the 150 ABLR in a 7-08, the accuracy wasn't great. Much easier to find a good load with the ELDX and they are nearly half the price.

My assumption is that performance on deer would be similar, but I've read much better things about the ELDX, so that is enough for me to quit wasting time and money on the ABLR.

All that being said, I'll take a regular AB over either for hunting......

Just my $0.02.

 

[amassi]

Never had any accuracy issues but I also no longer chase silly levels of precision. The 129 gr is a nice bullet for the creedmoor. Their price is prohibitive now.
They don’t act bonded so that could be some of the displeasure


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Brian8541]

I have another post where I am looking for bonded bullets for an upcoming moose hunt and I noticed that there seems to be a lot of hatred for the Accubond LR bullets. Can anyone give me any reasoning for this? I have read that originally Nosler had an incorrect BC on these bullets but beyond that I really do not know. I came across some this weekend and plan to load them so I guess I am just trying to understand what the issue is? On another note if you have had success loading these for a 300 PRC I am all ears. Thank you.

This morning I watched a guy dump an elk at <300 yards with a 190 gr ABLR out of his .300RUM. I watched the impact through my Binos, broadside right behind the front shoulder...maybe in the rear of the shoulder. Like I said...it dumped like a ton of bricks. Flopped around for a couple minutes, struggling to lift its head. Then It just laid down. I said "its dead, lets go get it!" then it jumped up and ran off like nothing happened. Tracked it for 2.5 hrs...only 1/2 mile before the blood trail completely dried up. I couldn't believe my eyes! I've killed or assisted on well over 100 elk hunts. The only other time I've seen this was when a guy shot a large cow with a .308 at 70yds with a match bullet...nearly identical results with no penetration. Wish my buddy had read up before he loaded up a couple hundred ABLR rounds. From what I've read, they are designed for optimal performance at LONG ranges, but are too "SOFT" or "FRAGILE" for high velocity impact at close to mid range on large game.

 

[Brian8541]

Has anyone had issues with them just blowing up completely?

I shot them in 300 win mag a while back and they shot awesome for groups (200grains).

Then I shot an elk at 340 yards in the shoulder with minimal effect. Another follow up in the lungs and it was a done deal but I found both bullets completely fragmented to the point, I never did find the core portion of the bullet. Shoulder had minimal penetration.

Shot a bigger bull the next year around 180 yards. Again, put it in the shoulder and had little effect. Ended up getting another bullet in the neck and that one slowed him down enough to get another vital shot. Again, I found the shoulder and Neck shot bullets completely blew apart.

At the end of the day, I hate biting into bullet fragments when I’m eating. I think they work but I just didn’t like the penetration and performance on shoulder and neck shots.

This Happened to my buddy this morning. I watched the impact through my binos...absolutely fatal shot on a cow elk from a .300RUM at just under 300yds. After it flopped around for a couple minutes, it just laid its head down and we thought it had expired. 30 seconds later it jumped up and ran off like nothing happened. I seen this once before when a guy I was hunting with used factory "match" 168gr in his .308win on a cow elk at 70 yards.

 

[Slugz]

Min range shots out of my 280AI on AK moose.
175 Gr ABLR

 

[Harvey_NW]

This Happened to my buddy this morning. I watched the impact through my binos...absolutely fatal shot on a cow elk from a .300RUM at just under 300yds. After it flopped around for a couple minutes, it just laid its head down and we thought it had expired. 30 seconds later it jumped up and ran off like nothing happened. I seen this once before when a guy I was hunting with used factory "match" 168gr in his .308win on a cow elk at 70 yards.

It wasn't absolutely fatal if she got up and ran off, my guess is it was probably in the spinous process, or the guts. Animals die when you put a hole through their vitals.