7mm-08 Accubonds... Issues?

Go with the Accubond. You'll be just fine. One of my hunting partners shoot a 7MM Mag with the 160 gr. AB. I've seen him drop elk as far out as 400 yards and that bullet had to be going slower out there than you 140 gr. at normal deer range. He shoots, elk die. Recovered bulls looked good with decent retained weight.
My experience with the Accubond is very thin, one elk at roughly 100 yards with the 165 gr. AB at 2890 FPS. Bullet hit the elk in the short ribs and ended up in the left side lung we think as it was never recovered. The elk ran for maybe thirty feet and expired.
This coming elk season I'm strongly considering using my 7x57 Mauser which using proper hand loads will run right along with the 7-08 and even slightly surpass it. I have one load worked up with the 150 gr. Nosler partition doing 2700 FPS and another at 2800 FPS. I'm also working with the Nosler 150 gr. Accubond Long Range but so far that one and my rifle are not happy with each other.
Here's a little hint on saving a few pennies on reloading. I understand the Partitions are a bit pricey so do the major load work up with a Sierra bullet that's as close to the Nosler as you can find. For you that would be the 140 gr. spitzer boattail (Game King) Once you find a load, drop back a grain and a half and work back up with the Nosler PT. Hoe well does this work? Well I've done it with a .270 Win. 30-06 and .300 Win. Mag. One the Win. Mag. I used the 200 gr. Speer Hot core for the work up. I used that load to take a cow elk in the White Mountains of Arizona about ten years back. I got hold of some 200 gr. Nosler cheap at a gun show and did thew work up. I can shoot either load into .75". If I mix and match, shoot slow so the barrel doesn't get too hot and all 6 bullets will be within 1.5" or less. One the 06 it was the 165 gr. Game King for he basic work up and for the .270 the 150 gr. Game King. Try it, it works.
Paul B.
 
Tallest, it can be easy to over think which bullet might be best. Marketing and hype, as well as people's opinions can get my mind going in a circle about that subject. Use the AB and have fun.

A friend of mine is a young engineer, and has relatives that make custom rifles and shoot long range competitions. My friend got himself well indoctrinated by the relatives about the wonders of Berger bullets. We were talking oneday, and he got so excited telling me how wonderful Berger bullets are he could hardly breathe. But gee, how did my Dad kill game with a 25-35 using bullet technology of the 40's?? :confused:
 
Tallest said:
It sounds like I need to give regular Ballistic Tips a try.
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I certainly would try that. I used Federal ballistic tips for years on whitetail through my 7 mag. I've probably killed around 70 or 80 deer with that bullet. It was always accurate. I took double lung shots most of the time, and while the ballistic tip did come apart on almost all of them, it left nothing but soup where the lungs used to be. I'd routinely pour the lungs out of the deer upon cleaning. The downside was that it could ruin an entire shoulder. When it fragged a shoulder on the far side, the meat was an unusable mess.

If you hunt in a place where you NEED a blood trail, they may not be the best choice, but nothing ever ran further than 30 or 40 yards so it was never an issue for me.

I've used Accubonds on them as well, no problems there either, but we're just talking about whitetail here, they're not hard to penetrate, nor to kill.
 
I've taken a lot of Whitetails since 1986 using only 150 grn Btips from a 3006, this load mostly left nothing edible between the entry and exit.
I started using Accubonds about 8 years ago, in a .270 win I had, it always passed through as I shoot for lower lung and heart shot behind shoulder.
As for the fella North of the border, I don't understand any of your garble. The Polycarbonate tip was introduced to the Btip to reduce tip deformation in magazines.
 
"As for the fella North of the border, I don't understand any of your garble. The Polycarbonate tip was introduced to the Btip to reduce tip deformation in magazines."

Actually the fella north of the border is correct. I think it was Dominion brand ammo and it had a plastic tip.They were way ahead of the game on that one, the exception being Remington's Bronze Point. IIRC, the tip was more rounded than spire points. IIRC, they called it something like the poly-ball or something similar.
Paul B.
 
And, we're talking 60s & 70s can't remember how far back, Norma made some bullets that had a little round plastic ball placed in the nose. Seemed it was a very light green color.
 
I killed a 650+/- lb. walking moose with a hot .270 Win, 140 grain Accubond at 260+ yards and it was dead about 5 yards from the spot. It's probably a bit tough for medium-sized whitetails.
 
It sounds like I need to give regular Ballistic Tips a try. Maybe they're a bit beefier than the Ballistic Silver Tips I used.
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Maybe. You know what is definitely beefier than the BT's you used? The AccuBonds.

Any bullet will kill a deer. The Accubond is going to waste less meat and will probably penetrate better on bone. I've never used the BT's but people like them. I have no doubt they'll kill deer for you. The AccuBond has a great track record. It's a good bullet. No way would I change everything up on a good load over hearsay for just a deer. But then again, I've shot AccuBonds at deer and elk and seen the results for myself.

The AccuBond is just bonded lead, it's not a monolithic. It doesn't act like a monolithic, it isn't as tough as a monolithic. It was designed to behave like a partition with better accuracy. The lead mushrooms like any other lead bullet, it just doesn't separate from the jacket as easily. This allows it to penetrate deeper by fragmenting less and retaining more weight. It has the same chance of "not opening" as any lead tipped bullet (LOW). The Partition behaves the same way (by different design obvi).

Also. People are always blaming their lousy shots on their bullets "not opening up."
 
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I killed a 650+/- lb. walking moose with a hot .270 Win, 140 grain Accubond at 260+ yards and it was dead about 5 yards from the spot. It's probably a bit tough for medium-sized whitetails.
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Where do you get a shot like that in Maine??;) What is your go-to deer gun in general for hunting in Dirigo? I do have a BLR in 7-08 but it's too pretty to bash around in the woods with.
 
Use the Accubond bullets. A friend uses the 140 grain 7mm Accubond bullets on whitetail deer, mule deer and elk. She has never lost an animal.
 
Lol!
Heck, most people think a shot at 100 yards here in PA is "long distance".
While we do have heavy mountainous woods, areas where an opportunity at 1,200 yards does present itself.
Not that i'm suggesting one take such a shot, mind you.

I only have a few guns that are safe queens.
Original 1861 Harpers Ferry.
Commemorative Winchester 94 in 32 Rem.
1861 Confederate Colt Navy in 36 cal.
 
I have friends in Nevada that all shoot 7-08s and all of them use 140 grain Accu-Bonds. All deer, antelope and a few elk have fallen just fine when hit through the chest with them. What I have seen so far is that 100% have existed deer and antelope and 1 in 3 exited elk.
For deer you will have no issues at all.
 
Thanks all! Given the dwindling timeline, I plan to use the Accubonds this season and see how they do. If the work well, I'll probably keep using them for the foreseeable future since they're so accurate. IF they don't, then I'll go to the trouble to start over with the BTs!
 
Dufus said:
My motto: if you are going to all the trouble to hunt and put meat on the table, the bullet is not the place to cheap out on.

Too expensive? Get another hobby.
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Meh - IMHO boutique bullets are largely snake-oil. They're not gonna hurt you and you can hunt fine with them, but very rarely is the bullet going to make or break the hunt.

For the past several years I've been hunting with a 7mm-08. Ammo? $15 per box Prvi Partizan JSP's. Nothing I've shot has ran more than 25 yards.
 
Ballistic Tips & Accubonds

I would not abandon an accurate load. The Accubond bullet may well be a bit stout for whitetails, but talk to 3 more people and you may hear that the Ballistic Tip is too soft. Put either one of those slugs in the right place and you will have a dead deer!

Regards cost, I do believe that Nosler has priced their 50/ct boxes high enough now that it is costing them sales. Your Everyday Joe sort of guy comes along, sees he can get a 100/ct box of bullets from Brand X, for the same price that Nosler will sell him 50, and another box of Brand X goes out the door. Reason is NOT cost alone. Everyday Joe knows that his grandaddy, his daddy, etc, have killed deer just fine with Brand X cup and core SP bullets. I'll add too, that about all commodities have increased in price in recent years, and loading components, especially projectiles, have doubled in cost. For most of us, incomes have not.

I do believe premium bullets have their place. If one shoots a light rifle (say .243) for deer, or is inclined to shoot light for caliber slugs, the Partition and the various bonded bullets are a wise choice. And in my experience, the Ballistic Tip is often a very accurate slug across the board if one is shooting truly longer than average distances for deer size game. Though I have no experience shooting game larger than whitetails, on really big deer, elk, moose and bears, I'd want a premium, stout bullet as well. But I don't think a premium slug is essential for deer, as they are not all that tough to kill and typically shot at close range.
 
bamaranger said:
I would not abandon an accurate load. The Accubond bullet may well be a bit stout for whitetails, but talk to 3 more people and you may hear that the Ballistic Tip is too soft. Put either one of those slugs in the right place and you will have a dead deer!

Regards cost, I do believe that Nosler has priced their 50/ct boxes high enough now that it is costing them sales. Your Everyday Joe sort of guy comes along, sees he can get a 100/ct box of bullets from Brand X, for the same price that Nosler will sell him 50, and another box of Brand X goes out the door. Reason is NOT cost alone. Everyday Joe knows that his grandaddy, his daddy, etc, have killed deer just fine with Brand X cup and core SP bullets. I'll add too, that about all commodities have increased in price in recent years, and loading components, especially projectiles, have doubled in cost. For most of us, incomes have not.

I do believe premium bullets have their place. If one shoots a light rifle (say .243) for deer, or is inclined to shoot light for caliber slugs, the Partition and the various bonded bullets are a wise choice. And in my experience, the Ballistic Tip is often a very accurate slug across the board if one is shooting truly longer than average distances for deer size game. Though I have no experience shooting game larger than whitetails, on really big deer, elk, moose and bears, I'd want a premium, stout bullet as well. But I don't think a premium slug is essential for deer, as they are not all that tough to kill and typically shot at close range.
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Bamaranger - This if my favorite post in the thread! Second paragraph especially... eloquent response to very valid discussion, but for me, it closes the Thanks!

We'll see what Accubonds do this year. Shots will likely be 10-250 yds.
 
I have a freind from Nevada who comes to Wyoming every year to hunt. He's used the 7-08 and the 280 for ALL his hunting here (deer, elk and antelope) and used the 140 grain AccuBond for most of that hunting and did use the 160 grain in his 280, all Accu-Bonds.

I have seen nothing that would make me think there is anything wrong with how they work.
They expand very well, and as of 3 weeks ago, going back about 8 years, I have never seen one fail to exit any animal he's killed with either of his two 7MM rifles.

He just got a 6.5 CM in a Henry lever action 3 weeks ago and so now he is going to try the 140 grain 6.5 Accubonds.
 
For deer and antelope I use A-Max's, ELD-M's, NBT's, LR AB's, and ELD-X's.
Even killed an antelope with a corelokt last week, with 6BR in a center-grip XP-100 at just over 250 yards.
Nothing wrong with AB's or Partitions-They both work great!
Any good cup/core bullet will work fine on deer/antelope.
I have used NBT's, ELD-X's, and Partitions on elk (6.5, 7mm, and 30 cal) with success.
If you want a exit wound and you want to drop them quick, go for a double shoulder shot with the AB's.
I trust my AB's to work on game whether on deer, antelope or elk
 
Ernie Bishop said:
For deer and antelope I use A-Max's, ELD-M's, NBT's, LR AB's, and ELD-X's.
Even killed an antelope with a corelokt last week, with 6BR in a center-grip XP-100 at just over 250 yards.
Nothing wrong with AB's or Partitions-They both work great!
Any good cup/core bullet will work fine on deer/antelope.
I have used NBT's, ELD-X's, and Partitions on elk (6.5, 7mm, and 30 cal) with success.
If you want a exit wound and you want to drop them quick, go for a double shoulder shot with the AB's.
I trust my AB's to work on game whether on deer, antelope or elk
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Not sure why you would use ELD-M's for hunting with all the other stuff you have available... but... different strokes.

And my OP wasn't to determine if the Accubond is a good hunting bullet. Ideally it would be as it falls under the hunting bullet category. But what works in one context may deviate in another, and that is why I asked folks what they had experienced, not what is nominally correct.
 
Tallest said:
Not sure why you would use ELD-M's for hunting with all the other stuff you have available... but... different strokes.
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It is a cup/core bullet with a higher BC, than say a NBT and I have killed big and small hogs, whitetail, mule deer, and antelope with A-Max's and they work great!
I have a good friend who has literally killed 100's of small to large hogs with the 168 grain/308 Winchester, not to mention a lot of whitetail.
I have watched the 168 grain A-Max/ELD-M (308 Winchester) penetrate a windshield (at it's regular angle at 100 yards, and then penetrate a military ammo can filled with water and almost exit while doing noticeable damage to the can.
Even in a short barreled 308 it drops animals great even at 350 yards.
There is a reason why Hornady loads their TAP ammo with A-Max's/ELD-M's.
https://youtu.be/dFafJpKGCMs
 
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