7mm-08 Accubonds... Issues?

Ernie Bishop said:
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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And yet, with all that, there are multiple better choices for game animals. Cup and core is general term for lead bullets with copper (or other soft metal) jackets. Being cup and core doesn't automatically make it good at killing something, especially something that is being killed to eat.
 
Matthew,
I use both designs, and have not had a problem with either.
If I shoot one behind the shoulder (lung), that would never affect the meat, but even at that, when I do catch a shoulder it has not been a issue for me...To each their own.

I imagine bird hunting with a shotgun, would be especially distasteful.
 
I’ve run the same two loads on a 7mm08 for years, a 150grn NBT over 45.5grn if either H4350 or H414, the 414 is 75-125fps faster depending on the rifle. Both have yielded excellent accuracy with the 4350 load being a tad bit better. I’ve taken a couple of dump truck loads of deer and pigs with that combination with fantastic results. They run between 2700-2825fps. In my quest for the best load I decided to try the Accubonds and was not happy with the results. Exits are smaller, less internal shock and damage, longer tracks and spottier blood trails. A few DRT kills but not like the BT. My conclusion was that while a great bullet, they are less suitable for thin skinned goats and smaller pigs than the BT’s are. I stopped loading them in my 7mm08.

Accubonds work but there are better choices when hide is thin and bones are light. If I had the opportunity to hunt elk, moose or heavier game, they’d definitely be a choice. Then again if I did that I’d opt for the .300wm anyway. Of course I pick my .300wm up most of the time these days just because hitting a 250#+ pig with a 200grn ELD-X is awesome.
 
If you want cost effective bullets to use deer hunting, my hearty recommendation is Sierra Game King BTSP. They are accurate and flat work on deer. No way do you need a bonded bullet for deer hunting.
 
Those Sierra GK BTSP saved a Tikka T3 Compact .308 from the chopping block. I’d always loaded 46grn of Varget under a 165grn NBT. That little rifle wouldn’t shoot them worth a darn. I misread the weight on the Sierra box and thought I was loading 150’s so I adjusted the powder a little and cranked out some rounds and hit the range. What I thought was going to be a 1.25-1.5” gun on a good day was stacking dimes with the new load so I cranked out a couple hundred for it and put it in use. Those Sierras turned out to be 165’s, amazing how different the same weight but different design will shoot.
 
Terrierman said:
If you want cost effective bullets to use deer hunting, my hearty recommendation is Sierra Game King BTSP. They are accurate and flat work on deer. No way do you need a bonded bullet for deer hunting.
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Sometimes GameKings work. I shot a nice 10 point buck at 150 yards with a 7 Rem mag, 140 Game King. He hut the ground like a ton of bricks. He then jumped up and ran off. Never found blood, just a bit of hair. Fast forward two weeks later. I see a nice 10 point about 200 yards. He is walking funny. I drop him on spot with a 148 Hot Cor. The deer stinks. It smells like a rotting corpse. I dress him and find gangrene on his left shoulder. Just under the shoulder blade I find my exploded game king. Lead was disintegrated. Total jacket separation. Thats probably the last large game I have shot with a Gameking. Deer hit oerfect with 7 mag and not killed. No excuse for that bullet failure.
 
stagpanther said:
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.
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We were hunting in the North Maine Woods, on an old haul road. I was sitting on my stool on top of a hill and could see about 350 yards in that direction, but only about 200 in the other. The rifle is a Rem 700 CDL in an after-market Stocky's "sandwich" stock that has two carbon fiber sheets running full length, down the middle of the walnut slabs, separated by another piece of walnut.

We had left the truck at the end of an old haul road and walked-in about a half-mile or so.

I have two favorite deer rifles, both Rem 700 BDLs in .270 Win. The knock-about rifle has a Sendero take-off stock and the stand rifle is the one used for the moose. My deer load uses a Nosler 130 grain Ballistic Tip, and a max load of Reloder 22. It shoots 3/8" MOA in the Sendero. Both rifles sport 3-9X Leupold VX3 scopes and Timney triggers, adjusted to just under 3 lbs. JP
 
I’ve shot a couple hundred deer with Nosler BTs, using the 130 gr version in the 270 and the 120 gr version in the 260. It’s a devastating bullet, and it is messy. I just shoot them in the lungs and avoid the best edible parts. They always die. No exception. The way I see it, after all those deer and many many hogs, there is just no reason to switch to Accubonds or anything else. As for folks wanting high BC bullets for deer, inside 400 yards a higher ballistic coefficient gains you nothing. But if that’s your excuse for shooting a long skinny match bullet at deer, well, it is your decision.

If I were to quit using Ballistic Tips, I’d switch to Sierra Gamekings. My bullet choice for the 223 is the 65 gr Gameking, and I have been amazed at how that little bullet puts down the pigs. If Sierra offered a 120 gr Boattail Gameking for my 260, I’d buy some and try them out.
 
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