Nosler accubond performance

[.300 Dakota]

Trophy Bonded Bear Claw...
A terrific bullet on large, tough game animals on closer to mid-range shots. Killed some brown bear with the original Jack Carter built .338 bullets. Also caribou and moose in different calibers. I've loaded them for bear and camp defense bullets for many years now, because of the prior, consistent, knockdown performances.

Never shot the newer plastic tipped versions, but after researching them earlier today, I'm seriously considering purchase of some Federal .308 200gr Terminal Ascent bullets. I've just about run out of the original Jack Carter bullets.

DO IT! They are the same as the original bullet but with much better BC and grooves/nickel plating for reduced pressure/higher velocity. That said, you will still not be able to put quite as much powder under them as a Barnes TTSX or TSX of the same weight, but it will be close. Only draw back is like with every grooved bullet, some guns will love them and some will dislike them tremendously. If your gun likes them, there is no downside! They will shoot through an engine block and cause lots of hydraulic shock!

 

[DemoRN]

I have and use quite a few of the NAB 140's in .277, and I have experienced very good results. Hitting an elk's skull @ 40yds isn't the best example of any bullet's performance, but in the end, was it dead?

I've shot a few farm and wild animals in the head as have a few friends, and every so often, strange things happen: Ricochets, bullets that simply ran under the scalp, etc. Hog hunting with dogs and shooting skulls at close range with handguns can, occasionally, reveal interesting results.

Edit to add: Hence why am I rather against shooting most game animals in the head.

Bad part of story ranged a deer at 300 yrds was actually 400 range finder was not working properly. I found out later. Shot took broadside hit right knee. Deer turned I was confused took the same shot took out the left knee. Drop was exactly the difference between 300 and 400 yrds. Ran to close some of the distance. Deer turned faced me and bedded. Body hidden in knee high grass.
I then shot the 3 point mule deer square in the eye with a 308 shooting a 150 gr partition from 200 yrds. ? Kill shot right? The bullet left a perfect 308 notch in the right medial bottom of the eye socket. Saw a puff of blood in my scope. Bullet to the best of my reckoning some how turned around in his face and came out the nose. Deer went down did the neuro twitch. Watched him for a minute. Then approached. After closing to about 50 yrds. The deer got up and hobbled off dazzed as all get out for about 50 yard before I caught up to him. Bla blah blah don't approach a wounded animal. Finished him.
Yes bullets do some strange things at times when confronted with the perfect shot angle to cause the bullet to trace a solid object.
Yes animals are much more tough than we give them credit.
Have never shot an animal in the head since. And probably never will.

 

[Betarider]

Wanted everyone's thoughts on this bullet?
It's a 140gr accubond from a 270
View attachment 214909
from an elk skull at 40yds. Not what I expected personally

Edited:
Since some ppl are so concerned about a head shot, I will add to the story.
My brother in law shot the elk at 400 yds behind the shoulder, elk walked into some bush with a hump in his back, when he got there it was still dying so he shot it in the head. Reason for post isn't a complaint but shocked that the bullet wouldnt smash the elks skull. To me this is a reminder to be careful on those shoulder shots on elk and moose

Just a thought did the headshot stop the elk DRT.only takes one in the gang leader. I'm a poor tracker but a good shot

 

[Betarider]

If needed, I typically shoot another chest shot, but I have shot a couple of game lying in tall grass thru the neck base/spine. Larger game with sloping head/faces can deflect bullets in strange ways, and I have seen a Whitetail shot, supposedly, between the eyes, only to watch a puff of hair fly and so did the deer. After being killed with a chest shot, we found about a 2-3 inch bald-to-the-bone and bloody bullet mark on its forehead. Bones are hard, and sloping bones on large game can act like sloped armor.

I think maybe if you are a chest shooter you need to know from all angles where the is. And if you are a head shooter you'll know what angles you can get away with. I've shot to many deer to say here all in the head usually in front of the ear. Never lost one not one. I can't say that with chest shots as been said before bullets do strange things

 

[Betarider]

If you shot a cow elk this would explain everything , females are often very thick headed , Nothing gets inside very easily

Shame there's no love tag cause you would get a bunch

 

[del2les]

I think maybe if you are a chest shooter you need to know from all angles where the ❤ is. And if you are a head shooter you'll know what angles you can get away with. I've shot to many deer to say here all in the head usually in front of the ear. Never lost one not one. I can't say that with chest shots as been said before bullets do strange things

Well at my age and untold game killed with bow, handgun, rifle, muzzle loader and even spear, I think I have a fairly good idea of where the heart is located on a lot of different game, and even if I miss the heart, those lungs make great targets.

Glad to hear your head shots have all worked out, but sadly, others have wounded a few. Seen a few walking wounded deer, elk and other that someone severely wounded with attempted head shots. YMMV

 

[Opa-lopa]

Bone is tough on all bullets, I'd say, not unexpected in my book. Skulls of bucks/bulls are particularly thick due to antler growth.

 

[Alibiiv]

Two things I don't like in this thread 1. Heads shots are not for sportsmen,to easy to miss or just wound the animal. Last year I saw a cow elk with her lower hanging from a missed head shot. 2. Used to be a fan of Nosler ammo until while hunting on a ranch in Northern Colorado. The outfitter would not let me use NP bullets, said every elk he had lost was shot with NPs. NPs won't expand unless you hit a bone. Tried the Nosler tipped bullets, with theses one must be extremely careful and not damage the tip.

I'd like to say that I disagree with you about head shots being unsportsmanlike. I understand what you are talking about but.... If I am on a hunt that cost me $2000, $3000, $4000, $5000++++++++, it is my last day of the hunt and a "head-shot" that I know I can make is presented, I am going to take that shot!! I believe the "unsportsmanlike" part of this reply comes in is when a hunter "overestimates" their shooting abilities so that they "might" take a trophy home. As for Nosler partition bullets, I used to hunt with them however I believe there are better choices out there than a partition bullet. I probably have 200-300 Nosler partitions in a number of calibers on the shelve above the loading bench and would grab them in a heartbeat if I didn't have other choices to make. As for the outfitter who wouldn't let me hunt with partitions I tell him to go soak his head in a bucket because he didn't/doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

[Marky_mark]

Head shots are dumb

 

[david g ranes]

S

I am a Accubond fan. I personally shot over 30 animals, wild hogs and whitetail deer. I only recovered one bullet, 7mm 140 grain 95% retained weight. All others were complete pass throughs under 300 yards. The first shots were head and shoulder shots on the big boar hogs and the bullets performed great. Dead animals.
A head shot on an elk is some pretty hard bone. I'm surprised it wasn't a complete pass through. Still, a very good bullet.

shot a wounded elk in the head with a 22 pistol no trouble with penetration it was all in the angle the elk was shot. David

 

[Betarider]

First and last head shot: Years ago when I was a kid and elk hunting in Washington late season I came across fresh tracks that went in to a little willow patch, hear a little noise and saw a spike elk looking at me 25 yards away, pulled up rifle held nose in cross hairs, band dropped like lighting. Had to walk around patch of willows only to see elk heading out. Few minutes heard shot, found the elk I shot was being taged by other hunter. Talk to hunter and he said elk was running shaking his head and them came by me, shot him in the shoulders, . I told him what happen and we looked at elk and it looked like a router bit shaved a slot between the horn.
From that date forward I have killed many elk and deer that could be a head shot but only use the lung shot, never have lost one shot in the lungs. Just my 2 cents.

I think that these horror headshots are what they are. Common theam I walk over here and the deer,hog,dog,elk looked right at me! In my experience thats a good time to shoot that it's just below where you were going to shoot and no shoulder in the way. My farm has several that "got away" from the high chest shooting neighborn. In my world the critters never no I'm there. So no head jerk ,no looking at you,no miss into the boiler room. The meat tastes better too!

 

[nicholasjohn]

S

shot a wounded elk in the head with a 22 pistol no trouble with penetration it was all in the angle the elk was shot. David

The angle is EVERYTHING. Quite often, though, if you can get close enough to do the job in this manner, the animal was probably going to expire soon enough anyway.

 

[.300 Dakota]

The angle is EVERYTHING. Quite often, though, if you can get close enough to do the job in this manner, the animal was probably going to expire soon enough anyway.

Same with elephant. Years of studying anatomy and stories from the field yielded dead elephants from chaps using 303 Enfields. An elephant's head makes a much bigger target, but the kill zone may be about the same size. Difference is that elephant MUST be shot in the head. I learned the hard way at an early age the body is much easier to hit than the head or neck. Especially when shooting off hand.

 

[Alanm338]

Read the entire post, finishing shot after the animal was down

My comment was made before he edited his post to say why the headshot was made. You should know what you are talking about first.