Testing the 142 LR Accubond

[alf]

What's your barrel twist?

It's an eight twist.....

 

[alf]

Last night I loaded up some test loads at 54 grains to do a seating test. I set the Ohler up, and ran the target out to 200 yards. My initial seating was about 20 thou in the lands, 1.670" on the Wilson stem, then went .030 deeper, (about .010" off), and two more series at .020" jumps. .30" and .050" off)

These seem to not like anything but .010" off, shown by the .925" group, and backed up by the 2nd group, a .790".

All 15 rounds averaged 2967 FPS. The screens are on a 10" spacing, starting 10" from the muzzle.

The scope was not changed from my first LR test.

 

[alf]

Early this AM I get going to my spot. Wanted to beat any wind, but it was too late, as the wind was up before sunrise. Oh well, at least it was generally a quartering tailwind.

I set all the steel and targets up, then moved back to the 200 yard mark to foul and check zero. Close enough:

 

[alf]

Gathered everything up, moved back to the 725 yard line, and got set up again. I had to "thread the needle" from this spot:







Dialed in 13.75 MOA, set up on a 12" plate, and let 'er rip.....nothing. Shot again, and a small branch came into view, well shitt, no wonder. Moved over to the 24" plate, and hit just right of center, and quickly rattled off two more.

6 1/2" group centered up perfectly:

 

[alf]

OK......packed all the stuff back in the truck, again, and moved on back to the 1000 yard mark:




After a couple sighters in the dirt, I dialed in 24.75 MOA of elevation, and 2 MOA of wind:





Yowzer......4 3/4"

 

[alf]

To finish up the test, I loaded up everything for the last time, and moved back to the 1200 yard mark. Temps were warming up, and the mirage was really turning into an issue. I knew spotting impacts in the grass was going to be impossible, so I just dialed in 34.5 MOA of elevation, added another minute of wind, and aimed for the center of the 24" steel and.......

Nothing. I tried a couple more, but felt like I was pizzin' in the wind. So I moved over to the 42" target, and with the NP-R1 reticle making it easy to bracket the target frame to hold dead center, I quickly threw three shots at it.

Shazam, 11 1/4" group!



I put the black circle on the target after the fact to show the aiming point. The center of the triangle is about 8" low, so I needed another 2 or 3 clicks of elevation to be centered. I needed another minute of wind too, but was happy to print all 3 on paper.


I'm done testing......

 

[North Idaho Hunter]

Final thoughts?

Great writeup - very entertaining! They sure look like a winner to me. Ive always loved noslers' bullets.

 

[alf]

Final thoughts?
Great writeup - very entertaining!

Thanks.....

I'm pleasantly surprised by the accuracy I get, more so after finding the sweet spot in seating, but more disappointed in the actual down range drops.

Based on my results, I don't see the BC being .719. I've shown every MOA dialed into the scope for the yardages involved to make the hits. Everyone's welcome to derive their own BC from that if they wish. 2970 FPS, 1300' elevation, 1.75" scope height, 70`temp, standard on the rest.

My 130 VLD load beats the Nosler load by 5 MOA on elevation and 1 MOA on wind at 1200 yards using .282 G7 @ 3150.

 

[alf]

Get 'em here.......on sale......test 'em yourself.......

Nosler AccuBond Long Range Bullets 264 Cal 6.5mm (264 Diameter) 142

 

[Farmerbrown32]

Hey there alf. Nice write up and nice shooting stick you got there. I have been testing the 142ablr for about two weeks now and have had about the exact same results. Im shooting a custom 260rem ar-10 with a 24" lilja 1-8 twist that i built myself with a nf 5.5-20x56 hs zs with npr1 reticle. I use a g7 rangefinder and have had great luck with it out of lots of other calibers. So i loaded up some test loads with varget, h1000, and ar-comp. The first five shot group i shot was just under a half inch. So i loaded up 50 and started testing. Put all the info in my g7 and ranged my usual 1000 yrd rock behind my house. Clicked my scope up and leter fly. It hit around 4 moa low. So i started moving the bc down in my g7 until i got the right correction. It ended up being right around the .550 to .580 mark also. Which is dissapointing to me also. I am shooting them at an average velocity of 2650 fps.

 

[Farmerbrown32]

I am very happy with the accuracy of them also just not the bc.

 

[alf]

Nice write up and nice shooting stick you got there. BC ended up being right around the .550 to .580 mark also.

Thanks.....

I can't believe we're the only two to test these..........

 

[jonthomps]

Thanks.....

My 130 VLD load beats the Nosler load by 5 MOA on elevation and 1 MOA on wind at 1200 yards using .282 G7 @ 3150.

First off, this is a great thread. But regarding the BC numbers when comparing the two bullets: ouch. Nosler makes a great bullet but if the Bergers are just as accurate it begs the question - why use them?

 

[308175]

First off, this is a great thread. But regarding the BC numbers when comparing the two bullets: ouch. Nosler makes a great bullet but if the Bergers are just as accurate it begs the question - why use them?

I think the point of the ABLR is to expand at lower velocities. That's why I use them. Expansion is more important than 'energy' and I dont shoot super high velocity cartridges so bullets that are a bit more reliable at low velocities extend my range quite a bit. Bergers can be unpredictable at lower velocities. Not knocking Berger. They make great products. Each one between nosler and Berger has their pros and cons. I use both. And then some...