# What do you guys think of the Accubonds??



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

what do you guys think of Winchester's accubonds? i've been shooting these the last two years and i really don't think i'm very impressed! i think i'm overpaying for an eye-appealing but less effective round. the deer i shot this year had 3 holes that woulda fit in a softball in the front shoulder. Prior years w/ my federals ($12-$15 a box) that deer would have normally dropped right away. 
They pattern fine at the range but i just don't like how they "explode" on impact. One of my buddies that used to do taxiermy told me there was a few times where he would find these bullets right on the other side of the hide. now thats when i guys gotta start worrying. 
i don't know, i'm just used to watching every deer i shoot drop on the spot and i think for the most part, "a deer shot w/ a rifle should be a deer on the ground." i know there is sometimes its inevitable but my deer this year shouldn't have needed to be shot 4 times. for those of you that have experience w/ them or know about them, if you would give me some feedback it would be greatly appreciated! (i'm also sick of arguing w/ my bro about it b/c he thinks i should go back to the federals and sadly enough i think he's right.)
thanks!
(it's a .270 by the way)


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

benelliblaster/bretts, if you could move this into the reloading and ammunition forum also that would be great. not sure if you can just checking. maybe i should of put it in there in the first place but i just dont think there is near the traffic in there.
thanks!


----------



## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

Had the exact opposite happen with nosler accubonds loaded in my 300. They whistled right through and didn't open up. You sure you aren't getting the ballistic silvertips?


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

Sounds like a combination of Ballistic tips and poor bullet placement.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

bandman said:


> the deer i shot this year had 3 holes that woulda fit inside a softball in the front shoulder.


poor bullet placement?? trust me that's not the case b/c i've witnessed too many deer go a$$ over tea-kettle due to this shot placement.. many coming outta the end of my barrel.
i guess i shot one through the heart w/ this cartridge and after running 15 feet w/ blood squirting profusely, he just fell right over. and i have dropped two other deer on the spot, this last experience just kinda made me wonder and i've heard some negatives about ballistics since.
i guess i just wanted to see some other peoples' opinions that shoot the same round. 
(and no there not silver tips) silver casing, black bullet, red tip


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

Be more specific.

Entry?

Exit?

Angle (broadside, quartering towards/away)?

Range?

All of the bonded core plastic tip bullets (accubond, Interbond, Scirocco II, etc) are designed to give 70%ish weight retention.

I'll take a second stab at this. The deer was, close (30-70yds), quarterting towards you, and the bullet entered on the point of the shoulder. Bullets do very odd things with high impact velocities, and deer do even stranger things when hit with them going that fast.


----------



## clampdaddy (Aug 9, 2006)

I saw a hunting partner smack a buck with a 140 gr accubond from his 7mm wsm at about 60 yards. Perfect broadside thru the lungs shot. Pencil sized hole in the hide, quarter sized hole and a smashed rib under the hide, lungs had baseball sized holes thru both of them, a little bigger than a golfball sized exit wound with two smashed ribs. The trees behind the buck were sprayed with blood (and I mean alot of blood  ), he ran about thirty yards and left a massive blood trail all the way to the scene of the crash.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

Horsager said:


> Be more specific.
> 
> Entry?
> 
> ...


entry- 1st entry (backside) 2nd, 3rd, & 4th entries-(front shoulder)
range-100-125 yards
angle-1st shot away, 2nd- quartering away, 3rd & 4th-broadside.
it was dusk and the deer was in sunflower stalks so it wasn't the best visible conditions but i still think this deer shoulda been down the 1st shot, no way it shoulda took 4 shots to take him down! 
2 guys we were with that weekend shot 2 other deer w/ their .300's and there one shot did a "hell of a lot more" in the shoulder than my 3 shots put together in the same area! the difference was astounding! so i'm either looking at moving up caliber or switching ammunition. i just don't see myself not shooting that gun though, its hard to imagine.


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

> entry- 1st entry (backside)


There lies the cause of all your bullets supposed shortcomings.

My 1st and 3rd bull elk became "bullet sponges" after poor placement of the 1st shot, I never blamed the bullet or caliber though, cause that'd be stupid!!

I wouldn't rule out the possiblity of a bullet tumbling before it got to the deer too. The tumbling created by the sunflower stalks.

After an animal is poorly hit and "off to the races" the only way to stop them cold is to interrupt the spinal column. The further forward you do this the more dramatic the stop.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

Horsager said:


> > entry- 1st entry (backside)
> 
> 
> There lies the cause of all your bullets supposed shortcomings.
> ...


that makes sense horsager. there was a little bit of buck fever goin on cuz this deer was one of the bigger ones i've got to take. that's truthfully the first time i've ever shot for that area and was a little skeptical about admitting it on here but i figured i better tell the truth in spite of some good advise. :wink: all the other times i've shot through the back of the head/neck but i just wanted this deer a lot worse and figured it was a much more high % hit shot and the conditions like i said made it a split second decision. but i still can't believe the entry and exit holes from them .300's compared to my .270.. it just blew my mind.. 
thanks for the advise and i'll put some more thought into it before next season!!


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

First off, I wouldn't hesitate a bit to start the bullet near the back-side of a deer if he were sporting a set of antlers I wanted. In fact that is the very reason I shoot Barnes TSX's in a few rifles. I am quite fussy about where I stick the bullet into a "meat deer", however, for an "antler deer" I'm just happy with a shot angle that will eventually get me to the vitals.

Your partners with 300's, what bullets were they using? Weight? I've shot over a dozen deer and 3 elk with a 300win and can't say the 300 has ever "blown up" anything. In fact I think the 270 is a better "killer" of deer than a 300Win, for "dead right there" kills. Out to 500yds the only advantage my 300 offers is less wind drift.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

Horsager said:


> First off, I wouldn't hesitate a bit to start the bullet near the back-side of a deer if he were sporting a set of antlers I wanted. In fact that is the very reason I shoot Barnes TSX's in a few rifles. I am quite fussy about where I stick the bullet into a "meat deer", however, for an "antler deer" I'm just happy with a shot angle that will eventually get me to the vitals.
> 
> Your partners with 300's, what bullets were they using? Weight? I've shot over a dozen deer and 3 elk with a 300win and can't say the 300 has ever "blown up" anything. In fact I think the 270 is a better "killer" of deer than a 300Win, for "dead right there" kills. Out to 500yds the only advantage my 300 offers is less wind drift.


i know one of the guys was using winchesters. cant remember if they were silvertips or failsafes. (pretty sure they were silvertips tho.) the other guy was just shooting full metal jackets, prob. federals. there were 5 us there when we were cuttin up deer and we were all amazed at the damage. you shoulda seen the blood "trail" if thats even what you wanna call it from one of em. it was more like a blood highway.  you coulda easily put your fist through both of the holes in each deer. i was lookin at trading my other .270 (REM. model 7600) off and going for a 270 WSM but now i'm lookin at goin 300 WSM or 7MM. then i would have the insurance for bigger game and i'll see if i like it and go from there as far as deer hunting goes. 
but i do agree, a .270 is "plenty" of caliber for deer and has never let me down through the many many kills. it's just these new shells i've been shooting the last 2 years have thrown up a white flag. I really don't know why i fixed something that was never broken, guess i just didn't think i could go wrong. i'll stick it out and see. 
i know i was watching American Shooter the other day and they were promoting Winchester's new round, Supreme elite, maybe try these out and make the leap.


----------



## Horsager (Aug 31, 2006)

Ballistic tips on close shots or out of faster calibers make some impressive holes that's for sure. I doubt your other partner was shooting FMJ's, Federal doesn't load any for the 300. Winchester's new Supreme Elite sure looks like a Barnes MRX to me, but I've not been able to confirm that. That should be a 90%+ wieght retention bullet. I haven't looked at prices but my guess is that they're quite spendy unless you're loading your own.

While it's not nearly so sexy as the newer bonded/polymer tipped bullets it's hard to go wrong with a Nosler partition, they've worked quite well since 1948.


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

thanks for all the help horsager. you really seem to know what youre talking about when it comes to this stuff and i will definately know who to look up whenever i have another question, that's for sure.. 
have a good one and thanks again for taking the time again!!
(i'm all ears if you ever have any good recommendations in the future!)


----------



## bandman (Feb 13, 2006)

[siteimg]6094[/siteimg]
this is him and i got the first glimpse of him coming across the field "of his left side". so it looked pretty massive, w/ 10 in. g 2's, 6 points on that side so i did think he was one of them brutes. (esp. in the dusk) i got up to him and sure enough he ground shrunk a bit but i was still tickled w/ him. he's right around the 140" mark. 
his body was tiny so this guy woulda grown into one of the famous brutes in that area w/ a few more years of growth. i guess if i didn't pull the trigger the next guy sure would have. thats the sad thing about hunting public land and am becoming a lot more fond of hunting my uncle's posted land now. it makes things different when he allows only 4 people to shoot on over 6000 acres of land.


----------

