Thought I would work uo some 180 grain Accubond handloads in my 30-06 to use for kudu and zebra. Anyone have any experience with them? Thanks...
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Thought I would work uo some 180 grain Accubond handloads in my 30-06 to use for kudu and zebra. Anyone have any experience with them? Thanks...
Hi Gary0
I used 250 grains Accubond in my 9,3 x 62 last time i Africa, loaded to muzzle speed 710 m/s.
The first shoot at my Kudu was at 180 meter's and the bullet dident go through. Rest weight was about 190 grains.
Follow up shoot was at 20 meter's, the bullet this time separated in too, the core went through but the outer casing was retrived just below the skin on the other side, rest weight 120 grains. On my oryx I had a similar experience, the bullet didnet pass through, shooting distance approximately 200 meters. Sorry I can't remember the rest weight on that one.
On the rest of my animals it performed perfect, they all drop in there tracks. Zebra, Bushbuck, Warthog, Impala, Blesbuck
In my view it's perhaps a bit to soft for the larger species af plains game, and I would go back to shooting Nosler Partion again.
Good luck on your trip.
Loaded them for my wife's .7 Rem. Mag on our 2007' trip. 160gr performed exceptionally well. PH (ballistic nut like me) was impressed also.
Warthog - 30yds (pass-thru)
Impala - 1 @ 275yds (recovered under skin on far side), 1 @ 100yds (pass-thru)
Waterbuck - 100yds (recovered under skin on far side)
Kudu - 190yds (recovered under skin on far side)
Blue Wildebeeste - 1 @ 65yds (straight on shot,recovered in rear ham) 1 @ 120yds (recovered under skin on far side)
Bush buck - 35yds (pass-thru)
I didn't weigh any of the recovered bullets, but they looked to average 65% - 85% of their original weight. All mushroomed well and did not seperate.
Use 140gr in my 270, never lost an animal, most fall on the spot. 5 zebras and 5 wildebeest last year.
Garyo,
You should have no problems with the Accubonds. They always perform as they should.
Take Care,
Best Regards.
Marius Goosen
I have used them only on very small game so I can't comment on how they would work on the toughies - eland, zebra, blue wildebeest. I suspect that they'll be just fine if you shoot well. I prefer something a little more solid, but I also shoot at higher velocities than you'll get from a 30-06 (.300 wby). Failure to pass through an impala at 275 yds would have me a bit nervous. They're not that big.
My own preference would be to first, take a bullet a bullet that shoots accurately in your rifle. Assuming they're all about equal, I'd rank the Barnes TTSX or TSX first, Nosler Partition or Swift A-frame second, and Nosler Accubonds (and similar bullets) a close third. Soft whitetail deer-type bullets would be last.
The animals that I've shot with accubonds have all had really enormous exit wounds and lots of meat damage, but I've shot them in .257 Wby at pretty hot velocities. For NA hunting, that's OK I guess. When I'm in Africa I'm looking for animals that die when they're supposed to and minimal damage to the cape. For me, the answer is Barnes TTSX. I've only ever recovered one bullet from an eland and I haven't lost any animals during that time I've been using them. Most have dropped in a few yards.
I used 160 gr Accubonds in my 7mm Rem mag on my 2005 hunt in Kwa Zulu Natal and the Free State of South Africa. I shot 6 animals with them varying in size from Common Springbok to Black Wildebeest. All animals were shot broadside, through their chests, and all shots resulted in complete pass throughs. My longest shot was 250 yds on the Balck Wildebeest.
Back then I didn't spend a lot of time investigating bullet performance. If the bullet hit where I aimed and it put the animal down quickly, I figured it did its job and I didn't think any more about it. However, I do remember that when I hunted in the Free State, a friend of the landowner (who also had his PH license, and was a bit of a gun nut) kept remarking about the large internal wound channel that the Accubonds made in the animals that I shot.
I also used that 7mm RM rifle and 160 gr Acubonds on a northern Canadian Caribou and Muskox hunt. The Accubonds completely passed through both of the Caribou that I shot, but stayed inside the Muskox, which didn't matter because he fell within a few steps of where I shot him. These were all approximately 100 yd shots.
Back home in Montana I've also shot a cow elk and a Pronghorn antelope with 160 gr Accubonds from my 7mm RM. These were both broadside behind the shoulder hits that resulted in complete bullet pass throughs and DRT kills.
For the kudu and zebra you will be fine with this choice. I used 160gr Accubonds in my 7x57 and took all game up to kudu without issue. You will have about 60-65% weight retention.Quote:
Originally Posted by GaryO
You will like them just fine. Can't tell the number of animals I've taken with them, both here in US and overseas. They WORK.
My taxidermist used them in Africa last yr. I think it was over 20 animals that he killed. Including 4 Kudu, 4 Gemsbuck and 4 Wilderbeast. All 1shot kills with an a cuboid in a 6.5. I also like the TTSX's better, but the AB will do fine if you put it where it counts. Bruce