Accubond LR Comparison and G7 BC Test

[Michael Eichele]

Since the B.C. is close or equal to the bc of the 210 berger and 208 amax, I see no reason to pay 2x the money for these. The s.d.'s on a 30 cal 210 grain bullet are so high that (in my experience) they don't fragment and explode on contact like lighter 30 cal berger's and amax do, and therefore a bonded bullet with that high of a s.d. is not needed. However, if the 168 grain lrab's have the same b.c. as their Berger counterparts, I do think it would be a great choice for long range hunting and the cost could be justified.

The 208s have evaporated on moose bones. I'll never use another 208 on moose. I'll use the 208 on deer, sheep, maybe cow elk defiantly but I'm looking forward to trying the ALR on moose. Well worth the extra coin IMHO for heavier game. The original ACCUBOND and Barnes bullets have held up the best on Alaska/Yukon bulls.

 

[Talkyn]

Its good to see that this bullet has a respectable BC at least. The terminal performance is a subject I'm very interested in.

Does anyone think they will offer any expansion at the 1300fps range that I've seen claimed somewhere? I have a hard time believing it will. I can't wait until some scientifically minded folk start offering us some down range expansion / weight retention testing.

I'm pretty new to highly frangible bullets and I'm very interested in the pros and cons of these bonded LR bullets vs the berger/amax. I guess what I'm worried about is can a 30 cal bullet with an SD of 0.313 really "evaporate" on a moose bone?

I'd be curious to hear your experiences with that Michael, if it's not derailing the thread.

 

[MMERSS]

Does anyone think they will offer any expansion at the 1300fps range that I've seen claimed somewhere?

I've decided to continue testing the 210 ALR in my 308. A few reasons.

1. I'm not concerned about round count out of my 308 and actually prefer to shoot 5 shot groups. The gun was made to shoot warm.

2. Initial ballistics indicate I should see a MV around 2450 ft/s. Miller stability factor computations indicate a 1.67, sufficient enough to try around 1000 yards.

3. Velocity around 1100 yards is 1300 ft/s. A good range to check the expansion performance.

Hopefully I can establish a load this weekend.

 

[MontanaRifleman]

Good work!

 

[MMERSS]

I loaded 210 ABLR's for my 308 to test in a lower velocity band compared to the 300 RUM. Load development was not conducted. Muzzle Velocity Variation was high on these loads, thus I was expecting vertical stings. Here are the results.


205 yard zero- 5 shot group followed by a confirmation shot
Average MV 2405
SD17
ES41
DA 6300
Baro 29.86
Temp 70
Hum 23
Alt 4520


I used .321 for the G7 BC
Range 641 yards
DA 6700
Elevation MOA 16.0 applied to scope
7 MPH wind, 170 deg at shooting location, mirage estimate 1 MOA Right to Left
Estimated full value cross wind variation at target up to 1 MPH
5 shots


Range 1005 yards
DA 6700
Elevation MOA 34.125 applied to scope (I have 1/8 minute dials)
8 MPH winds, mirage estimate initially 2 MOA Right to Left then switched during string Left to Right. I did not hold for change in mirage thru the 5 shot string.
Steinert Acoustic Chronograph placed under target. Average velocity 1430 ft/s
5 shots

Adjustments made to ballistics solution:
MV adjusted to 2409

Computer Solution
Distance, Velocity, TOF(SEC), Energy, PathMOA, WindMOA10, SpinMOA
0000 2409 0.00 2705 00.0 000 000
0640 1753 0.93 1440 15.8 3.6 0.5
1005 1437 1.62 0963 34.2 6.2 0.9

In some aspects, a G7 BC of .318 was a better fit to the 1005 yard range without needing adjustment to the velocity for a solution.

Special thanks to Broz for setting up and running the range and MontanaRifleman for the assistance and use of his Steinert.

 

[Michael Eichele]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I initially tested them and came up with a value roughly 4.5% lower than the 208. After spending more time with them two nights ago, I came up with a value much closer to the 208. In any event, they're in the same class with the VLD and Amax.

Thanks again

M

 

[MMERSS]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. I initially tested them and came up with a value roughly 4.5% lower than the 208. After spending more time with them two nights ago, I came up with a value much closer to the 208. In any event, they're in the same class with the VLD and Amax.

Thanks again

M

Running my BC calculator on the 308 data I listed above I came up with a G1 BC of .634. The BC should be higher if not running them down to 1400 ft/s. This would place them right in line with the 208 A-max. If I plugged in 1430 ft/s and didn't change the atmospheric conditions from standard to actual the G1 was ridiculously in the .7's. hmmmmm, now doesn't that BC sound familiar.

 

[Popapi]

AWESOME test thanks for your time and sharing Sir!!!!

 

[MMERSS]

AWESOME test thanks for your time and sharing Sir!!!!

Enjoyed doing it. If everything works out for the day I should have some expansion comparisons complete tonight. A-max 168 and the ALR 210's.

 

[Popapi]

Enjoyed doing it. If everything works out for the day I should have some expansion comparisons complete tonight. A-max 168 and the ALR 210's.

Fantastic!!!!!!!

 

[Topshot]

Excellent post, thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

 

[ChrisAtl]

I've been curious about the advertised vs actual BC and also expansion/weight retention pictures. This is a very good thread. Thanks for the great effort and tested data.

 

[MMERSS]

An old plastic garbage can was in the garage and the lawn needed mowing. I packed the garbage can with fresh cut wet grass and compacted it as hard as possible and hauled it out to the hills to shoot full of holes. Another 10 gallons of water filled the can just to make sure the grass was well wet and again compacted.

I chose 750 yards to conduct the shooting with a 308. I shot 210 LRAB's and 168 A-Max. Estimated impact velocity was 1657 ft/s for the 210s and 1161 ft/s for the 168s. Energy indicated 1280 ft lbs and 1161 ft lbs respectfully. Pictured are bullet fragments recovered from the garbage can and from the dirt behind. All LRABs exited the can and impacted in the dirt where the bullets were recovered. Only a small number of A-Max bullet fragments exited the can.


Pictured above are LRAB bullets weighing 100, 140, 149, 157 and 171 gr.
Pictured below are recovered jackets from the A-Max bullets. These were the biggest pieces of A-Max fragments found. All A-Max jackets had separated from the lead. The largest pieces of jackets weighed 20, 26 and 38 gr.

There were other smaller chunks of lead and copper found but of no substantial size or weight.

Take what you want from this. I found the LRABs to expand quite well for that range and impact velocity. I also saw no reason to shoot them at farther ranges. An impact velocity of 1600 ft/s with energy of 1200 ft lbs is as low as I would consider for harvesting a big game animal. Others may have different opinions but with my 300 RUM shooting the 210 LRAB this takes me out past 1500 yards……A range beyond my comfort level with this gun even under ideal conditions.

 

[Broz]

What size were the exit holes in the trash can from the LRAB's?

Thanks!

Jeff