Lee Goodwin
Well-Known Member
Accubonds are the way to go for longer shots on bigger prey.
Bonded vs Non Bonded - Accubond vs Berger or SST or Ballistic Tip
- Thread starter LVJ76
- Start date
Help Support Long Range Hunting Forum
LRNut
Well-Known Member
He was quartering away; I aimed for the off shoulder - hard to imagine his vitals were not hit, especially since his opposite leg flew into the air. If that bear ran 150 yards like the antelope I shot, there was no way we were going to find him with no blood.
Beamonk
Well-Known Member
I've killed one deer with 117g SST and it dropped him. I've shot all other whitetails with 120 Barnes in my 7mm-08. Same result. I was told by someone someday that with the Barnes due to the construction use a lighter buller on thin skin animals so I never tried the 140's Barnes. They kill fast in my experience. Longest shot was 175 or so yards.
There are many scenarios that could've happened, I've seen bullets do some crazy stuff.
When I was about 14 or 15 I hit a mulie in the spine above the lungs with a 270 Win and 150gr Partition, he fell like a sack of potatoes and dead, or so we thought.
We opened him up and cleaned him, and there was absolutely no damage to the spine (just a scratch) or any organs, nothing, and he had an exit wound on the belly, a 2" hole but no blood, just the whole.
The bullet entrance was the spine but it bounced off and exited in the belly without hitting a single organ on the way out. The shot distance was about 50 yards.
In other words the bullet somehow knocked him out and enough time for us to hang him in a mesquite tree and open him up.
Seen some other crazy things that a bullet can do, we just never know. Unless the animal is recovered cant really tell what happened. I've also seen animals that should've died on the spot and ran several hundred yards not knowing they were already dead, and by dead I mean no lungs or heart and still kept on going for a while.
LRNut
Well-Known Member
I got a better one for you Bearman...my deer hunting buddy in MN said he shot a deer and as he was dragging it out it got up and ran away. I cried "bulls*&t."
He took me to the spot; there was snow on the ground. You could clearly see where he dragged the deer (blood on the ground where he started) and then about 40 yards later the drag marks ended and the hoof prints started.
He took me to the spot; there was snow on the ground. You could clearly see where he dragged the deer (blood on the ground where he started) and then about 40 yards later the drag marks ended and the hoof prints started.
While we're at it, i had a friend shoot a small buck. Drug him to the car and put him in the trunk. Got home (20 mins), opened the trunk and the deer jumped out and ran off!
Some SURPRISE!
Some SURPRISE!
Totally believe it. We had spent a morning shooting at squirrels with the 12 GA's and when we got to the car we laid them down on the floor mat and then one of the squirrels wakes up and runs in to the a/c duck of my dad's old blazer. Needless to say it took a few hours and beers to get it out, I still remember trying to pull it out and ending with pulled hair in my hands from its tail. It's one day I'll never gorget.
Hard rock
Well-Known Member
Well why we're telling stories here's one I still havent figured out for sure my daughter inlaw shot a nice muley with my sons custom 257 ROBERTS I loaded with 100 gr Nosler Partitions at my West Texas Ranch I allways start looking at where the bullet entered and exited tomy surprise for the love of money could not find a entrance or exit I rubbed all over the deer no blood I lifted under the shoulders no blood no entrance I'm thinking did this deer have a heart attack so when I opened him up he was mush inside perfect heart and lung shot the only thing I can conclude the wound vacume sealed itself when the bullet didnt exit any thoughts on this fire away that is a honest no BS story
When you hunt long enough you see some crazy things happen
dia., bullet weight, muzzle velocity, range?
HTJ
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2013
- Messages
- 64
I've tested several different bullets on various animals at various ranges. I refuse to hunt with Bergers after loosing two animals with heat lung hits. I've been told that Berger are designed to be placed high shoulder area as to hit spine region as well hence creating that dramatic animal drop! I always go for the heart lung region and have never had issues with partitions, accubond, Barnes, hornady, bear claws all bullets designed for hunting!
I understand those who love Berger, not a hunting bullet for me I shoot them at steel!
.284 180 grain and 30 cal 180grain. Last year was a cow at 50 yards but have killed out to 825 yards. Like I said I couldn't begin to guess how many. I've been fortunate enough to hunt multiple states each year and have guided hunts all my adult life. I've seen lots of kills with few actual bullet failures. Most of the time it's poor shot placement or someone trying to shoot outside of the skill level they at in. I also use Barns bullets and have always had good success.
Only used bergers in my 260AI so far, no complaints.
LDHunter
Well-Known Member
Several years ago I switched from using Nosler Partitions to AccuBonds and immediately noticed that bang/flop was no longer happening. It took me several seasons to finally conclude that the AccuBonds simply didn't anchor whitetails like my old favorite Partitions did.
I think that the Partition simply opens up a lot faster but that the rear part carries on through so you get both a devastating shock of a fast opening bullet and the great penetration of a tough bullet. By the way I think the whole weight retention argument is the silliest I've ever heard of for measuring terminal performance.
When I started complaining here on LRH about Accubonds I got poo pooed and was told that my evidence was anecdotal and that there were many more reports of fast kills with the AccuBonds than my experiences but I still insist that while AccuBonds are good penetrators and supremely accurate in my rifles, they just don't anchor whitetails like Partitions.
Sooooo..... As a compromise, I have started using 168gr 308 Nosler Ballistic Tips in my lightweight 308 deer rifle and I have the advantage of better accuracy than the Partitions especially beyond 100 yds and pretty good anchoring but I'm still not sure I shouldn't just go back to Partitions and accept that slight accuracy loss but get the bang/flop advantage back.
I think that the Partition simply opens up a lot faster but that the rear part carries on through so you get both a devastating shock of a fast opening bullet and the great penetration of a tough bullet. By the way I think the whole weight retention argument is the silliest I've ever heard of for measuring terminal performance.
When I started complaining here on LRH about Accubonds I got poo pooed and was told that my evidence was anecdotal and that there were many more reports of fast kills with the AccuBonds than my experiences but I still insist that while AccuBonds are good penetrators and supremely accurate in my rifles, they just don't anchor whitetails like Partitions.
Sooooo..... As a compromise, I have started using 168gr 308 Nosler Ballistic Tips in my lightweight 308 deer rifle and I have the advantage of better accuracy than the Partitions especially beyond 100 yds and pretty good anchoring but I'm still not sure I shouldn't just go back to Partitions and accept that slight accuracy loss but get the bang/flop advantage back.
