Bullet Choice

[JohnyRingo]

I just bought a new rifle but it is the same caliber I have always shot (300 H&H Mag). Now I am kicking around the idea of trying different bullets. I have shot Nosler 180 gr Ballistic Tip handloads for the last 20 years and have had good success on mule deer and antelope. All of my shots have been one shot kills, with only one follow-up shot that I can remember. I have not shot any elk with these bullets as I am primarily a bow hunter for elk. My old rifle also has shot a bear and two moose with one-shot kills.

I am not a big fan of messing with something that is working, but I also like to try new stuff. I am kicking around the idea of trying the Nosler Accubond or the Hornady ELD-X bullets. I am currently shooting the Accubonds while breaking the barrel in by shooting Nosler Trophy Grade bullets. I haven't had a chance to shoot this new rifle on paper much with it being such a cold winter in Wyoming. I have shot the rifle enough to see if I need a muzzle brake or a trigger job though. I haven't noticed any major accuracy issues with the Accubonds, but what I have read is the Accubonds aren't real accurate and that is what led me to the ELD-X's. They seem to get great reviews and a buddy of mine shoots them. At some point I need to make a decision and start working on a load so that I can get a custom turret built for my scope.

What are your thoughts on these bullet choices?

 

[Dosh]

Ringo, try both. Your new rifle will shoot one more accurately. Both will kill the game you mentioned. Good luck

 

[sable tireur]

JohnyRingo,

Has your new rifle been bedded yet? This would be something to give consideration to, especially since the weather is so cold right now. Get the barreled action properly bedded then worry about bullet testing. The rifle will tell you what it likes and most of us are not mind readers...

One of my elk rifles is a .300 H&H, a classic cartridge which will handle nearly every bullet we can come up with as long as the twist rate will stabilize it. I have a great load which features the Nosler 180 grain Partition, useful for elk or deer. If the real estate requires long shots, I carry the .300 RUM with the 215 Berger Hybrid over Re-33.

The key is to find dependable, properly constructed bullets which are generally available.

Regards.

 

[Plinker147]

I've killed 20ish elk with 180 nosler BT out of a 300 win mag at 3080 FPS. Never had a bullet failure, or loose an elk. the traditional style Accubonds shoot very similar to BT's. I have not got to shoot the new LR's much

All of the bullets you listed are good choices, just find the one that shoots best with your gun and go with it.

 

[roninflag]

accubonds are very accurate I have two hunting buddies that shoot them out to 1000 yards in competition. what rifle is your 300 hand h??

 

[JohnyRingo]

My new rifle is a Browning X-Bolt Stainless Stalker. So far, I love it, but haven't had a chance to enough to develop any loads.

 

[WildRose]

My new rifle is a Browning X-Bolt Stainless Stalker. So far, I love it, but haven't had a chance to enough to develop any loads.

Of those you list I'd stick with the Accubond or Accubond LR if you plan on hunting at long range with it.

I like the ELD-X ballistically but I don't like bullets that separate, meaning cup and core separation so after a couple of those I quit shooting them at game. I've still got some loaded up I'll use on varmints and predators but that's it.

Too bad Hornady decided to save money and go with the cannelure instead of using the same bonding process they use with the Interbond. Had they done so, it would be very close to the perfect hunting bullet.

 

[Darkker]

I like the ELD-X ballistically but I don't like bullets that separate, meaning cup and core separation so after a couple of those I quit shooting them at game. I've still got some loaded up I'll use on varmints and predators but that's it.

Too bad Hornady decided to save money and go with the cannelure instead of using the same bonding process they use with the Interbond. Had they done so, it would be very close to the perfect hunting bullet.

Saving money is the part that bothers you with Hornady? I would have picked lying about the discontinued list a few years ago, and lying about it not being about filling a G contact, or the BS about melting tips which their own white pages show is crap, as a herring to redesign the rest of the match line-up ogives to match the 123 & 178 at a 50% markup, all while going to a mostly copper deposition form of jacketing; the vary same one Speer had been using in the gold dots for decades, that Hornady loved to poke fun of as junk... But hey, that's just me.

The AMP jacket system they use is a hybrid affair. Partial traditional cup, mostly deposition. So technically it is bonded, and has a interlock ring (not cannelure). If you look at the product page for them found here: Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Bullet Type :: ELD-X®
Within a sentence of each other they claim 50-60% weight at close range, and 85-90% at extended range. That is pretty typical of softer bullets. Ballistic tips do exactly that. Just gotta pick a side in the war.

I am not a big fan of messing with something that is working, but I also like to try new stuff. ?

Don't usually see those two differences put together in the same sentence

As I pointed out above, kinda need to pick your main goal for distance. There isn't a bullet that does everything the best. Tipped bullets open at lower Velocity, and tend to want to explode at high velocities. Bonded bullets, specifically the newer ones tend to not be the most accurate bullets out there.

With the exception of the new RDF match line, Nosler has always sandbagged their BC numbers. REALLY badly, including with the Accubond LR. So make sure you know your dope, rather than just plugging the published number in your calc.

All my elk and bear were killed with one of the first bonded bullets, Hot-Cors. Most bullet snobs will begin nashing their teeth, because "is not a real bonded bullet like my....", but yes it is. Maybe it's not filled with unicorn bones, and I heard the Pope may not recognize them as kosher; but they are very reliable.

I do hope you find something your rifle likes to shoot, let us know what you settle on.

 

[JTB]

I had a 270 WSM M70 with a factory barrel that shot the 140 Accubonds over IMR 4350 in one hole. In fact that was the only bullet I found that would shoot accurately in that rifle. A couple of years ago my boy and I had a coues deer browsing at 1000 yards on a perfectly calm morning. I set up the rifle and dialed in the Mark 4 and squeezed it off. My son watched the vapor trail as the first shot dropped the buck immediately after impact. It never moved. When we finally got to it we found the bullet passed through and was laying on the rocks behind the deer. It had peeled into a mushroom for about 3/8 to 1/2 inch from the tip. The bullet only had about 850 lbs of energy at impact but delivered nicely.

 

[JohnyRingo]

I think I am going to probably end up sticking with the Ballistic Tips. Supposedly, the 180 grain 30 calibers are made to stay together a little better than they used to and I have never had any problems with them before. In the meantime, I will continue to shoot the Accubonds (in a factory round) to break the rifle in and see how I like them. Whichever bullet performs better in my rifle, I will go with.

 

[thatguyshm]

I shoot the Accubond almost exclusively for game. I have found it to be very accurate in just about any rifle I've tried them in, under MOA is very routine. Took a whitetail with a 180gr Accubond in 338 Federal this year, recovered the bullet after approximately 23 inches of deer. Quartering towards me, snuck it in behind the shoulder, skin held it on the opposite rear quarter. He blew a large chunk of lung through the entrance hole. Recovered weight was 146gr for 81% retention.

 

[WildRose]

Saving money is the part that bothers you with Hornady? I would have picked lying about the discontinued list a few years ago, and lying about it not being about filling a G contact, or the BS about melting tips which their own white pages show is crap, as a herring to redesign the rest of the match line-up ogives to match the 123 & 178 at a 50% markup, all while going to a mostly copper deposition form of jacketing; the vary same one Speer had been using in the gold dots for decades, that Hornady loved to poke fun of as junk... But hey, that's just me.

The AMP jacket system they use is a hybrid affair. Partial traditional cup, mostly deposition. So technically it is bonded, and has a interlock ring (not cannelure). If you look at the product page for them found here: Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Bullet Type :: ELD-X®
Within a sentence of each other they claim 50-60% weight at close range, and 85-90% at extended range. That is pretty typical of softer bullets. Ballistic tips do exactly that. Just gotta pick a side in the war.




Don't usually see those two differences put together in the same sentence

As I pointed out above, kinda need to pick your main goal for distance. There isn't a bullet that does everything the best. Tipped bullets open at lower Velocity, and tend to want to explode at high velocities. Bonded bullets, specifically the newer ones tend to not be the most accurate bullets out there.

With the exception of the new RDF match line, Nosler has always sandbagged their BC numbers. REALLY badly, including with the Accubond LR. So make sure you know your dope, rather than just plugging the published number in your calc.

All my elk and bear were killed with one of the first bonded bullets, Hot-Cors. Most bullet snobs will begin nashing their teeth, because "is not a real bonded bullet like my....", but yes it is. Maybe it's not filled with unicorn bones, and I heard the Pope may not recognize them as kosher; but they are very reliable.

I do hope you find something your rifle likes to shoot, let us know what you settle on.

No, I don't find that Hornady lied anywhere in their data about the tips melting, no, the ELD-X is not a bonded bullet in anyway as the core is not bonded by heat or chemical process to the jacket. The same AMP jacket is used for the ELD's as is used for the Amax, the difference is in the cannelure which is supposed to prevent the cup and core from separating but as many of us found out, it doesn't.

Yes Nosler has been inflating their BC's for years.

I've found lots of bullets that shoot well, the lack of same has never been a complaint of mine. My issue has been with Nosler's flat lying to us about their BC's and their proprietary rounds as well as with bullets that fail to live up to what they are supposedly designed to do.

Finding a bullet that shoots well isn't hard, finding one that consistently does so along with giving predictable, controlled expansion has been where I've had issues.

Terminally the Accubond and Accubond LR have performed pretty well for me with decent accuracy though not quite what I'd prefer.

The Interbonds have flat never let me down and I find that Hornady is usually as honest as possible with respect to their published BC's and they've spent a boatload of money and resources on making them even more accurate while other manufacturers kept BS'ng their way through hoping to fool as many of us as possible before independent tests revealed their actual BC's.

I have only two complaints about the Interbond, first, they ceased producing it to launch the ELD series and second they don't make them in the heavy for caliber offerings that many of us would prefer.

Right now I have five different types of bullets on my loading bench and I'll continue shooting all of them at targets and varmints but as long as I keep getting the kind of performance I've had out of them so far I won't be shooting anything but the Peregrine VRG4 and VLR's at game. I've shot them in 260 Rem, 7mm STW, 300wm, and 300 Rum and in each of them they have proven to be the most accurate bullets I've ever tried and the most consistent controlled and predictable expansion I've seen in any bullet.

 

[WildRose]

I had a 270 WSM M70 with a factory barrel that shot the 140 Accubonds over IMR 4350 in one hole. In fact that was the only bullet I found that would shoot accurately in that rifle. A couple of years ago my boy and I had a coues deer browsing at 1000 yards on a perfectly calm morning. I set up the rifle and dialed in the Mark 4 and squeezed it off. My son watched the vapor trail as the first shot dropped the buck immediately after impact. It never moved. When we finally got to it we found the bullet passed through and was laying on the rocks behind the deer. It had peeled into a mushroom for about 3/8 to 1/2 inch from the tip. The bullet only had about 850 lbs of energy at impact but delivered nicely.

Pretty impressive as that's way below what they list as their minimum velocity. Congrats on the great shot.

 

[JTB]

Thanks WildRose. Every once in a while the stars align...