AccuBond vs Ballistic Tip

3 of us here all shoot 300's. I have used Ballistic tips for many years and they've done a fantastic job for me on WT deer, Mule deer, Elk and pigs. Couple of friends have switched to Accubonds (the white tip ones) and in 4 animals we've had trouble recovering their animal. Is the Accubond punching thru without expanding? Would really like to hear some opinions from folks in the know.

My green tip ballistic tip drops everything in it's tracks, Elk and all, and has for many years. Just curious.

In my opinion, your experience is opposite the norm. BTs are usually the ones that fragment. ABs stay more intact, expand, and punch through. ABs have been perfect for me so far. But I, personally, also never have had a problem with BTs.

My guess is poor shot placement.

Definitely thought about the shot placement.

the accubond is a controlled expansion bullet made for deeper penetration.

it could be the weights they are using are too heavy and the accubonds are not opening up at .300 win mag velocities. the 180 grain accubond is not a deer bullet....if they are handloading the 150's I would think that would be ok, but still its not a quick expanding bullet


I would go back to ballistic tips



i use the accubonds in my .257 wby for what its worth, but its pushing 3500 fps

These are all hand loads in both AB and BT, 180 grain at 3180 fps.

While that is fast it's not screaming....my guess is in that weight they are designed to penetrate deep into big game and a whitetail deer does not have enough constitution to open thst bullet up

I had a client shoot a deer with a 180 grain accubonds from a .325 wsm and he made a good shot, and the deer did everything but go down quickly. I have seen more deer than I care to count get shot with Barnes bullets and run off, dead on their feet, like nothing happened.


Ballistics tips are so explosive even in heavier weight .30 cals( they have thicker jackets starting in the .28 cal. IIRC) that the results are much more dramatic.

I shoot ballistic tips in my 7mm and have had great luck with them over the years in a variety of calibers

I have shot both and honestly havent seen enough difference to judge and most stuff falls. But after a little experience with both I prefer the rapid expanding bullets better. I'm really liking Berger vlds now

The only difference in the BT and AB is that the AB is bonded, the BT is not. Nosler has made most of the hunting BT's to be much tougher than the original versions, which is a good thing IMO. The AB will retain more weight as well.

Why would you change?

I like the Ballistic Tip for Deer (7mm), but prefer the AB for more solidly built animals (hogs).

I didn't change, couple of friends did.

I have been using Winchester Supreme Ballistic Silvertip ammo in a 270 WSM for several years and have really been pleased with the results.

I have no experience with the accubonds.

Just shot a hog bout 5 minutes ago with a Accubond and he tipped over right under the feeder. That's more common than not for me when using a Accubond.

The BST is my favorite bullet for Deer.

I use the component to create my own handloads in 7mm-08.

I am very satisfied with the performance.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/759192/...-tail-box-of-50

I shoot Hornaday balistic tips in my 30-06, 300 win mag, 308, and 22-250 with awesome results.

My experience with the ballistic tips is just the opposite. Have had several different ballistic tips-- Hornady, Nosler, and Winchester Silver tip made by Nosler blow up. Member of our club shot a doe this week in the neck with one of the new Hornady E tips that the jacket never left the neck and the lead went thru the deer and ruined the shoulder. The jacket was under the skin on the same side where the bullet entered about 3 inches above where the bullet entered. Have never seen anything like this before. I do not use ballistic tips in any hunting load. My preference is the Sierra boat tail spire point in ALL my rifles, have never had a failure of any kind due to the bullet.

E-tips are LEAD free and made by Nosler
Ballistic tips are made by Nosler
Hornady's version is the SST
Remington AccuTip is the Hornady SST
Winchester Silvertips are Nosler BT with a Lubalox coating.

I shoot Ballistic Sliver Tip in .270. Ive used them for West TX mule deer and whitetails. Out of the, around 20 deer Ive killed with them, 19 dropped where they stood and 1 ran about 20 yards. So, I love em!!!

I switched to Accubonds back in '07 and have never looked back. I've shot deer, hogs, mule deer and elk with them. I've never had an animal be able to get out of my sight before falling, most were dropped where they were standing.

I have used accubonds in 30, 25 and 6mm with all performing great. Very possible to heavy a bullet for the game. Try shoulder impacts and they will drop. Imo a lung or behind the shoulder is never a 100% guarantee to drop. I have seen some run despite being physically dead.

Both are great bullets. My son and myself shoot 300 Win Mags. I truthfully cannot tell the difference in performance on Whitetails. I have been reloading Nosler bullets exclusively for 20 yrs now. 22-250 BT's are explosive. 257 WBY MAG I love 110 Accubonds. My wife shoots 270 WSM 140 Accubonds. I would not be surprised if BT's were perfect as well. AS for 30 cal. anything, until you get into Elk size animals I think BT's or Accubonds are fine. We shot 80 plus hogs last yr in our pasture. We have river with high bluffs. Shot hogs from 50 yds to 800+ with BT's and Accubonds. Accubonds have an advantage at extreme distance other than that, slide a 180 gr. green or white tip bullet in my Sako of my Sons Browning and it makes no difference. We recover very few bullets. The (new construction) BT's pass through just as good on a Whitetail and are half the price !!! In our rifles they both shoot same hole with no adjustments. Just choose what you want and squeeze the trigger. It's all in shot placement.

Switch to a smaller caliber for WTs. 300 is overkill and unecessary. Smaller bullet at a little slower velocity would be ideal

I leave Tuesday for a mule deer hunt. I'll be using a 308 with 150 Ballistic Tips.

You stick with the caliber you like and I'll do the same. Been shooting a 300 for over 20 years and it does a great job for me and will not change. As stated, everything drops where it stands.

^^^^^^

He is right. No such thing as too dead.

No reason to reinvent the wheel


I don't like walking

E-tips are LEAD free and made by Nosler

Drop Tine, I stand corrected on the E Tip Hornady. He told me it was an E Tip and I assumed that was what it was. Wrong on my part, it was an SST. I still have never seen a bullet blow up quite like this one did.

I wouldn't use SST's if they were free. We've had some horrific blowups as well out of our 7mags at close range. About what one would expect really, especially when bone is involved.

On Wt. use 120 grain hp. No controlled ex. Or core lock. This works good in 30 cal I prefer 25 cal at 95 grn.2800 to 3200 fps.

Yea I sure don't want to kill them too damn dead. I'd hate to suffer from SS (Sissy Shoulder) I hear it can be down right debilitating, before long they're putting muzzle brakes on 223's.

Slightly contradictory to your posts on the .223 thread where it's all the same, I have no "proof" a deer hit with .223 won't react the same as with a .300, blah, blah....

NP don't you have some checks to go collect from people your more intelligent than

You stick with the caliber you

I use my .300 wby mag. On whitetails needless to say they don't usually make it a step, just how I like it

Oh and I prefer accubond, doesn't matter so much on small animals like whitetail but elk, nilgai and other large variety the accubond I have had better results.

.223 won't kill deer silly hunter.and muzzle brakes for girls✌🏼️✌🏼

Used a 150 NBT from a 308 on mule deer last week. Muzzle was 2850, impact was 130 yards so around 2600 fps. He was probably around 200 lbs live weight. Bullet when through both shoulders and dropped him on the spot. I really like Ballistic Tips.


Entrance



Exit

Husband and wife came aoudad hunting on my ranch back in '99. He was shooting a 300 weatherby and she was shooting a .270 weatherby magnum. He shot a big ram at 80 yards and the bullet didn't make it to the opposite side rib cage. I made note of that and carried a backup gun the next morning as we hunted an aoudad for his wife.

Found a nice ram on a ridge about 195 yards out and she lined up on it and before she fired her husband called off my backup shot. So I'm just watching in my scope.

She made a perfect shot into the pocket. Ram ran 15 yards up the ridge, whirled around on a ledge and was obviously looking for the bee that stung him! I saw dark red blood only dribbling out of the entry hole. Asked the husband if he wanted me to shoot and he stood firm for no backup. We trailed a very miniscule dark red blood trail for hours that dried up after a half mile. They paid for the unrecovered animal. No doubt in my mind the ram lived a long healthy life.

They were shooting ballistic tips. Neither they nor I have ever used them again. Horrible penetration.

When Nosler quit selling their Solid Base Boattail and replaced it with the Ballistic Tip, I made the switch. Using the 270 and later the 260, and hundreds of deer later, I am still very happy with the bullet. Shoot em in the lungs. Avoid quartering shots if you want a bullet exit.

With the 270 and a 130 gr BT I pretty much always got an exit no matter where I put the bullet. With the 260 and 100 gr BT's I don't get exits on medium sized hogs, though I do get exits on deer. I've switched to the 120 gr BT in the 260 because it penetrates better. All of the mentioned BT's kill what I shoot, but I do prefer an exit wound.

That said, if I was going to shoot a tough old ram at distance, I might switch to the Accubond or use heavy for caliber BT's in the Weatherbys.

I have had good luck with BT's on deer so long as the velocity is in the 2800 FPS area. The 150 gr out of my 7MM-08 has made their vitals look like a 250Hp Mercury Outboard took off inside of them, DRT. My kids 243Wssm has made clean kills with the 95 gr. BT. I have had a few exits with the 7-08, and none with the 243wssm. I have also recovered a 87 grain piece of the 150 gr bullet, and none of the 95 gr bullet, they are fragmented. I'm still a bigger fan of the Partition Bullet, and when I hunt animals bigger than deer, that's what I load. I shot a large Nilgai last week with a 180 gr Partition out of my 300 Ultra and he fell in his tracks. I found the bullet nicely mushroomed in the off side shoulder.

My Bull Elk this year was a 390 yard shot with BT out of my 300 Win Mag, he never took another step. Took out both shoulders and found the bullet in the skin on the opposite side. Very happy with Ballistic Tips, been shooting them for over 20 years and have never lost or even close to loosing any Deer or Elk.

My 2 friends that use the Accubond in their 300's have decided to go back to BT after the issues they've had with them this year.