Accubond vs Partition
 

I did a search of accubond in this board and got some information, one post said that the nosler accubond and partition used the same reloading data. What are the differences, if any? Which is the better Elk round in .338? Why?

Thanks!:)

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

The difference is in bullet construction. I would use the Nosler Partition it has proven its self on many elk. Go to www.nosler.com for more information. Good luck.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

this will be a good thread because there' s so much history to the Particians and so little for the Bonded bullets.

First of all, all reloads must start low and be worked up watching for excess pressure signs. As long as this rule is followed You can use any xxx grain bullet in a given cartridge using tha loading data for that bullet of xxx grains. You never substitute yyy grain bullets for that loading data.....NEVER.

Example: you load a Hornady 130 interlock in your .270 Win. with IMR 4831 and now wish to switch to a 130 grain speer hot core. You may use the same data for the Speer Hot Core as long as you back off and start load developement all over again.

I say 5% and others say more than that to be backed off. To be safe back off 10%

I' d personally use the same data for a .300 Win Mag using 180 grain particians as I would use for a .300 Win mag using the same weight of an accubond. Remember, back off and re check for pressure signs.

This will now be the first time ever I' ve disagreed with Handloader 1. The nosler Partician is famous for shedding the lead from the foreward section of the jacket. Plus the fact that in my experience accuracy is spotty.....some excellent.....some not so.

I have no experience with the Accubonds but they resembly Trophy Bonded bullets to me so strongly that I' d gamble on them over the Particians.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

The Nosler Partition jacket is DESIGNED to expand to the extent that the front core is lost! This is how they do such massive damage, expand at exteme ranges/low velocity levels, yet STILL RETAIN ENOUGH WEIGHT in the rear section to continue to penetrate, usually leaving the target entirely. FEW Nosler Partition bullets are ever recovered inside an animal. The Partition Jacket bullet invariably does what it is designed to do! Some who use them a lot describe their performance as " monotonously reliable" !!

The Accubond has not been around long enough to say whether it is reliable on heavy game, but Nosler says it will be. We' ll see. I' m trying to find some .375-260 grain Accubonds to use on elk this fall to see how they compare to the Partition, which I KNOW will work well!

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

I' ve never before heard that the Nosler Partician was designed to lose the foreward cavity lead.

I' ll pay the extra for the Swift A-Frame where the foreward cavity is bonded. Thirty years ago a man that said he was hunting with Nosler Particians was equivalent to say " He cared enough to send the very best!"

Overall bullet selection today is far far improved. Hornady' s interlock is still one of the finest hunting bullets one can buy, but Hornady too has been forced to producing a bonded bullet (premium bullet) because of competition and demand for better bullets. For me to say that I no longer consider the Nosler Partician a premium bullet is not a condemnation of the product, rather a statement of it' s relative posture compared to today' s competition.

You must admit that there' s some extremely good choices out there today for us handloaders. I think most would disagree with me that the Nosler Partician isn' t among them.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

The front portion of the partition is designed to give you the rapid expansion you need for quick kills and to provide a large wound channel (often all that is left of the front is the jagged cutting edges of the jacket), with the added benefit of the base holding together and providing additional penetration (usually about 60% of the starting bullet weight).
Best of both worlds expansion and penetration.

The new bullets like the Barnes X for example will provide better penetration but not the large wound channel of the partition which causes more internal damage to the animal for quicker kills.

Each type of bullet has pros and cons, each hunter needs to decide which type of bullet they need for their application.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

You know rifle magizine had a good article on comparing A-frames and Partitions. I forget the author, but made great sense that the A-Frames 90% wieght retention will give you a false sense of penetration, and his tests showed that with the partitions contruction, will pentrate better. I use both. I like both. But I won' t pay that much for the A-Frame any more. Why? Load development is expensive with A-Frames. But less than half or almost a third with the Partition.

I took a moose with a 200gr A-Frame and never did get a pass thru. Not sure anything would have passed thru however.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

I' ll never understand a hunter that will spend several thousand dollars on a hunt and not spend $50 on bullets....maybe I' m out of touch!!

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Well, you kinda are. There are more factors than just a one time 50 dollars. There is load development, which may be much more than just 50 dollars. There is time. There is availability. There is accuracy. And lastly, the 50 dollar bunch of bullets might give you a false sense of surcurity just because they are bonded and retain wieght. The 18 dollar a box bullet might even perform better as the writer in my last post said.

I have shot animals with both partitions and A-Frames. i can' t honestly say that one did better than the other.

Once I find a load, I like to practice with it. So that could mean much more than 50 dollars one time fee.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

THis is just a rehash of what Handloader1, Eldequello and others have said about the Partition...It is designed to lose its front end but where is that 40% of bullet going ...right thru vital tissue if the bullet was aimed correctly. As a result they have super penetration and a tremendous wound channel... An Accubond will have probably a good sized mushroom and retain its weight and look pretty in a picture but it will kill no better and I am betting not penetrate as well or any better . Another benefit of both bullets is outstanding accuracy for a hunting bullet. Retained bullet weight is another great marketing ploy and evidently a lot of people are buying into that theory. .

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

OK, Thanks, I ordered the Accubonds today and will be shooting both types next weekend.

Now, I don' t have access to Ballistic Gel to test these thing (not that a ballistic gel will stop a .338 anyway,) Is there any way to test the end result of the bullet, short of the animal itself. A 55 gallon drum of H20 at 100 yards seems, well like something I don' t have the capability to do.

I guess I just look for the most accurate load and go from their????

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Water soaked newspaper, or magazines. There has to be more, but I can' t think of them now. Good luck.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

I have been loading Partition bullets almost from thier introduction. Never had less than excellent performance. I load a lot of X bullets as well Excellent permormance. There is an artical in outdoor life by Jim Zumbo. He is one of the most expieranced elk hunters out there. His choice of Bullets? Corlocks. His favorite elk gun? 300 Remington Short mag in the Model 7 rifle.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Well, maybe the Nosler Partition isn' t exactly DESIGNED to lose the front core, but that is often what happens! The two I' ve found inside an animal, after great penetration and finally hitting a big joint which stopped the bullet, were missing the front cores. Damage in one case was unbelievable (everything ahead of the diaphragm was a bloody soup, with no piece of lungs or other organs larger than a quarter), and the remains of the front portion of the jacket were folded back, constituting the " mushroom" .

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

firsttimeelkhunter, would you be so kind as to post a report when you bag your elk with Nosler' s bonded bullets.....I' m sure all would appreciate it.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

That I will do:D. Counting down to the day. I got the accubonds today. Will be loading some up in the next couple of days. Thanks for the info!

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

The front portion of the parition is designed to mushroom and then fragment,it doesn' t fall off after entering the animal but does massive damage while the rear section continues thru for full penetration and an exit hole.The words above are from John Nosler not me.There still is not a bullet that does it all as well as a parition bar none...............it expands fast and pushes thru like no other.The new bondeds that are there to fix the jacket shedding problems the plastic tips are hitting in some cases will work well but they will " pancake" more and therefore manage less penetration than the parition.Is this inferior?NO...... but I prefer an exit wound whenever possible and at lower velocities (under 3000fps)the parition has and will continue to work best for me.They are still the PREMIUM bullet by which all others are STILL judged,as evidenced by this thread.


woods

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

I shot the 7mm 160-grain Accubond head to head with the 160-grain Partition. In every group the Accubond shot a little better than the Partition.
The groups were good with both bullets & I would not think twice about loading the Partition instead of the Accubond. I will give the Accubond an honest try this year on game and see how it preforms? If I do not like the preformance I will switch back to the Partition I know they work.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

I could have written nearly the same post as wolf killer, only at 225gr. The accubond was slightly tighter than the partition. I am loading both and will take them along to colorado. I am sighting in to be zeroed at 300. This puts me 6" -ish high at the peak and 13 low at 400. I doubt very much I' ll have a shot like that, but I want to be ready. I' m sighting to zero with the Accubond and then firing for measurement of difference with the partitions. If the guides and outfitters have a preference, I can switch and test fire a couple at the ranch b/4 we leave on the pack-in. Only 9 days till we leave and lass than 2 weeks til the hunt:D

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Hey firstime! Where did you find the .338 225-grain Accubonds? I' ve been looking for some 260' s in .375, and all thje usual the places I' ve looked don' t have either the 225' s or the 260' s. But they have all the smaller ones. Maybe the place you got yours has .375' s also??

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

I am sure that either of these bullets will work equally well. I see no reason that nosler would put out a bullet inferior to the Partition and I would trust any product they put thier name on. Thats not blind loyalty, it is rather a reflection of the perfect expierence I have had with the Partition. I do load other bullets because I share the train of thought of some experts that claim the pemium bullets often fall shor of great performance on deer size game. For bigger or tougher critters I have complete faith in the Partition and the Barnes X bullets. The X bullets have performed great for me in the lighter weight per caliber on deer. For example I might use the 120 grain partition in 25 caliber but drop down to the 100 or even 90 grain bullet in The X for the same game. I always use at least one weight lighter with the Barnes X.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

I picked up some .338 x bullets at a going out of business sale today, look interesting. Don' t think I' ll get to use them this year, but maybe next:D.

eldeguello, I got them thru MidwayUSA. They were in the September flyer on sale for under $20 for 50.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Firsttime!! Thanks for the info!!

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

I would say the partition. I have shot 16 whitetails with a 160 gr. partition in my 7mm Rem Mag. (meager to your .338) and all but three ran off and had to be trailed. I never lost even one. I shoot the Whitetails through ribs to lessen the shoulder distruction associated with todays hard hitting fire arms. There has never been a problem with penetration, all complete pass through' s even at 400 and 500 yards. I believe that the partition would be alot better for big game like Elk due to the performance that it does on whitetails and it' s solid base and high weight retension.

Good hunting.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Unfortunately, I have nothing to report. Didn' t get a shot at an Elk in Colorado. Good trip and great time, just uncooperative weather and not enough hunters to move the elk. Anyway, may try the .338 on whitetail, but think it' s way to big. More likely to stick to the .270. Whitetail rifle season opens in one week on Saturday.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

First, sorry to hear no shot at an elk but I am glad you had a good time and great experience.

Brian

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Long story short. I ended up taking the .338 w/ the accubonds out the second day of white-tail season here in MN. First day I had to pass a couple of shots b/c I didn' t have the confidence that the .270 could get through the brush. Anyway, took a doe and small buck at about 40-50 yards w/ the .338. To much gun, but ya just can' t guess where they will be. Anyway the Tikka performed flawlessly. Both shots behind the should and no lungs left. Both deer went 75 yards in opposite directions. Enterence wounds were large and exits, huge. I don' t think the bullet really got to expand fully b/c neither deer seemed to flinch and ran off as if not hit. I will be ordering some for the .270 and .30-06.

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Hey, firsttime! I got a chance to shoot an elk in CO probably at the same time you were there! Don' t feel too bad about not getting one! I hunted elk for almost 30 years (off and on) before I got my first one! They say success was poor in Oct. this year, due to the weather being too warm. The one I got was in DEEP DARK TIMBER, in the White River N.F. near Sleepy Cat, (hunted out of Meeker) at about 9500 feet elevation. DON' T GIVE UP!!

This elk was a youngish 5X4 bull of about 700 pounds. Shot it at about 40 yards. Used a 7mm Rem. Mag., with a handloaded 175-grain Nosler Partition, MV 3050 FPS. The bull was quartering toward me, shot was high at the point of the left shoulder where the neck joins the body. Bull dropped as if struck by lightning! and never even twitched after the shot. He went down so fast he was not visible after recovering from the recoil! Thought I had missed! Two bulls with him fled the scene. I saw them and thought one was him! When I went to look for blood, there he was lying behind a log! Good thing I was using a single-shot, and didn' t take another shot at the one running away! No exit wound, never found the entrance wound or the bullet! Didn' t look too hard for the bullet, as we quartered the thing, took the head, quarters and tenderloins and packed out about 2 miles to the truck. It was downhill all the way, but tough going nontheless!!

Saw three other bulls the next day, but my hunting buddy was on the wrong side of the oak brush that morning, and, of course, my hunting was over, so I had no gun!!

RE: Accubond vs Partition
 

Haven' t been around here for a little while but I do have a good report on using Accubond bullets. We hunted the secound rifle season (elk & muledeer) in Co, Accubonds accounted for 4 animals.

We were shooting the 200g out of a custom 300ultramag, 3150fps. My son shot his muledeer at 240 yards, quartering away walking up a ridge. Bullet entered just in front of the hindquarters, exited out the neck on the offside. two ribs were totaly destroyed on the entrance, deer walked a few steps and keeled over. Second animnal he shot was a 5X5 bull that another hunter in our crew had hit twice in the rump with a .338Win Mag. Steve was aiming at the shoulders, hit the running bull in the neck (150 yard shot). Needless to say the bull' s run was finished! Spine was destroyed. I took my muledeer, again quartering away, a tad over 100 yards with the same rifle. Entrance was just in front of hindquarters, exited just behind front shoulder. I caught the last two ribs on the entrance, the ribs were disintigrated to the size of my fist. Exit wound also destroyed two ribs in same manner. One lung had a 7/16" hole thru it, lots of hydroshock damage in chest cavity. Steve also took a nice cow, shot was aprox 150 yards, running. He hit the cow just behind the front shoulders, thru the spine. Entrance wound was the size of a golf ball, exit was the size of a baseball. I was a little aprehensive about using the Accubonds on elk, after having sectioned a bullet to have a look at the jacket construction. I' ll use the Accubonds in the future, their more accurate than the partition golds I' ve been shooting[:-]