BULLET BULLETIN: TOWARDS AN ‘ABLR’ ACCUBOND

BULLET BULLETIN

Nosler’s AccuBond Long Range ranks among the finest projectiles for hunting at truly long ranges.

TOWARDS AN ‘ABLR’ ACCUBOND

Long-range offering in Nosler bullet line gives hunters ‘advantage in the wind ... slightly flatter trajectory.’

STORY BY PHIL MASSARO • PHOTOS BY MASSARO MEDIA GROUP

We’d seen the mule deer buck hop the barbedwire fence, following his does on a course due east, as the horizontal rays of the setting sun illuminated his antlers and gave great contrast to his coat. Doing our best to hop the same three-strand fence – though with assuredly less grace – to get into a position to cut o the buck, we were o ered a brief look at him as he paused to look back at us. My guide gave me the shooting sticks, and as soon as the crosshair covered his shoulder, I broke the Winchester’s trigger. The then-new 6.8 Western cartridge sent a 165-grain Nosler AccuBond, loaded in Winchester’s Expedition Big Game Long Range ammunition line, into the buck’s vitals and immediately removed him from my scope.

In Colorado, a shot at just over 200 yards is by no means a long one, though in my native New York it might seem like a country mile in certain areas. Over the course of that week, I used the 6.8 Western and that 165-grain AccuBond Long Range, or ABLR, for my first elk, and many colleagues doubled up in a similar manner, at ranges varying from 50 yards to as far as 450 yards without issue.

Nosler is one of the oldest

Author Phil Massaro took this Colorado mule deer with the 6.5 Western and the 165-grain Nosler ABLR.

The Nosler AccuBond shown in profile, section and upset. Note the polymer tip and boattail. family names in the premium bullet industry, with their Partition design revolutionizing the hunting world. Though John A. Nosler’s brainchild remains a wonderful hunting bullet, the Nosler company has never sat upon its laurels. The Ballistic Tip, the Custom Competition, the Expansion Tip, the RDF and more represent their progress in bullet technology, but among my favorite Nosler designs are the AccuBond and its younger sibling, the AccuBond Long Range.

Let’s delve into what makes these bullets tick, and why the AccuBond Long Range might be one of the most universal choices for an all-around hunting bullet.

Among the factory loads for the 6.8 Western, the Winchester 165-grain AccuBond Long Range is Massaro’s favorite. The AccuBond Long Range has a steeper boattail angle and a sleeker ogive than does Nosler’s standard AccuBond.

THE AFOREMENTIONED NOSLER Ballistic Tip was among the first projectiles to use a sharp polymer tip for a meplat. That tip serves two functions: first, to help maintain a consistent shape (and therefore a more consistent ballistic coe cient) at the nose; and secondly, to act as a wedge upon impact with a game animal to ensure reliable expansion. And, boy, did it do just that! Some folks consider the lighter-forcaliber Ballistic Tip bullets to be highly frangible, and I have seen that in the field as well. I must say that if of proper sectional density, it can be a wonderful hunting bullet at reasonable velocities on suitable game animals.

Recognizing the e ects of highvelocity impacts on a standard cupand-core bullet – one that features a lead core surrounded by a “cup” of copper gilding metal – can show the shortcomings of the design. Add a boattail to the mix, and core/jacket

The .27 Nosler loaded with the 150-grain AccuBond makes a sound all-around choice.

Flat-shooting cartridges like the .25-06 Remington mate well with the Nosler AccuBond, as they give a flat trajectory, retain energy well, and will hold together when tough bones are struck. separation is not uncommon at all. To alleviate the issues, Nosler developed the AccuBond.

While the AccuBond may closely resemble the Ballistic Tip in all but the color of the polymer tip, the exterior conformation is where the similarities end. Nosler has chemically bonded the jacket to the core, resulting in a bullet that will resist premature expansion on those high-velocity impact shots at short distances, even from magnum cartridges.

On the other end of the spectrum – on the long shots, where the bullet has had ample time to slow down and the velocities are considerably lower – the AccuBond’s tapered jacket will still o er enough expansion to destroy the necessary amount of vital tissue for a quick kill. The AccuBond has been shown to give reliable expansion at velocities as low as 1,800 feet per second and has become renowned for its accuracy. The white polymer tip is unique to the AccuBond bullet – while the Ballistic Tip series uses a caliberspecific color coding – and it makes for a great choice when you need serious accuracy and when you need a bullet that will work reliably in a number of di erent hunting situations.

IN THE LAST two decades, hunting and shooting at increasingly longer ranges have become popular, and while this particular article doesn’t have the space to handle the ethics and morality of long-range hunting, let me simply say that if you are going to take a long shot, please obtain the best tools and training available to do so. Among the tools, I will definitely include the best projectiles you can obtain, and on that list I will certainly include Nosler’s AccuBond Long Range bullet.

How does the AccuBond Long

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The speedy .28 Nosler is a formidable cartridge, made even better with the heavy 175-grain AccuBond Long

Range. (NOSLER)

The ABLR has a tapering copper jacket that is chemically bonded to the lead core. (NOSLER)

Range di er from the standard variant? I’m glad you asked. While the AccuBond has many of the attributes desirable for a hunting bullet to be used in open country – the spitzer boattail conformation, polymer tip for a consistent meplat, and even bondedcore construction – the AccuBond Long Range takes things a bit further, o ering a little more flexibility.

If you compare the AccuBond and the ABLR of similar weights and diameter, you’ll see that the ABLR will have a higher ballistic coe cient; this is due to a longer taper on the bullet’s ogive and the increased angle of the boattail on the ABLR. The bonding process is the same between the two, yet where the AccuBond has a white polymer tip, the ABLR has a gray polymer tip. Both bullets have the tapering copper jacket, with a good, thick base of copper to provide a platform for the deformed bullet after impact. Looking at the di erences in terminal performance, the AccuBond is advertised to open reliably at velocities as low as 1,800 fps, yet the ABLR will give reliable expansion at

The AccuBond has a less pronounced ogive and boattail than does its younger sibling, the ABLR. (NOSLER)

The 6.5 Creedmoor is well served by the 129-grain AccuBond, giving excellent long-range performance on larger game species.

impact velocities as low as 1,300 fps. Yes, the ABLR is definitely engineered with long shots in mind.

To best illustrate what advantages the ABLR will give over the AccuBond, let’s load the 142- and 140-grain models, respectively, into a 6.5 PRC case and launch them at the factory velocity of 2,960 fps, generating roughly 2,750 foot-pounds of energy. The 142-grain AccuBond Long Range has a G1 ballistic coe cient of 0.625, while the 140-grain AccuBond comes in at 0.509; both numbers are respectable, and it’ll take a while for the ABLR to show its advantages. Using a 200-yard zero at 500 yards – what I personally consider the limit of my shooting range – the AccuBond will hit 38.6 inches low, while the ABLR will strike 36.2 inches low. This is not a big di erence at all, especially at that distance, as you’ll have to make some sort of elevation adjustment. In a 10-mph crosswind, the 140-grain AccuBond will need 16.7 inches of correction, while the 142-grain ABLR needs 13.2 inches.

Taking things out to 700 yards, the 140-grain AccuBond will drop 102.2 inches, while the ABLR drops 93.6 inches; the AccuBond will be deflected 35.1 inches, while the ABLR will deflect 27.3 inches – that is an appreciable di erence. At 700 yards, the AccuBond will retain 1,018 foot-pounds while traveling at 1,810 fps, while the ABLR will retain 1,259 foot-pounds while traveling barely less than 2,000 fps. And if you wanted to get crazy (at least for a hunting bullet) and move out to 1,000 yards, the AccuBond will drop 282.7 inches, be traveling at 1,427 fps (still supersonic), and retain 633 foot-pounds of energy. The ABLR, meanwhile, drops 248.3 inches, is cruising at 1,654 fps and still has 863 foot-pounds of energy. The AccuBond

If the magazine and throat allow, the .264 Winchester Magnum can send the 142-grain 6.5mm Nosler AccuBond Long Range at respectable velocities.

While the .375 H&H Magnum isn’t often thought of as a flat-shooting cartridge, when loaded with a 260-grain AccuBond, it shoots as flat as a .30-06.

will drift 80.4 inches in a 10-mph crosswind, while the ABLR will move 60.9 inches. It is at the truly long ranges that the ABLR shows its value in conformation.

WHILE NOSLER – QUITE obviously – will load both of its own projectiles in their factory ammunition, the AccuBond bullet is loaded by Federal Premium in a good number of popular cartridges, including the .300 Winchester Magnum, 7mm-08 Remington, .30-06 Springfield, 6.5 Creedmoor and .270 Winchester. The AccuBond Long Range is loaded in Winchester’s Expedition Long Range Big Game ammunition line, including the 6.8 Western I mentioned earlier, as well as the .300 WSM, 7mm Remington Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum, .270 Winchester and 6.5 PRC.

The AccuBond in component form is available in .22-caliber 70-grain; 6mm-caliber 90-grain; .25-caliber 110-grain; 6.5mm-caliber 130- and 140-grain; .277-caliber 100-, 110-, 130-, 140- and 150-grain; 7mm-caliber 140-, 150- and 160-grain; .30-caliber 150-, 165-, 180- and 200-grain; 8mmcaliber 200-grain; .338-caliber 200-, 225-, 250- and 300-grain; .35-caliber 200- and 225-grain; 9.3mm-caliber 250-grain; and .375-caliber 260- and 300-grain. The AccuBond Long Range is available in 6.5mm-caliber 129-, 142- and 150-grain; .277-caliber 150- and 165-grain; 7mm-caliber 150-, 168- and 175-grain; .30-caliber 168-, 190- and 210-grain; and .338-caliber 265- and 300-grain. As is evident, the ABLRs tend to stick to the heavier end of the weight spectrum.

For my hunting, I am fine with either model – I tend to test both and let the rifle’s accuracy dictate the choice. If you are serious about longrange hunting, I would probably steer you toward the ABLR, as it gives that advantage in the wind, as well as a slightly flatter trajectory. 

Massaro handloaded these 165-grain ABLRs in his 6.8 Western, and got groups slightly better than the Winchester factory loads.