The Nosler Accubond is the closest thing to a perfect deer bullet that's ever been made.

I shoot them in 25cal. They've never failed to perform.
Accuracy will depend on your particular gun more than anything else.
165gr in a 308 will give you passthroughs on broadside or shallow quartering shots (unless you're one of those idiot high shoulder shooters...in which case, IDK). Probably not on hard quartering, or head-on shots...but nothing else is likely to either.

 

I shoot them in .270 Win and 375 H&H mag. Always get a pass through. Will tear some meat up in some situations.

 

Like others have said the nosler accubond is as close to the perfect whitetail bullet out there. Flies like a ballistic tip but hits/penetrates like a partition. If your particular gun shoots them accurately then you are golden.
Big Ed

 

(sorry, long answer)

There are not right or wrong answers to this one, and countless internet forum pages have been filled with this and similar debates. But you asked for opinions, so I'll give mine:

I do not disagree that the Accubond is a very well-designed, well-made bullet. If your rifle shoots them accurately - which is likely - you can use them the rest of your life as your preferred, go-to deer hunting ammo.

However, I'm of the opinion that Accubonds are not the best overall choice. I believe the best all-around bullets for whitetail deer are the traditional "cup and core" designs, such as the Remington Core-Lokt. Almost all bullet manufacturers offer c&c designs like the CL, and if you hand load, there are even more to choose from, such as Speer boat tail spitzers, Sierra GameKing and Pro Hunter, Berger Classic and VLD hunting, Hornady Interlock and SST, Nosler Ballistic Tip. The Speer Hot Cor fits in there somewhere, but it uses a modified form of cup and core, to reduce the chances of air bubbles getting trapped between the jacket (cup) and lead (core) - a primary reason for bullet failure.

There is no doubt that Accubonds are less frangible than "c&c" bullets. They are a bonded bullet, so the jacket is more firmly attached - either physically (such as using solder) or chemically/electromagnetically - to the lead core. The result is a "harder" bullet. To many hunters, a harder, less-frangible bullet is better. And, having loaded and shot many Accubonds in several calibers and weights, I think highly of the bullet. It's as good as any [bonded] bullet on the market.

But for whitetail deer I don't want a bonded bullet. I want a bullet that will expand more readily. I'l trade some hardness for more terminal performance at a greater range of velocities. Yes, by all mean, the Accubond may help in some situations where a c&c may have problems, such as when you're shooting a full-tilt load at the highest velocities, and the deer walks out at 20 yards. Something like a CoreLokt might "blow up," as they say. Or those times when you have to take a weird angle and hit significant bone along the way. But, for me, those instances are very rare, and I prefer the performance of a good ole soft point on most shots I take - broadside, in the crease just at or behind the shoulder. With the very rare exception, I get pass-through with a big exit wound, lots of blood to trail - if I have to trail at all.

And, for me, how much I can shoot is a big consideration, therefore cost is a big consideration. It's my belief that the vast majority of hunters do not shoot nearly often enough, and most deer hunters I know are not nearly the marksmen they consider themselves. I would recommend spending less on ammo and use the savings to shoot more often.

There's not a thing wrong with the Accubond. I just think less expensive bullets are just as effective on deer over the long term.

 

jakesnake, Great write up and I agree with your points. I would like to add this for consideration since the op mentioned he was getting his 308 for long range shooting. The bullet that is hard enough to hold together at 50 yards and open properly at 150-200 yards may be so hard as to be very little more than a fmj at what the distances considered long range by the op. First point is that the 308 does not launch a 165 very fast when compared to even the 30-06 much less any of the magnums. Given that point one has to look at what the velocity will be at400-500 yards and compare that to the velocity at which the bullet in question will expand on a given hit. In my experience longer range calls for softer bullets compared to the bullet one expects to hold together at the surprise 50 yd close shot.

I used to shoot the Sierra Game King 165 BTHP which according to their literature was develop for western long range hunting on thin skinned game like antelope. It served me well for several years until one rainy day when it opened on the wet hair leaving the cup just inside the skin and the core barely nicked the off side chest wall. Luckily the 200yd shot was where it needed to be behind the shoulder and he fell after about 70yds of running. That is when I went to the other extreme with Barnes X-Bullets. Still use the Triple Shock Barnes but know it is ridiculous overkill.

 

I've always liked nosler partitions, but accubond a good bullet.

 

Not trying to hijack the thread, but I was looking at the accubond in 6.5 creedmoor and unless you reload, you're out of luck. They do have the 140 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip in 6.5. Are these the true "blow up" ballistic tips or does anybody know?

 

they offer a 129gr accubond trophy garde long range, claim 2084fps/1243ft-lbs at 500yards

 

thanks for all the replies so far, I ordered 4 box's to play with so want know as far as peformance on deer til next fall, i will say i did shoot 40 rounds of 150gr hornady sst while breaking in the barrel. groups were pretty good with sst but had poor performance on two deer this year and a couple last year. no exit on couple last year but they dropped so no need. this year i shot a 10point and doe pass through on both with no blood trail at all, double lung on both deer just behind the shoulder. I bought the sako for couple places i hunt that i may need to reach 500 to 600yds so i think the accubond will penetrate better at those ranges.I am aware that ther sst will not produce a exit hole sometimes and its designed to do alot or terminal damage and extensive wound channel but i think it may separate at the ranges I need to reach. keep the replies comming like what i hear so far with the accubonds may have to start loading my own if they perform like others have said.

 

I load 140 gr. accubonds for 270 and 270 Weatherby. 165 gr. for 30/06 and 300 Weatherrby. Best bullets I've found for whitetail. Great accuracy, good expansion and pass thru. Especially in the Wheatherbys.

 

I used the same exact gun in 308 this year that I initially bought for my wife to elk hunt with. I handloaded some 150g Accubonds that shot well and used them deer hunting. Between her and me we killed 10 deer with it and they performed well. Little better exit hole than Barnes. I would have been shooting Barnes but never could find a combo that the gun liked and got tired of trying. The twist rate on the SAKOs 308 is a little slow for longer bullets like the Barnes imo. However, their 7-08 rate is faster.

 

I and my main hunting partner shoot the 165's in our Tikka .308's. They group very well on the range and are absolutely devastating on a deer.

 

turkish, Sorry that I implied you did not know. Made a fast assumption and we all know what that brings about.

goodson, I do have a question about the same bullet making the same fps out of both the 308 and 30-06 though. Is that what the company claims or have they been run across a chronograph and it turned out they both ran the same? Would expect the 308 to be 100 or more fps slower based on my experience loading for both cartridges, however not for the Accubond

 

Don't mention it, buc. No apology necessary. I didn't mean to sound put-off.

 

Started using 140 gr nosler trophy grade accubonds this year in 7mm08. Great performance with passthrus on 2 deer - doe went less than 5 yds with lots of blood from 150 yd shot and buck flipped over and went nowhere with 30 yd shot.

 

I was told by nosler the 30-06 165 is also 2800fps and identical ballistics as the 308 but if reloading could be pushed to 2920 but they are sold from nosler at 2800

 

I think the most I got out of 165s was about 2840ish average. Problem was that I was "crunching" powder badly. But I only tried Varget and RL 15 but with both the cases were slap full.

 

I did consider the new long range version but I'm not confident past 600 just not enough bench time at farther ranges to try and take game that far

 

Good results from the Accubond for me and my son in 257 WBY. Sounds like you have enough bullets, but if you try something else, check out the Nosler Ballistic Tip. The 180 gr does well in my 300 WBY. 220 lb buck, 476 yard pass thru this year. Good results at 300 yards + the past several seasons.