NEW NOSLER .224, 70g Accubond accuracy

[SHall]

I just saw where Nosler is making this bullet yesterday. Ever since my son hammered a 10 pt. 200 pound whitetail 10 years ago with a 22-250, he and I have mostly used that round with Nosler 60g Partitions. I was very impressed with it at short range. It is a great bullet, but not very accurate even in a 22BR with match barrel I have tried it in. BC is not very good for shooting extended range, say up to 500 yards. I was wondering if anyone had tried this now Nosler Accubond 70g .224 for accuracy in a rifle that should shoot well? Samuel Hall

 

[hunter67]

Well Ive been waiting for them also. I will tell you that the Nosler 64gr bonded is outstanding with 22-250.

 

[F224]

The 70gr bullet is a bit to light for long range big game hunting. Past 300 yards, the bullet weight should start at least at 100gr. Anything other than a broadside shot is marginal with sub .25 cal bullets on animals heavier than 125 pounds.

 

[hunter67]

says you

 

[Bill Norris]

The 70gr bullet is a bit to light for long range big game hunting. Past 300 yards, the bullet weight should start at least at 100gr. Anything other than a broadside shot is marginal with sub .25 cal bullets on animals heavier than 125 pounds.

REALLY? Wow. I sure have taken quite a few white tail that weighed more than 125 pds. And it was certainly not all broadside shoots either. As a matter of fact one of those shots was 748 yds. measured with range finder.

 

[Bill K]

Well dog gone, I guess the deer and one elk, taken with the 60 grain Nosler Partitian did not know that. But then again I never shot one of them over 400 yrds either. All under that and in all honesty most around 150-200. ( in the 22-250, by the way)

The 70gr bullet is a bit to light for long range big game hunting. Past 300 yards, the bullet weight should start at least at 100gr. Anything other than a broadside shot is marginal with sub .25 cal bullets on animals heavier than 125 pounds.

Just curious, but how many have you shot and/or seen results, to form such a opinion ?

 

[3Ackleys]

The 70gr bullet is a bit to light for long range big game hunting. Past 300 yards, the bullet weight should start at least at 100gr. Anything other than a broadside shot is marginal with sub .25 cal bullets on animals heavier than 125 pounds.

A gentleman used to bring all his big game to my family's wild game shop for more than 20 years. Every year there was a large Bull Elk (300"-360") a few deer/antelope and a bear most years. Also 1 Moose and 1 Big Horn. He killed all with a 700 BDL 22-250 and factory 50 gr. soft points out to 500 yards. I don't remember any that had more than 1 hole through them ( I was the skinner). Certainly not what I would use- I like 28 Nos for a light rifle, 338 LM and 416 Rigby for bit heavier.

 

[SHall]

If I were still going out to Alberta CA trophy whitetail hunting I would be toting my old familiar 7 Rem.Mag. You never know what kind of shot you are going to get out there. Anymore I just hunt around my house. My boy and I only take good steady shoots at deer or coyotes that give us a good broadside shot. Otherwise, we let them go. The first buck my son shot was a 200 pounds at least. He shot it through both shoulders the 60g Partition out of a 22-250 rested in the skin on the far shoulder. Perfect mushroom. The hydrostatic shock created by its high speed ruined the front shoulders. I was sold on the round for deer around home. I am sure the 70g Nosler Accubond will perform well also and add some down range accuracy and less drop with its sleeker BT construction. I am just asking for some real world accuracy test at say 2-400 yards. I was all excited several years ago when Swift came out with the .224 75g bonded BT bullet. I shot it in a 22BR with a 1-8 twist SS match barrel and a BR action and stock to test it. I dont make it a habbit to knock a product, but it shot terrible! I was getting over 2 inch groups at 100 yards. I have shot under 2 inches at 500 yards with that rifle with Nosler 55g Ballistic tips! Samuel Hall

 

[Bill Norris]

If I were still going out to Alberta CA trophy whitetail hunting I would be toting my old familiar 7 Rem.Mag. You never know what kind of shot you are going to get out there. Anymore I just hunt around my house. My boy and I only take good steady shoots at deer or coyotes that give us a good broadside shot. Otherwise, we let them go. The first buck my son shot was a 200 pounds at least. He shot it through both shoulders the 60g Partition out of a 22-250 rested in the skin on the far shoulder. Perfect mushroom. The hydrostatic shock created by its high speed ruined the front shoulders. I was sold on the round for deer around home. I am sure the 70g Nosler Accubond will perform well also and add some down range accuracy and less drop with its sleeker BT construction. I am just asking for some real world accuracy test at say 2-400 yards. I was all excited several years ago when Swift came out with the .224 75g bonded BT bullet. I shot it in a 22BR with a 1-8 twist SS match barrel and a BR action and stock to test it. I dont make it a habbit to knock a product, but it shot terrible! I was getting over 2 inch groups at 100 yards. I have shot under 2 inches at 500 yards with that rifle with Nosler 55g Ballistic tips! Samuel Hall

Not really one to knock a product but I have never been able to get acceptable hunting accuracy from the Swift nor Barnes bullets. I will stick with tried and true Nosler and Sierra when it comes to hunting loads.

 

[Rdlningcltchdmpr]

If I were still going out to Alberta CA trophy whitetail hunting I would be toting my old familiar 7 Rem.Mag. You never know what kind of shot you are going to get out there. Anymore I just hunt around my house. My boy and I only take good steady shoots at deer or coyotes that give us a good broadside shot. Otherwise, we let them go. The first buck my son shot was a 200 pounds at least. He shot it through both shoulders the 60g Partition out of a 22-250 rested in the skin on the far shoulder. Perfect mushroom. The hydrostatic shock created by its high speed ruined the front shoulders. I was sold on the round for deer around home. I am sure the 70g Nosler Accubond will perform well also and add some down range accuracy and less drop with its sleeker BT construction. I am just asking for some real world accuracy test at say 2-400 yards. I was all excited several years ago when Swift came out with the .224 75g bonded BT bullet. I shot it in a 22BR with a 1-8 twist SS match barrel and a BR action and stock to test it. I dont make it a habbit to knock a product, but it shot terrible! I was getting over 2 inch groups at 100 yards. I have shot under 2 inches at 500 yards with that rifle with Nosler 55g Ballistic tips! Samuel Hall

99% the bullet is accurate, what is ussually not accurate is the powder type/ charge amount. I can show how just by changing powder type and load amount any bullet can be made to shoot great or rotten. Assuming twist rate is adequate.

 

[F224]

Well dog gone, I guess the deer and one elk, taken with the 60 grain Nosler Partitian did not know that. But then again I never shot one of them over 400 yrds either. All under that and in all honesty most around 150-200. ( in the 22-250, by the way)


Just curious, but how many have you shot and/or seen results, to form such a opinion ?

I have shot in excess of 250 big game animals including nearly 100 whitetail deer in one night as part of a Montana culling operation and 35 Gemsbok in five days in Namibia on a cull hunt there. Having killed everything from Blue Duiker, baboons, and warthogs with a 22rf up to Cape Buffalo with a 416RM, I've had a chance to personally experience what many gun writers preach.

Can you kill larger game with premium small bullets at reasonable ranges? Absolutely, I personally love shooting pronghorns and pigs with the 55 & 63 grain Trophy Bonded bullets from my various 223's.

Robert Ruark wrote the book titled USE ENOUGH GUN for a reason. Craig Boddington's extensive writings on rifle selection are widely accepted as reliable for a reason. Kevin Robinson DVM writes regularly about proper cartridge selection for a reason. My suggestion is based on personal experience and observation, I have heard wild claims about what shooters and archers have done at various conventions. But when challenged to make a simple 100 yard shot on an 8" plate on range day from a shooting bench they either don't show up or they miss.

 

[SHall]

I have shot in excess of 250 big game animals including nearly 100 whitetail deer in one night as part of a Montana culling operation and 35 Gemsbok in five days in Namibia on a cull hunt there. Having killed everything from Blue Duiker, baboons, and warthogs with a 22rf up to Cape Buffalo with a 416RM, I've had a chance to personally experience what many gun writers preach.

Can you kill larger game with premium small bullets at reasonable ranges? Absolutely, I personally love shooting pronghorns and pigs with the 55 & 63 grain Trophy Bonded bullets from my various 223's.

Robert Ruark wrote the book titled USE ENOUGH GUN for a reason. Craig Boddington's extensive writings on rifle selection are widely accepted as reliable for a reason. Kevin Robinson DVM writes regularly about proper cartridge selection for a reason. My suggestion is based on personal experience and observation, I have heard wild claims about what shooters and archers have done at various conventions. But when challenged to make a simple 100 yard shot on an 8" plate on range day from a shooting bench they either don't up or they miss.

Dave, with your experience shooting whitetail with the tropy bonded bullets, say with a 22-250, how far do you think is an ethical broadside shot on a 180-200 pounder? And could you tell any difference in performance between the 55 and 63g Tropy Bonded? Samuel Hall

 

[F224]

Dave, with your experience shooting whitetail with the tropy bonded bullets, say with a 22-250, how far do you think is an ethical broadside shot on a 180-200 pounder? And could you tell any difference in performance between the 55 and 63g Tropy Bonded? Samuel Hall

On a 200+/- pound animal, consistent ethical kills can be made at distances where the bullet is impacting at 1800 FPS or faster (Perhaps I should have referenced impact velocities instead of distances in my original reply). With starting velocities in excess of 3600 fps, that's a long way out there! You can certainly justify slower impact speeds, but then heavy for caliber high sectional density bullets tend to be more effective.

American Handguner Magazine (if I remember the source correctly) ran a penetration test years ago and found that driving a bullet beyond a certain velocity would actually reduce its penetration depth. Very similar to an airplane that you if want to double its cruise speed you must quadruple its horsepower. That because drag increases (trying to remember flight school physics here) at the square of the velocity increase. The best example is the same 300gr .44 cal bullet will penetrate the same distance at 1000fps as at 1400fps. The biggest difference is the larger temporary wound cavity.

The 55gr TBBC seemed to make much quicker stops than the slightly heavier bullets on both Proghorn and deer in my experience.

Ruark reportedly wrote that he thought the 220 Swift was potentially the best thin skinned animal round, but in his day only cup and core bullets were available for it and he saw bullet failure too often to consider it reliable. One can only imagine what he would think of our available selection of premium bullets today and smaller calibers. I know an African PH who uses the 223Rem exclusively for a client gun on plains game up 600 pounds, but 95% of the shots are within 150 yards.

For a few years the police department where I served as a reserve officer, I got to shoot a lot of problem whitetail deer. I used a 6.8spc with factory V-max bullets. They started out at 2600 FPS, remember this bullet was designed for initial velocities in excess of 3300 FPS from a 270Win. It acted like a good old Remington Corelock and not a prairie dog bullet, making a mess of things in the body cavity and leaving a nice half dollar sized exit hole. No deer made it more than ten feet from where it was shot.

I love both the 308Win and the various 6.5mm cartridges for big game and outside of the 416RM for dangerous game and a few years where I was in love with the 338WM really don't see the need for the magnums.

But then as Hannibal said on the TV show the A-team; "over kill is under rated", so what do I know?

 

[Rdlningcltchdmpr]

On a 200+/- pound animal, consistent ethical kills can be made at distances where the bullet is impacting at 1800 FPS or faster (Perhaps I should have referenced impact velocities instead of distances in my original reply). With starting velocities in excess of 3600 fps, that's a long way out there! You can certainly justify slower impact speeds, but then heavy for caliber high sectional density bullets tend to be more effective.

American Handguner Magazine (if I remember the source correctly) ran a penetration test years ago and found that driving a bullet beyond a certain velocity would actually reduce its penetration depth. Very similar to an airplane that you if want to double its cruise speed you must quadruple its horsepower. That because drag increases (trying to remember flight school physics here) at the square of the velocity increase. The best example is the same 300gr .44 cal bullet will penetrate the same distance at 1000fps as at 1400fps. The biggest difference is the larger temporary wound cavity.

The 55gr TBBC seemed to make much quicker stops than the slightly heavier bullets on both Proghorn and deer in my experience.

Ruark reportedly wrote that he thought the 220 Swift was potentially the best thin skinned animal round, but in his day only cup and core bullets were available for it and he saw bullet failure too often to consider it reliable. One can only imagine what he would think of our available selection of premium bullets today and smaller calibers. I know an African PH who uses the 223Rem exclusively for a client gun on plains game up 600 pounds, but 95% of the shots are within 150 yards.

For a few years the police department where I served as a reserve officer, I got to shoot a lot of problem whitetail deer. I used a 6.8spc with factory V-max bullets. They started out at 2600 FPS, remember this bullet was designed for initial velocities in excess of 3300 FPS from a 270Win. It acted like a good old Remington Corelock and not a prairie dog bullet, making a mess of things in the body cavity and leaving a nice half dollar sized exit hole. No deer made it more than ten feet from where it was shot.

I love both the 308Win and the various 6.5mm cartridges for big game and outside of the 416RM for dangerous game and a few years where I was in love with the 338WM really don't see the need for the magnums.

But then as Hannibal said on the TV show the A-team; "over kill is under rated", so what do I know?

That show was cancelled 64 years ago. I remember watching that show next to Dino. Ps. Copper bullet's penetrate deeper with more velocity.

 

[F224]

That show was cancelled 64 years ago. I remember watching that show next to Dino. Ps. Copper bullet's penetrate deeper with more velocity.

That is an overly broad statement. Will the copper beryllium slug from a Hellfire missile warhead penetrate further than an equal weight of lead launched at the same speed? It depends on the density of the thing being struck, but generally speaking, yes it will.

Bullet impact velocity, shape, weight, sectional density, and design criteria are just a few of the things that influence it's potential for penetration on a given target.

 

[Rdlningcltchdmpr]

That is an overly broad statement. Will the copper beryllium slug from a Hellfire missile warhead penetrate further than an equal weight of lead launched at the same speed? It depends on the density of the thing being struck, but generally speaking, yes it will.

Bullet impact velocity, shape, weight, sectional density, and design criteria are just a few of the things that influence it's potential for penetration on a given target.

I have run thousands of penetration test for the (Institute of penetration) and all test show the same result - more speed = more penetration with copper bullet's. I also have some land for sale in Florida .