Remaining bullet after Elk kill- Nosler 180gr Accubonds 300WM

[Jwknutson17]

This last season I was fortunate enough to take a 6x6 bull at 211 yards. I recovered both rounds in the backside hide of the animal when skinning it. The first one went through the front shoulder and the second was about 4 inches from the first. First round probably did him in, but if its still standing, its getting another one. These are the 2 rounds recovered. Curious to see if anyone else recovered bullets in their game afterwards and what they looked like. I do not have any other sampling to go off of, so figured I would give it a shot here..

.30cal 180gr Accubonds at 3190 FPS muzzle velocity. Out of a 26" barrel 300 Win Mag

[LS1POWERED]

Looks like the bullets worked, surprised they did not exit.

[Jwknutson17]

All of the other cow elk I have shot with these bullets went through but this time on the bull, they did not. I have heard that some times the backside hide is almost like a trampoline that catches the bullet if you will. I guess I would say I got maximum stopping power as all of the bullets energy was lost in the animal. It was just neat to actually find them. I'm impressed with the Accubond so far on large game.

[BIGUGLY]

Curious if you were able to determine which one hit the shoulder and which one did not. I was just looking at the mushroom and the petals of the second pick. I was just guessing the one that did not expand as much was the one that hit the shoulder blade. Not a big deal I was just curious as they both obviously did their job.

[Jwknutson17]

I could not say for sure. My father pulled them both out as he was skinning that side of of animal. I assumed that the uniform mushroomed bullet was the one that was the second round not hitting the shoulder. I was surprised that the other round didn't come apart more. These Colorado bulls are no small animals and take a pretty good punch to go down. Some times they drop instantly and others, even with a perfectly placed shot, just don't want to give up.

[bjxds]

To answer to your question about bullet recovery, yes: Remington core-loct PSP and RNSP, Federal premium and Fusion, Nosler ballistic tip, Sierra HPBT, most 165 to 180 grain 2700-2900 fps 30.06 and the majority of them looked pretty much like yours. All were taken from small to medium white tail deer, distance varied from 50 feet to 100 yards. Very few did fragment and some were pass thru's, but the end result was meat on the ground.

Also I revovered several 260 grain lead HP bullets with 90 grns of pyrodex, and suprisingly to me they looked like the rifle bullets, the prettiest solid lead mushroom you ever did see.

I think some bullets hold up better than others, modern bullet desgins seem to work as advertised.

[SavageBrew84]

My dad shot a Roosevelt bull this year from a little over 350 yards with some 225 gr. .338 accubonds that he had loaded up for a sheep hunt. His results were much like yours in that his never punched through the other side either. If I recall, weight retention was somewhere in the 190's or so. While they did the job and his rifle was set up for that particular round at the time, he said he'll definitely be going back to the 250 gr. Speer Grand Slam he's been using for years.

[Auto-X Fil]

I've loaded Accubonds in 7mm Rem Mag and 300 WSM for several other people's Elk hunts. About 30-40% stay inside the Elk, in my experience. Elk hide is tough stuff, and ABs tend toward the more expansion, lower penetration side of the balance in most calibers. I would not use them in a .308 or other "light" Elk gun, where ranges will be limited.

My favorite thing about the ABs is the external ballistics, including the fact that they shoot through the same hole as the same weight Ballistic Tip bullets in all the guns I've tried them in, all the way to 600yd. I can practice with BTs, and load up a box of ABs for hunting, without wasting more than a couple for verification at the range.

[Tikkatac]

What did the bullet weigh once you pulled it out? How much weight was retained?

[sabrefan]

Gotta love Nosler. One of the first "premium" bullets and still going strong. I use 150 gr. Ballistic tips in my .308 and they perform very well on white tail.