best long range BONDED bullet

[mcseal2]

I'd also go with the Accubond, Federal Edge TLR, or Swift Sirocco. Let the gun decide what it likes best. The 200gr ELD-X is another option, if has more weight to hopefully come apart deeper and cause more damage. Might be worth asking Hornady if it's heavier jacketed too.

Another one that isn't bonded but I'm curious about is the Sierra Gamechanger 165gr. It has a great BC for it's weight. My buddy and I went to the 180gr E tip for AK last year in our 300 win mags. It performed excellent for us on deer and moose between 250 and 500 yards. A couple of the deer ran further than they do after an Accubond hit with less blood trail which has me thinking of trying a different deer bullet and staying with the E tip for elk. I'm not sure if it's worth having 2 loads or just sticking with the E tip, my flatter country deer hunting is done with a 264 win mag anyway.

 

[parshal]

Scirocco's are great bullets. I've shot a muley at 290 and a mountain goat and elk at 151 all with the 6.5 130 grain. They can be finicky but it you get them to shoot they are fantastic. They are tough.

 

[Ryan Avery]

You going the wrong direction IMO. Look at the heavy for caliber ELD-Ms or the Berger target bullets. You can use them up close or way out there. Contrary to popular belief they work great up close IME.

Loaded up some 215s for a buddies Xbolt. They shoot great even out of the 1/10 Twist.

 

[wind gypsy]

At win mag velocities the 178 is too fast and will drift more and come apart faster than the heavier options. I'd set your sites on 212 ELD's and 215 bergers if you truly want a "Long Range" bullet that will work up close too.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

thanks in advance for all replies.

I am presently working up some new loads for my x-bolt long range stalker in 300 WM. I have recently shot tons of hornady stuff and had great results as far as accuracy. Last year montana mule deer hunt I took a nice muley at 400 yards with 178 gr eld-x. Again im very pleased with the accuracy results, but this is the second time a retrieved ELD-x has seperated core from jacket. Any info or suggestions greatly appreciated

Generally long range and bonded do not go hand in hand do to the minimum impact velocity that is required to reliably expand a bonded bullet. This is also why bullets such as copper/gilding metal bullets make terrible long range bullets.

What do you consider long range? Because 400 yards is not even close to long in my definition. My definition of long range is 700+ yards. The ELDX can separate because it is a cup and core bullet but the bullet clearly still did it's job. Generally this will happen when the impact velocity is fast enough to cause the bullet to expand past where the jacket and core are held together. Any cup and core bullet can do this such as Sierra Game King, Berger VLD, Hornady SST, Hornady Interlock and the list goes on.

When deciding on what bullet you want to shoot you need to decide what is the farthest range you will be shooting?
What will be the impact velocity at that range?
What is the ended target?
Then pick a bullet that will reliably expand at the farthest impact velocity that will also be able to dispatch the intended target fast.

If animals such as mule deer, elk, and black bear are being shot under 500 yards then I would shoot something like a regular Accubond out of your 300 win mag around 180 to 200 grains. But personally me I tend to pick heavy for caliber cup and core bullets like a ELDX, Berger VLD etc. So you have a high sectional density to penetrate deep and a high BC to help with wind drift and retaining energy and velocity at longer distances.

 

[slowelk]

You going the wrong direction IMO. Look at the heavy for caliber ELD-Ms or the Berger target bullets. You can use them up close or way out there. Contrary to popular belief they work great up close IME.

Loaded up some 215s for a buddies Xbolt. They shoot great even out of the 1/10 Twist.

In your experience what has happened with an ELD-M at close range? What do you consider close range?

 

[parshal]

There are some great reports on longrangehunting.com about ELD-M's on elk.

I recently started load development using Hammer bullets. While not a true long range bullet they have had great results out to 800 yards. The two guys that make Hammer wanted to duplicate the Scirocco which they thought was the toughest "long range" bullet. At least, that's what they've told me when I talk to them.

 

[Ryan Avery]

Just last year I shot one Bull at 80 yards and watched two more get shot at under 100 yards with 147 ELD-Ms. None make it more than 50 yards. Watched two cows get shot with 225 at under 100 yards. One was shot straight in the ass.. not the greatest way to do things but it dropped it.

80 yard bull

 

[Wrench]

I've put a scirocco and a smk through elk at under 20 yards. I have no idea what the bullet looked like, for all I know it is still in orbit.

Complete pass throughs and I ate them both with joy. If you hit big bones or like ass to tea kettle shots, I'd look at something like a partition or tsx....but if you can shoot worth a crap, I'm in Ryan's camp.

 

[Wrench]

The 180 scirocco was from a 300rum and the 142smk from a 6.5-06.

 

[Ryan Avery]

225 ELD-M exit hole at 400 ish I think.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[509backcountry]

Anyone have any personal experience with the long range accubonds specifically? I have shot the regular in the past and loved them. Just bought the LR 175s to handload in my 7mm but now I’m reading things online that concern me about them.

 

[509backcountry]

Accubond. The LR version isn't worth it. mtmuley

Why do you say not worth it? I have a hells canyon long range 7mm I want to handload heavy bullets for. I’ve always shot Accubond but they don’t make the regular Accubond in 175 grains, just the long range, so that’s what I bought. Now I’m concerned though. Thoughts?

 

[LaHunter]

I tried to get the AB long range bullets (150 & 175 grain) to shoot in my 7 mm rem mag when they came out. Never was able to get either to stay sub MOA. I have a 26” Krieger barrel with a 1:9.5” twist rate. The 160 AB is what I stayed with

 

[Brandon_SPC]

Anyone have any personal experience with the long range accubonds specifically? I have shot the regular in the past and loved them. Just bought the LR 175s to handload in my 7mm but now I’m reading things online that concern me about them.

The AB LR can be a pitta on seating depth along with you need to make sure you have a good twist rate. If you are not shooting animals out past 600 yards I would just stick with the regular AB.

 

[509backcountry]

The AB LR can be a pitta on seating depth along with you need to make sure you have a good twist rate. If you are not shooting animals out past 600 yards I would just stick with the regular AB.

I have the 1:8 twist. The problem is I want to shoot a heavier bullet like the 175s but they don’t seem to make the regular Accubond with it, just the long range

 

[Marble]

The Swift Scirocco II's are a pretty nice bullet.

I concur. But I couldn't get them to shoot in my 300 wm. In my 7mm, they shoot and kill awesome. Bullets are accurate and have gone through a variety of bone and never seperated.

 

[Marble]

I Vote Nosler AB. We shoot them in 5 of our elk guns. Accurate, priced competitively and hold together.

 

[509backcountry]

I Vote Nosler AB. We shoot them in 5 of our elk guns. Accurate, priced competitively and hold together.

But are these the historical accubonds or the long range

 

[Brandon_SPC]

I have the 1:8 twist. The problem is I want to shoot a heavier bullet like the 175s but they don’t seem to make the regular Accubond with it, just the long range

Are you actually shooting at distance where you need to ABLR low expansion threshold? Or are you a hunter where the majority of your shots are under 500 yards with maybe the occasional 500-600 yard shot.