New Nosler Accubond Long Range!

[Bitterroot Bulls]

Bend, Ore. – October 31, 2012 – Nosler, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of their new line of AccuBond® Long Range bullets. Developed through a combination of bullet manufacturing techniques that are unique to Nosler, the design of the AccuBond®-LR allows for the highest B.C. possible in a bullet of the same caliber and weight. Designed with an optimum performance window ranging from 3,200fps to 1,300fps, the unique tapered jacket geometry and proprietary
bonding process of the AccuBond®-LR allow it to expand rapidly for effective energy transfer and significant tissue damage while retaining sufficient weight to ensure deep penetration into the vitals. The AccuBond® bonding process allows the AccuBond®-LR to perform reliably on game throughout the entire velocity range, eliminating the problem of being “too close” often encountered with other high-B.C. bullets. The high-performance boat tail, long ogive, and polymer tip combine to make the AccuBond®-LR the sleekest, flattest- shooting, bonded, hunting bullet ever created. The ogive of the AccuBond®-LR is designed to provide excellent accuracy in a wide variety of firearms without the necessity of being loaded close to or in contact with the lands. The new AccuBond®-LR will be packaged in 100 count boxes, and will initially be available in the following calibers and weights.

Sweet!

 

[Timberstalker]

Thanks to Nosler for putting my home town on the map. Should be a good bullet, Nosler puts out some great stuff. If you go online to "Shooters Pro Shop" you can buy seconds for 1/2 price, they will ship them to you. BB as much as you know, I'm sure this isn't news to you!

 

[canvsbk]

Excellent news! My recent love affair with a .270 that I dug out of the scrap heap definitely will be enhanced with the addition of the 150 grains. Can't wait!

 

[packer58]

That's great news. Hopefully these new bullets will bridge gap between the Bergers and the standard accubonds while maintaining reliable expansion.
Good job nosler.

 

[bern0134]

I would like to load these for my 300 RUM. Can't wait to try them

 

[Kevin Root]

I'm a novice on all this, as I don't reload or load my own bullets. What does this all mean in a nutshell? Forgive me in advance for my very, very novice questions or comments about this bullet. I don't reload but this sounds like a good thing? If Matt posts something, I tend to look at it and read over the comments and posts from everyone.

I shoot over the counter bullets, Hornady, InterBond and now due to having to shoot lead free in some areas here in California, I'm shooting Hornady GMX too. They both have a lower G1 Ballistic Coefficient in a similar gr weight calibers than what I see posted in the new Nosler ALR. Because I don't shoot a lot of rifle off season at the gun range or as much as I should, my feeling is that I need all the help I can get in having a good flat shooting, bullet retaining, killing round.

I'm not sure yet if I'll get into reloading yet, much is due to if I get into a weekly shooting club at my gun range or not. Is the post really only for those that reload or load their own bullets? A 100 count box is a bit more than I currently buy at one time at least.

 

[Bitterroot Bulls]

Kevin, BC refers to how slippery a bullet is. So the higher the BC, the less it slows down, the less wind drift it has, and the harder it hits way out there.

And you should definitely get into handloading. Just don't expect to save any money.

 

[Bitterroot Bulls]

Kevin I ran some numbers:

A 300 Win Mag pushing a 180 Speer Grand Slam (G1 BC .374) at 3000 fps MV still has 1860 fps at 500 yards and 1383 ft/lbs of energy.

A 30-06 pushing a 185 Berger VLD (G1 BC .549) at 2780 fps MV still has 2007 fps at 500 yards and 1655 ft/lbs of energy.

THAT is how important BC is.

 

[Kevin Root]

Thanks Matt! Bullet innovation and performance to me is quite interesting. It will be interesting to see how it all evolves out there with some of the other high BC market bullet folks who have carried the high BC market in the past. I'm sure it will help push the innovation envelope out there and there will be more testing and innovation to try and keep up with the market and inovation.

Barrel twists to stabilize, BC rates, bullet retention, powder loads, flight performance, etc….. Like I said it all makes my head spin a bit trying to figure it all out being such a novice.

I'm still on the same box of shotgun turkey shells that I've had for years as I'm only using one perhaps two each spring season .

There are some shells I hunt with that it takes a while to get to the bottom of the box. Others surly would benefit me in many ways to shoot more and shoot more often.

 

[Whisky]

If them listed BC's truely aren't marketing hype, and in fact accurate, that is VERY impressive, especially in a hunting bullet. Too good to be true? Yet to be determined......But I like the looks of that there 6.5mm pill.

 

[Whisky]

For comparison, a 130 target VLD has a G7 of .282, and the 140 Hybrid .317.......A 129gr hunting bullet with .285, wow. I'm excited!!!

 

[Timberstalker]

The tip of the accubond messes me up in my Winchester M70 in 300 win mag. I have to seat the bullet so deep for them to feed I'm a mile way from the lands. I get much better results from the accubond in my M70 in 25-06. The new LR accubond may be what I use for my upcomming antelope hunt, I'm looking forward to trying them out! But I didn't see .25 cal on the chart??

 

[Whisky]

Granted Bryan Litz works and designs bullets for Berger, he still knows his stuff more than most and I've found to be fair in his experiences.......Interesting...

Here's my reply to this same announcement on another forum:

First, this is very exciting news for long range hunters who prefer a bonded bullet. The original Accubonds are good bullets, but with their relatively short noses and essentially non-existing boat tails, they just didn't have the BC's for long range. However these new LR Accubonds look much better designed for BC.

Having said that, I have to apply the sanity check to the advertised BC's. Consider the G7 form factor (noted as i7 and explained in more detail here: http://02b0516.netsolhost.com/blog1/2011/05/16/form-factors-a-useful-analysis-tool/)

The form factor is basically the component of BC that describes a bullets drag in relation to a standard, lower is better.

The lowest form factor (lowest drag) bullets I've ever tested are in the neighborhood of 0.89. On average, Berger VLD's have form factors in the .92-.95 range which is quite good and results in high BC's.

The G7 BC's cited in the announcement imply the G7 form factors listed below. As you can see, some of them are quite low. I tend to question any claims that imply form factors below .90. After all, of the 100's of bullets I've tested, there's only been 4 or 5 that have actually had form factors below .90 and those have been radical designs, often requiring non-standard twists.

Code:
Cal weight G7 BC i7
0.264 129 0.285 0.928
0.277 150 0.317 0.881
0.284 150 0.309 0.860
0.284 168 0.353 0.843
0.284 175 0.364 0.852
0.308 190 0.325 0.880
0.308 210 0.366 0.864

I haven't tested these bullets yet, so I can't say for sure if the claimed BC's are accurate or not. For now I'll say congrats to Nosler on offering a bonded bullet geared more for LR hunters. I'll report back when I've done some BC testing.

Take care,
-Bryan

 

[Bitterroot Bulls]

We will have to see how the BCs turn out in the real world. However, the initial numbers are just going to be ballpark, as the rifling marks on the bullets in flight will vary the BCs from rifle to rifle.

The important part is Nosler is offering a bonded bullet with much higher BCs (even if the published numbers are "optomistic") than any other bonded bullet and a wide, wide range of intended impact velocities.

This is a good development.

 

[Whisky]

This is a good development.

I agree 100%.

 

[WYcoyote]

Yup, some good news here. i'll be giving them a go for sure. Come on 140gr. 6.5!

Thanks for the heads up Matt.

 

[Booner]

I'm kinda excited about that 6.5mm as well. It would also be nice to see someone make a high BC bullet for the .257 cal. I'm sure they can make one over that .500 range if they wanted to, there are 6mm's that are.

 

[hvfd21walker]

I will be exploring these in both the 6.5 129 and the 30 190g. I hope they get them out this winter so I have all winter to shoot them. This is some exciting stuff as I already love the current nosler accubonds.

 

[Whisky]

I read somewhere March 2013 is when they'll be out.

 

[Okbow87]

To me the bc numbers look quite inflated, but im no expert. Usually the g7 # is slightly less than half of the g1... So it looks like the 6.5 is the only one that would be close to right, which was demonstrated by whisky earlier with his form factor calculations.

Luckily the 6.5 is the only one I am really interested in... Have a lightweight 260 build planned for the near future. The 7mm 150 will be really nice for the 7mm08 shooters out there as well as long as it it somewhat close to the listed numbers.