[longriflewest]

What are you fella's thoughts on the Accubond vs the Partition? In particular for Black bear out of a 35 whelen. I just saw that the accubond are significantly cheaper.

I also find it ironic that Nosler ammo topped with partitions costs slightly less per round than the cost per each partition bullet for rolling your own (at least in 35 whelen).

 

[unclenick]

Nosler is milking that bullet's reputation for all it's worth. Good hold-together construction, but getting pretty long in the tooth and I notice nobody has copied it, despite any patents having long since expired. Probably because it is expensive to make. It's also behind the times on ballistic coefficients.

As to the Accubond, I've heard nothing against it, specifically, though it is a Nosler bullet, which means it likely has a very slight taper in the bearing surface. Some guns love that and others just won't shoot with it. I would buy a box see if your gun likes them, accuracy-wise? If not, it probably won't like the Partition in that department, either, so you've saved some money. If your gun doesn't like them, you may find a boring Hornady or Sierra bullet shoots more accurately and will stop black bears just fine. Black bears can be dangerous, of course, but are not hard to kill, so it's not like you need grizzly or polar bear stopping power.

 

[Sask boy]

Hi, I think that you could flip a coin. I used both in my 270 win this year, 130gr and harvested a nice 5X5 bull elk and I shot a nice muley and whitetail with the partitions. The AB dropped the elk at just over 300 yard but both deer were around the 200 yard mark.
If you are shooting the 35 whelen over bait it would not matter. I forgot to mention that I recovered the AB out of the Elk opposite shoulder and it still weighed 97grs. I think long distance wise the AB might be a little better because of the botail.

 

[broom_jm]

LRW,

I don't really think you could go far wrong with either of those bullets when hunting Yogi, as long as they are accurate in your gun. I shoot the 140gr Accubond in my .270 and they are certainly Accu-rate! I haven't recovered a bullet yet as I had two holes on all three deer shot with them. On the other hand, you might find that the good ol' 200gr Remington Core-Lokt PSP (pointed version) will give you all of the performance you want and be less expensive than either Nosler bullets.

In this exhaustive review, the author makes a strong argument for the Remington PSP in the 35 Remington and illustrates very well how it would also perform nicely in a 35 Whelen or 358 Winchester. http://www.marlinowners.com/forums/index.php/topic,7180.0.html

Uncle Nick...isn't the Swift A-Frame bullet pretty similar to the Partition? I agree with you that I think people are switching over to the more accurate, bonded core, higher-BC options and getting away from the Partition, although I'm not really sure that the newer bullets are much "better". I would say they're just as good, using a different technology that makes them less expensive to make and for us reloaders to buy.

 

[Guidedfishing]

LRW

I can't really give you an apples to apples comparison, I shot the AB out of my 280 and it equaled the Ballistic Tips for precision / accuracy. I have not used the AB on game so I have to pass to those that have.

I have used the 225 grain Partition extensively out of my .35 whelen and can tell you that not only is it capable of more precise groups then the AB out of my .280 (two different rifles so not much of a comparison) but at max charge the 225 brings a wallop. I have taken two bull moose with this load that went no where. My experice with Black bears even the large ones is that they are relatively easy to put down compared to a moose or even an elk.

Just my experience.

good luck
GF

 

[TMan]

What are you fella's thoughts on the Accubond vs the Partition?

When I buy a rifle, one of the first bullets I think of is the Nosler Partition. When neither of my Whelen's would shoot them I was a bit disappointed. I swapped a couple NP's with a guy on Campfire for some AB's, and 3-3 shot groups with R12/H4895/Bl-C2, which all work fantastic with anything else, brought tears to my eyes. That went away when I found that Speer and Hornady 250's, and Sierra 225's shot in the same class as my Ruger .243, or even a bit better. I have several targets with 5 shots under an inch with all of them.

You might want to try a few and see. But most of the cup and core bullets for the Whelen will kill any black bear that ever walked. Probably on the spot.

 

[longriflewest]

Thanks for all the good info fellas!

I have a black bear hunt in Maine scheduled this September. I am really looking forward to it and trying to get my loads developed (slow and steady). Plus it gives me time to get components on back order since so much seems to be sold out at this time.

LRW

 

[mattsbox99]

All of my guns shoot Nosler bullets just fine.... granted I mostly have Ruger rifles, not that I think that has anything to do with it.

Both the Partition and Accubond are excellent bullets. Nothing against Nick, but the Partition has stood the test of time and is the bullet that all other hunting bullets are judged against. Its not a match bullet, its a hunting bullet. It clearly is the bullet of choice when you absolutely need a bullet to work.

Now, I've stated many times that the vast majority of deer are harvested with cheap cup/core bullets and they seem to work just fine as millions of deer are harvested.

 

[RaySendero]

What are you fella's thoughts on the Accubond vs the Partition? In particular for Black bear out of a 35 whelen. I just saw that the accubond are significantly cheaper.

I also find it ironic that Nosler ammo topped with partitions costs slightly less per round than the cost per each partition bullet for rolling your own (at least in 35 whelen).

For me it's simple - I know the partitions have worked every time I use'em.

 

[Saskshooter]

For me, the measure of any bullet's performance is how it compares to the performance of Partitions.

I find Partitions just a little "hard" for deer sized game. I'm testing Accubonds with deer hunting in mind, but if I hunt anything bigger, Partitions are still my bet.

 

[big dan]

you might also consider the barnes tsx bullets. i've had good luck with them and they have been wonderfully accurate in the rifles that i've tried them in...