308 Accubond 125 Bush Pig observations

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I just thought some of you might be interested in my observations of using a 308 Bush Pig over the last few years since I had my Blaser 308 barrel shortened to 16" and suppressed.
Changed my reloads to 125 grain Accubonds ( from 150 Accubonds previously ) at just over 2900 FPS. Still wanted reasonable speed for flat trajectory out to 500m as a flexible mid range rifle option ( have 300 WSM, 6.5x284 for longer ranges ).
I have shot a heap of deer with it and just last week shot another red stag that I recovered the projectile from.

Why I have put this up here is that these 3 x 308 / 125 Accubond projectiles have all been recovered from reasonable sized red stags.
They were all shot squarely in the shoulder and ended squarely in the off side shoulder just under the hide.

Left 50m stag and projectile now weighs 85 grains = 68 percent retained weight

Middle 200m stag and projectile now weighs 90 grains = 72 percent

Right 360m stag and projectile now weighs 110 grains = 88 percent

Im pretty happy with those results and the results on many other deer that have met the same fate to this combination.

Are you happy with the way the 125gr pills kill have the deer gone down and not travelled to far. Im keen to try some but have always used bigger slugs in my 308 and 30-06.

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Originally Posted by crunch

Are you happy with the way the 125gr pills kill have the deer gone down and not travelled to far. Im keen to try some but have always used bigger slugs in my 308 and 30-06.

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Im usually a heavy for caliber guy and use 180s in the 300 WSM and 140s in all my 6.5s.
So shortening the barrel on the 308 and going fast and light with the 125 accubonds was unto the unknown for me.
But I am very happy with the performance with about 20 deer taken with that combo at ranges from 15 to 500m.

The odd deer goes 10 to 20 metres ... but they sometimes do that with the 300WSM and that's more about placement.

Why I put up the post was more about terminal performance with three projectiles that had been through both shoulders at various ranges and killed big stags efficiently.

Looking at them they look like they would handle going faster alright too.
How is the meat damage/shock with them?

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Looking at them they look like they would handle going faster alright too.
How is the meat damage/shock with them?

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Easily sufficient to nail decent sized stags.
Meat damage was as you would expect depentant on the ranges and bone breaking ability was great at all these ranges.
Most of the meat animals I have shot with the combination were the more conventional heart lung shot and meat damage was OK also.
But when shooting the stags I prefer to go for the shoulder and remove all doubt and Im not short of venison.

When I want to go faster ( and further ) I just use the 300 WSM so hadn't pushed 308/125s to the 3000 I believe some are apparently able to.

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Originally Posted by akaroa1

Easily sufficient to nail decent sized stags.
Meat damage was as you would expect depentant on the ranges and bone breaking ability was great at all these ranges.
Most of the meat animals I have shot with the combination were the more conventional heart lung shot and meat damage was OK also.
But when shooting the stags I prefer to go for the shoulder and remove all doubt and Im not short of venison.

When I want to go faster ( and further ) I just use the 300 WSM so hadn't pushed 308/125s to the 3000 I believe some are apparently able to.

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Could be a good lower recoil/wastage bullet for newbs using my rifle on social club trips etc

That little 125gr bullet going through bother shoulders at 360m is impressive, what powder are you using.

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Originally Posted by crunch

That little 125gr bullet going through bother shoulders at 360m is impressive, what powder are you using.

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W748
I just found a load the rifle liked at 2900 FPS and got out and used it.
Always intended to re visit the load and look for a bit more speed ( some say they are doing 3000 from a 16" barrel ) still with the same accuracy .... but its been very effective.

My mate uses them in his short 308 too.

I have been using the same projectile in a 16" T3 for the last few years with similar results although the longest kill I have made is only a little over 150m
Muzzle velocity is 2995 fps (H335).
I am yet to recover one of these although I recovered about 8 140gn .270 ABs when I was using them. From these photos I can see why. The front of the projectile obviously fragments violently with what is left penetrating well.
As for meat damage, I had not seen anything significant until last week when I shot two young red stags. Both front shoulders on both stags were f***ed. Practically all the meat on the fore quarters was destroyed by clotted blood. Never seen anything like it. Both had been shot at about 100m.

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Originally Posted by Shearer

I have been using the same projectile in a 16" T3 for the last few years with similar results although the longest kill I have made is only a little over 150m
Muzzle velocity is 2995 fps (H335).
I am yet to recover one of these although I recovered about 8 140gn .270 ABs when I was using them. From these photos I can see why. The front of the projectile obviously fragments violently with what is left penetrating well.
As for meat damage, I had not seen anything significant until last week when I shot two young red stags. Both front shoulders on both stags were f***ed. Practically all the meat on the fore quarters was destroyed by clotted blood. Never seen anything like it. Both had been shot at about 100m.

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Any reason you can think of for the more than expected damage? caked on muddy coats?

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Any reason you can think of for the more than expected damage? caked on muddy coats?

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Wouldn't have a clue. Fat, clean animals. Both took 10 steps then dropped.
They are (I suspect) the progeny of escaped farm deer. They may just be a bit soft.

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Originally Posted by Shearer

Wouldn't have a clue. Fat, clean animals. Both took 10 steps then dropped.
They are (I suspect) the progeny of escaped farm deer. They may just be a bit soft.

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New batch of projectiles? would not be the first or last time a manufacturers bullet changed its terminal characteristics without any notice of change.

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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

New batch of projectiles? would not be the first or last time a manufacturers bullet changed its terminal characteristics without any notice of change.

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Nah. Getting near the end of a box.

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Originally Posted by Shearer

Nah. Getting near the end of a box.

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The randomness of the universe then ? :thumbsup:

Well now I want a R93 308 barrel!

Been using the same for a while now in 14.5 inch T3. Works real well. Mine are very fast. Last shot it fell like it had been smoked by lightening . Seen 30 cal terry knock over a big hind at 385 mtrs. Same load but longer barrell It's a good combo. Slight shortage of projectiles it seems at present

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Originally Posted by Shearer

Nah. Getting near the end of a box.

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I wonder if the bullets have changed over time storage?