I recently experimented with powders and bullet designs and penned an article below. Yes but not so fast…As a reloader, I reviewed my notes and …
I looked back at my notes and decided, even though very pleased with the accuracy of the loads in the article, I felt as if I should have gotten more velocity and energy out of the 129 grain Nosler AccuBond Long Range bullet. This is where reloading your own cartridge can be so helpful. The round nose load is perfect but on the Nosler ABLR , can I get more velocity and energy? Yes!
Discovering that Hodgdon’s H4350 has velocity limitations with this bullet, I went back into research mode and compared notes by both Hornady and Nosler Manuals and found that Winchester 760 powder (a ball powder that meters well and in my powder cupboard) should be tested to increase delivered energy and speed, yet maintain accuracy. I gave it a go working up a max load, (read the manuals) and found that I could increase my muzzle velocity by 300 fps to an average cold barrel velocity of 2968 fps and a 3 shot Standard Dev. of 10, thus increasing delivered energy by well over 300 ft-lbs.
My rifle, a Weatherby Vanguard with a 24 inch barrel handled this new Winchester 760 load with the Nosler 129 grain AccuBond, in good order and maintained near MOA accuracy. Inspecting the cartridge and primer are important. Point of impact at 100 yards was essentially exactly the same as I had already established. Nice. What is great about the Nosler AccuBond Long range besides being a bonded copper/lead bullet that stays together is how it holds it’s long range energy for deer to 600 yards say on a western hunt. And has a Max point blank range MPBR of nearly 300 yards if you zero for 250 yards. Where you put your crosshairs on the shoulder or just behind and shoot at 295 yards if you are practiced at those ranges. See the table below.
| Elevation: | 4.831 MOA | Windage: | 0.000 MOA |
| Atmospheric Density: | 0.08269 lb/ft³ | Speed of Sound: | 1073.7 ft/s |
| Maximum PBR: | 295 yd | Maximum PBR Zero: | 251 yd |
| Range of Maximum Height: | 142 yd | Energy at Maximum PBR: | 1706.4 ft•lbs |
| Sectional Density: | 0.264 lb/in² | ||
| Calculated Table | ||||||||||
| Range | Drop | Drop | Windage | Windage | Velocity | Mach | Energy | Time | Lead | Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (yd) | (in) | (MOA) | (in) | (MOA) | (ft/s) | (none) | (ft•lbs) | (s) | (in) | (MOA) |
| 0 | -1.5 | *** | 0.0 | *** | 2968.0 | 2.764 | 2522.8 | 0.000 | 0.0 | *** |
| 25 | -0.4 | -1.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 2920.6 | 2.720 | 2442.9 | 0.025 | 0.9 | 3.4 |
| 50 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 2873.8 | 2.677 | 2365.3 | 0.051 | 1.8 | 3.5 |
| 75 | 1.1 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 2827.5 | 2.634 | 2289.7 | 0.078 | 2.7 | 3.5 |
| 100 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 2781.8 | 2.591 | 2216.1 | 0.104 | 3.7 | 3.5 |
| 125 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2736.5 | 2.549 | 2144.6 | 0.132 | 4.6 | 3.5 |
| 150 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 2691.7 | 2.507 | 2075.0 | 0.159 | 5.6 | 3.6 |
| 175 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 2647.4 | 2.466 | 2007.2 | 0.187 | 6.6 | 3.6 |
| 200 | -0.0 | -0.0 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 2603.6 | 2.425 | 1941.3 | 0.216 | 7.6 | 3.6 |
| 225 | -1.1 | -0.5 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 2560.2 | 2.385 | 1877.1 | 0.245 | 8.6 | 3.7 |
| 250 | -2.6 | -1.0 | 3.8 | 1.5 | 2517.2 | 2.345 | 1814.7 | 0.274 | 9.7 | 3.7 |
| 275 | -4.5 | -1.5 | 4.7 | 1.6 | 2474.7 | 2.305 | 1753.9 | 0.305 | 10.7 | 3.7 |
| 300 | -6.6 | -2.1 | 5.6 | 1.8 | 2432.6 | 2.266 | 1694.7 | 0.335 | 11.8 | 3.8 |
| 325 | -9.2 | -2.7 | 6.6 | 1.9 | 2390.9 | 2.227 | 1637.1 | 0.366 | 12.9 | 3.8 |
| 350 | -12.1 | -3.3 | 7.8 | 2.1 | 2349.6 | 2.188 | 1581.1 | 0.398 | 14.0 | 3.8 |
| 375 | -15.4 | -3.9 | 9.0 | 2.3 | 2308.7 | 2.150 | 1526.5 | 0.430 | 15.1 | 3.9 |
| 400 | -19.2 | -4.6 | 10.3 | 2.5 | 2268.2 | 2.113 | 1473.4 | 0.463 | 16.3 | 3.9 |
| 425 | -23.3 | -5.2 | 11.7 | 2.6 | 2228.1 | 2.075 | 1421.8 | 0.496 | 17.5 | 3.9 |
| 450 | -27.9 | -5.9 | 13.3 | 2.8 | 2188.4 | 2.038 | 1371.6 | 0.530 | 18.7 | 4.0 |
| 475 | -32.9 | -6.6 | 14.9 | 3.0 | 2149.1 | 2.002 | 1322.8 | 0.565 | 19.9 | 4.0 |
| 500 | -38.4 | -7.3 | 16.6 | 3.2 | 2110.2 | 1.965 | 1275.3 | 0.600 | 21.1 | 4.0 |
| 525 | -44.4 | -8.1 | 18.5 | 3.4 | 2071.7 | 1.930 | 1229.1 | 0.636 | 22.4 | 4.1 |
| 550 | -50.9 | -8.8 | 20.5 | 3.6 | 2033.5 | 1.894 | 1184.3 | 0.672 | 23.7 | 4.1 |
| 575 | -58.0 | -9.6 | 22.6 | 3.8 | 1995.8 | 1.859 | 1140.8 | 0.710 | 25.0 | 4.1 |
| 600 | -65.5 | -10.4 | 24.8 | 4.0 | 1958.5 | 1.824 | 1098.5 | 0.748 | 26.3 | 4.2 |
| 30-Sep-21 13:25, JBM/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi |
All things considered, I am so glad that I chose to reload and design my own loads. May be it is time for you to consider reloading your own ammo.
GOOD HUNTING!
©Copyright 2021