Dear Ron: Which is a better hunting bullet, the 165 grain Nosler Accubond, or the 168 grain Nosler Long Range Accubond?

Q: Howdy Ron,

I watched your video on the versatility of the .30-06 and found it to be very interesting and very informative. One question I have is; out of the two, which in your opinion would be the better performing bullet for overall hunting situations? The 165 grain Nosler Accubond, or the 168 grain Nosler Long Range Accubond?

My “guess” in the past has been the LR Accubond, but can’t seem to find it anywhere these days. However I’m seeing some decent deals online for the 165 grain Accubond Ammo loaded by Federal, and I’m deciding if I should snatch those up since they’re available.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts!

Brian

A: Hi Brian, 

Good question. The performance difference between the regular AccuBond and the Long Range version is that the latter is designed to expand fairly well at impact velocities as low as 1,300 fps, according to Nosler. The AccuBond expands reliably down to 1,800 fps. Put another way, the Long Range shows a terminal performance advantage beyond 500 yards, which is a perfect match for its high B.C., long-range flight characteristics. So, if you aren’t regularly engaging game beyond 500 yards, there’s no big advantage in shooting the Long Range version of this excellent, bonded bullet. 

Ron