F&S Bullet Lab: Testing the 6.5 Creedmoor Nosler Accubond

Our shooting editor is a big fan of the Nosler AccuBond. According to our ballistic-gel test there's a good reason why.
F&S Bullet Lab is a new series in which shooting editor Richard Mann will be testing the most popular hunting bullets on the market by firing them into Clear Ballistics gelatin to predict their terminal performance in the field-and ultimately, to help you choose the absolute best bullet for your hunting.
Read the full performance review: fieldandstream.com/guns/nosler-accubond-6-5-creedmoor-review

[@hansbrix9]

Try the same test but at 500+ yds. Nobody is going to question the effectiveness at 100yds, but this cartridge isn’t being toted as a 100yds round.

[@georgelstuart]

So true... if you're shooting at 100 yds even 300 blk performs well, let alone 308 or 30.06. Creedmore's entire reason for existing is the 500 600 yd accuracy and BC to carry energy out there.

[@lyellclare9365]

What a misleading video. A 6.5 x 55 with that bullet ,indeed with any 140 6.5 projectile would perform exactly the same, so if you have a rifle in any other 6 5 caliber other than a Creedmore, there is no reason to change. Personally, I use a 120 gen TTSX in my Swede and have always had instant kills .

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

@@georgelstuart 6.5 Creedmoor was designed as a target cartridge, was never meant to be a hunting cartridge. It's an acceptable hunting cartridge out to 300 maybe 400 yards. It is by no means a good long distance hunting cartridge.

[@user-eg8hb8xt3j]

@@lyellclare9365ho cares . The creedmoors greatest strength is making 6.5x55 guys cry and whine like children comparing toys . I’d say it’s funny but it’s kinda sad

[@Halcyon1861]

@@user-eg8hb8xt3j I have the 6.5x55 and have hunted and shot three different rifles for 25 years. Now I have a 6.5 prc and the creedmoor boys ain't crying yet...but they will be.

[@darrylpacholko5495]

I would like to know the ranges for each animal harvested. One of the largest Elk I've ever seen harvested was by a 15 year old girl at just over 200 yds. Great shot placement and the Elk died within a 5 yard circle. Shot placement is so important.

[@Bowstringdotcom]

My son just took his first elk with a 308 using the 165 accubond. 500 yard shot on a cow with a 2140fps impact velocity. First shot broadside entered rear of lungs and exited. Second shot Slightly quartered towards and entered the center of the vital V and was under the offside hide near the back of the ribs. 150 grains retained weight of 165. Perfect looking mushroom.

[@tripplebeards3427]

I see me comment was deleted. Im sure it will happen again. Ive loaded them at max velocities in 180 grain .308 in 30-06 and 300 rum. Also 260 grain in my 375 RUM. Shot whitetail with all of them. Every deer shoot either stood there after a text book heart and lung shot like it wasnt hit or ran on average a 100 yards with zero to no blood to follow before dieing. Pretty consistent lack of damage on every animal unless bone was hit. They all had pencil sized holes in and out. A few had holes going through their hearts like they were shot with an arrow with a field point or FMJ. Old fshon cup and core bullets and ballistic tips with the exact same shot placment uauslly drop a deer at the shot. The accubonds have anchored huge hogs with shoulder shots for me.

[@sha6mm]

The Nosler AB is a great bullet but I am using the 130gr AB and in my .264 Win Mag for Deer Antelope & Caribou and at 3208 FPS it is very flat shooting.

[@ckiefner715]

I have reloaded this bullet for my Ruger Varmint Target rifle that has a 28” barrel. I’d say I am quite a bit above 2600 fps.

[@codyrivenburgh6007]

My dad has shot the partition for prolly 30 years in the 270 win.... In my 270 win I went with the ballistic tip because it breaks apart more at closer distances cuasing instant kills

[@JamesJones-cx5pk]

I reloaded .270 ballistic Tips 130 in the Nineties. They dropped deer. After trying different bullets over 40 years and 100 or so deer, Ive gone back to Hornady SST's, Super Shock Tips.. They blow up on impact. No blood trails.Whitetails are easily killed. Anything larger would need a heavier bullet.

[@ThemantleofElijah]

6.5 creedmoor is a neat little cartridge proper shot placement and proper bullets will allow this cartridge to be used for hunting most game animals. There are better rounds out there but the 6.5 creedmoor can be shot well by most people I believe and this makes it a viable hunting cartridge. I say it’s better than a 243 Winchester in the hands of a beginner hunter given the bigger bullet in case of poor shot placement but not much.

[@phild9813]

Great comments. Only thing I would add is with the 243 bullet construction becomes even more important. Lighter, faster, varmint type bullets won’t penetrate as well, especially on shoulder shots and quartering to shots. Correct bullet selection is of course important for both cartridges.

[@beersnbeeer]

This is an alright video, and the addition of a little more information could really elevate these tests to almost reference level. Please provide test rifle information, environmental conditions for testing, muzzle velocity, impact velocity, and perform at least one more impact test on gel toward the minimum expansion threshold of the bullet. People must know what to expect from their bullets at distance, because at 100 yards velocity alone from almost any centerfire rifle is going to outright kill. The 2200+ FPS impact causes temporary stretch exceeding the elasticity of tissue, and consequently liquifaction of heart, lung, etc. Any bullet that fragments or expands at all at that velocity will do it, so it's more valuable to see just how far out there (velocity) you can get the expansion. IE testing this bullet at an impact of 2700 fps, 2200 fps, and 1900 fps. When I've made long shots (400+ yards) on game, it's because I know my bullet can still expand and cut a wound path, even if it's not doing hydrostatic shock due to a lower impact velocity.

[@justinturdeau2383]

I can just imagine your order at Starbucks.

[@vodekz1534]

140 AB is a proven bullet for deer hunting 6.5 x 55 at 2700 FPS fro me

[@canadiancutterschannel6787]

Accubond is designed for 60/40 60% retention 40% shrapnel in magnum rifles

[@MitchShurden]

Interesting...I've watched numerous reviews with gel block testing, and I've never heard anyone say anything similar to that. Most reviews I've seen, show close to, or better than, 80% weight retention with most bonded bullets, like the Nosler Accubond, Norma Bondstrike, and Federal Terminal Ascent, even in calibers like .300win and 28 Nosler.

[@MitchShurden]

These guys do some of the best bullet reviews I've run across... kzbin.info/www/bejne/bJ7aYY2ig96DjKMsi=i1uOZtWqSI37p0fz

[@mr.mr.3301]

2600 seems slow

[@jeremychapman6468]

Yeah. With hand loads I throw the same weight bullets closer to 2850 out of my 6.5 CM

[@beersnbeeer]

Shorter barrel on test gun.

[@K-bob_45]

22” barrel. Not exactly stubby. 6.5 cm seems to be one of the worst about inflated factory velocity

[@Lucysdad66]

2600fsp is a little slow for me i get around 2800fsp with a hand load.

[@possumpopper89]

6.5mm Swedemoor.

[@alfonsopreciadogonzalez]

I love hunting bigbgame deers bears rams elks tigers lions kudus impalasvelephants hunting is my bigest sport +

[@bneaclab1]

At 2600 muzzle velocity I wouldn't be using that much past 100 yards for some of the game you mentioned.

[@caseroj6020]

I think Nosler makes a good product but I don't think it's twice as good as some of their competitors products. I choose Hornady ELD-X or Norma Bondstrike either of which will do the same thing for about half as much money!

[@gkornelson]

The ELD-X is nowhere close to the Accubond. I shot a mule deer from about 80yds last year, 178 ELD-X in a 300 wsm. Went in ribs, hit the far side shoulder and didn't even exit. Tons of similar stories from others using ELD-X, they disintegrate on impact. They shoot great at the range, but I'll pay a bit extra when hunting to have confidence in the bullet construction.

[@goranmalnar5172]

Norma bond strike yes,but hornady eldx no no no

[@LRRPFco52]

@@gkornelson Did the animal escape or travel far from the shot? Just wondering, because I hear a lot of negative comments about ELD-X, and am trying to get an idea for what hunters mean.

[@gkornelson]

@@LRRPFco52 No, still a dead deer, but extreme bloodshot around the wound and no blood trail for the ~40 yds it ran into the thick stuff. For what Hornady markets as a premium all-range hunting bullet, a 300 wsm should be complete pass through on a vital-shot deer at close range. My 25-06 shooting 110gr accubonds performs better.

[@LRRPFco52]

@@gkornelson .257, 6.5mm, and 7mm are more optimum for deer hunting. I just don’t see many .30 bores in my future and haven’t for many years. A 178gr ELD-X doing around 2900fps is asking a lot from cup and core bullet technology to hold together at 40yds impact velocity. Needs to be bonded if you want pass-through. I never got the impression that ELD-X was premium like the Interbond, GMX, or CX bullets.

[@eskimoreloader]

6.5 cm is internet sensation 🙄

[@user-eg8hb8xt3j]

What it’s best at is causing grown men to melt down into butt hurt babies …as seen here

[@user-mv7zx5ml8e]

It's kind of funny to see a guy in a cowboy hat shooting a 6-5 creedmoor, I thought those who shoot 65 creedmoor sport a man bun

[@drnkinirish]

7mm-08 >>> 6.5 creedmoor

[@scottroberts5554]

7-08. But I still like the 6.5

[@phild9813]

378 weatherby >>> 7mm-08. Being facetious of course but I hope you get my point. Regardless I’d rather run the 6.5 with a little less recoil and negligible difference in performance, not to mention an order of magnitude better rifle and ammunition selection.

[@LRRPFco52]

No factory target ammo for 7-08, unable to use the higher BC 7mm bullets without exceeding COL. 7mm WSM or the 7mm Sheridan are great with proper chambers.

[@drnkinirish]

Using a 140 grain bullet, the 7-08 has less wind drift, a flatter trajectory, and more kinetic energy out to 500 yards. Recoil is only 2-4 ft-lbs greater, depending on rifle weight. Maybe BC means more to paper-punchers, but as a reloader and hunter, the choice is clear.

[@tjames525]

No ammo for the 7-08 makes it pretty useless for a non-reloader like myself. I go into Scheels, cabelas, and any other gun store there will be well over 15 types of 6.5 to choose from. 6.5 by far has the most choices followed by 308. For that reason, those two make the most sense to me

[@dougkahler7152]

Nosler Accubond great bullet 6.5 needmore horrible horrible caliber. So people who promote this caliber get their channel blocked from my feed!

[@trg3761]

Ill stick with my proven 308w and 168 gr eldx for hunting

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

168 gr ELD-X? Hornady doesn't make a 168 gr ELD-X in 30 caliber.

[@trg3761]

@@ReloadingWeatherby typo i meant ELD-M its actually a better choice than the X

[@ReloadingWeatherby]

@@trg3761 Why are you using a match bullet for hunting?

[@trg3761]

@@ReloadingWeatherby Hornady manufacture’s the ELDX and ELDM to expand… The only difference between the two bullets is the jacket thickness, ELDX is 0.037” ELDM is 0.023” My preference is to use the ELDM because many of my shots are 300 yds + and the thinner jacket opens up faster when velocity drops off, down to 1400 fps approximately. If your interested here is a link to some ballistics gel testing using the ELDX and ELDM bullets in the 6.5 creedmore.. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jp6bqHSOoLuUrrc