I have seen one failure ever. I did with a 150gr 308 at 2900fps less than 150yds on spike elk. 3 miles later a 165 pt put it down. If not for snow on the ground we would have lost that elk. Only fragments went into one lung and destroyed the shoulder.
How accurate can you get Nosler Partitions?
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Partitions are great bullets, but aoudads aren't all that hard to kill. I've killed them with 160 gr. Barnes from a 7mm RM. 120 gr. TTSX 7mm from a 7-30 Waters, and 168 gr. Bergers from a 7mm WSM.
The trick is to hit them in the shoulder. The heart and lungs are much further forward than on deer and elk. That is a big part of the reputation they have for being tough. Don't let anyone tell you the meat isn't good. I find them better than venison.
The trick is to hit them in the shoulder. The heart and lungs are much further forward than on deer and elk. That is a big part of the reputation they have for being tough. Don't let anyone tell you the meat isn't good. I find them better than venison.
Andrew Massi
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Sub moa in every weatherby I've ever shot them in
Snowboy
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The .308 win. works fine for moose too. Just limit the distance to 300 yards max.
cabelasken
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Its great you recovered the spike. The past few years I have shot and killed more wounded by others elk than I have shot for myself. In about 1/2 of the instances the bullet was inadequate for the task. We were just happy to recover the animal as it is a travesty to let one of these great animals go to waste. I wish all hunters would select a premium bullet for all difficult to put down animals - whether it be a bonded, a partition or a solid copper design. I know they cost more, but nearly always their performance is up to the task.
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xsn10s
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My buddy's standard elk load is 308 sin 165 PT. He's taken the bulk of his bull elk here in Eastern Oregon with that load. He has plenty of rifles including magnums he could reach for and has reloaded for probably forty years. But the 308 win with 165 PT is his go to.
xsn10s
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Partitions are designed to have the front section expand and transfer kinetic energy over a wide range of velocities. So it's not uncommon to see the front section sluffed off. The rear section becomes a heavy jacketed FMJ. Having sectioned off various PT's I find it hard to believe that the rear section explodes. Most likely light bullet was chosen and the front section sluffed off and the rear section deflected away from vitals. I've always chose heavy for caliber when going for shoulder shots.
cabelasken
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I too have several very accurate magnums in the safe, but just this year I have gone to a 280 AI that is much lighter and is as accurate and has enough energy with the right bullets to kill an elk at 500+ yds. That's about my range limit in the field anyway, and so far it has worked pretty well.
cabelasken
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YES - it is very common for the entire front section of the partition to fragment completely, but I expected the rear to hold together and exit an animal as small as a mouflon. Also, I know it is normal for a bullet to tumble and traverse thru the animal backwards. I saw this on a bull last year from a shot that deflected off the spine and I found that bullet with no expansion at all lodged in the far side shoulder. It was a steep downhill shot. I agree, a heavier bullet would have performed much differently.
My 30-06 likes the 165gr Nosler Partition My .270win likes the 150gr Nosler Partition My .243 likes the 100gr Nosler Partition. I like heavier rather than lighter for hunting. They all are accurate in all three calibers. I've recovered a couple of bullets in white tails and found the front section a ragged mess that obviously transferred alot of energy into the animal with the back section continuing the mayhem. In most, under 200yds, I'll find shards of the front section and occasional pieces of lead with a nice exit hole. I venture to estimate that 1 in 10 do not exit, and those are further out 300+ yards. Still the results on the animal are the same. A bang flop. Creeping age has made me come to appreciate doing the hunting before the shot, not after.
We have recovered quite a few over the years. Funny thing is every stinking one of them has been a 30 Cal and from bull elk. A couple have no lead, and a few have small disk of lead with the center post. Every single one of them is text book expansion, and none look like a FMJ (I do understand your analogy fully) and all have a much larger diameter with the front petals expanded. Obviously there must be something preventing a new age "high bc" Partition, and my bet it has nothing to do with ability on Nosler's part.
On the opposite side I shot a small bull (spike) in kind of a arse to nose shot as he was running going away from me. Using a 165 in my RUM at 3600fps, and it looked like a huge puff of steam (wet snow/sleet day) came off him. Cut hair off his back ham to the hide, entered behind the last rib, in and out a couple times along his side, in back of front shoulder and out the front, along his neck but outside the hide, and hit the base of his horn knocking him down. It looked like someone had drawn a white line down his side. Still breathing, not moving until I put my foot on his neck. He scared the living heck out of me so bad I actually ran away when he jerked up, barked, and appeared to get twice as big when all his hair stood on end. The bullet maybe penetrated an inch under the flesh at the most, blew up a few ribs, and knocked a hole in his skull at base of antlers. The odd thing was I was three miles into tracking him after a 150gr had not penetrated his shoulder at less than 150yds.
dhbikerczar
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I'm not willing to post that as it's too hot for most. No surprise, after 20 years I burned out the barrel. I put a new heart barrel on it and my Max pressure load is 5 gr less!
