Partition lack of love?

Funny thing about Nosler Partitions....lot's of people will beyotch because a lot or all of the front section is gone...

But they only know that because they recovered it from a DEAD animal! :)
 
Truth be told, a Rem Corelok or Winchester Powerpoint is still a great all around Whitetail bullet as unpopular as standard, non premium bullets are with the "internet hunting crowd"...they expand reliably but are tough enough to break shoulder blades.. They really will do the job on your average whitetail hunt but they are not "glamorous"..but the Nosler Partion has never failed me EVER on anything from Whitetail to Eland

The BT's are fine if you understand what they were DESIGNED to do and use them accourdingly. My rules would be

1) Expect shots at 100 yards or more
2) Standard velocity cartridges not high speed sizzlers unless I was expecting them to not typically be inside 150 yards
3) Never shoot the shoulder blade. Broadside or quartering away lung shots...pretend you are bow hunting. Bow hunters never try and go through the shoulder blade (at least not good ones) and wait for a good angle.
Truer words have never been spoken!
 
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Interesting thread. I dont like copper only bullets because you have to use longer bullets to get the same weight and those long bullets dont stabilize well in my 7mm RemMag. However, there is one Nosler I really dont like on deer and that is Nosler/Winchester joint venture balistic tip. (I dont know if this is the same bullet as Nosler balistic tip) Anyway I did use this bullet on reindeer once and it made a hole in the entrance with the size of my head, but it didnt penetrate trough the shoulderblade of the deer, it just exploded on the deers skin. I had to shoot it in the neck at 3 meter range to finish it off and the f.... bullet didnt penetrate the neckspine this time eigter, so I had to take another to the head. This time the deer died, but the bullet just eksploded in the deers head and didnt get trough... And this last shot was at a 2 feet range!!! That bullet must be constructed for varmintshooting?
Nosler redesigned the ballistic tip this year if I'm correct. The new Nosler Ballistic Tip hunting's have a thicker copper jacket and they penetrate much better. They still expand very rapidly, but they don't go to pieces like the old ones. Go to Noslers website and check out the new NBT hunting.
 
Nosler redesigned the ballistic tip this year if I'm correct. The new Nosler Ballistic Tip hunting's have a thicker copper jacket and they penetrate much better. They still expand very rapidly, but they don't go to pieces like the old ones. Go to Noslers website and check out the new NBT hunting.

If you are talking about the new "E Tip Lead Free" that is a completely different animal altogether....solid copper with a plastic tip. To me that one only looks good ABOVE 2800 FPS or so.

The link to the Nosler website is in my post earlier in this thread. I see no mention of a re-designed Ballistic Tip for hunting bullets.
 
If you are talking about the new "E Tip Lead Free" that is a completely different animal altogether....solid copper with a plastic tip. To me that one only looks good ABOVE 2800 FPS or so.

The link to the Nosler website is in my post earlier in this thread. I see no mention of a re-designed Ballistic Tip for hunting bullets.
Nosler redisigned the Nosler Ballistic Tip, they added "hunting" on too the end of the name. The change they made was a thicker copper jacket. I am not talking about the E-tip, I am talking about the Nosler ballistic tip. The old ones used to basically blow to pieces inside of the animal, these don't.


Here's the link to the nosler ballistic tip hunting: Ballistic Tip - Nosler - Bullets, Ammunition, Rifles, Brass, Reloading Data, Hunting, Shooting, Reloading, Load Data
 
The Swift A-Frame and Remington Core-Lokt are superior to the NP for larger game in my opinion. They expand great, penetrate, and retain more weight. It is very hard to beat the A-Frame. The NP is designed to open quickly with the front end of the bullet disintegrating and creating initial shock while the base of the bullet stays together and penetrates further but with out as much wound channel and shock further along in the body cavity as an expanding bullet that stays together. I much prefere a bullet that expands AND penetrates with more weight retention while creating a large wound channel all along the entire penetration distance. It is just physics.

There are lots of people that will say that they have killed "X" amount of bigger game with the NP without losing an animal. Congrats. But I guide about 21 weeks/trips per year and I have seen problems with animals shot with NP where the bullet did not perform well. Why take this risk when there are other bullets that can group as well but retain more weight and expand big enough to cause a lot of shock? Just my opinion.
 
The Swift A-Frame and Remington Core-Lokt are superior to the NP for larger game in my opinion. They expand great, penetrate, and retain more weight. It is very hard to beat the A-Frame. The NP is designed to open quickly with the front end of the bullet disintegrating and creating initial shock while the base of the bullet stays together and penetrates further but with out as much wound channel and shock further along in the body cavity as an expanding bullet that stays together. I much prefere a bullet that expands AND penetrates with more weight retention while creating a large wound channel all along the entire penetration distance. It is just physics.

There are lots of people that will say that they have killed "X" amount of bigger game with the NP without losing an animal. Congrats. But I guide about 21 weeks/trips per year and I have seen problems with animals shot with NP where the bullet did not perform well. Why take this risk when there are other bullets that can group as well but retain more weight and expand big enough to cause a lot of shock? Just my opinion.

First time that I've ever heard Partitions and Core-Lokts ever mentioned in the same sentence. Core-lokts are conventional cup and core bullets and can't hold a candle to a Nosler Partion...
 
The base may be more reinforced on a NP but the tips are more fragile. I have had better weight retention with the Core-Lokt with my .338 Win Mag. The NP will not mushroom as nice. It just breaks apart up front.
 
I much prefer the Swift A-frame or even better, North Fork, over any other bonded bullet for hunting.

In general the PH's I have hunted with like Partitions for leopard but despise them for buffalo.

That being said my wife killed an old buffalo cow with a .375 H&H shoot a Partition with no problems, just not my first choice.



North Forks from a test pack
 
It is just physics.

Speaking of physics....you have x amount of kinetic energy and by your choice of bullet you are deciding how you will apply that energy to disrupt organic matter.

Now, I am speaking only about non-dangerous game, but any bullet that essentially always exits an animal is likely wasting that tissue disrupting energy. A bullet that sometimes exits, is on average dumping more energy inside the animal...energy that rearranges tissue.

You said it yourself, the partition is designed to capture that middle ground of some explosive expansion and tissue destruction, along with enough penetration to always get through the vitals and, truth be told, still often give an exit.

Again, I am talking non-dangerous game. The rules change when you start talking stuff that might want to fight back.

As always, just my $0.02

Tim
 
Speaking of physics....you have x amount of kinetic energy and by your choice of bullet you are deciding how you will apply that energy to disrupt organic matter.

Now, I am speaking only about non-dangerous game, but any bullet that essentially always exits an animal is likely wasting that tissue disrupting energy. A bullet that sometimes exits, is on average dumping more energy inside the animal...energy that rearranges tissue.

You said it yourself, the partition is designed to capture that middle ground of some explosive expansion and tissue destruction, along with enough penetration to always get through the vitals and, truth be told, still often give an exit.

Again, I am talking non-dangerous game. The rules change when you start talking stuff that might want to fight back.

As always, just my $0.02

Tim


+1 for your $0.02 I love Partitions for non dangerous game for just that reason.
 
+1 for your $0.02 I love Partitions for non dangerous game for just that reason.

I really do think they strike a nice compromise when it comes to the shape of the wound channel.

A little bit of ballistic tip on the front end, a little bit of a solid on the back end. What more could a guy want? :heh:
 
Partitions are very good killers on thin skinned game but best avoided on thick skinned, heavy boned animals. They are also not great for close range applications except in low velocity calibres. The problem is that the front section is very frangible so it basically explodes at high velocities. This can result I'm dramatic kills but also a lot of meat damage, and penetration is generally less than with a tough, bonded bullet. The 210gr partition in 338 works well on cats and also all large thin skinned game like kudu, wildebeest, eland, etc. But for close range on game you are planning to eat it's better to go got a heavier bullet ( 250gr). Monometal and tough, bonded bullets like the swifts and North forks are more popular for thick skinned heavy boned game like buffalo
 
Hola,

I think if the Nosler Partition bullet didn't exist, developed by John Nosler (not 40, but about 70 years ago), it should be invented right now! And (other than the lead non-sense thing), I bet, would be the last word on hunting bullets!!!
To me is the closest to the ideal hunting bullet in many situations and big game animals, where and with it works great, not just enough. In my experience, the NP combines expansion and penetration at a broad range of impact velocities, more than other hunting bullets.
 
And in my 45 years hunting big game NP NEVER failed me or my hunting buddies!!! It is amazing I recovered only 5, yes FIVE, NP inside all those animals. Dead, of course, as all the others with these nice two-holes-and-tremendous-damage-inside.
 
What Terminator said, +1.
 
Partitions are an old technology, but that doesn't mean they don't still work. Every bullet design has characteristics built into it. You just have to match the characteristic to the job you want done. In the case of the NP you get rapid, if not explosive expansion, within the first several inches of penetration, followed by a portion of the bullet penetrating.
Compare that to say a Swift A-Frame which also has a partition, but due to its front core being bonded and a heavier jacket, there is slower expansion, more weight retention and more frontal area during penetration.
You need to look at what you're hunting, what cartridge you're using and make your selection. The Partition is never a bad choice.
 
NP are fine for smaller big game. I don’t like them for elk or dangerous game. They are not allowed in our Brown Bear camp.
 
A lot of elk Outfitters don’t like them. Nosler did a remarkable job of marketing and paying writers to hunt with them and write articles. That doesn’t mean they are the best choice for larger game. It’s just marketing.
 
Hi Scott,

Diferent experiences, of course. Here we see the NP as once of the Best bullets. The commentaries I am seen here about the N. Partition really surpriced me!
Seems we are talking about diferent things... Nosler Partitions are what they are not by marketing, by God!!!
 

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