Are Nosler Partitions still worth the money?

Badboymelvin

Badboymelvin

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Hi.

As the title says, do you think that Nosler Partitions are still worth the money?

I haven't asked this question to stir the pot, upset anyone or cause arguments.
I've asked this question because with all the more modern premium projectiles available, are they still worth the price?

I live in Australia, where Nosler Partitions are expensive.
To give an example, at my local gun shop the cheapest Partitions I can get are $125 a packet of 25 in .338, and the most expensive are $348 a packet of 25 for the 500gn .458.
Now, where you live they may be a whole lot cheaper, but where I live these prices are what we're paying.

So I guess my question is... if you were me, would you ever choose the Nosler Partition over other premium projectiles such as Barnes, Woodleigh, etc...?
I can get these other projectiles for the same price or less, and they often have a higher BC than the Partitions.

In my position, would they still be worth the money?

Russ
 
That does sound like a lot of money for Partitions. I just looked up 250gr 338cal at my local supplier and a 50 count box is $134.99 canadian dollars. I load partitions in 30 and 35 cal, but for the price you pay I probably wouldn’t, l’d be looking for an alternative choice.
 
I've wondered the same thing having reloaded Partitions for years in 30-06 and 300WBY. The results have been good for deer, elk, and pronghorn. But I want to compare Hornady Interlocks at a much lower cost.
 
I started using Partitions in the 70’s as my go to hunting bullet and still have a few on the shelf, but have not shot a single one in at least seven or eight years.

Barnes, especially the TTSX, now is my first choice hunting bullet irrespective of price. However for icing on the cake, Barnes cost about 1/3 less than Partitions.

The Barnes are very accurate in all of my rifles and flat out provide better terminal performance. My comments are specific to the TTSX, not the TSX which can be inconsistent at least on deer.
 
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Partitions a great killing bullets for most things but as far as I’m concerned they’ve priced themselves out of the market and they are often hard to find. I’ve pretty much switched to Barnes for these reasons. Dropped a bullet weight or two and couldn’t be happier.
 
That is crazy to me, in the US they are currently listed at $99.99 for a box of 50 in the same 250gn .338. Granted they are out of stock online but I'm fairly certain I can find them locally for near that. Surprisingly, to me at least, the Barnes LRX bullets in the same caliber and weight can be had for half the price in the same quantity. For that sort of difference in money I would absolutely shoot the Barnes. I don't have any experience with Barnes bullets in a .338 nor experience with Australian critters but in my experience anything a partition can do a Barnes will do just as good usually better. I've stacked a pile of critters over the years with Barnes bullets in .284 and .308 caliber rifles and several with a 6mm pushing Barnes bullets as well.
 
I think that comes down to personal preference and what you trust. I love partition bullets, but I am in the U.S. and have a large supply of them already. That being said, I am equally comfortable with Barnes, Woodleigh, Sellier and Bellot, and Federal bullets. The only bullets I personally wouldn’t use for hunting anything are Russian, Brazilian, or PMC, though they are great for plinking.
 
Badboymelvin said:
As the title says, do you think that Nosler Partitions are still worth the money?

I haven't asked this question to stir the pot, upset anyone or cause arguments.
I've asked this question because with all the more modern premium projectiles available, are they still worth the price?
Click to expand...

I dont know, but I will tell my experience, where the lesson learned was - not all premium bullets are good.

I had a 2 season affair with Sako superhammerhead, advertised as bonded bullet.
It was in 30-06, 150 grain.
Speed was close to 900 m/s.
Very accurate. (I managed 1/2 moa at 200 meters with sako 85, on a good day, 3 shot groups)

At that time I was searching for "universal bullet", to cover roe deer (smallish deer of 60 pounds) and wild boars, tough animals which require tougher bullet.
My reasonoing was good speed and bonding will initiate expansion on roe deer, and will prevent fragmentation. and in the same time will keep mass and penetration, on larger boar.

My reasoning was wrong:
When I hit roe deer in soft tissue, not bone, the bullet was acting like FMJ, never initiated the expansion, had a clean pass through, and then I had a situations to track on blood spoor.
Few times it happened that roe deer was hit (well) and he would just continue grazing. Would not even react to being hit.
When I fired the second shot, I would later find two bullet holes in vital zone, No shock effect.

If I hit the bone, the reaction was dramatic, with large exit wound and destroyed venisson.
Neither option to be favored

So, I discarded this bullet. Never again!

The moral of the story:
Not every premium bullet is good.

So, what to do with ref to your question:
Make a list of premium bullets that perform well.
The list of bullets that you know they perform well.
List them by price.
Buy those which you find worth the money.
 
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I swear by them in my 30/06, 308 and 300 win Mag, even at the outrageous prices they charge now. But if I was shooting more than 50 or so rounds a year, at paper or pigs etc, I’d use Sierra Game kings for economy.

But if you’re hunting something special then who cares if it’s costing you $4 a round.
 
I have used Partitions with good effect. But often not so good when pulling the skin off the animal, especially if shot at close range. I'm a good shot and don't need to blow a deer up to kill it. I have also found that 165 gr 30-06 Partitions will not shoot through a blade of grass at close range. 150 gr would undoubtedly be worse. I certainly would never hunt pigs with them.

Hornady Interlock bullets have worked just as well for me and a helluva lot cheaper. Also less likely to make mess.
 
Badboymelvin said:
Hi.

As the title says, do you think that Nosler Partitions are still worth the money?

I haven't asked this question to stir the pot, upset anyone or cause arguments.
I've asked this question because with all the more modern premium projectiles available, are they still worth the price?

I live in Australia, where Nosler Partitions are expensive.
To give an example, at my local gun shop the cheapest Partitions I can get are $125 a packet of 25 in .338, and the most expensive are $348 a packet of 25 for the 500gn .458.
Now, where you live they may be a whole lot cheaper, but where I live these prices are what we're paying.

So I guess my question is... if you were me, would you ever choose the Nosler Partition over other premium projectiles such as Barnes, Woodleigh, etc...?
I can get these other projectiles for the same price or less, and they often have a higher BC than the Partitions.

In my position, would they still be worth the money?

Russ
Click to expand...
No reason to shoot Partition anymore.
 
Gday badboyMelvin


Better pills than partition these days & local to boot
watch the imported dry up again when you really need them

cheers from the apple isle
 
Partitions filled a market need for a window of time (30-40 years) Their bonding and design held up better than the competition. Technology has caught up and there are now a ton of great options (that often shoot better) than the partition.
 
I used them in the 1990s. I haven’t used them since then. I was really turned off by what they did to animals at close range. That, and accuracy wasn’t great in my rifles.
 
For most of the folks on this forum, the cost of your bullet should be irrelevant. When you are spending 10s of thousands on a hunt, airfare and taxidermy, the difference in cost between Nosler and any other bullet isnt event a rounding error in the equation. Use what works and has been proven to work for your particular situation. I am a big fan of Barnes X bullets, but cost has nothing to do with it.
 
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