Why not the Nosler Partition?

[gxsr-sarge]

I've shot 2, they were oily but not smelly for me. I have heard they are smelly. I took them in May, maybe that makes a difference.

Not so much smelly, but very "musky". The PH's can smell them from quite a distance!

 

[Diamondhitch]

I've shot 2, they were oily but not smelly for me. I have heard they are smelly. I took them in May, maybe that makes a difference.

Mine was smelly in June. My tracker actually tracked him like a hound dog, by scent. What really freaked me out was when he stopped and used his foot to scratch behind his ear! Ok maybe not but the Waterbuck was quite smelly.

 

[spike.t]

you can just about always smell the musky scent of waterbucks any time of the year if you are down wind or go through where they have recently been. just make sure when they are being skinned that the meat isnt touched by the outer hair side or by hands that have the oily musk on them or this will taint the meat, otherwise its fine to eat.

 

[bluey]

my water buck wasnt oily and never had much stink to him either .
the next evening when young kody came into camp he was covered in oil and stunk to high heavens
both these were toppled in may
i had to go over to the skinning and see for myself that he wasnt having a lend of me

 

[buffybr]

I've killed about twice as many elk (I think 21) with 180 gr Nosler Partitions as I've killed with all other bullets combined. I've killed most of my deer, pronghorn antelope, and mountain sheep with 117 gr Sierra GameKing bullets.

On my first African hunt, I shot all my animals with 7mm Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. That was a spur of the moment trip for me, and in the very limited time I had to work up a load, the Ballistic Tips were more accurate in my rifle than Partitions.

A few years after my first African hunt, I found an accurate load for my 7mm Rem mag with 160 gr Accubonds and I used them on a Canadian caribou and muskox hunt (remember enysse?), and then for a half dozen antelope on another South African hunt.

When I booked my Zimbabwe buffalo hunt I needed a larger rifle so I built a .375 RUM. With this new rifle I decided to try new bullets, and to eliminate the soft/solid dilemma, I decided to try the 300 gr TSX bullets. I got good accuracy in my rifle with these bullets, and in Africa, they performed very well on my buffalo and on several plains game animals.

In 2007 I hunted the Eastern and Southern Cape regions of South Africa and decided to only take one rifle. Because I would be hunting eland and kudu, I took my .375 RUM with 270 gr TSX bullets which were also very accurate in my rifle. These TSX bullets performed very well on the 13 animals that I shot with them, and I believe on that trip I also made my closest ever (eland @ 30 yds) and longest ever (gemsbok @ 348 yds) one shot kills with a rifle.

About 4 years ago I built a rifle that I had been dreaming about since the 70s, a .300 Weatherby. Because I had experienced good results with TSX bullets in my .375 RUM, I decided to try them in my new .300 Wby. Both 168 gr and 180 gr TSX bullets grouped sub moa in this rifle, and I decided to use the 168s on this rifle's maiden hunt for exotics in west Texas. I also used a 168 gr TSX that fall on a Montana bull elk and beside the almost instantaneous kill, the TSX bullet produced only a fraction of the amount of bloodshot tissue compared to the large amount of bloodshot tissue from the 180 gr Partitions on previous elk that I had shot.

I had planned on taking my .300 Weatherby on my South African hunt last summer, and when I was loading shells for practice and to take on that trip, I ran out of 168 gr TSX bullets. I went to our local sporting goods store for more 168 gr TSX bullets, but all thay had were 168 gr TTSX bullets, so I bought 2 boxes of them. These TTSX bullets shot 3 shot one ragged hole groups in my rifle, so I decided to use them in Africa. These 168 gr TTSX bullets made virtually instantaneous one shot kills on the 5 animals that I shot with them including a baboon at 290 yds and a klipspringer at 314 yds.

So the point of this reply is that I've used a variety of bullets, including Nosler Partitions, on a good number of North American and African game animals and basically what I have found is: If the bullet is designed for hunting, and it is accurate in my rifle, and I do my part and put it into an animals boiler room, I will put meat in the freezer and/or my taxidermist will keep busy.

 

[Scott CWO]

Thought I would chime in. Obviously it is always best to place a bullet correctly and to shoot bullets that your rifle will shoot well. Personally and overall, NP have grouped quite well in my rifles but I had trouble with Barnes and Hornady. I also have had great groups with Swift A-Frame, Remington Core-Lokt, Nosler Ballistic Tip, and Nosler Accubond. When Barnes came out with the banded TS bullets, the accuracy in my rifles with them became just as good as the other bullets.

In my hunting and guiding, I have always looked to the combination of the best groups and the best performance on the specific type of game being hunted. I think the NP and the Ballistic Tip are fine for lighter skinned game and smaller bodied game. The NP had the benefit of one of the largest advertising campaigns ever seen in the shooting industry. They became popular as a result. The NP is designed for the tip to open up quickly and disintegrate while the core stays together and penetrates further. This is ok for smaller game but for larger and DG, I like a soft that expands while also retaining it's weight. This combo creates a larger wound channel throughout the whole path of the bullet through animal instead of just a big wound channel at the opening and then a smaller wound channel further along in the body cavity. I also trust a soft with better weight retention more if the shot isn't perfect and an animal is hit at a bad angle in heavier bone. I have seen NP that did not perform well in this circumstance and that is why some elk guides, AK Brown Bear guides, and some PH's don't care for the NP. I am one of them for larger game. Most of the time they will do okay but the few times when they don't can cost you a lot of money for a wounded animal or worse. When there are other choices that group just as well, why take even a slight risk? I like to eliminate as many risks as possible when hunting/guiding. If the Swift A-Frame, Barnes TS, Accubond, or Remington Core-Lokt group as well, why not go with them instead?

I know guys have said and will continue to say that they have shot "X" amount of bigger game with them and did not have a problem with the NP. Congrats on that. But I guide about 21 weeks/trips per year and I have seen the problems first-hand. Just my opinion.

I've killed about twice as many elk (I think 21) with 180 gr Nosler Partitions as I've killed with all other bullets combined. I've killed most of my deer, pronghorn antelope, and mountain sheep with 117 gr Sierra GameKing bullets.

On my first African hunt, I shot all my animals with 7mm Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets. That was a spur of the moment trip for me, and in the very limited time I had to work up a load, the Ballistic Tips were more accurate in my rifle than Partitions.

A few years after my first African hunt, I found an accurate load for my 7mm Rem mag with 160 gr Accubonds and I used them on a Canadian caribou and muskox hunt (remember enysse?), and then for a half dozen antelope on another South African hunt.

When I booked my Zimbabwe buffalo hunt I needed a larger rifle so I built a .375 RUM. With this new rifle I decided to try new bullets, and to eliminate the soft/solid dilemma, I decided to try the 300 gr TSX bullets. I got good accuracy in my rifle with these bullets, and in Africa, they performed very well on my buffalo and on several plains game animals.

In 2007 I hunted the Eastern and Southern Cape regions of South Africa and decided to only take one rifle. Because I would be hunting eland and kudu, I took my .375 RUM with 270 gr TSX bullets which were also very accurate in my rifle. These TSX bullets performed very well on the 13 animals that I shot with them, and I believe on that trip I also made my closest ever (eland @ 30 yds) and longest ever (gemsbok @ 348 yds) one shot kills with a rifle.

About 4 years ago I built a rifle that I had been dreaming about since the 70s, a .300 Weatherby. Because I had experienced good results with TSX bullets in my .375 RUM, I decided to try them in my new .300 Wby. Both 168 gr and 180 gr TSX bullets grouped sub moa in this rifle, and I decided to use the 168s on this rifle's maiden hunt for exotics in west Texas. I also used a 168 gr TSX that fall on a Montana bull elk and beside the almost instantaneous kill, the TSX bullet produced only a fraction of the amount of bloodshot tissue compared to the large amount of bloodshot tissue from the 180 gr Partitions on previous elk that I had shot.

I had planned on taking my .300 Weatherby on my South African hunt last summer, and when I was loading shells for practice and to take on that trip, I ran out of 168 gr TSX bullets. I went to our local sporting goods store for more 168 gr TSX bullets, but all thay had were 168 gr TTSX bullets, so I bought 2 boxes of them. These TTSX bullets shot 3 shot one ragged hole groups in my rifle, so I decided to use them in Africa. These 168 gr TTSX bullets made virtually instantaneous one shot kills on the 5 animals that I shot with them including a baboon at 290 yds and a klipspringer at 314 yds.

So the point of this reply is that I've used a variety of bullets, including Nosler Partitions, on a good number of North American and African game animals and basically what I have found is: If the bullet is designed for hunting, and it is accurate in my rifle, and I do my part and put it into an animals boiler room, I will put meat in the freezer and/or my taxidermist will keep busy.

 

[crs]

"Would it be wise to try a Texas heart shot on an Eland with a 200gr NP out of my .300WM?"
Worked for me and my .338 on this bull elk running away at about 110 yards.

Bullet went in left hip , through much innards, and finished up making a mess of the lungs.
My guide thought I missed it, but I told him we would find it in the trees about 150 yards out.
It was there, still standing, but shaking and about to collapse. so I used another NP to put it down.

 

[crs]

Another Nosler Success story in Africa:

300 grain .458 Nosler PP at 2200 fps shot by the shooter chosen for our bullet testing project in Africa.
If it works, do not change it.

 

[BeeMaa]

"Would it be wise to try a Texas heart shot on an Eland with a 200gr NP out of my .300WM?"
Worked for me and my .338 on this bull elk running away at about 110 yards.

Bullet went in left hip , through much innards, and finished up making a mess of the lungs.
My guide thought I missed it, but I told him we would find it in the trees about 150 yards out.
It was there, still standing, but shaking and about to collapse. so I used another NP to put it down.
View attachment 424470

Was the animal wounded before you took the "Texas heart shot"?

 

[sestoppelman]

My brother used a 200 gr NP at 2850 FPS from his .300 H&H to take a nice kudu with. Rear angling shot went in just ahead of the right hip and came out ahead of the left shoulder. Bull ran maybe 50 yards and dead when they got to it.
Eland is much larger though, something to remember.

 

[One Day...]

"Would it be wise to try a Texas heart shot on an Eland with a 200gr NP out of my .300WM?"
Worked for me and my .338 on this bull elk running away at about 110 yards.
Bullet went in left hip , through much innards, and finished up making a mess of the lungs.

I can answer this question pretty accurately, because I did even better: a 250 gr NP out of my .340 Wby. This was a follow-up shot on a running away Eland, after a shoulder shot failed to stop it in its track.

The very clear answer is "no."

There is a huge difference between a 600 lbs. Elk and a 1,500 lbs. Eland...

Here is the story as copied from my 2018 post

Can plains game A Frames or TSX bullets be 30% lighter?

I, for one, really like an exit wound (I try to let the cows get out of the way) - not enough to want to shoot a solid at everything - but an exit after causing significant internal damage. I am not lucky enough to always place a bullet exactly where I want, and an exit wound increases the...

www.africahunting.com

As discussed on my recent hunt report (SOUTH AFRICA: Huntershill Safaris August 2018 Plains Game Paradise https://www.africahunting.com/threa...faris-august-2018-plains-game-paradise.45017/) I was lucky to take this massive Eland:

It took two 250 gr Nosler Partitions from a 340 Wby at approximately 200 yards:

First shot was about perfect on the shoulder. The 250 gr Partition broke both shoulders but did NOT exit, and the Eland did not get the memo and took off at a gallop.

Second shot was off hand at a run away rump and I owe it more to luck than skill to have connected. The 250 gr Partition plowed all the way through the paunch but did NOT reach the lungs.

Bullet #1 found under the skin of the out shoulder:

The entire front core is gone, half of the front jacket is gone, the rear shank is deformed.

Weight retention is 61%.

Bullet #2 found just behind, but outside of the lungs:

Beautiful homogeneous expansion, but the entire front core is gone.

Weight retention is 69.1%.

Postmortem:
1) Luck helping on the follow up shot on the run, the shooting went as well as could be hoped.
2) No exit on 1st bullet.
3) No penetration to the vitals on 2nd bullet.

Learning points:
1) I now know first hand why people who have actually done it, traditionally recommend .375 H&H on a big Eland bull;
2) The 250 gr Partition performed well (the animal is in the salt and collapsed right after the second shot), but the performance was far from being perfect;
3) If I shoot a big Eland Bull again, not only will I use nothing smaller than the .340 Wby, but I would not feel stupid using the .416 Rigby (I have left the .375 bandwagon in favor of the .416 bandwagon);
4) In any case, I will shoot something that retains its weight throughout penetration (A Frame or (T)TSX) in the hope of getting an exit wound on bullet #1 and a full penetration to the vitals on shot #2.


This being said, I still love the NP after using it for 40 years and I recommend it in Africa as probably the best bullet for cats where the explosive expansion and disintegration of the front core is ideal to release massive energy and inflict massive trauma within the first couple inches of penetration.

For Buffalo, Eland, Hippo, and cases when very deep penetration is required, or very tough bones need to be perforated, it is still a good bullet, but honestly the more modern A Frame and TSX (or equivalent) are better.

For all small and medium size animals, it is not as sexy as the more modern offerings, but the 73 years old NP still kills very well, thank you for asking

 

[JimP]

It appears that the partition did just as it was designed to do. It shed the front portion as it hit and went through the eland leaving the rear portion to continue until all the energy was spent.

People think that the bullet failed by sheading the front portion but that is what they were designed to do.

 

[shark_za]

Another necro post brought back to life.
The first shot on that Eland was not placed right if you got penetration from one end to the other and it still didnt go down.

Me, I love the partitions at medium velocities, they work like cup and core with insurance.