Has anyone used the CT Nosler Partition Gold on African game? After problems with grouping using Swift A Frames and TBBC in my .300 Win. Mag. 180 gr.,I am getting better groups with the Nosler Partition but wondered if the Gold,as a tougher bullet might be better for eland, zebra, sable etc. I am also hunting leopard.

CFA

CFA,

Have you tried the regular Nosler Partition protected points in your .300? We use them exclusively on game like Tiang, Hartebeest, Greater kudu, and Mt. Nyala (tough critters weighing around 600 lbs.) I'm certain that they would be a better choice than the Partiton Gold on leopard because the way they are constructed (partiton farther back) they would open up more. The Partitiion Gold fixed something that wasn't broken. IMHO.

Rich Elliott

I`ve used the Part. Gold 180 in .30-06 on one hunt in RSA, plus some norwegian hunting.. (Size from steenbok to norwegian moose).
It`s probably not the best comparison, since velocity is different.
I recovered two or three bullets, and weight retention was between 60-70%. Not much better than the old ones. And the lead core in front disappeared on all of the bullets.
The bullets did perform good, I think, but not better than the normal ones. I`ll agree with Rich E. Why change the original..?

My experience is very limited, but that`s what I think.. Good luck on your hunt!

I don't think the original Partition needs to be fixed either, at least in terms of terminal performance.

However, I've noticed that some rifles do indeed shoot the Parition Gold better than the original Partition. To me, that's a good reason in and of itself for the existance of the Partition Gold.......

AD

Ditto - I have used the CT Golds (non-moly) for a while now. I have used them on two African hunts with excellent results. However, I am shooting 7mm Dakota and .330 Dakota which provides higher impact speeds. I found the standard Partitions were opening a little too much and a little too fast. The Golds solved this concern.

For .300 WinMag, I would suggest that you start with the standard Partition. If leopard is on the menu, I would strongly suggest that you use the standard Partition. Cats are thin and not overtly tough. I would be concerned that the Gold will not open as quickly nor do the internal damage that the standard does on leopard.

Thanks for the replies, sounds like the regular partition should work for my .300 WinMag.

Fred
CFA

The best improvment you could make would be to go to the 200 gr. Nosler, it expands as well and has a better cross section in expanded form, thus more internal damage...

This only works well with Noslers, not the competitions 200 gr. bullets which are tougher and generally don't expand as well as their 180s..

The upside is the 200 gr. Nosler will also penitrate better than the 180 gr. Nosler, like that makes much difference, since any Nosler penitrates more than enough, but thought I'd mention that they do penitrate more....

I have used both the golds and the regular Noslers and I don't see a lot of difference except the golds may penitrate a bit better...

If one is blowing the lead out of a Nosler, thats fine and the petals roll back over the base and you have what appears to be a Barnes X or GS Customs, so no problem there and you also have some secondary stuff blowing around inside the animal and thats a plus..and you get better penitration and thats another plus..

If this bothers you then the cure to losing the front portion is to use the next heavier bullet, that usually cures the scenario (notice I didn't say problem)

I have noticed a lot of folks don't understand Noslers, either that or they don't understand bullet failure, because they continue to allude to bullet failure by the size of the exit hole, or the fact that sometimes the front end blows off a Nosler, some European bullets are designed to do exactly that and they have excellent killing reputations, such as the tig and tug bullets..

BTW, the new 400 gr. 416 Nosler is the best soft point bullet I have ever used on Buffalo and it blows out the lead and expands to an average of 64 caliber every darn time in the ones I recovered last year, those that weren't recovered left a nickle size hole coming out, thats very good any way you cut it, and penitration is awesome, but less than a solid and about on par with a Barnes X as best I could tell...

For my 300 H&H, I settled on the 200 gr. Nosler for everything from Rockchucks to Capt Buffalo on one ocassion. See no need for anything else..Jim Brockmon just returned from a plainsgame hunt and used this bullet in his 300 H&H on my recommendation and has glowing reports on it...Not to say the 180 is a slouch, it certainly isn't, just that I prefer the 200, some do not for various reasons and they get by just fine...

I had very disappointing results with these GOLD bullets in my 338. They are very loooong for weight because of the boattail and the steel heel, steel being lighter than lead. I don't know if this was the reason, but my rifle wouldn't group them worth a damn. I thought the scope was loose til I tried some Federal/Woodleighs, and they all went in the same hole.

According to a former Nosler employee, this bullet was cooked up by the PR dept.

Russ,
The partition gold is nothing more than a regular Nosler with the partition moved forward..

The Failsafe has the "steel heel" your refering to and it is a half breed monolithic, lead and steel in the rear and monolithic up front, I'm pretty sure, someone correct me if I am wrong, but one of us is a little confused...

Ray - Correction - the CT Gold does have a steel cup and thicker jacket. They are also marginally longer, however, Nosler claims they possess the same BC???



CT Gold

Thanks Zero for the heads up..that one just slipped by me somehow or forgetfullness has crept in on this old noggin...

CT Partition Gold



6< !--color-->. Winchester's patented steel cup � prevents rear core deformation and allows bullet to maintain its shape, making penetration to vitals possible from most shot angles while minimizing chance of post-impact bullet deflection.



http://www.nosler.com/partitiongold.html





CT Fail Safe



3< !--color-->. Winchester's patented steel cup � tough steel cup further protects rear core from deformation, allows bullet to penetrate deeply and pevents post-impact bullet deflection.



http://www.nosler.com/failsafe.html

Well I may be the outlier here, but I like the partition gold a bit better than the regular partition. Reason: in shooting relatively light for caliber cartridges, I wanted more penetration and these provide it. I loaded these up in a 270 for my wife, and she's done well on two zebra, plus smaller game - impala, blesbok, springbuck. Bullets have so far always exited.

Plus, for me they are just a bit more accurate.

Next trip is for eland and waterbuck. Waterbuck with this bullet in the 150 grain wouldn't bother me. Eland does. So she'll be shooting a 338 with the 225 grain Accubond. If I had a 300, I'd use it instead, loading it with either the partition gold or Accubond in 200 grain.

Nothing wrong with the Nosler partitions. I've used them very happily for years. But I do like the partition gold a little better.

I haven't hunted w/ tem yet, but in side by side comparison w/ the std. NP, they are a bit tougher in wet pack. I will use this in my 7mm Dakota for elk & such, take that for what it's worth.