These 416 partitions are from waterbuffs. They all loose the lead but they work perfect (buffs are dead )



In this picture you can notice how the second bullet from your left has completely loose the back part lead !!!



L

Sorry, the pictures are too dark !!
But I promise that second bullet is completely empty !! no lead in the front and no lead inside.
L

Ok, I'm in the mood to stir the pot, and at the risk of touting complete blasphemy, how can we catagorize a Nosler Partition in the class of other so called "premium" bullets. When you speak of weight retention and expansion, they appear to fail pretty consistantly on tough game - see above photos. Now they may have premium killing performance, and certainly a premium reputation, but the more I see of 'em, mostly from this forum, I wonder how good they really are. What is the % of retained weight with the blown out front end? What good is expansion when the expanded mushroom doesn't stay with the rest of the bullet?

Full disclosure: In all my big game experience, mule deer only, all I've ever used were partitions. Yes, they worked great! I have however opted for Trophy Bonded Bear Claws in my new 375 H&H for cape buffalo this fall.

Brian

Lorenzo,

Though you have dead buffalo, I don't think that the bullet losing its rear core can be very good. It must have tumbled for that to happen. I find that very sursprising overall.

What rifle were you shooting these from and what was your muzzle velocity, if you know?

BigBullet

Lorenzo,
Absolutly, they perform perfectly and they kill very well indeed, and penitration and internal damage is excellent

The 416 Nosler partition is one of my favorite bullets in in the 416 for Cape Buffalo...they always loose the front portion lead and leave a perfectly expanded bullet with a long shank, much the same as Barnes X does but with a heavy lead filled base pushing it...Just a fine bullet.

I only recovered those that were shot at bulls that were going south after a good broadside shot that left a large exit hole of 1" or better.

I was shooting mine at 2400 FPS and have shot Buff at 20 to 150 yards with them in my .416 Rem Searcy rifle...

First of all, I feel very confident using them, the same with Hornadys (the other brand I also use...because are the only ones I have find )

They are around 2,400 fps, Ruger MKII 416 Rigby.

I believe that any modern 400 grain bullet at 2,400 must kill quite good but my experience is very limited.

It's the first time I saw something like this (loosing the rear part of the lead). I will see how much weight it has. You will see, in the first picture one of the bullets is laying down, that is because that bullet also has a little of the back lead going out, because of that I was unable to stand it up for the picture.

I don't know....for me they kill and that's enough...

Maybe my hunting buddy (who is a serious buff hunter) has some more, I will ask him.

L

Ray,

You do not seemed phased by one of the bullets losing its rear core? I have been shooting the 400 gr NP is my 416 RM in preperation for someday. That bullet shoots very well at the range. But I must say that bullet losing its rear core, is not optimal bullet performance. IMO

BigBullet

Big Bullet

I would like to believe that the NP loosing the rear lead was an isolated instance. I personal have not shot anything with the 400gr NP but I have quite few recovered NP's in several smaller calibers. None of them will win the picture perfect bullet contest. Perhaps in fact the look like Hell but they kill very well. As I said on anther thread I don't think anything has really come along to make the Nosler Partition obsolete yet.

Weight retention and a picture perfect mushroom are just that. They do not necessarily make the bullet kill better.

Regards,

Mark

There is an elk guide in Colorado that hates partitions because the front part always shoots off and they have a small exit wound. I've asked him how he knows they always shoot off. He said that he's only recovered a few that were lengthwise shots and the front was off. He also said the bullet always killed the elk, but he was unhappy with the weight retention.
Me? I like the shoot-through capability and don't care what the bullet looks like if I've got a dead elk.

More clear picture I hope !!!



L

quote:

Originally posted by MARK H. YOUNG:
I would like to believe that the NP loosing the rear lead was an isolated instance.

Mark,

I agree, probably a fluke. The front shedding its lead is exactly what Partitions are designed to do, which is why they kill so effectively.

I posted pics a few months ago of a Parition that lost both cores on a moose. It was a 7mm 160 gr. shot out of a 7x57. Impact range was 125 meters, so velocity was not "high" by any stretch of the imagination. It was when I first found this board last winter, and I thought I was going to get banned for life for having the gall to post definitve proof that a Partition in not perfect every time. I even said that I would continue to use them, but some folks went berzerk over it for some reason.

I'm very surprised by the number of folks that call the Nosler Partition a premium bullet. One can't ignore the number of folks that post success stories using them and sing praises to them.....further I'm very surprised at the number of times I hear folks say the the loss of lead in the front cavity is the design criteria of the bullet. I'd rather think the bullet is successful in spite of this short coming!!!! IT IS a shortcoming in my mind.

It's why the Swift A-Frame is my favorite big game bullet.....BTW deer and pronghorns are not big game.

I would prefer a woodleigh bullet inwhat ever caliber over a nosler partition............but there priced better in Oz

Marc

Don't take it personal. Everybody get reamed on occasion here on AR. I personally have been beat over the head severely a couple of times.

Vapodog

I too am a big fan of the SAF but in my experience the first third of the NP blowing up does much more lung damage than the SAF. The end result is the same but I think the NP kills quicker and exits more often.

Mark

I have been shooting Nosler Partition bullets since the mid 1950s. In calibers from .257 roberts- thru .375 H&H. In all that time I have never had a terminal ballistics failure of a Nosler Partition.

They are not super bullets. They will however do what they say they will do every time when driven within their design parameters.

I have never lost an animal because my Nosler Partition failed to perform.
I'd call them a premium bullet! Any day!
Just my opine.

Nosler Partitions are superior bullets and they are the standard with which all other modern bullets are compared. It is my experience that the rear lead compartment will come unseated when the bullet is tumbling, most likely before it hits the animal. Which means that the bullet hit something before it hit the animal. That has happended to me once...the animal died quickly and I did recover the bullet. I am willing to bet there was a blade of grass between the bullet and the beast discussed above. Normally NPs are not recovered, and there is a reason for that. They are a superior bullet.