Well to add a little balance to the "discussion" regarding Nosler Partitions please let me interject a little real world Hunting experience - if I may be so bold!
This past Monday (October 25th 2,004) I was lucky enough to have placed myself within long Rifle range of a herd of 200+ Elk!
My stalk had brought me around a snowy hillside and my winter camo and my now seated position in tall sage helped counteract the blaze orange I was required to wear here in Montana. I laser ranged the lead cow in this massive herd and waited for the big Bull I knew was in this herd. The range was 360 yards to the lead animals and I was looking down on them at a very steep 45 degree angle. Finally the last animal in that herd came into view from around the hogback hill. It was my Bull! The one I had seen in the herd previously. It was a very large bodied 6x6 and he soon trotted into the midst of the herd. I had to wait for him to step clear of other animals so I could have a clear shot. I began to shake! Thank goodness for the tall Harris bi-pod I was using!
I loosed a Nosler Partition weighing 160 grs. from my Remington 700 Classic in caliber 7mm Remington Magnum! My Bull died as close as I could determine within a few yards of where he was struck with the Nosler Partition!
I recovered the Nosler Partiton and last night I weighed it on my powder scale. It weighs 113 grs. now so it lost 47 grs. doing its work! Is that a 70% weight retention?
Hmm...... I think I will most certainly keep using the Nosler Partitions in the future!
I have taken smaller Bull Elk with this same bullet and this is the first I have recovered one and was able to make a detailed inspection.
This bullet was somewhat bent or askew and did not achieve "picture perfect" mushroom satus. It did mushroom in an off center way though.
AND it did bring my best ever Bull Elk to bag - perfectly! I have also killed Black Bear and Mule Deer with this bullet and have as yet to find ANYTHING lacking in the Partitions performance!
They are accurate and lethal!
I wonder what more the Nosler Partition naysayers could possibly want in a Hunting bullet?
Long live Nosler Partitions!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGUy

Well Sir, what you have experienced is just what, maybe millions..?, of hunters have experienced over the years. Your testimony really can't say anymore than that. Every animal I have shot with Partitions have either dropped in their tracks or taken a few steps and collapsed. Can't ask for much more than that..

Thanks for the post, it really reminds me of my elk hunt in New Mexico last fall.

We spotted a good 6X6 bull herding some cows around and bugling his head off to some other bulls over in the timber.

We made a sneak on them and got within 300 yards and like you I had to wait until the bull was clear of the cows, he was really busy pushing them around.

I was sitting with a Harris bipod, and was also glad to have it. When the bull trotted out broadside I busted him with a 180 grain Nosler partition from my Remington 700 Classic in 300 Wby Mag. That bull made about two steps and was down for the count!

The bullet entered the right shoulder, caused lots of damage on the way through and was found lodged in the left shoulder. Weight retention? 68% The bullet looked like something out of a Nosler advertisement.

Keep sending the great posts, I really enjoy reading your stuff. Again, really amazing similarities on our hunts.

Congratulations.

R F

Congratulations on your bull.
Do you may have a pic of "him".

cheers
konstantin

That sounds like a typically excellent performance by Nosler Partitions. Good performance on your part as well!

Quite honestly, I think the entire "weight retention" fuss doen't amount to nearly as much substance as many folks have come to believe. Personally, I don't care if a Nosler Partition doesn't retain as much weight as, let's say, a Swift A-Frame. If it retains enough weight to punch it's way through and either exit or lodge under the hide on the opposite side, it's retained enough weight to get the job done. More important, if it's retained enough weight to penetrate where it counts and put the animal down quickly and cleanly, it's retained enough weight for practical purposes!

To me, the Nosler Partition combines the best of all worlds for general hunting. That front core that often disintegrates materially aids killing power: it's no hindrance to the process, rather a major help. Those secondary projectiles provided by the front core have to go SOMEWHERE, after all! The rear core and jacket always seem to retain enough mass to complete the penetration process, no matter what the front core does.

I have a 10% recover rate for Nosler Partitions, sometimes even less. On my S. African hunt this year, I recovered ONE 180 gr. Partition from my .300 Winchester, and this was from a 2,000 lb. eland taken at a little over 200 yds. This bullet was lodged under the hide on the opposite side. One bullet recovered out of fifteen animals ranging from the tiny to the moose-size. This has been rather typical of my experience with Partitions.

And they say this bullet doesn't retain enough weight....

Well maybe it doesn't...........in theory!

AD

WTG, VarmintGuy! Thanks for sharing your hunt and resluts with us.

Noslers, work for me.

Konst#1: Well I have to tell the rest of the story on myself regarding pictures!

In brief yes I do have pictures coming from my Hunting partner. He has one of the new computer "disc" Canon cameras and we viewed the pictures he took on his cameras small screen. They will be downloaded and sent to me soon. He just left yesterday for his home in Seattle, Washington U.S.A. which is 700 miles from here. I will try and post them as soon as I get them. I am leaving on a Deer Hunt possibly as soon as tomorrow so be patient with me please.

And thank you for the well wishes as this 6x6 Bull Elk has been a long time in coming for me!

The embarassing part is I had just taken a partial roll of film out of my Nikon Nikkormat EL old fashioned (heavy!) 35mm camera to have the film developed. That film had two different Antelope Hunts on it and I wanted those pictures to be seen by my Elk Hunting partner. That was accomplished but I forgot to reload the Nikon before I put it in my Hunting pack! I lugged that 4 pound camera all over SW Montanas Elk country and when I needed it the most - it was empty!

Lesson learned!

Thanks again

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

PS: I am sorry you lost your original screen name! Also I just had an old friend and a couple of new friends from Germany to my home here in SW Montana. My old friend lives in Bad Tolz just SW of Munich (Munchen?) and one lives in Berlin and works for the BMW Company. The other lived in Munich. They all spoke good to excellent English and I am happy to see that you are fluent in another language as well. I have great admiration for the people of Germany and the fine products they produce - especially the fine steels they produce (Solingen etc.).

R Flowers: That is an amazing set of similar circumstances!

By the way the Remington Classic in 300 Weatherby is a fine Hunting arm. I used to have an FFL and sold many firearms. One I sold to a close friend of mine was a Remington Classic in 300 Weatherby he wanted it for Elk Hunting also. It was capable of shooting 3 shot 100 yard groups right at 1/2"! I can't remember for sure which Nosler Partition my friend Larry settled on but I know he tried both the 165 gr and 180 gr. Nosler Partitions. He did shoot an Elk though with it along with many Mule Deer.

I sometimes wish I had stepped up to the big 300 Weatherby Magnum for my Elk Rifle but the 7mm Remington Magnum has been more than up to the task so far for me!

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

Allen Day: Thanks for your experienced and learned post. Your observations of the Nosler Partitions very much parallel mine!

I am so envious of you being able to Hunt Africa also! You are blessed by the Hunting Gods! Good for you!

Many happy returns of your African adventures!

Maybe when the VarmintSons are done with college and I win the lotto I will get to Africa to Hunt their big Antelope and maybe a Leopard?

Kudos sincerely to the Nosler folks from Bend, Oregon for producing such a fine Hunting projectile at an affordable price. And for making them so accurate and consistent over the years.

Hold into the wind

VarmintGuy

PS: Thanks to the other posters also for your kindness's on my latest bit of good luck.

I have shot some red deers with 180grs NP in 308win with excellent results. I have always believed NP was a quick kill bullet,with a little too much meat damage.

In 1998 norwegian hunters sent in 11-1200 results(to a hunting magazine) from shot big game; moose, red deer, reindeer and roe deer. The quickest killer was Swift A-Frame with an average of 28meters from where the game was shot to it hit to the ground.I guess the result is influed of that Swift A-Frame is much used in "magnum cartridges".
Federal Trophy Bonded 37 meters
Remington Core-Lokt 40m
Speer Grand Slam 43m
Sako Super Hammerhead 47m
Norma Elite 47m (This 185grs bullet is not produced anymore)
Norma Oryx 50m
Federal Hi-Shock 50m
Lapua Mega 50m
Norma Vulcan 55m
Barnes X 55m
Norma Alaska 60m
NOSLER PARTITION 68m
Hornady Interlock 81m
Winchester Silver Tip 83m

This is of course not very scientific,especially since the magazine didn't gave us how many bullets or game in each caliber,, weight of bullets and so on.... but, these results don't indicate that Nosler Partition kills quicker than other bullets.

Next year we will have the results from 2004,but then not for roe deer which is not a real big game.

We will also have results from a moore scientific research done by NINA,Norwegian Institute for Nature Science(my own bad translation) ,but only for 2000 moose.

Anytime anyone thinks they have a better bullet they invaribly say, "Wow!, its better than a Nosler" Why is that?

Because Noslers are the bullet by which all others have been compared to for years...