R Flowers Oh I definately belive that you killed lots of deer with 85 gr sierra's and 90 gr speers. Between me, my dad, my nephew and a few other people the past couple years we have killed several deer with 243's and 55 grain ballistic tips, 70 gr ballistic tips , 65 grain bullets, 87 grain v max. I dont recommend it but none of them have ever required more than one shot. These were all broadside or slightly quartering shots. But it is much better to use a 95 gr ballistic tip, grand slam, interlock, x bullet, or something like that.

Hell, those yellow boxes are the new ones!

I've got a little red box of .270 130 gr. Partitions that will probably go to Cabelas for display purposes.

I collect and hunt with, old components. I have quite a collection! This year I got a deer with a yellow box 150 gr. 30 cal Partition, and another with a 130 gr. .270 Sierra so old it was made in Rivera CA. (mid '50's?) The old Noslers always have worked fine.

Oh yea, and I have a barreled action soon done from John too!

As luck would have it I have come into a supply of the older style "machined" Nosler PArtition bullets in .30 cal .264, and 6mm. Wha I am wondering is has anyone ever noticed a significant performance difference using one over the other? Getting a bit older myself, I am thinking of using the bullets for nostalgia reasons alone. Comments of all varieties appreciated.

Hi

I've been using Partitions since the 60's and have not noticed in change in performance on game. I do believe Partitions have gotten more accurate in recent years though.

I have heard from the usual gun writing suspects that the newer Partition bullet on the average is more accurate than the older screw machine turned bullet. I still like the looks of the older bullets, and they kill as well as the newer bullet.

jim

I just shot three consecutive sub 1" groups out of my 340 WBY with the old screw turned bullets. I have heard they may "snap" in half on very heavy game but I really doubt it

Aleko

I still have a small hoard of the old turned 200 gr. .30 RN Partitions...my very most favorite bullet from the '06 for Moose. At 2,500 to 2,550 fps they will shoot lengthwise through a moose and expand just like the little mushrooms with petals in the bullet ads. In both a Remington 740 and a pre-war M70 they would shoot groups of an inch or under at 100 yards very reliably.



Great bullets. Save them for actual hunting and practice with something else.



Or better yet, send them to me, and I'LL use them for hunting. <GGG>



Alberta Canuck

As I've run across them over the years, I've sort of collected a selection of old-style Nosler Partitions in various calibers and weights. I don't load them or hunt with them anymore, but during the early '80s I found a fairly big supply of old-style 250 gr. Partitions in .338, which I loaded for a push-feed Model 70 .338 Win. Mag.



Those 250s shot very well in that particular rifle, and they blew big, long holes through elk. As good as they worked for me, the current-style Nosler Partitions work 100 % as well or possibly even better on game, and the current Partitions have also tended to shoot better in a wider variety of rifles.



The old-style Partitions are visually appealing bullets. They are very striking, very 'cool' bullets to look at, and they really stand out from the crowd, but i'm convinced the the current Partition is a functionally superior bullet in every way that counts.........



AD

I still have a lot of those also. Most of the game I've killed with Partition bullets has been with the old style.

Both the new style and the old style are plenty deadly. It is possible that the drawn/swaged (new) style are a bit more accurate. But both kinds have performed exceedingly well for me over the past 40 years.

I've ever seen one of the older ones. Does anybody have a picture they could post?

Thanks
Terry

Well, you have come into a bit of a treasure there, I would say.

I think the old Nosler bullets like you have will work fine, BUT, I have seen problems with the 100 grain 6mm version.

Around 1960 to 1970 maybe my dad and I hunted a lot with various 6mm rifles. Believe it or not we shot lots of deer with such bullets as the 85 grain Sierra and the 90 grain Speer. We decided to try the 100 grain Nosler Partition because we were having good luck with them in larger calibers.

We were terribly dissapointed at the performance of those bullets as they were manufactured then. They were simply TOO HARD! Broadside lung shots on deer lead to long tracking jobs because those bullets did not expand. Now, if you were to shoot a deer on the shoulder or if you wanted to use them on larger, tougher game they might work fine.

Anyway, I would test the 6mm bullets on wet newspaper or some such thing before I shot any game with them. The ones we had were REALLY tough bullets, not at all like the version Nosler makes today.

I would guess that all the old "turned" Noslers were tougher than the ones being made today, but the 6mm version were just too darned hard.

R F

I've been using Partitions since the 60's and have not noticed in change in performance on game. I do believe Partitions have gotten more accurate in recent years though.

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I not quite old enough to have been reloading in the 60's, but my reloading mentor (who passed away a few years ago) said essentially the same thing about Partitions--they have become significantly more accurate. I recall reading some articles from the 50's/60's that praised the Partitions performance on game and lamented their accuracy.

Casey

TC here ya go.

Neat looking bullets!

Hey Rusty, I got an email from John Ricks a few day's ago. Looks like mine will be finished 1st! HA!

Thanks for the pic'

Terry

Dang Terry! You used to be my best fair weather friend! LOL!

I am very glad that your rifle is nearing completion! I guess that means that mine will be closer to being ready!

Dear John,
Here's an extra $200.00 to stop work on Terry's rifle and start on mine!
Rusty

I have used them both through the years and I'll take the new ones 10 to 1 over the old screw machine bullets of yesteryear...The old ones would always blow the front half off, the new one will do that only if driven to fast or when you use too light a bullet for the game hunted...Understanding Nosler is half the battle...I use 200 gr and 220 gr. in my 300 H&H as I got a lot of blow offs with 180s..went to the heavier bullets and cured that...Did the same in my 7x57, went to the 160 gr..

quote:

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Originally posted by 308Sako:
Wha I am wondering is has anyone ever noticed a significant performance difference using one over the other? Comments of all varieties appreciated.

---

I've shot some antique 180gr Partitions in my 300WinMag. They look a bit tarnished, but they sure fly nice. Sitting on 75gr of RL-22 and a WLRM primer they shoot close to 1/2" all day. I found 3 boxes at a show, only cost me $25 so I'm using them as target practice. Nothing to report on terminal performance, just holes in paper.

Not much actual difference in performance that I can tell.

The old Partition with the rebate near midships on the bullet could create a problem in some cartridges with short necks or in magazines of limited length, which is why Nosler brought out a special 180/.30 caliber bullet especially for the .300 Winchester shortly after it was introduced. The special bullet had it's rebate moved and a special crimping ring that was "right" for the specified LOA of the new .300 Win Mag.

Will is right, the red box ones are the oldest. In fact, if you look at the box, you will see that they were made in Ashland Or., Instead of Bend. I don't know when the move was, but I estimate around '58.

I inherited a bunch of old Noslers in the Red Box. I don't know if they are the old bullets or not. I can say that the new bullets perform as advertised and since the stock that I have is in .30 caliber from days gone by, I wouldn't hesitate to use them.

Rusty, thanks for those photos as it brought back memories. The first Noslers I loaded back in the late 60's were from those boxes. I've shot critters with Noslers for over 30 years and the new ones are ever bit as good, if not better. They are very predictable and consistent. Like Ray, I've evolved to where I use the heavier offerings. The 200 grain 30 caliber is my favorite in 300 Weatherby. The 286 my favorite in the 9.3x62.