Hi!
I just wondered if anyone here have any experience with the Nosler Partition Gold bullets. I have done some shooting/hunting with it the last two years. I have used it in a Remington 700 .30-06. I have had some problems with mediocre accuracy, but that`s normal with some of the "super-bullets". I have shot 12 animals with the 180 grain (from steenbok in RSA to norwegian moose) and the effects on game have been good. But my question is: is the weigth retention actually any better than the "old" Nosler Partitons? I have recovered only 3-4 bullets but the weight retention have been 70% (+/-)... Any other experiences..?

Anders:

I wouldn't expect much difference in retained weight between the "Gold" and regular Partitions. The weight loss is typically from the front core, and the main difference in construction is, I believe, a steel cup over the rear core of the "Gold" (taken from the Winchester Fail-Safe design) to prevent bulging on impact. It sounds like you're getting typical weight retention, since Partitions are designed for retention percentages in the high 60s and low 70s.

[ 10-07-2002, 17:12: Message edited by: Slingster ]

Anders: There definately is a difference in the physical construction of the Gold vs. the "standard" partition. I have section the .30 cal 180 grain Gold bullet. Unfortunately, I do not have a "standard" .30 cal 180 gr for comparison, but I do have the 250 gr .338 and the 300 gr .375 bullet for comparison.

Left to Right: .30 cal 180 Gold, 250 gr .338 cal "standard", 300 gr .375 cal "standard"



My observations are this: the location of the partition is somewhat forward of where the "standard" would be located. The front jacket is thicker and has a fast taper from thin (at the tip) to heavy (half way to the partition.) I'm sure this bullet was designed to hold up under the higher impact velocity of the new "super-duper" magnums, Ultra's, etc.

I just started using the .30 cal 180 gold in my "super-improved" .30-06 (.30 Gibbs) this year. I have not recovered any - the only deer I shot at was in the neck @ 40 yds. I launch these at a MV of 2,950 fps (900 m/s.) My observations are that these are more difficult to obtain accuracy from than the "standard" partition and that max load is 2.0 grains (in a .30-06 size case) under the "standard" partition.

My question to you is: on your recovered bullets, it there anything left of the front lead core?

~~~ Lars ~~~

I have used the Nosler Partition bullets for years on Deer and Elk, without any complaints. I used the Partition Gold in Alaska on a Moose, got a one shot, dead in his tracks kill. That same year I took a 5 X 5 Bull Elk, and a 5 X 5 Mule Deer, with the same .340 Wby load of 250 gr. Partition Gold at 2950 fps. I did not recover the bullet from any of the animals, got complete penetration on the Deer and Elk. On the Moose I hit him in the neck where it adjoins the shoulder, and after a long job of quartering and caping, left the bullet recovery in the 5 inch backbone until morning. The next morning after a long job of packing horses, I forgot the bullet, still sorry to this day. I would suspect the Gold is a little tougher than the original Partition. My .340 shot excellent groups with them. Good shooting.

I would think that the Gold would tend to be a bit more tempramental in the accuracy department because of the additional component in the rear section. The addition of the steel cup has to introduce an additional opportunity for imbalance, so I would expect the Gold's might not average quite as tight in grouping as the regular Partitions.

Bullet for bullet, the Gold's partition is generally further forward. This has the effect of lessening the mass available for expansion, ie. they should expand a bit less (or shed less mass as the front section looses its structural integrity during expansion), and they should likewise retain a bit more weight in the rear section and therefore penetrate a bit deeper.

For all but the largest African game, the regular Partition has more than adequate penetration. On the other hand, the Gold might not give the kind of immediate expansion desired when the quarry is smaller, like a whitetail.

There's really not alot of difference in them, so if your rifle prefers one over the other, that's the one I'd shoot. I just really can't see venturing to try the Gold's, however, when the regualar does everything so well.

Noslers have shot very accurately in ALL my rifles contrary to some reports...

70% retention is exactly what they are designed to do..They open up fast on anything and penitrate deep on anything...I prefer that to 100% weight retention in that they have a smaller cross section, thus the penitration..

I have shot a lot of game, several simi truck loads full probably with Noslers and without a complaint, they are the bullet by which all others are judged you will notice...That alone should tell you something.

I like other brands real well, but none are better than the Nosler, few are as good...Only the Woodleigh, GS and North Forks compare to them in my opinnion.

Chub Eastman who works for nosler had an article a while back,stating that the regular partition is designed for 60% weight retention. The gold has a steel liner in the rear portion and the partition is further foward. The result is the gold is designed for 85%-90% weight retention. Eastman pretty much stated that the gold is more for marketing hype,then actual gain in performance over the original design.

Lars:
The bullets I`ve recovered (3-4) have all lost their front lead core. I guess that`s normal since the core isn`t..(what`s the english word?).."melted" together with the jacket..? Except from that, performance have been good.
Thanks for your input and the nice pictures!

Anyway. I guess I shouldn`t care so much about weight retention. It`s just that some articles says that you could expect higher weight retention with the Gold. And after my experience the difference is very small.
I`m very satisfied with them. Penetration and game effect have been good, and thats more important in my opinion too.
Thanks for the reply`s everybody!
ps! I did use the molycoated bullets. Next time I might use them without moly and maybe get better accuracy..?