There are a milliom different controlled expansion/bonded core/ partition/plastic tipped/interlocked/monometal/ etc.etc..bullets out there these days.

Let's assume we are hunting animals form moose on down to deer- no gophers, no grizzlies, no elephants or buffalo

What do yu want your bullet to do?

We all want the internal explosive properties of a ballistic tip, yet, we want penetration and weight retention of a solid...

That's why the partition is so sucessful IMHO.

The front of it expands and 'blows up' (in my experience, it tends to liquify the lungs) and the rear section carries on through with penetration...

So what do you look for in a bullet for this game?

Gatehouse
I think a Nosler Partition in the proper caliber and weight for the game being hunted is NEVER a bad choice. They are very good bullets.
A little outside your parameters, but something I have noticed with Trophy Bonded Bearclaws [Federal factory 165gr. in 308] with the bonded core if you shoot a bobcat,fox, or coyote you do not tear a huge hole,in the hide on the exit side, even at very close range [even a bobcat at @20 yards]. This is a nice feature if you like to do full body mounts on the small criters.
I have shot a lot of animals with Nosler Partitions in many different calibers from close range to far with nothing but perfect performance.
I have never had any problems developing accurate handloads.
While some bullets could be better in certain cases, I do not think there is a better all round big game bullet than a Nosler Partition IMHO.

I like for my bullets to shed their paper patch at the muzzle, make hugh holes at low velocity and hit where I aim. Soft lead in a paper wrapper is deadly stuff.

Onward, ever in search of a vacuum!

I want my bullet to start the animal bleeding�I mean copious bleeding�then I want the bleeding to drop blood pressure to zero. When that happens, the animal is mine. Any bullet suited for the job, fired at a reasonable range, and well placed, will do the job. I believe that is everything a hunter needs to know about bullets, now or in the future. Use the wrong bullet, fire at a god awful range, or hit the animal poorly, and the bullet fired is irrelevant.

There is too much made of bullet performance, and not enough about hunter performance on these forms. I have favorite bullets and calibers, but a long time ago I decided that a lot of shooting under field conditions before the hunt trumps bullet performance. Even the softest animal gut shot with a premium bullet can survive and end up coyote bait. I say put more premium on shooting ability and less on bullets.

Real simple: For big game hunting, I want a bullet to go where I'm aiming, get inside, open up and release its energy, then keep on going, no matter what gets in its way, including bones.

AD

I like Allen's reply and that pretty much sums up how I feel. The other thing I value is reliability or perhaps consistency of results. I don't mind spending the extra money for that peace of mind. For those reasons I have narrowed my choices down to Swift A-Frames and Fail Safes. Some people say I spend too much on bullets but I'm of a mind that bullets are the cheapest part of the hunt and therefore buying economy bullets are false economy. I have never understood the mindset of spending good money on upper end rifles i.e. Weatherby, Sako etc. and then buying economy bullets, but I see it all the time. Good topic Gates.

I am on the same line of thinking as Gate. Partitions do it all on the game mentioned.
It's the perfect bullet for the speed demon rifles because of both expansion and weight retention. I am a big believer of exit wounds. More blood loss and easier tracking.

If you are shooting a rifle that is on the modest side with velocities then most standards should do.

Kill like chain lightning and shoot like a house afire,"as long as I do my part" ofcourse.

For big game in North America I want complete penetration and rapid expansion to at least 44 caliber on a broad side shot even if heavy shoulder bone is hit. If I can't get both then I need a bigger gun!

Accuracy and good expansion are most important to me.I couldn't care less about what the remaining bullet weighs or what it looks like as long as it gets where it's aimed and provide a quick kill.

I think that's why I stay w/ the NP for my big game hunting:
Good to excellant accuracy
violent initial expansion
complete penetration
repeatable performance, every time

I play around w/ other bullets, but I always break out the NP when I go hunting. If they only made them for the .404?!?!

I have shot Nosler Partitions and Partition Golds, Barnes X and XLC, Swift A-Frames, Kodiaks, Hornady, Sierra, with great success on Brown Bear, Moose, Elk, Deer. Some of those mentioned have some of the qualities desired, some have all. Take ALL the good qualities of the best performing bullets, mentioned above, accuracy, expansion, penetration and you are talking about the North Fork, and adding SUPER ACCURACY. They may not fit all barrels, but they have fit all mine, from 7mm up through .416 Rem. Good shooting.

Your exactly right about the partition Gatehouse. So often its penetration gets the lionshare of the disgussion but no mention of its other half. Fragments or even the entire frontal core left inside a wound channel to continue wreaking havoc and instigate an perpetual blood flow is not a bad thing.

Still for your criteria my personal preferance is either a large mushroom that holds together for about .30 cal on down or a smaller spire point type of mushroom that holds its form in a larger caliber. But thats just me. I think youve hit on a big reason why a partition is so reliably effective and versatile, its twofold function.

[ 06-22-2003, 18:53: Message edited by: Wstrnhuntr ]

phurley, I'd love to get some North Forks but when I talked to them a couple of months ago they still didn't have the export licence to ship to Canada. I'm really looking forward to them coming up here.

savage49494 -- I would bet there is no law saying that I could not send you some North Forks. If you want to talk to Mike, I would certainly be glad to be the middle man at no cost to you. Let me know if I can be of help. Good shooting.

Phurley-Actually it is against the law for anyone to send firearms,ammunition or components into canada without a permit.

I agree that the nosler partition is a great bullet, but I don't use them, why? 90% of my hunting is for whitetail deer and I just don't need a partition to zap them. Especially with the cartridges I generally hunt with .308win and 45-70. These don't generate enough velocity to require a premium bullet.

I'd say a (hunting)bullet should do as much damage as possible and still exit or come very close to exiting.

To me the perfect bullet will expand to a perfect 1.5 times caliber and create a full wound channel. As it continues to penetrate it will break the bones in its path. Upon exiting it will immediately fall out of the skin to the ground. This leaves a nice wound channel, two holes for tracking blood if necessary but has expended nearly all of its energy inside the animal.

If anyone knows what this bullet is please let me know. In the meantime, I feel it is hard to beat a properly sized Nosler Partition.

FWIW this is my $.02. Fire Hawk

stubblejumper -- The more I thought about it over the weekend the more I figured that it would probably not be legal. After hunting up there and going through the steps, I knew they covered all bases very efficiently. Thought I would offer. North Fork is in Glenrock Wyoming, a medium distance drive through some beautiful country from western Canada. That brings on another question, would it be legal to cross the border from Canada, buy the bullets, then transport them back to Canada. Good shooting.

"What do we want a bullet to do"????

1. Kill the game that is being hunted.

2. Refer to #1

Nuff Said....

Mike R. "Use enough gun and when in doubt use a bigger gun"

I believe in the BIGGEST BULLET THAT IS ACCURATE in my particular rifle of choice for that hunt. I want COMPLETE penetration from one side to the other or one end to the other. As I have so many caliber choices, I found that Barnes bullets weren't accurate in all other calibers. So I use whatever PREMIUM BULLET that is capable of a maximum of 1.5" at 100 yds.

To kill the friggin deer, or whatever you are aiming at!!!

Are you becoming a philosopher Gater??

Sing show tunes!!!

What I want a bullet to do....

0) be easy in load developement
1) get there with as much energy as possible.
2) get to where I point it, consistently
3) open up over a wide range of impact velocities
4) make the same length hole no matter if it hit at 1700 fps or 3100 fps.
5) no fragmenting (I don't care to feed lead to my kids)
6) go out the other side
7) no bloodshot meat
8) make a very large diameter wound channel (lots of blood)
9 field dress the game and carry it to the truck..... Dutch.