Trying to decide between a 120 Nosler BT, Nosler Partition, and the 120 Speer? Will be going at around 2400fps-2500fps. Wondering which one works best for hunting? Thanks, Dennis e-mail at dmadriaga@ascg.com

Dennis, Post this over under the Single shot pistol forum and you'll get lots of responses and feedback.
Dave

HHI 812,
I've killed a fair number of big game (mostly small whitetail deer, but also a small number of desert mule deer and pronghorn antelope) using a Contender and a 14" 6.5 JDJ barrel. About 70% of the kills have been w/ the 120 NBT, 20% 100 gr NBT, and 10% 120 gr Sierra SP. My l20 gr NBT and Speer loads are going 2400 fps while the Sierra is 2330 fps. The 120 gr NBT's and Sierra spitzer worked very well for me. The 120 gr Speer spitzer is reputed to work just as well, but I've yet to kill anything w/ it. My brief work w/ 129 gr Hornady and 140 gr bullets was disappointing as I couldn't get acceptable hunting velocity so never used them in the field. I think you'd be hard pressed to improve on the 120 gr NBT/Speer spit/Sierra spitzer bullets. I know JD has recommended the 120 gr spire point bullets in his 6.5 JDJ, pretty much equally well. I bought a box of 125 gr NPT once on sale in preparation for a mule deer hunt. When I asked JD his recs re: 120 gr spire point bullets vs 125 NPT for the hunt, he said the 120 gr's would work fine. Never have loaded up the first 125 NPT. Should be a good bullet for the 6.5 JDJ, but I was already pleased w/ my 120 gr loads. Of the bullets you mentioned, I'd feel comfortable using whichever shot the best in my gun and was most easily available. You'd probably get additional opinions at the Single Shot Pistol site. Gary T.

Dennis-
In that velocity range, it's hard to beat the performance of the Nosler 120 grain BT and the Speer 120 grain Hot Core spitzer. Both work extremely well, but the BT does have a slight edge due to its design and the fact that it responds better at the lower velocity of longer ranges. The Nosler will open well down to around 1650 fps; the Speer generally does but, in some instances, can be iffy below 1850-1900 fps.

The Partition is not really needed unless you were planning on pursuing some heavy-boned game. One thing to keep in mind is that this particular Partition does require at least 2000 fps at impact to generate sufficient expansion.

As to the Sierra 120, I personally don't like it as it is a little stout for any 2400 fps MV rigs unless the range is kept reasonable short (inside 100-125 yards).

In the velocity range you mention, I'd opt for the most accurate of either the 120 grain BT or Speer spitzer and never look back. They'll provide all the performance you could ever want on medium game.