Nosler Partitions

[jkbrea]

When I first started elk hunting around 35 yrs ago I bought a Tikka 7mm mag but eventually went with a Tikka T3 30-06 due to a shoulder replacement. I don't reload so I went with a 180 grain Nosler Partition. It was always one shot and down. Several years ago I couldn't find any and bought Hornady 178 gr ELD-X. It was extremely accurate punching dime size groups consistently. I took several elk over the next few years from 25 yards to 430 yards, but I noticed I needed an extra shot at closer distances. With antelope it was devastating! Two years ago I shot a cow elk at 110 yards. It looked around and continued feeding. I shot it again and it fell, then staggered up. One more put her down. All shots hit within 4 inches! It was snowing and cold so I just gutted it and got out. Then a friend told me he hit a large bull twice at 300 yards with a 7mm mag with the ELD-X and it walked off. He never recovered it.
I have now gone back to 180 gr NP. My rifle has a Leupold with the CDS system which is awesome. They send a free custom turret for whatever ammo you hunt with. I had it made for the ELD-X. Yesterday I tested the Nosler Trophy Grade NP 180 grain using the same custom turret. To my surprise it hit almost identical to the ELD-X. I dialed it from 3,4,,5,and 600 yards and hit the 8" plates all on the first shot! I'll feel alot better hunting next season. I'm not knocking the ELD-X. It worked but rarely one shot kills like the partitions. I hated walking up and having to finish off an elk. Maybe it's just my experience.

[JimT]

In the smaller caliber rifles I have seen the same thing. My wife used a Remington Model 600 in .243. I loaded nothing but the 95 gr. Nosler Partition and over the years that rifle took a truckload of deer from 25 feet to over 250 yards. She never had to shoot twice. Many of these were large Desert Mulie's in Arizona.

[Crazy Horse]

I have hunted with a 270 Weatherby mag for years. I use a 130 grain Nosler partition factory load. I have killed 15 nice whitetail bucks with it and nearly every one of them dropped in their tracks. I had a couple run 25 or 30 yards that were lung shot. I have never recovered a bullet because they have always exited. The Nosler partition combined with the speed of the 270 mag is a lethal combination.

[Walt]

Many people have reported better luck on deer and elk-sized game with ELD-Ms than with the ELD-Xs. The manufacturer may not recommend target bullets but they work. Just like the recommendation against using .22 centerfires for deer and elk. They work.

[GunnyMack]

A buddy's dad used to moose hunt Quebec every fall. Most of his early years it was bow hunting, he killed quite a few m even a P&Y bull once. As he aged he started rifle hunting, using a BAR in '06 most of the time. Then he bought a Tika in one of the new 30 magnums and took 180gr NPs. He shot a bull and I'd died readily enough. When he and his hunting partner quartered it he found the base of the bullet, the nose section was gone. While we were cutting the moose up here at home he was complaining that the bullet failed. I asked how did it fail, you got the moose. He showed me the remains of the bullet. I said that is exactly what the Partition is designed to do, open up shedding the nose section allowing the base to drive on. Old man Nosler developed the partition after shooting a mud caked moose with cup and core bullets and losing the animal.
They might be an old design but you can count on it to do the job.
I've only shot 2 elk, neither with a partition. One was a 338 WM 225gr Hornady SP, it stopped in the off side in a perfect mushroom. The other was a 338 Federal with a 200gr Fusion bullet, it was destroyed from hitting the brisket from a quartering shot. Neither needed followup shots.

[piller]

In Poland, near Wroclaw, I hunted a red stag. 30-06 with 180 grain Nosler Partitions. In Poland, they hunt Red Stag at night. My Bushnell was not what I really needed. The first shot was too far back, a gut shot. It took the speed out of it, but it was still moving. It moved into an area with more moonlight, and the second 180 grain Partition was all there was to it. It was big. Hunting in Poland is different from what I am used to, but it is their Country, their rules. I did have fun. 180 grain Nosler Partitions were perfect for the job.