The nosler partition is not without its problems, expecially if driven at high impact velocities. At such velocities, the front portion of the the bullet is subject to separation, and all is left is the solid rear protion of the bullet.
With the advent of the X bullet and the bonding process, it could be argued that the partion is now a premium bullet in "price" only.
Flame suit on.
GB
The Partition blows the front portion because that is what it was designed to do...leaving the rear portion to drive through.But one advantage to the Partition is that even at long range, where velocity has fallen off, the NPT will still expand reliably.
I've killed game from ante;ope to elk with them to almost 500 yards,so I know they work....and a few animals in distances measured in feet, not yards...and know they work there,too.
So, I would have a hard time thinking that they in any way, have any "problems".
As to the wadcutter effect,I have seen enough X bullets to know that they,also, will blow the petals under high impact velocity,and leave you with the same wadcutter effect.
As to things like bonded bullets, I've been hunting with the original bonded bullet, the Bitterroot since sometime in the early 80's IIRC...like the TBBC and Swift Aframe(which came along to emulate the BBC),they behave somewhat differently than a Partition; generally open to a wide frontal area under high velocity,and maybe not so widely at longer distances where velocity has fallen off...(but still widely enough, even against light resistance, as I saw on a pronghorn at about 400 yards one day with a 270 and 130 BBC)and frequently (always?)retain 95%+ of their weight, regardless what you drive them into and at what speed.
Again, because they were designed to do just that.
Both these styles of bullets behave a bit differently, for a lot of reasons having to do with their designs and the materials from which they are made;but I know they are both solid choices for about anything,and both are very dependable in lethal effect.
