Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Niche for .308 diameter 150 gr. Partitions

What's the general view of the 165 PT in the .308 as a do-it-all bullet? Any reason not to pick it over the 150 PT? Does it add enough extra for larger animals over the 150?

The 165 would have to work pretty good as an all around bullet in a 308.

Partitions are the best all around bullet out there. I have always wondered why they haven't put a plastic tip on them? The old bear claws were great too.

What mathman said.. I have used 150s on deer, sheep, and several elk.. 165's are great also.

Why would you need to put a plastic tip on them?

They do take a beating in some magazines...

It's preferred bullet in the .308. The last three or four deer I've shot with that combination went a total of less than 30 feet. But I hunt at short range by many standards. My load of RL-15 puts the bullet out at just under 2600.

I used the 150 partion for many years, and never had a failure on anything I hit. Then one day I happened to be out of that wieght and loaded 165gr instead. I think I saw a slight improvement in accuracy, so never went back. So except for my 30 Carb, 30_30, 300 Blk, and a few heavy 300 mag loads, its all I use now. I buy them in bulk to save money.

For deer and antelope 30 cal a partition isn't needed as most C&C out of a std cartridge at under 2900 fps will do just fine. However if you are shooting a magnum case in open country and wanting the flattest trajectory because you can get so you re exceeding 2900 fps then the partion might be appreciated when the deer appears at 50 yds . where the velocity is still higher than c&c performance levels.

Mrs. WaterRat appears pretty adept.....unless she's posing with your kill.

2550-2600 with a 165/168 class bullet approximates the old Lake City match 7.62x51 ammunition, and it works quite well accuracy wise with several mid speed extruded propellants.

I shoot a lot of this type load in a number of 308's. While not exactly a reduced load, it is milder on the shooter than full speed stuff at 2750 for fun shooting. Furthermore it's great for 99% of the deer hunting I do. I have other rifles and/or loads for pipeline right of way set ups.

I cannot add much to what's already been posted but I have to agree that Partitions are an awesome bullet. Before we moved to Alaska, Etta and I killed a lot of deer and elk with a 308, 30-06 and 300 H&H with 150 and 165 grain Partitions. I liked the 165's better in the 300 H&H but in the 308 and 30-06 I could go either way. Both great bullets.

A plastic tip is probably unnecessary from a practical standpoint, but I bet it would be a brilliant marketing move to boost sales. Heck I'd probably buy some of them myself, even knowing it doesn't matter much.

I agree with the others here; the Partition is generally my #1 choice too, whether it's needed or not.

Wow, I had severe failures of 180 partitions in a 300 wtby on smaller whitetails. Even on decent sized one.

Then I found Barnes.

In fairness John has told me since, I needed 200 partitions for a 300 mag.

The 180s simply didn't penetrate impressively on deer, and I was going to rely on them for elk.

But like I said, Barnes came along and solved all issues for me at once.

I loaded 150 partitions in my wife's 30-06 with 46 grains of IMR 3031 for about 2800 ft/sec. Recoil was fine for her. She shot a nice buck at 200 yards.

Then I discovered TSX Barnes, and with a 150 TSX, she dropped a nice bull moose in his tracks. Nothing wrong with a good bullet through the vitals even for moose.