Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting A-Frame vs. Partition

Ruger:7mm is one caliber I always have a "which partition?" conundrum...cause they all seem to do really well.160's penetrate a lloonngg way,too; but 140's are no slouches and I don't have a single one recovered in either weight.

As JB points out,the 200 gr 30 is hard to stop; my guide used my ammo with 200 gr Partitions (300 Weatherby)and killed two elk with one shot,by accident....30 cal 200 gr partitions ain't made for herd shots

yes sir. I tend to worry about crap that don't really matter in the off season, I suppose I'm not alone.

Anyway my way of thinking is if the partition is in the same general region in all three of those 7mm how much difference in penetration could there really be? Having less muzzle velocity with the heavier bullets will make more difference I bet then the actual difference in the bullets themselves. I guess use the one that shoots best in your rifle?

In my experience the bullets with the partition way toward the front are all heavier, bigger ones, such as the 286 9.3, .300 .375 and 400 .416. But the Nosler boys tell me they are always making changes in some bullets in the line, so others may be that way too.

But as Bob said, the penetration is plenty right now with just about all of them.

I have had a couple of 140 7mm Partitions stop in deer, but both were on angling frontal shots, with the bullet ending up under the hide in the rear half of the animal. Have also had some 100 and 115 .25's do the same thing, but on broadside shots all those bullets tend to go right through.

And who is responsible for brainwashing folks with that silly notion?

Some folks from Utah? The internet experts? Both?

I get a kick out of folks that state "I was able to eat right up to the hole" when referring to wound channels. If that was the goal then why not shoot solids, FMJs or take up archery?

MtnHtr

I am a devout Partition user because of 50+ years of experience with no failures due to bullet construction. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Wayne

Wayne,

You make me fell like such a rookie,I have only 25 years of experience with Partitions with perfect results so far.

RD

I had a Partition fail on me once too. 3 bulls were coming up out of a drainage in Southwest Montana after they split from the cows on opening morning. My buddy missed with his .270 and Partitions, then I hit the lead bull through the loins with my .280 and 150 gr Partitions, dropping him on the spot. Both bullets "failed" to establish proper lead on trotting elk at 100 yards.
Come to think of it, I had a TSX fail on a bull two years ago also. It "failed" to compensate for my poor range estimation and blew apart the bull's front legs just under the brisket at 375 yards, not the 250 I told it go in the .270 WSM.
Both elk dropped but required finishers. I have some more failures on deer now that I'm thinking about it. Might even be some with Partitions and TSX/Xs.

280: If it's standard capacity case like a 280,7x57,7/08 I just automatically reach for the 140 and don't worry about it.If It's a magnum capacity,like 7RM,I lean toward a 160,but have used the 140 a lot from those,too.If I were on a combo elk/deer hunt I'd likely use a 160,but I doubt it would matter.No elk whacked properly through the chest with a 140 Partition is going to last long....

I've had good luck Bob with the 150gr NPT outta my STW.But will admitt the gain twist barrel dictated the choice of weight for me.They shine with the lighter bullets.

It is funny how everyone compares today's premium bullets to the Partition. A bullet created in the 40's is still held up as the standard by which all others are measured.

The A Frame is a phenominal bullet. It has been EXTREMELY accurate in all of my 7mm's. I have yet to take a critter with it. For sure, it was patterned after the Partition.

I don't use PT's because I have never ever gotten them to shoot accurately in any of my guns. At least, not accurate enough to suit me. Not so with the A Frames. I use them nearly exclusively.

I have always liked the way Nosler partitions killed my deer, antelope and hogs. I also used the Swift A Frames and TBBC on African game as well. However, this year I am going to be using another Nosler bullet called the ACCUBOND for longer range during elk season. My rifle of choice is a model 70 Winchester and caliber will be one of two, a .300 Ultra mag or my wildcat .338/300-Ultra mag.

Now I gave some thought about getting to close, just in case I should accidently put the sneak on a couple of those bulls. I just let the wife shoot em with her .338/06 using Nosler Partitons, I reckon they won't mind much being tagged by a lady.

Tonk,

Feed your 338 Edge a 250 gr AB, BC is .575.

JD338

The BC for the 225-gn Accubond is, if memory serves, .550. They sure work well from my plain ol' .338, out to 650 yards... they hold up exceptionally well in the wind. And they've flat poleaxed the two elk killed with 'em by friends in my elk camp... Excellent bullet IMHO.

I think this sums it up.

Well gentlemen I can assure you of one thing, and that is I won't be using those copper bullets from Barnes & Co. I guess I still have a lot to learn about hunting, since I haven't ever shot an elephant and don't intend to in this lifetime.

However, when it comes to deer, elk and moose I have shot more than my fair share and those bullets were not solid copper. I know that Nosler's Partition is still one of the best bets for hunting big game in the USA and Canada bar-none.

I had some good shooting today with my 300 Win mag and 180 grain Accubond bullets. We only shot out at 200 yards but I was getting 1.6 inch groups off the bench and that is not to shabby for a hunting rifle. It the rain holds off we will shoot some more tomorrow.

Tonk

Nice shooting. What is your load?
I have used 75.0 grs RL 22 and 180 gr PT, BT and AB and shot well under MOA in 3 different 300 Win Mag rifles. Might be worth a try.

JD338

JD-338...I just spent 20 minutes typing out those loads of mine and lost them all as the PC went down faster than a bullet.

Well, I used a lot of IMR-4831 powder using Nosler Partiton bullets 35 plus years ago up to today. It simply produced top velocities and accuracy was always very good.

I also use a lot of RL-19, RL-22 and RL-25. I use IMR-4230 in some of my big bores and varmint rifles also.

250 gr. A-Frame vs Partition in 35 cal.

The following was my load development for a 358 STA.

I purchased mine from Winchesters Custom shop around July of 2000. They had just made a small special run of them in stainless with stainless Badger barrels. I wanted it in the hopes of a Brown bear hunt but it has only dropped one bull Elk so far, but that was impressive.

Before I began load testing on mine I sent it off to get an Answer muzzel brake and thier recoil pad on the stock Winchester wood.

Once back from Answer it went to McMillan for one of their custom Kevlar stocks bedded by them. I have not put the Winchester wood stock back on.

I did the break-in while I was fire forming my brass. I used Win. 375 H&H cases and a set of Redding Custom dies $$$.

My fire forming consisted of necking down the 375 H&H in the 358STA Redding dies and then a 250gr bullet and 80grs of H4350. I turned my head to the side the first time I shot it to fire form the case. I had never done anything like that before. Must say, it works.

Then the cases were put through the FL dies and trimmed and de-burred and load testing started. I used 4 different powders IMR 4831, H4831, R22 and H4350.

I used either Nosler 250gr Partition or 250gr Swift A-Frames in load developement.

Speeds for the two 4831 powders were as high as 2774fps. R22 took speeds to the mid 2800 and H4350 broke the 3000 barrier.

Best accuracy was R22 with a Nosler partition, Fed 215 GM primer @ just over 1/2" (.502) three shot group. Avg fps. 2900.1. ES 59.5 and SD 30.5

Load I setteled on for Brown bear (Elk) was H4350, Fed. 215 primer, 250gr Swift A-Frame. 3 shot group was .990 at 3060fps ES 16.4 SD 8.3 The energy developed was 5300ft/lb.

I shot my Elk with the A-Frame load listed above. The shot was about 125 yds. by the time I pulled the trigger. I was on a ridge about 75ft higher then the bull. As the bull and about a dozen cows came running below (they were movin).

I kept the gun moving until the cross hairs were on his nose and I shot. He did a complete 360 in the air and landed in a pile of dust. Never moved. The bullet entered mid neck and exited the off side. Bullet not recovered.

Good luck on your hunt.

280,
Sorry for the late reply, Yes, the Woodleighs will work fine on deer size game, use the 140s as Woodleighs are velocity specific.

Folks,
As to the Noslers coming apart at 400 and 500 yards, I don't believe that at all..I think what they may have found was the rear section of a Nosler that performed as intended, but even that is unlikely at that range..

After haveing shot perhaps 500 animals with Noslers it is hard to convience me that they fail, short of perhaps a manufacturing flaw such as a crack in the jacket that got by the check out line..to top that off I use mostly seconds.

I also have it from Ross Seyfried that Noslers don't fail, and Ross has used many of them on game, as has JB. I have never heard from any of the experts, gun writers, PHs and experienced guides that Nosler were not the best of bullets.

If one has a problem with the front end blowing off, then the cure for that is to simply go to the next heavier weight bullet.

If your shooting the big bores then Nosler has fixed that one for you in that they moved the partition forward and it does blows the little bit of lead out and leaves you with a expanded bullet that looks amazingly like an expanded monolithic bullet as that what it becomes after initial expansion!

I have an aweful lot of Noslers that came out of game and they all look pretty good to me..

As an additional edit, I will also add that you can use the heaviest of Noslers even on deer, antelope and duiker and they will expand. I have used the 200 gr. Nosler in my 30-06 on smaller plainsgame and whitetail deer with perfect success and used the same bullet on Eland with the same success. They expand everytime and the always penetrate.

Noslers are the bullet by which all others are judged, that should be your first clue..It seems if someone finds a good bullet that works for them they claim its as good as a Nosler, go figure!

Both great bullets. I'd shoot the one your rifle likes best. jorge