Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Another Partition Failure

Brad,

What I've found is that Partitions are more tolerant of differences seating depth than AccuBonds. One thing I learned from an old Nosler tech was that often a slightly faster burning powder helped. The way he explained it to me, Partitions shot better when "booted in the butt a little" to bump up the rear core to fit the bore tighter.

On the other hand, with Accubonds seating depth seems to be more important.

I don't wanna....

Seriously here's how I look at it...others may disagree.

The only advantages I see to them is the plastic tip for a slight gain in BC...Some think this is a huge advantage....I don't......And from the actual shooting I've done with them,they are accurate, but out to 600 yards from my rifles I can't detect a noticeable gain in any material way between them and a Partition started at the same velocity.

I have used them but once.I trust the guys who say they work well on game....some say about like a Partition.

Well,if that's the case I simply can't find a compelling reason to use them when I have been killing stuff with monotonous consistency with Partitions for decades.I very much doubt the AB is going to kill anything any deader, or quicker, or more dramatically for me,than the Partition.

And whatever very minor advantages might exist for the AB,is not,for me,worth the trade off.I simply don't believe they will do anything for me that a Partition will not.This does not mean I don't think they are a good bullet....it's just that the bases they cover, for me,are already covered...

Fair enough and logical.

Can't believe we got that many bears to come along for the cruise...

And a TSX or TTSX would have done a better job at either weight... Certainly not worried about meat loss on a brown bear either... But if it is possible to make a bigger mess of deer than with a really fast, light NPT I have not seen it.

Bob and John, I have experienced similar happenings between the 140 & 160 when shooting deer here in the lower 48. However, I used the 160's in a 7 STW up in Saskatchewan and the damn things were very impressive. I would guess it's that velocity thing again.

the 150 NP .308 out of my little short barreled Mannlicher at about 2600 fps sure makes whitetails sleepy.

Randy

rta: The 160 NPT does a pretty fair job at about anything,and from a magnum 7mm just might be as a much a universal game getter as a guy is likely to find.

But 140 NPT's do work on Canadian whitetails very well also.

Not at you Bob.

All bullets work,some are just better than others at certain things.All bullets have the ability to fail also whether a Nosler/Barnes or whatever pushed to there limits.

The '06 and .375 H&H are famous for factory velocities not mach 3 reloads pushing bullets to the extreme and possible failure.

Jayco

Have you tried North Fork or Trophy Bonded? They get my vote for best compromise, followed very closely if not equaled by A-Frames.

All three have a bonded front core that expands very well and, IMHO, the mono-metal rear section of the North Fork and Trophy Bonded is a somewhat more reliable design than the Partition's rear section. The North Fork and A-Frame have been very accurate in every rifle I've tried them in and my hunting buddy has had excellent accuracy with the Trophy Bonded. (Wish they were still available as components.)

The only drawback to the North Fork and A-Frame is their lower BC but that has yet to be a factor for me in the field.

Not disagreeing with you at all, as I have wanted to try out Swift's or North Forks a few times, but everytime I think about trying them, I wonder how much better they could work than a same weighted PT.

Do they penetrate furter? More accurate? Again, I am not questioning you a bit, just wondering how they work better. I love the PT's, but I have wanted to try the NF's and Swifts a few times and I cheaped out.

CH

How many animals have you shot with factory ammunition and standard bullets such as corelock/silvertip/sp/pointed sp/bronze point/pointed soft point and on and on.....They all work at factory velocities.....

I doubt there is one of the old ones out there I haven't used or seen up close and personally used.

Hunting has changed a bunch since the old days,now it is speed first then SD then BC then and always,the energy fiasco.......

Did any of that matter back when coke was a was a drink and a smoke was tobacco?


Didn't then and doesn't now.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Jayco

For big game:

Factory ammo == 0
Cup and Core == 3 == elk/162g Hornady BTSP/7mm RM, antelope/220g Hornady/.375 Winchester and mule deer/Speer 240g SP/.44 Mag

Merry Christmas to you and yours as well.

Federal 160g Partition ammo was my backup ammo for 20-odd years. Grand Slam bullets were less expensive and I used them with zero complaints. Never did fire a Partition in the field although I still have loads for them in my .257 Roberts and .30-30. Friends that used Partitions had no problems with them.

When Speer changed the Grand Slam design I went to a true bonded bullet, the North Fork. Accuracy was superb and in they were the most consistently consistent bullets and loads I'd tried. They passed the water jug tests before going into the field and I've been using them for about 10 years now. And will continue to do so.

Below is a picture of some recovered bullets. From left to right:
7mm RM/Hornady 162g InterLock (spike elk @ ~110 yards) (hit onside rib)
7mm RM/Speer 160g Grand Slam (6x6 elk @~110 yards) (destroyed both shoulder joints)
.30-06/ North Fork 165g (cow elk @ ~25 yards)
.45-70/North Fork 350g (5x5 elk @ 213 yards)
.300WM/North Fork 180g (200 yard steel)



Here's another picture. From left to right:
.30-06, 165g North Fork @ 2800fps, 500yds from dirt, 145.0g retained
.30-06, 165g North Fork @ 2800fps, ~25yds from cow elk, 133.2g retained (same bullet as in previous picture)
7mm 140g North Fork @ 3200fps, ~150yds from buck mule deer, 131.2g retained (ham to sternum penetration)



They aren't for everyone but they do what I want - provide reliable but controlled expansion with high weight retention over a very wide range of velocities. Of the 5 elk I've taken with them 4 went straight down at the shot and one made it about 25 yards.

Works for me. They look really good to me.

Thanks for that tidbit John... veddy interesting.

Was the tip for "fast powder" for the AB or Partition... I know you said Partition, but thought you might have meant Accubond?

Thanks.

He/they have generally referenced the Partition in that regard - the open base apparently allows the bullet to 'bump up' a bit, something the snappier kick of a quicker powder can do a bit better. (I've always been intrigued by the impression of powder kernels on the open lead base of the fired bullets! )

Same here, took me a few years to figure out what it was!

Here's another pic of recovered bullets. There were shot into water jugs from close enough to get showered (10 yards). From left to right, with the number of jugs penetrated:

4 jugs == Sierra 200g FP .458" @ 2390fps, 81% weight retention (left group of five, front row center)
6 jugs == Speer 300g Uni-Cor .458" @ 2247fps, 59.6% to 72.5% weight retention, 68.8% average (remainder of left group)
8 jugs == Speer 350g FP .458" @ 2147fps, 87.6% weight retention
6 jugs == North Fork 350g .458" @ 2189fps, 97.4% weight retention
9 jugs == Cast Performance 460g WFNGC .458" @ 1812fps, 76.5% weight retention
5 jugs == Hornady 220g FP .375" @2230fps, 65.7% weight retention
7 jugs == Barnes 180g MRX .308" @ 3100fps, 93.4% weight retention



Some that weren't recovered or aren't shown:
11+ jugs (exited last jug) == Oregon Trial 300g Laser Cast .458" @ 1167fps
9+ jugs (exited side) == Speer 500g African Grand Slam (AGS) .458" @ 1554fps
1 jug == Hornady 50g V-MAX .224" @ 3650fps

Note that the damage done was NOT directly correlated to the number of jugs penetrated. The jugs were sitting on 5/16" plywood with the lead jug aligned with the front edge. The plywood was resting in turn on plastic sawhorses.

The North Fork bullet was by far the most destructive, blowing a hole in the plywood the size of the jug's base (~6"x6"), breaking the top rail of the saw horse and violently exploding several more jugs.

The least destructive were the .224" V-MAX @ 3650fps (1 jug) and the .458" Laser Cast @ 1167fps (11+ jugs). The V-MAX blew up the first jug. The Laser Cast blew up the first jug and drilled through the rest leaving them intact but leaking.

CH: Great rundown on the bullets....very interesting. Thanks for posting that!

CH, awesome report man. That makes the Speer 350 look pretty good. What are your thoughts on that bullet in the 45-70? Seems alot like the 300 grain bullet they make. Tough bullets, without the extra cost.