I recently completed a bullet buy, and recieved several boxes of Nosler partitions (7mm, 140 and 160grs) in old yellow and white boxes. Anyone have any idea how old these are? And what is with the wide groove in the shank?

Thanks,

Kaiser Norton

Old, I don't remember when the change was but I've never purchased a box of them since I started loading in 84.

They were made on a screw machine and the groove is for pressure relief

Kaiser Norton: Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I like your sig line; I'm thinking I should have that put on a T-shirt for my grandson.

Don't know if this helps you any, but I have an old box of Nosler Partitions which were bought about 1981-1983 or so. It is a black cardboard box with metal reinforced corners. There is a paper wrap around the box that I would say is mainly gold in color with black lettering and has the Nosler logo.

Kaiser Norton - are you trying to sell any of them?

Kaiser I'm lookin at a box of .264 140gr old style partitions exactly as Ron AKA described in detail that I purchased in '75 and I think that vintage dates farther back than that,hope this info may help a tad..

IIRC the change from the screw machine Partitions to the extruded style we use today took place in the early 70's,but I could be a bit off......I had ample quantities of those 7mm's in 140 gr and used them quite a bit in 7x57's 280's and 7/08's.Also had a bunch in 375,270 and 300 gr.

I have 400-500 130 gr 270's and still use them in a couple of rifles;some are so old, the boxes are red,which predated the yellow boxes.They shoot very well for me in a couple of pre 64 M70's in 270 Win.I still hunt with them once in awhile when I use those rifles.

As Steelhead points out, the relief groove is there to diminish pressures.IME charges can be used that are very similar to those worked up for the new bullets.

While I think the extruded bullets are "better", there are no flies on the old ones;they are a fine bullet and the one's that helped make the reputation of the Partition as a great hunting bullet.You can use them with confidence.

I have used that old 140 gr Partition from a 7mm that made 7-57 velocities. It was deadly on deer at woods ranges. It made a larger wound than the 160 gr Sierra BT.

I still have some of those bullets and they shoot fine.

Do you mean in the cylindrical bearing surface part of the bullet? If so, no mine are just a smooth cylinder all the way to the base. If you look at the base you can see the lead. I can only guess if they put a groove in the bearing surface it would be to reduce the friction. Because of the partition the Noslers tend to be longer in the body for a given bullet weight. I've noticed that the bullet diameter is on the small side, so perhaps that was found to be an alternative to reduce friction. They are a 140 grain .264, and only measure 0.2632 on the body. I find most bullets to be 3-4 tenths under nominal, but these are a full eight.

I have some Nosler's downstairs over the reloading bench. I believe I purchsed them in 1971 or 72 from a local gunstore.

The "groove" is cut directly over the solid (and thick) partition. Since the jacket was of solid brass they needed to do that to ease the bullet through the lands without raising pressure.

I used to be able to remember this stuff.......

But I'm pretty sure that color of box you're describing is going to be from the 60's. I have a box from the late 50's/early 60's that is waxed cardboard with a black band around it and the Nosler name with the claiber and bullet ink stamped on the end.

The accuracy of the Partitions have improved quite a bit since the mid 70's when I first started buying them. It's seems about every decade since I started buying them they got better. This is especially true in lot to lot consistency.

10+ years ago, I compared some of the 70's vintage Pt's I had left to brand new Pt's in 150gr, 270 cal, and the newer ones were a fair bit more accurate.

Usually, if you look closely at the jacket, you can see the machine marks of the old screw turned Pt's.


Casey

Kaiser Norton: I taught myself to reload back in 1960 - the first bullet I reloaded in the family 30/06 Rifle was the Nosler Partition. And, IIRC, they came in re-enforced yellow and white boxes.
I have a suggestion - if you got 200+ of these projectiles then use them for Hunting.
If you got fewer than 200 then sell them and buy current manufactured Nosler Partitions.
Thusly you can avoid having to "redevelop" loads and "re-sightin" when you run out - as I am sure it will be hard to replace those older bullets from the yellow and white box era.
I used the 7mm 140 grain Partitions of the same production era (late 60's - 70's) and they were very accurate and lethal projectiles.
I will have to take the word of other posters on why the manufactured groove is there as "I" am not privy to its purpose.
Good luck with your bullets if you decide to shoot them.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Kaiser if you decide you don't want them you can send them over here.....I'd not worry a lick about pointing them at anything.

I'm still using the "old style" Nosler Partitions in my 270 and 264...the old Noslers work fine for me...

Well, I certainly didn't expect this much response. I have most of a box of 175's and 3 boxes of 140s (plus about 20 extras). I find it interesting to see the difference in the product over time, and ponder the detail work involved back then. Here is a photo of the box style:



140 on the left, 175 in middle, current 160 on the right:



Love the "vintage" bullet boxes.......

Thanks!

Kaiser Norton

Kaiser: The 160 on the right is a newer style;no relief groove.

The 175 is the older semispitzer.That's the bullet that both Warren Page and Bob Hagel used and thought so well of in the 7mm Mashburn Super.

Those old boxes look familiar.Use those old bullets with confidence.