Non-bonded boat tails are almost assured to suffer core separation and "blow-up".
The old Hornady Interlocks were less likely to come part then the Sierra Boat tails. The interlocks can too, but usually go deeper before they do.
I have used a few of the Sierra flat base (Pro-hunters) in the past and the one that seemed to work best was their 220 grain.
Now I am a bit of a fanatic about bullet performance, but I have to admit that even a poor bullet placed perfectly will do the job. You seldom will get what can be called excellent performance from such bullets, but the skill of the hunter can overcome the lesser properties of the bullet.
I recommend and I use super good bullet because I can, and because I do have that luxury.
The very best recommendation I can give (and only useful if you can follow the advise) is to buy a box of fifty 180 grain Nosler partitions and about 20 boxes (of 100 ea) of a good flat base accurate and inexpensive bullet. I used Hornadys, but Sierras will do just fine. Use the 2000 "cheep" bullets for shooting varmints, dirt clots, sticks, paper, and so on and shoot them a lot. Get you skill level up and then load the Noslers for elk.
I have done this for many many years. I started using Noslers in my 270 when I was 12. That was 1967. Since then I have bought about 10 boxes of Nosler partitions for all the calibers and weights I have used them in.
257" 120 grain 1 box,
270 in 130, 1 box,
150 grain 2 boxes
and 160 grain,2 boxes,
30 cal in 200 1 box
and 220 grain1 box,
8MM in 200 grain 1 box,
338 in 250 grain one box,
9.3 in 286 grain 1 box
and 375 in 300 grain on box.
Now that's 500 Nosler bullets over nearly 50 years of hunting purchased, but of them all I have shot up one full box of 150 grain 270s at game and had to buy another one. All the rest listed here are not all shot up yet, I have only 7 bullets left from the 375 so soon I will buy another box of them. I only confirm zeros and test for accuracy and then they are only shot at big game.
The point is that you can use the flat based Noslers with the same load as the flat based Hornadys or Speers or Sierras and get a very close zeros, and in some cases no difference at all. You can then afford to become a good marksman with the cheaper bullets.
Another thing to consider is although the Partitions are the gold standard, there are some other bullets that will give nearly equal performance in most cases. One that I have been quite impressed with is the Winchester 30 cal Power Points in both 150 and 180 grain. Not near as expensive as the Nosler partitions, but so far I have seen no blow-ups with them, and the few I have recovered are averaging about 70%-75% weight retention and they are MOA or less in accuracy. And yes, I have killed elk with them.
As much as I am dedicated to good bullet performance I will still acknowledge that the largest factor BY FAR is the skill of the hunter and his ability to place his shot. Perfect placement with a so-so bullet if better then poor placement with a perfect bullet.
The best is perfect placement with a perfect bullet.
You can buy a perfect bullet, but you must make a perfect placement and that only comes from practice, so buying "cheep" bullets is actually quite important. Your skill is the most important thing to consider, not what you buy.
Last edited by szihn; 06/11/17.
