In my 270s I have used the Barnes 140 gr, and the Nosler Partitions in 130 150 and 160 grain.
I have hunted with 3 men using the 150 grain Swifts too.
I have only recovered one of the above bullets ever. That was 2 seasons ago from a large cow elk I killed at about 400 yards. It was a Nosler 160 grain, which I hit her with as she was going away from be. I hit her about 2/3s back on the left side and I found the bullet in the neck under the skin. So it went through the body and up the neck about 12". It only lost about 30 grains of weight. Can't say I was disappointed. The mushroom looks like a magazine advertisement. It's perfect.
Every other 270 bullet from the list above I have killed game with and every other one I have seen game killed with were through and through wounds with good exits. The only down side I can accuse Barnes and Swift of is that they are so tough that they fail to expand much at striking velocities under 2000 fps, but that still gives the shooter of a standard 270 even with 150 grain bullets 1/4 mile of useful range with good expansion. If you shoot a Weatherby or a short mag you will get maybe 75 yards more. At 350 and under they work to perfection.
What my experience suggests is that the Nosler is the best all-around bullet because the exits I see are larger, as are the wound channels, then those made by the X bullets or the Swifts. Now this is just an educated guess because as I said, only one bullet of the 5 mentions above has been recovered. So what I am saying is bases only on the size of the wounds and the exits.
What I see from Barnes X bullet and from Swift bullets are holes about 1/3 smaller in diameter, but when you have exits, you can't get any deeper. 100% is 100%
All of them break bones just fine. All kill just fine. But the Noslers seem to be a bit more quick to put elk on the ground. Seconds only, but it's been something I have seen several times so I am sticking my neck out here and writing what I have seen.
What I am guessing is that the the Swift and the Barnes open up slower, and open up less, so their wounds are a bit narrower. All exit.
If I were shooting moose or buffalo I might give the nod to the Barnes of Swift over the Nosler, but for elk and deer, I think the Nosler is the better way to go by a small margin.
As to the long rage performance in my experience the Noslers are better. Here I need no guess work. This I can say from a great deal of experience.
The Noslers expand at lower velocities then either Swifts or Barnes and usually a lot lower, so you can expect good wounds at longer ranges than we should really fire at game with the Partitions. I no longer do this personally. I have made quite a few kills "waaaay out there" with my 270s in years past, but I grew up some, and realized it was a bit foolish to shoot that far. I was lucky and had a high degree of skill, because I never lost a deer and I never failed to kill. But game is a blessing, not an enemy so I stopped shooting those distances.
I never failed, but odds are that if I kept it up I would.
And I am a good enough hunter that most of my game is killed close. Some have been REAL close! So I see no reason I can't get to within 550 yards of anything now days, and I usually can get within 100 yards. 550 yards is now my self imposed limit for shooting any game animal. That includes antelope, and I do it all the time. In fact I have not killed any pronghorn in Wyoming in the last 22 years beyond 450 and most I have killed at under 150. I have killed 8 at under 10 yards and one at a distance I blew some hair off with the muzzle blast. I think it was about 18 inches. I feel far more pride in that kill then I do in my kills of 700-900 yards on deer.
But if you want a tough bullet for big game that works wonderfully at close range, and still has the capability to work out at loooong range, the Partitions are about the best thing I have used or seen used in the last 50 years.
Some of the new bonded bullets may be as good, but I don't have enough experience with them yet to say for sure.
Last edited by szihn; 08/11/17.
