Tried some factory Federal loads in the early 80's loaded with partitions. Had 3 shot pencil through a middlin-sized whitetail at 150 yards. Two through the shoulders and one through the neck. Took them home and fired the rest of the box into a pile of sand at 50 feet. Out of the 17 I shot, 12 never expanded a bit. This out of a 25-06. I swore off them from then on.
Fast forward and I tried them again in a Model 99 243 and a Wby Vanguard 243. The Wby loves them, the Savage, not so much. The Wby also loves the accubond. Depending on the stand I'm hunting, I'll load with one or the other in the Wby.
In my 25-06's and others, it's mostly the Accubonds I'm shooting. Accuracy has been better and terminal performance has definitely been there.
Shot my elk this past year with the Accubond LR in my 264. One through both shoulders passed completely through. Had to put a second one in as he decided he wasn't dead yet and nicked a twig. Penetration through the ham, hip bone and about 4-5' of elk and lodged under the hide in the off shoulder ended the discussion.
In 30+ years of seeing multiple deer and elk each year, plus other game, shot with Partitions I can't recall seeing one fail to show some kind of expansion--even on a pass through. I can also remember several deer and elk killed by clients with factory Federal Premium Partition ammo.
