The 300-grain .375 Partition has been one of the models designed to retain more weight for a while now. In the fall of 2003 Phil and Rocky stopped by our place in Montana for a quick visit. It was the first time we'd met, but knew each other through some correspondence.
Phil and I naturally started gacking about guns, and among other things I well remember showing him the two 300 .375's I'd managed to recover. (I've shot a bunch of game with them since, but those are still the only two recovered.) One retained 87% of its weight and the other 88%, and after handing them to him he said, "That's just perfect!"
A few years later I had a talk with John Nosler about the Partitions designed to retain more weight. He said they move the partition forward enough to guarantee a minimum retention of 75% of the original weight, even if the front core and jacket totally disinegrate. I have only found one that light, a 286 9.3 that whacked a big blue wildebeest in the shoulder joint as it stood quartering toward me at around 200 yards. The bull went about 25 yards and keeled over, and the bullet ended up under the hide at the rear of the ribcage.
That's also one of the only pair of 286 9.3's I've recovered, the other from a big bull moose in northern British Columbia, which retained a little over 90% of its weight. Have also recovered a pair of 400-grain .416's from Cape and water buffalo, which retained 83% and 95% of their weight.
As with most lead-core bullets, the lighter retained weights have occurred with bullets that hit heavy bone. The lighter .416 Partition, for instance, broke the right shoulder of a Cape buffalo--after penetrating from the rear of the left ribs, a distance of at least five feet.
Impressive John. Thank you!
Guy
