Klik,
I wouldn't leap to any vast conclusions about the 150 Partition because of that deer. I have seen a 210 .338 stopped by a whitetail buck on a quartering shot, and it wasn't all the big a buck, no more than 150 pounds field-dressed. The cartridge was the .338 Winchester Magnum and the range was less than 200 yards.
There is something about an angling shot that tends to stop bullets, especially when they break out of the flesh at an angle to underside the of the hide. Many of the Barnes X's I've recovered, for instance, are found after such shots.
Though I do tend to agree that the 150 .30 Partition is a little stubby for bigger game. I would have no qualms about using any of the Partitions from 165 on up, though....
John,
No vast conclusions; in fact, it seems like a great bullet for caribou and less. And obviously, since even 55 grain bullets in the 223 have worked very well on moose several times when I've watched, even the 150 grain 30 cal Partition would also. But, on the basis of what can be counted upon to work reasonably well over a broad range of possibilities I would draw the line above the 150 Partition while giving the nod to a 150 copper/alloy monolithic type as a minimum in that weight. I haven't used the E-Tips or GMX, or whatever Hornady calls theirs, but I have used the 150 XBT and XFB in the 30-06 a number of times. I think the last time involved two caribou and both went flat really quickly. I wish I had had three lined up so I could have (might have) caught the bullet. A moose can simply be a lot more animal than many people seem to think they are. Yes, they die quite easily and generally close to the point of decent impact. But it is naive to underestimate what a 1000 pound moose can do to a rapidly moving piece of metal.
I agree with you about the heavier Partitions though.
