That's out of the .300 WM. I haven't lost a deer with it, but I generally haven't had the "anchor" effect with it that I grew used to with my .280 shooting the 150 gr. Partition.
I started hunting a bit in Kansas, where the potential range for a shot is that much farther. I thought whatever the .280 could do, the .300 would trump, but I just haven't seen it with the XP3 on deer; again, I think it's ripping through and exiting before enough damage is done. I'm hoping the cheaper Winchester load in the .300 will open up and drop them on the spot!
This is an interesting observation and I have seen pretty much the same thing over the years...medium weight Nosler Partitions of 130 to 165 gr weight driven from cartridges like the 270,280,7/08,7 mag,30/06,etc have always given me so many "easy" kills on deer of all sizes (from dinks to giants)that I just "expect" it.
While I'm certain other bullets do equally well,it is hard to beat the combination of rapid expansion and deep penetration provided by the Partition;and why I am a bit perplexed at guys running around trying this bullet and that,searching for the "perfect" deer bullet when it has been staring them in the face for over 50 years,especially if your deer run on the big side.
And they work as well at distances out to 500 yards through soft tissue as they will through the shoulders of a 300 pound buck at spitting distance. The fact that they have no "plastic tip",or are not a thin jacketed "blow-up" bullet should be of no concern to anyone with any experience.And yes I have had plenty of these mythical "DRT's" from Partitions that are supposed to be the sole province of thin-jacketed, hollow point target bullets today....
I too thought at one time that a 300 magnum of some sort would be superior on deer-sized stuff at long range in places like Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, and have used them for that purpose.....but over the years I learned that,while they certainly "kill", they don't kill deer sized game any better than stuff in the 270,280, 7 mag class,and recoil a lot more,so I have just forgotten about them altogether for that purpose.
