Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 308 Partitions, WTF?

Has Nosler gone FULL Queef and stopped making them?

Look again. On the shelf right next to the 7mm and 30cal Ballistic Tips. Oh, wait....never mind. Must be a "Supply Chain" thing. Or something........

Ukrainian snipers demand nothing but the best……😂

May be one of those spiffy MBA types from the old Remington managed to land at Nosler and started thinking:

Partitions? ain't those things like really old, and OMG, no plastic tip and not bonded??? Whose gonna buy that crap?

My formula crammed spreadsheet says to drop that POS from the product line and spiff something up with, oh, how about fluorescent plastic tip? Yea, all my education says we'll sell bunches of them.

That, or mebbe more hats...

Jorge1: I have a lifetime supply of my beloved Nosler 30 caliber 165 grain Partitions.
I suggest (apparently YOU have NOT learned!) that if you have a favorite load/loading component that you set aside a lifetime supply of that item.
I have weathered several "shortages" over the last 16 - 20 years without "pain" by doing as I suggest. Which grain weight 30 caliber Nosler Partion - I will get on the lookout for you.
Good luck in finding what you need in todays markets.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Jorge,

One of the obvious answers is that during each of the repeated "shortages" of the past 30 years or so (the first occurred after the Clinton "assault rifle ban), component companies could not keep up with demand. Their logical response was to concentrate production on their best-selling items--and I doubt the 150 Partition sells nearly as well as Nosler's other .30 caliber Partitions. An educated guess would be that the big .30-caliber sellers would be the 165- and 180-grain--with the 180 probably leading.

180 Partitions is specifically what I'm looking for. I have about 150 left....

That’s it! Twist the knife!😜

Actually, I’ve done the same myself when others have complained about shortages. I’ve resolved to not be that guy in the future, if I can control my Inner Jackass.

I’ve been revamping my loading area lately and was amazed at all the bullets I have on hand, so my other resolution is to shoot them up before I buy more, easier to do now with so many good ones absent from the market. Many are from SPS, but there’s also a lot acquired according to your strategy. Things don’t always go as planned though, and stuff piles up.

Good luck, Jorge. Sorry I can’t help you with those.

Jorge,

I was in somewhat the same place a year or so ago after buying my Griffin & Howe Springfield. Happened to find some of the 180 Protected Point Partition "blems" on sale through their Shooters Pro Shop, so restocked with those--as their slightly lower BC wouldn't make any difference at the ranges I'd be shooting with the G&H and its Lyman Alaskan scope. So I bought 300.

(With one exception, have yet to be able to detect any difference between Nosler "firsts" and their "blems," whether in appearance or performance--and have used blems for a lot of my hunting since the late 1980s. The exception was some 200-grain .30 Partitions that did have small but visible flaws in the finish--but they still worked fine.)

sometimes blems are actually just a over run , i got some of them in the past

John, I too have found no difference with "blems" or protected v spitzers. Hell, I'll take a round nose!

I recently bought 150 off the shelf at a local shop. They were in the most recent packaging. I also bought some of the “seconds” that looked nearly identical except they had a very shallow cannelure. One thing I noticed is that there was some variance in the location of the cannelure within the lot. They shot just a little worse than the “firsts”, but still absolutely precise enough for my purpose.

I 'solved' my 180 gr. Partition problem with 180 gr. A-Frames.

Then the LAST bullet they would pick would be a Partition.

I haven't used them on game yet, but I just picked up 600 Speer Hot Core 165 gr soft point boat-tails. They advertise a good BC and I'm sure they will be enough for Missouri whitetail and whatever varmints I happen across on the farm--hogs, coyotes, bobcats, ground hogs, etc. For 1/4 of the price as Partitions, its hard to justify not shooting them.

Speer boat tails are not of Hot Cor construction unless something has changed. The boat tails are deliberately made "softer" than the flat base Hot Cor bullets.

You could be right. They should be waiting for me next week when I get home. However, the point remains.

What will be the launcher?

I’ve got a whole bunch of .308 Winchesters they will be used in, but my main rifles are a T3X Superlite, an old Ruger M77 MK II that’s been worked over, and a little Rem 700 VS that has a barrel shortened to 18” and threaded for a suppressor. I’ll save the partitions for big game and shoot the cheap Speers.

From a 308 the Speers should be good deer and hog bullets.

Yep, I think they should be descent for that.

That has been my motto since 1991 People laughed at me when I bought hunting ammo/bullets by the case when on special or clearance...... was looking at some cases of blue box federal 243 308 270 and 30-06 that was bought for $9.99 per box and 7mag and 300 mag for $11.99 those times are like the extinct now.... I spent a lot of money then but thinking now about what I actually saved

Straight off the Speer site,
Bullets like Speer’s Boat-Tail, which features an aerodynamic design that improves long-range performance, are ideal. Boat-Tail bullets have relatively thin jackets, but this is perfect for hunting a light-boned, small-bodied deer that prefers terrain where shots are likely to be long.

And some are just clearance items. Long ago, Grafs used to send out a cheap-paper flyer with clearance stuff just listed, no pics or description. You really had to go through it with a fine comb. I picked up IIRC 300 of the Partition Gold 150s, the ones with the little steel cups in the base, for like 8$ a box. Wish I’d bought more, but then I still have some because one just doesn’t waste Partitions on targets.

I also bought a few boxes of 150gr Partition overruns from SPS for $20 a box. Overall, I may have 300 total, plenty for an old man with a gammy leg. 46gr of H4895 in anyone’s .30/06 brass with anyone’s primer shoot very nicely and kill deer just fine. When my 165gr BT/AB blems I usually shoot in .308s out, I’m switching to 130gr TTSXs.

That is exactly what happened^^^^

I do not think they have stopped making them, as they are still listed by Nosler and many sellers.

Unfortunately, this is the times we are in. Just keep looking, that has been my strategy. When they show up, grab them.



After getting caught with the Obama era shortages, never again. Biden/Covid has impacted me a little by not always having my first choice in powders, or bullets.

Unfortunately no matter how much we argue about minutiae on this site, there are plenty of other products that will do a great job.

Do not know what you are shooting them out, but Midway lists three 180gr bullets I would not be afraid to use in place of the partition.
Hornady IL
Hornady CX
Barnes TSX

Found these on SPS

Nosler 180gr AB lubalox

I would seriously look at these as I bought 800 of the 140gr for my 270's.

Have had very good luck with the plain ballistic silvertips and NABs. Thinking these should be really good.

And how do you know this?

As usual, he doesn’t.

It seems like they have really dropped the ball on m most of their bullets during this democratic shortage.

I grabbed 200 of the 180gr AB lubox coated from the SPS a couple months ago. Website said there might be loose tips in them. I haven’t opened the bag they’re in yet to see how many are blemished or loose but they’ll be fine to sight in or practice. If I remember right they were less than $25 per 50. I can sand my Partitions for actual hunting.

The 180g Hornady flat base thinks it is a partition.....so you know

The Jap model of running business makes sense to the Accountants:

80% of sales is in 20% of the inventory produced. So, the result to keep the company more profitable(bonus money) is to produce more of the 20%.

Re-loaders are screwed, especially if their likes and wants are out of the 20% model.

That has been my experience with the 150gr IL in my 270's also.

with tax and shipping that is over 50 cents a bullet for a grade c blem

The factory seconds I have purchased had a variety of weights. Either too much or too little.

And very few would weigh what was what they were supposed to be.

The ones I bought as firsts….often weighed as they should.

it is like kentucky fried chicken not having chicken...... 180 partitions and accubonds no where to be found.

I like Nosler Partitions, I buy them by full or part box as I find them at gunshows for a reasonable price or I leave them for someone else. SPS has supplied me many over runs and blems until the.last panic when the sps turds decided they were gold plated. Over 50 years of hunting, shooting ctr fires and reloading I am convinced that where you put a bullet is more important than it being gold plated. Now days I buy and try whatever I find a deal on. Works for me
..mb

Looked at a box of .264 140gr Partitions at Sportsman's Warehouse. $74.99 for 50! At $1.50 Each it's a wonder there is any market for them...........

Good post. I think a lot of us are at that point as well.



I'm sorry, but I call bs on that one. You didn't buy them from SPS because those were just like firsts. Many here can attest to that. However, they think they are made of gold now, so many of us don't buy them anymore. F UCK them until they pull their head out of their azzes. Until then I'm perfectly content with Hornady interlocks, SST's, ELDX's and the like.. I still like partitions and I still have a good supply of seconds I bought from SPS for $13/bag. But to say they are all over the place for weight or differ much from firsts, that is when the bullschidt flag gets raised. It's like guys saying they don't shoot as good as firsts too. BS...!!!

Here are a couple of pics of the 277 140gr AB.
Bottom picture has some 150gr Ballistic Silvertips for comparison.




I just weighed a bunch of them and they went from 139.9 to 140.2. I do not shoot long range or competition. Will have to see how they shoot.

For comparison the 150gr weigh 149.9 to 150.3gr.

I apologize for actually weighing my bullets………




Jeeeez ….,time 4 a nap buddy?

I went to Nosler at SHOT and brought this theory up directly to a salesperson I know who's been around a while. The answer was no we haven't gone full Leupold yet... (Being that both are Oregon companies this seems completely plausible to have wandered off the res in the last 10-15 years)
What I did learn was and it was reiterated to us that we would have .30cal Partitions in the 3rd or 4th quarter of 2023. My response was great now go buy your planning/production team a [bleep] calendar cause that's hunting season. So, we'll have our beloved Partitions for the 24-hunting season.

No need to apologize to me.

You brought up the subject of varying weights. Thought I would provide the information on the C grade bullets I received.

Not Partitions, but SPS has 165 Accubonds in stock.

165 Partitions on SPS site right now. Still a bit spendy for blems, but that's the world we live in now.

And barnes is a better bullet for big game by far anyway. I'm just not impressed with partitions vs barnes on moose and big bears.

Literally not buying 1000 bullets when we get a new barrel at a minimum is dumb. BTDT. Pants down. We try like heck not to let it happen ever again.

One rule of thumb the last 15 years or so is... powder only comes in 8 pound containers. Primers only come in 5000 sleeves. And bullets only come in lots of 1000. Minimum.

I can see getting caught. It just happens.

Sure hope you find some. I think I have some but likely its a box or even only part of a box. I had some issues with the 180s in the 300 mags years ago and quit using the partitions at that point in favor of the barnes.

I will go look one day when I'm around the house and see if I can find them in the old loading room if there are any left.

What I know about the bullet building business is nothing, so there's that. BUT, I wonder which Partition is the best seller. I'd guess it's the 180gr 30 Cal (maybe the 7mm 160?). I base this on a minimally educated wild guess, but would hope that keeping that one in production would be a company priority. I'd like to see some 180 BTs, too.

Does anybody but me use the classifieds here with a WTB ad for such issues??

No doubt one could probably have a minimum of 100 of these headed his way within 24 hours of placing an ad.

Leave it up for a week and you will have more bullets than you can shoot in a lifetime.

Guess it's easier to complain than to take action.

WTB ads are not without their own problems. On a site with known members, like this one, scammers can mostly be avoided. I did get some 30cal Trophy Bonded Tips that way (could always use more HINT). It's still not unreasonable to expect some Noslers to show up for sale at retail. Congrats on your success, though.

I bought two boxes of Nosler #54825 .30 cal, 180 gr. Accubonds yesterday at one of my local stores. Left seven more boxes there for anyone else needing them.

Good shootin' -Al