Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Tell Me About .243 dia Nosler Partitions

There are 3 weights 85, 95 and 100 grains. Is there a weight that has shown the most promise, accuracy wise, for those in the know. I have a new to me Remington Classic and am needing input on a nice whitetail bullet. The 100 gr Hornady flat base may get a chance but I do detest cannelures.

My only experience is with the 100's. Been shooting them in my Ruger 77 for 20 years or so, puts 5 shots into 3/4" all day long, the occasional 1/2" if I do my part. I bought the gun new, and other than having a 'smith set the trigger at 3 pounds, it's stock. I did learn early on to take shoulder shots with the partition, I had a couple pencil through the lungs when I shot tight behind the shoulder to save meat, and didn't hit a rib. Those two deer ran a long ways, one went over 2 miles! These were North Dakota farmland deer - field dresssed weights of 175 to 200 lbs.If you take out the shoulder, they're DRT. The only partition I've recovered was from a buck I shot at a lasered 425 yards - broke the near shoulder and lodged in the far shoulder, deer dropped in his tracks. The recovered bullet was the classic partition you see in pics-front gone, jacket folded back over the rear core. I'm launching them at 2900 fps (best accuracy in my gun). Good Luck

Tim,
Can't say I know much but have some opinions.
Have only used the 85 partition in several .243s and one 6x284.
In various 700/243s and one older sako, the following powders all worked great;

H4895- 36 grns

R 22- 48 grns

H414- 42.5 grns

H4350-42.0 grns

Also liked BlC2, 4064, 4320

Actually, I switched to 95 Btips the last several years and think they do a little quicker job. Kids are all up and gone and starting in with the grandkids now. Last year he used a 95 BTip and 7828. No problems.

In my remington 700, the 95 partition did extremely well with RL22. Don't discount the 85 sierra hollowpoint gameking. It did very well on antelope and deer for us. Used IMR4350 for that one. Good luck.

Im kinda of a 243 junkie,the first one I got was a ruger 77 bicentennial {1976} and it is twisted 1:10 and with much work and time spent I learned that 1:10 twisted 243s love and stabalize the 80-85 grain bullets and 1:9 twisted 243s love the 100-105 gr. bullets,Im kinda curious why you hate the cannalure as some body in the bullet making game was just helping you out,80-85 grainers will kill a deer just as dead as a 100 grainer and I would rather match the bullet to the barrel than match the rifle to the game...........

Might want to give the 100 gr Solid Base Nosler seconds a try, but they do have the ring you dislike, they shoot well in several of my .243's from an ADL, a model six pump a 99 and surprisingly under an inch in an el cheapo NEF Handififle, dam thing just shoots,

I've used both the 95 gr. bullets and the 100 gr. varieties. Both the old machine screw design and the newer spitzer designs.
Out of my old .240 Weatherby, the 95 gr. bullet would hold together and kill very quickly at velocities where I've had the 100 gr. Hornady break up on the surface. Now, in all fairness, that was only one example. But, by and large, the NP's opened as fast, or faster, killed every bit as well and did not break up even on heavy bone. I've had the 100 gr. bullets open very well at well over 500 yds. 3200 fps muzzle velocity. I had a 95 gr. bullet, muzzle velocity of almost 3400 fps. blow the whole front of the bullet off with a broadside shot at 30 yds on a running buck. He was down so fast I didn't know what happend to him. Exit hole the same size as the entrance hole. Lungs where a mess.
They worked quite well in the ex's .243.
I call them the best choice in the 6mm size for big game that I've used.
The 85 gr. bullet was designed for the older .244 Remingtons and their 1-12 twist. No point in using them to my way of thinking.
I was always able to find a load that shot at least 1.5 MOA, usually an inch or even less at listed velocity so no complaints there either. E

I don`t know if Nosler has a staff to accept calls like Sierra or not, but I believe I will try to make contact with them, and see whats up.

I appreciate everyones input as it is very nice to have hands on real world experience to make decisions from.

I have worked up loads for the 95 and 100 grainers. The 95gr seemed to be a little more forgiving with different powders, but ultimately the 100gr were just as accurate.

For most of this new millenium, I've been using the 100gr PT in a 243W to kill elk. I was told at one time by a Nosler rep at a gun show, the 100gr has the partition a bit further forward than the 95gr.......


Casey

As a kid, I killed a lot of deer with the 243win using 95gr PT's and IMR4350. I pretty much just shot broadside critters back then and was never able to get a whitetail to stop one of those little bullets. I preferred their performance to the 95gr BT and 100gr Interlock.

Tim; I've shot both deer and elk with the 100 gr. Nosler, as usual with partitions, they are a sure bet. Butttt, detesting cannelures or not, I've done the same ( elk and literally a couple tons of deer) with the 100 gr. flat base Hornady. For all I could tell, it worked as well as the Nosler...
Both got 39.0 gr. of IMR 4350 IIRC ( Check that first, I don't recall as correctly as I used to....)
Ingwe

Thanks again from the front row of accomplished hunters! My distain for a cannelured bullet is just asthetics. I don`t like them when I adjust the bullet say -.006" off the lands and lo and behold the cannelure is 1/8" from the case mouth. I have never used them from very early on in my handloading since the mid 1980`s. I do wish i had a couple 100 gr Hornady FB`s just to see how that panned out in this little Classic. I have a bud who sold off his 243 and has a few components to trade me for some 270 stuff which I no longer need. He has 1/2 box of 100 grain Partitions and some 95 grain Ballistic Tips. I feel the Partition is where its at for me in this rifle. You guys reassured that. More comments are surely welcome.

dead, dead, dead

I suspect the reason for the 95 in the Partition has to do with some rifles, a 6mm I owned was one example, which don't like the length of the 100-105 spitzers. My rifle only seemed to be able to stabilize the 100 Sierra SMP Pro-hunter in that weight. By using a 95 Partition I could get useful accuracy. I never did try the 100 PT based on the fact that cup and cores of the same weight just would stay in a cluster.

In the 40 odd years that I have hunted hogs and deer I have killed over 100 deer and God only knows how many hogs with the 100 grain partition in a .243 Winchester with 40 grs of IMR-4350. I have used Winchester 88's, Remington 600's & 700's all of them shot the 100 grain very well. The only thing I changed over the passage of time is I went to a CCI BR primer, it seems to make the groups about 1/4 inch smaller. I do not hunt with the 243's as much as I once did, now the grandkids get to use the 243's. A few years ago I ran across a very slightly used .240 Weatherby MK V and have enjoyed it on a few hunts, it shoots the 100 gr partitions into 1/2 inch three shot groups at 100 yards. Before deer season opened last year I got a 100 pound hog at 310 yards with the Weatherby, a bang flop. That was a good opening to an even better hunting season.
Good shooting,
Marcus.

I have decided on a bullet and powder for my testing. I will use the 100 grain Nosler Partition and have selected N160 as the powder to start with. The powder was listed on the PDF file and the 243 Winchester was mentioned. This usually is a very good sign. Thanks to all, and any comments are still quite welcome.

I have a Rem 722 in 244 and tested the 95 and 100 grain Partitions. The 95 grain ones shot very well, but the 100's didn't, maybe because the 722 has a 1-12 twist, not sure. But, I was able to drop 3 shots into a 1/2" group at 100 yards with the 95's, so it's my go-to load for that rifle.
On Nosler Partitions generally, I have several different rifles in 25 caliber and 7mm that all shoot Partitions very well. I can't say enough good about them. They are expensive and I don't plink with them, they're for hunting.

YMMV,

Don

Tim, I will let you know that the .243 Winchester with 100 grain Nosler Partition bullet, is one heck of a whitetail getter. Many don't think much of the .243 Whinny for use on deer but you put that Nosler bullet in the vitals and you will have yourself a deer. I once shot a 100 grn Partition through a 3 inch tree limb, then another 3 inch tree limb, piece of 22 gauge barn tin, 1/2 plywood and two 2 x 4's, total distance was 65 yards. Now that is a lot of penetration!

You cannot deny that!! I am looking forward to the accuracy testing, and am hopeful of at least 3/4" groups at 100 yds. The Partition has a well deserved reputation, and maybe the crown jewell bullet for the .243 bore.

I'm late in the discussion, but I could never get 95 gr. PTs to shoot as good as 100 gr. PTs, so that's what we use. We've killed dozens of deer and antelope with them over the years, all the way back to the lathe-turned bullets, and there is not one recovered bullet in our "mushroom" collection, they just never seem to stop going! And this is primarily on big South Dakota whitetails and mulies.