Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting A-Frame vs. Partition

Dober,
Whats the build of your 340Roy?

Thanks, MD, for the in depth details on the constuction and general performance of both bullets.
I've found that the SAF 160 gr. 284 bullets take about one grain more H4350 in my .280 to get the same velocity as other 160 gr. bullets. I suspect the relief cut around the AF is the reason.
I, too, have used lots of Partitions on all sorts of things. But I'm now loading the SAF 160 gr. bullets in my .280 for elk. We rifle looneys just love to split hairs. I've already found that the 160 gr. Partition, even though it only exited at 2680 fps out of my first 280, would work very well out to at least 400 yds. My "reasoning" is that the SAF may produce a slightly wider would channel and I kinda like that. In the .280 anyway. Now for my new custom mauser '06, I suspect that either the 180 gr. or the 200 gr. NP would be what gives me the warm fuzzys.
For the 760, '06 I'm acquiring, it's going to be a toss up between the 200 gr. NP or, gasp !, the 220 gr. Hornady RN..... It all depends on how close to zero my practice ammo, and the custom peep sight setup works.
I've got it all figured out you see. Now, as long as the critters and the hunting conditions don't upset my game plan, which they've been known to do.... E

Not yet, would you believe?
Work has been kicking my butt, I need to get out and burn some powder!
Ah well, not too long and I should be able to do just that.

Tim,
ship her to me here in Denver, and give it a go.... :GRIN:

Sure thing!

Mikey said you were working out of Denver again.
How's that treating you, Randy?

Thanks for the input guys,
I've got that "Medium Mediums" article laying around here somewhere, which is kinda what got me interested in building a .358 Norma. The twist on my rifle is 1:12, so I have little doubt about it stabilizing properly. I guess I'll just try em and see.

It sucks being away from the family.... But I still have a pay check.......

exbiologist,
Don't rule out the 225gr TSX in that Norma of yours. Would be my choice for muledeer & elk combo.....


I bet the TSX will out shoot both 250gr NP and the 280gr AF and doing so with less recoil and shooting flater to...

STA,
Don't be silly. You know you can't use a PF as your BEAR rifle!

Jordan, I have been told that before........ :GRIN: Hell your from Calgary, so I bet you have so many bear you trip over them on you way to work.....;)

Yeah I''m eyeing the TSX too, but I like heavy bullets. However, I think I can spit those out at way over 2900, probably closer to 3000. I'm getting in the low to mid 2800s with most powders using 250 gr Speers and Partitions.
Lets do a little 400 yard comparo here(200 yd sight in, 20 mph wind):
225 TSX at 2950 (BC .359) 1986 fps, 1971 ft lbs, drop 23.36, drift 31.53)
225 Accubond at 2950 (BC .421) 2116 fps, 2237 ft lbs, drop 21.91, drift 26.22
250 Partition at 2840 (BC .446) 2068 fps, 2374 ft lbs, drop 23.3, drift 25.86
280 A Frame at 2650 (BC .388) 1813 fps, 2044 ft lbs, drop 28.58, drift 33.45
I like how the Partition stacks up with its superior BC, assuming that's a correct value. I know I'm magnifying differences here with a 20 mph cross wind and 400 yard measurements, but for me those bullets are going to have to be a lot more accurate than the Partitions to see some field time.

Nolser shows the 225 Partition @ .430
and the 225 Accubond @ .421

Now my way of thinken a B-tip boattail accubond would have a better BC than a flat base bullet of the same weight.

With the 225gr TSX I have only shot them out to 500yds and my STA with a 200yd zero shoot as flat as a 300win shooting Horndy HM 180gr @ 3100fps....

Will say the 250gr NP would be a fine bullet

just looked and the BC .405 on the 225TSX.
http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=166406

never the less its fun to play with the big 35's

That's funny, my Barnes manual has the 225 TSX listed at .359, but I've seen how in some data sources they change the BC based on muzzle velocity and Barnes doesn't show any data for the big .35s (Norma or STA). And yeah, real curious as to why with an Accubond and Partition of the same weight, the Partition would have a better BC.
Guess, I better shoot em all and find out for myself.

340boy,

Yeah, the pure-copper jacket of A-Frames is "stickier" than the gilding metal (90-95% copper and the rest zinc) used for jackets by most bulet manufacturers. This is indeed the reason Swift's data is slower than that for most other bullets. A-Frames tend to create a little more pressure.

In fact in Swift's manual, the top velocities for the 280-grain in the .358 Norma are around 2500 fps. I for around 2600 out of my .358 Norma with a load halfway between Swift's starting load and maximum load, so stopped there.

In theory the .358 STA should be able to get about 100 fps more than the .358 Norma with the same bullets weights. I had a .358 STA with a 23" barrel for a while and never felt comfortable with more than 2700 fps with the 280-grain Swift. Eventually I decided the cartridge was essentially a .375 H&H, and in fact used .375 brass to load it. Never could see what it would do that the .375 wouldn't, but we all have fun foolin' with 'em!

Its only money....The big bullet companies love people like us.... Is the Norma going elk hunting this year?

Thanks John!

Heck yes the Norma is going elk hunting this year! I call her The Green Iron Fist. Anyway, I cleaned out all of my rifles except two when I got my FFL, so now I just have my maple stocked .264 and this synthetic stocked .358(the .338 WSSM project went bye-bye). The .358 also weighs a whole bunch less than the .264, and since it is my only bad weather/rough country gun(although the .264 has been carried in some rough country, it's probably pushing 10 pounds, I'll weigh em both when I ship my next gun) it will likely get the nod more often than not this year. And we've got a whole bunch of tags coming this June with which to decide who's going where.
Already got my Middle Fork B tag (backpack hunt Idaho in September, plus deer and bear), I'll have two tags here in Colorado (don't know where yet), and I might draw for New Mexico. Then we have to decide whether she or the .264 gets the nod for Colorado deer, Nevada deer (if I draw) or New Mexico deer (if I draw). The .264 already has dibs on Wyoming antelope and deer.

Nice I need to get my STA bloody agen soon.... (The Green Iron Fist) lol....I like it.... Got any pics?

I'm debating getting my STA bloody this year as well. It's been 7 years since it's drawn blood. I think it's about time. It's getting a make over, new stock, mounts, and floorplate this summer and will be like a new gun. Moose hunting in BC this year, so maybe I'll take it.

I've thought about trying the 280s several times over the years, but so far the performance of the 250 NP at 2950fps (23 1/2 inch barrel) has not let me down, so I haven't been able to make myself buy a box of the A-frames.