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

A bear town...lol... must be nice...I think in the hole state of Missouri we have less than 20....

Would love to send you some of ours.

Will the bears need a passport..... :GRIN:

For you Randy we'll work around it.grin

Sound GOOD!

Mike, that avitar of yours is that a Panzer?

The only rifle I can directly compare Partitions and A-Frames in is my .257 Roberts with 120g versions of each. The A-Frames shot considerably better.

Sample of one, for what it is worth.

Another sample of one-
My 340 Wby shoots quite well with the 225 grain A-Frame-certainly better than with partitions, though the partitions show acceptable accuracy.

I shot them recently in a 270 FW and the Partitions shoot "better" in that rifle,but the Aframe stayed in an inch,while the Partition shot bug-hole groups.Just like any bullets, accuracy will vary depending on the rifle.

Yup the Tiger.

Germans have always made some of the best stuff!

Well, I'm getting acceptable accuracy with the Partitions and Speers. But I'd like to do a little better. Might help to not do this on a drizzly day, but I was getting 1.25-1.5 inch groups with some loads (RL19 was more like a buckshot pattern=2.5-3 inches, odd)). Both bullets would land two shots within 1/2 inch, then put the third about an inch away. Could just be me, but I was shooting lights out with the .264 (1/2 inch 5 shot, 1/3 inch 3 shot groups with the antelope load) in the same conditions.
I guess I will try some A-Frames.

I use A-Frames in my .338 Win Mag because they shoot more accurately than anything else that I tried in that rifle. I think that they might do a little more damage inside the body cavity compared with Partitions. I only have two elk taken with A-Frames compared to a half-dozen or so taken with Partitions in various chamberings. I would just shoot whichever is most accurate in your rifle. The difference in terminal performance is not that great.

Good luck!! For that hunt, I'd suggest which ever is lighter!!! That's some big, mean country.

I'm sorta digging your duo of rifles. I hunt everything with a ruger MKII 338 Win. (pronghorn's hate 210gr Partitions ) If/when I add something else to it, the practical side of me thinks 270/30-06/7mag. But, you're making me think that a pair of Rugers in 'Westerner' and 'Alaskan' dress wouldn't suck either...

That is mean territory.
Gotten my share of blisters and sore muscles in that country!

Good luck to you, Exbio!

I was able to avoid the blisters, but sore musclers were a given. Spent 20+ days in there last year helping a pard with a sheep tag.

Big country....

Very nice pictures, Pointer.
You spent 20 days up there?
You are a lucky man!

Thanks Pointer, great pictures. I'm pumped about the hunt. And I think my combination of guns is suitable for nearly any condition or game animal without being overkill or underkill, plus one has the looks, the other one is all business. But the looker is also a killer shooter (blueprinted using single point method, lilja barrel, glass bedded, sweet trigger, 1/2 inch 3 shot groups are norm with several combinations). However, the big Norma will be coming with me on the Idaho hunt for sure because it is the lightest of the two, by at least 2 pounds. So, it may still take some tweaking to get the new Norma to shoot to my satisfaction, but I'm confident she will.

Pointer....I do love that .338mag! Great pictures and man those hills look steep to this flatlander. Yep, looks like a young man's game, I betcha they sell air at the top for 10bucks a bottle hey.LOL

Now getting back to those bullets gents! I like the Nosler Partitions a bunch but not so much for big bull elk. I instead go the route of the Swift A Frames or Bear Claws. The Swift bullet mushrooms out bigger and creates a larger wound channel than the Nosler Partiton.

In tests I ran, the Swift A Frame penetrated deeper and still had over 90% of the bullet left. The Nosler Partition only had 56% of the bullet left. The Nosler Partiton Gold had 72% of the bullet left in tact.

340- The 20 days were spread over two separate trips. One involved a lot of walking in and one involved a plane ride and about 40 miles of rafting! It' didn't suck...

That's what I'm shooting for as well! The problem I'm having is whether to pick a logistically practical chambering (ie 270, 30-06, 308 etc) or something a bit more exotic, but not available in every super mart store. Good luck, take lots of pics and get back on that stairmaster!

Pointer,
If something exotic excites you (and it does for me), then go that route. A 270, 30-06 or 308 doesn't excite me, or I'm assuming you. Besides you can get something very similar and still have factory loaded stuff available(if that's a selling point), ie .280 Remington(or AI), .338 Federal, .264 Win Mag, 6.5-284, .257 and .270 Wby, etc . That way it's at least out of the norm, if not truly exotic, like a 7x61 S&H, .257 STW, 7mm JRS, 6.5 WSM, 8mm-06 AI, 6.5-300 Wby, etc.
Or one other route to go is make an exciting gun in a plain jane chambering, like a Mannlicher-style stock in high grade English Walnut(or Mesquite, or Purple Heartwood with zebrawood forend and grip cap or whatever), neato-torpedo sights, slicked up and blueprinted action, etc, etc, etc.
That example isn't exactly the Westerner vs. the Alaskan (which you have), but you get the point. If you're looking to fill that niche, the Westerner should be the looker in a .270 to .30-06 power range (but not necessarily those chamberings). The big ugly can of course handle the lighter duties, but lighter gun may be a little light for the big stuff that the Alaskan is called for, which is why the Alaskan should also be the gun you are more inclined to take out in inclement weather.
Let us know what you do!