Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 180 Partition vs 200 Partition

I loaded the 200 grain Nosler Partition for our 30-06's for many years. It was used for moose and caribou and we rarely shot past 150 yards on the caribou and past 100 yards on the moose. Back in the mid 80's I switched to the 180 grain Barnes X. It has less recoil and penetrates deeper. If I lived and hunted some where else and was constantly taking shots past 300 yards I would probably use the Nosler Partition as the front always opens up. When I moved to Alaska in the mid 60's the 180 grain Nosler Partition in the 30-06 was the favored bullet for the hand loaders I knew. After Nosler changed the 200 grain Partition to a spitzer it became more popular up here. Several of my friends shoot the 200 grain NP out of their .300 mags. One nice thing about the Nosler Partition line is the consistency. The bullets are easy to get a hold of and they don't change the design every 3 or 4 years because it is great the way it is. Lots of my friends rush out and buy the newest and latest design.

I can drive a 200 gr. Nosler as fast as I can shoot a 180 so why not..I have killed a lot of game with both..I prefer the 200 hands down and yes, I can tell the difference

If your really want "penetration" use the 220 gr. Nosler in the 30-06..It will penetrate as deep and most of the time deeper than any of my "big bores"..Its awesome at 2400 to 2500 FPS. and walks on the heels of my solids in my big bores..just doesn't have the cross section to make if comparable in knockdown.

Hi Ray,

I shoot the 180gr NP in my 30-06...now entertaining the 200 and 220gr because of your post...

What's the estimated difference in drop out to 200 yds between the three of um....

Thanks!

Hardly noticeable out to 300 then you will notice the 220 has a bit more drop than the 200 and 180s...but you wont' have wind problems with the 200 or 220s....I can hold over better than I can dope wind out here in the West.

The 200s shoot about an inch or two flatter in my gun than the 180s probably because both are 2700 FPS velocity and the 200 is a longer and heavier bullet so it holds up very well indeed. But for all practical purposes in the field you won't be able to tell the difference between them.

As long as you test the loads and know the impact it's easy to hold over..also I never shoot at big game beyond 400 and only then if all is about perfect and I have a lot of time.

Where the 200s and 220s really shine is in my 300 H&H, thats really noticable..The 300 H&H with the long neck and the long bullets don't crowd into the powder space get a lot of velocity, just a tiny tad behind a 300 WBY as a matter of fact. Beats my sons 300 Win pretty much.

Most folks that actually have usee the 200s to an extent seem to like them better than 180s it seems, I know that I do. But the 180 Nosler is a dang good bullet, not doubt in my mind about that..I used it for years.

Thanks Ray I appreciate your time!

Just a thought on using the heavier bullets when I get a chance to whack some island porkers on a cull hunt...Been using the 150 WW Power-Points with no probs whatsoever!

Wanted to try somethin' different for a change

Thanks again sir for the confidence

Aloha!

Ro

Neck length has precisely ZERO to do with bullets "crowding into powder space." A bullet occupies exactly the same volume of space regardless into which case it is loaded. The ONLY factors that affect powder space encroachment by a bullet are bullet length, and chamber throat length OR magazine length (whichever is the limiting factor of COL). A 150 grain bullet occupies the same volume of space loaded in a 300 mag as it does loaded in a 30-30. It may be of more consequence in the smaller cartridge because the ratio of loaded to unloaded space is less, but the absolute quantity of space is fixed.

Okay, I have ran headlong into the wall with this, do or die. Now someone prove me wrong. Please.

Thanks.

You're exactly right. I have written about this numerous times in various places.

Powder room is powder room, whether it's inside the neck or inside the case body. In fact many cartridges with short necks will have more powder space than round with longer necks. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a good example. While many bullets "protrude" down below the neck when seated to standard overall length, there is additional powder room around the base of the bullet. This isn't true of the .300 H&H.

Also, bullets protrude below the neck in just as many long cases as short cases. If, for instance, we seat a 200-grain Nosler Partition to standard factory OAL in the .300 Weatherby and .300 WSM, the base of the bullet will end up just about the same distance below the neck, inside the case body.

The entire theory of longer case necks "losing" less powder capacity was promoted by older gun writers, but 1/4" or 3/8" (or whatever) of the shank of a bullet takes up just as much powder space whether it is inside the neck or seated below the shoulder.

And when the bullet diameter is small compared to the body diameter (257 Roberts, 6mm Rem) hanging it out 2/10" farther "where it ought to be" in a long action won't amount to much if it's loaded to the same pressure, everybody's "zero freebore fast barrels" notwithstanding.

Ray,

What's the purpose of the 220 Partition's extra penetration? I seldom recover 180 Partitions and 200 partitions would, I'm guessing, penetrate deeply enough for anything legal to shoot with a .30 Caliber.

I wonder how well the 180 vs. 200 translates to .338s at 338-06 and 338 Fed velocities? Probably pretty much the same?

Why buy a 338 Federal and shoot 180 grain bullets through it? I don't understand.

Why not? It's just a .308 case. The 308's sweet spot is 150s to 180s, and in my opinion the 338 Fed sweet spot is the 180s to 210s. That, and the 185 shoot very well. But, that starts to get pretty far off OP's subject so I'll save that for another day.

I think....and it's odd for me to do so but I think that the reason people drop to the 180 in the 338 federale is the same reason people drop to the 120 in the 7/08. They're looking to get more speed out of the lil cases.

And real world it works out just fine with them. I could do 99% of what I do with either round/combo just fine.

Fact is I've always been a 338 nut case, I presently have a 338/06, 338 WSM and a 340 and I could easily pick up a Lil Sky in the baby 338 Federale round.

Dober