Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 160 Partiton or 175 Partition in 7MM Rem Mag

Nailbender, with your 160 Accubond load, you really don't need anything else. Nosler's 175 gr Partition from a 7mm Rem mag works GREAT on elk. More than adequate penetration.

I know I may not need another load Guy M, but I like to diversify a little and try new things.

I have shot lots of partitions at paper but have yet to kill anything with one.

That needs to change next season now that I have 3 rifles that shoot them well.
Bobin NH what powder are you getting those velocites in the 7 mag with.
I am using RE22

Nailbender: I'm not shooting them in a 7 Rem Mag; I am shooting them in a 7mm Mashburn Super,24" barrel.

When I started using Partitions in my 7 Mag in 1980 the 175 was only offered in a roundnose configuration, so I used the (pointed) 160. It has worked great on Elk, including large Bull Elk. I'd surely recommend it.

My thoughts too.

Hmmm... Try both weight bullets and see which group better in your rifle. IMHO Accuracy counts more than the the fiveteen grain bullet weight difference.

I am going forward with the 175 in the 7mm Mashburn Super,after a good many years (back to the 70's) of using nothing heavier than the 160 in the 7 Rem Mag.

Of course back then the 175 NPT was a semi-spitzer,and the differences in trajectory became apparent between the 160 and the 175,when we hit 400 yards and beyond.

Today, the 175 is a full spitzer profile, has the highest BC of any Partition at .519,per Nosler.Don't recall if I mentioned this, but when started at 3075,and the 160 NPT about 3200 fps,both bullets impact the same clear to 600 yards.

I am using a 6x36 Leupold with the LR reticle,and I can easily interchange the two bullets with the same sight setting,from 200-600 yards...point being I am trying to find a good reason to use anything else in this cartridge, other than the 175,for everything,and can't come up with one.

I'm going to take a contrary position to most here. How does the last little bit of accuracy help to reliably kill elk? To me the bullet performance INSIDE elk matters more than 1/2" smaller group size. But then I don't choose to shoot at elk that are more than 300 or so yards away. I you do, and have the ability to shoot your rifle accurately enough in the field to take advantage of a tiny bit better grouping ability, it could change the equation. But I doubt it.
While 7mm NP 160's are very good elk bullets, 175's are just a little better at achieving penetration while breaking heavy bones. I have seen a few light and medium weight bullets stop when they hit the humerus or the head of the scapula on elk and moose. Their somewhat better ability to continue to penetrate on a straight course after hitting heavy bone makes me choose heavy for caliber bullets every time - unless considering the mono metal types.