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Old November 5, 1999, 07:40 AM   #1
DB
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Join Date: November 4, 1999
Location: Roswell, Ga, US
Posts: 2
I've been hunting for 13 years now and I've never lost a deer before. Untill last Sunday that is. I shot a doe at 40 yds with my 30'06 using a 180gr Nossler Partition. She kicked like they always do with a heart shot, took a couple steps and stopped. I could see the entrance wound and saw it was perfectly placed. I was expecting her to drop on the spot when she took off runnning. At the spot of the shot I found blood and meat and for the first 40-50 yards a decent blood trail. But as I drew close to 100 yards from the original shot I found myself on my hands and knees looking for pin drops of blood. Then the trail just stopped.? What I'm wandering has anyone heard or experienced problems with Nossler Partitions not expanding upon impact?
Thanks for any info.
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Old November 5, 1999, 11:07 PM   #2
Ankeny
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Join Date: December 14, 1998
Location: Shoshoni, WY USA
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Argh...don't tell me that. I just bought a box of 180 Partitions for my .30-338. I shot a deer and an elk this year with Nosler Ballistic tips and the bullet failed to exit. Total jacket core separation and fragmentation upon impact.

What's the choice? A truckload of bloodshot meat vs. a lost animal? Do I need to go back to Sierra Game King?
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Old November 5, 1999, 11:51 PM   #3
Art Eatman
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Join Date: November 13, 1998
Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA
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Ankeny: Did the Game Kings work? Did you get good groups on target? If so, why change?

However, weird stuff happens when bullets hit. There ain't no such thing as "always".

, Art
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Old November 6, 1999, 06:56 AM   #4
DB
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Join Date: November 4, 1999
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I use to use the Gamekings...groups were ok, good enough for large game hunting. Switched to the Nosslers because of all the recent hype I've been hearing. Did some research yesterday after posting in here. Think I'm gonna switch back to the Gamekings. But the problem with the gamekings, you need some distance between you and the animal for optimum performance. Federal has introduced a new bullet, Trophy Bonded 165 gr Bearclaw. These are quoted by Federal to pull 2977fps and acheive 1.5 in groups at 100 yds. Think I might give them a try to. Cya, DB
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Old November 6, 1999, 09:24 AM   #5
k in AR
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Join Date: October 12, 1999
Location: Arkansas USA
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Out of my 30-06 the Federal P3006D 165gr Sierra GameKing Load give excellent accuracy. Consistently under 1 inch, and that bullet is very effective on Deer size game. However for heavier game I would want the Federal P3006F 180gr Nosler Partition load. That Nosler Partition is about the most reliable bullet on the market & has been proving itself for years. The only issue I ever have with Partition's is my rifle really doesn't like 180gr bullets & the groups open up to 1 1/2 inchs. But then even that is fine for hunting.

BTW: some people worry about the Sierra GameKing at close range, but I really haven't seen any evidence that a 308 or 3006 class weapon can get enough velocity on the bullet to cause problems, not even as close as 50 yards. Now if you use a 300mag or 300 Weatherby etc. you very well might have a problem at close ranges.

Just my 2 cents, k
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Old November 6, 1999, 11:47 AM   #6
Kingcreek
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Join Date: October 29, 1999
Location: rural Illinois
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I got some great groups with Sierra game king 165s in my .300win mag so I took it on a hunt as a backup rifle. Had problems with my .308 and wound up shooting a big whitetail buck at 100 meters with the .300mag.
Terrible bullet failure but got lucky and got the deer anyway.
My fault for not doing my homework.
Partitions have worked great for me,but the trophy-bonded should perform as well.
I still use the game kings in .308
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Old November 6, 1999, 03:00 PM   #7
Long Path
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Join Date: May 31, 1999
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DB: It sounds to me like you've answered your own question: <BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>"At the spot of the shot I found blood and meat and for the first 40-50 yards a decent blood trail. [/quote]

If you found "meat," you got enough performance out of your bullet. Did you find fur/hide? How about a fan of blood? How long after the shot did you go to look?

DB, as sad as it is to lose a deer, every once in a while, they can keep running, no matter the fine performance of the projectile.

I myself hit two doe last year just behind the shoulder with a .300 Win Mag, and watched them both run into the brush. I wasn't worried in either case; both were hit well with a great bullet (180g Sierra GameKing), but was surprised that they could make it 40 and 45 yards into the dense scrub near where they were shot. Did the bullet work? Sure! Exit holes the size of nickles. They just wanted to leave, and I hadn't broken the shoulder. I really feel the greatest thing about the Nosler Partition is that you can send your bullet through the shoulder without any fear of it breaking up. Meat damage? How much meat do you REALLY get out of the shoulder of a deer in your area? It's covered with white sheathing tissue, and is chewy, and if you've got more than 2 lbs of good meat in your deer's shoulder, you've got some monsters in your area! More important to anchor them, in my opinion. This, the Partition is made to do.

I have never heard of terminal ballistic failure in a Partition. The only complaint that I've ever heard with regard to Partitions is one of hair-splitting accuracy. The fact of the matter is, you've got 2 lead cores inline in a Partition, and thus have a high likelyhood of having their centers of mass being slightly out of synch. This may well open your 1" groups out to 1.5". (Though not always, and some loads and rifles seem to correct this a lot...) But once the bullet hits your game, the book is: you've got a damned good bullet.

Now, that said, I happen to virtually always hunt with Sierra GameKings in my L.R. rifle loads.

Ankeny: Nosler is sorta squirmy about admitting that their B.T.'s aren't really hard enough for elk. They're quick to point out that they've hardened them up over the original Ballistic Tips, and that's true. They're superb for deer, but I think they're a tad over-expansive for elk. (Of course, it's awfully hard to argue with your success, huh? ) Better to use the Partitions. Fear not with your .30-338.

I'm with Art (as usual): why mess with success? The 180 Game King is possibly the most accurate hunting bullet on the market (the 1000 yd Wimbledon Match was won with this bullet), and is a very hard bullet, though it expands even on thin-skinned S. TX whitetailed deer.

Without recovering the game or the bullet, DB's anecdote provides us with little evidence of the bullet's performance.

Sorry about the deer, though.



[This message has been edited by Long Path (edited November 06, 1999).]
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