Nosler Partition Bullets What happens?

[markT]

I recovered a Partition Bullet form a buck I killed on Friday. 85 gr Nosler / I weighed the recovered bullet and it is 50.5 gr.
Where and what is the missing 35 gr?
Probably a real stupid question but I figured I throw it out there.

 

[Adam in WI]

Partitions are supposed to shed the front half. The rear is closed off to limit weight loss, and ensure penetration.

 

[Tommie]

Unlike Swift A-Frame bullets, Nosler Partitions are not a bonded design. It is common and normal for them to shed a sizable portion of weight.

 

[L.Sherm]

Partitions are supposed to shed the front half. The rear is closed off to limit weight loss, and ensure penetration.

I shot partitions for about 20 years before Bergers arrived and all did exactly what you described.
O.P mine all retained really close to what yours did.

 

[Gary in MD]

I recovered a Partition Bullet form a buck I killed on Friday. 85 gr Nosler / I weighed the recovered bullet and it is 50.5 gr.
Where and what is the missing 35 gr?
Probably a real stupid question but I figured I throw it out there.

Your bullet performance was exactly as John Nosler designed it to be. Congratulations on the buck.
Gary

 

[nakneker]

Old design but still a great bullet today. Lethal. When I’m shooting shorter distances and I know I won’t be shooting long range I still use partitions. My experience has been similar, most of the bullets I’ve recovered are close to 80% retention, hit a bone or something and you’ll lose more but the back half of that bullets always stays together. Accurate too.

 

[PD Gohil]

Not a partition, but a 160gr accubond from 7mm rem mag. 20 in of penetration and recovered weighing 101.5 grains. 63% weight retention. It blew through the spine, lungs and neck of a West Virginia whitetail.

Passthroughs are great for blood trails, however when a bullet is recovered on the off side under the hide it means that it dumped all available energy into that animal. That's really what I want!

PGohil
WV

 

[Tommie]

Passthroughs are great for blood trails, however when a bullet is recovered on the off side under the hide it means that it dumped all available energy into that animal. That's really what I want!

Agreed

 

[PhilC]

Performed as designed - https://www.nosler.com/products/bullets/product-line/partitionr.html

 

[markT]

“it means that it dumped all available energy into that animal.”
Yes sir!!!!
Or the animal absorbed all the energy from the bullet.
Six and one...

 

[ebb]

Before my trip elk hunting i decided to test my rifle. A friend owns an auto scrap yard and I wanted to see if my rifle had the balls to kill an elk. We found a big commercial well pressure tank and I backed off and shot the tank. When i walked up to inspect the penetration or lack of penetration, I noticed 2 holes in the tank. The front part of the bullet separated and went through and from the partition back made a separate hole.

 

[std7mag]

Try comparing them to Berger VLDs.
Retained wait is...
Well, i'm still looking for the bullets.
Found the jackets under the offside hide.
Cores, no sign of.
Internals look like goo.
Blood everywhere!

 

[Adam in WI]

I get a kick out of guys who try to gauge bullet performance by shooting them into random objects like metal or wood blocks. There's no valid data to be had; you need a fluid medium to simulate flesh.

 

[mroper3]

Here are pics of a 6MM 100GR Partition, shot from a .243 on a Whitetail. Lost 6.2GR. Granted, this bullet was made 25 years ago.

 

[john 800]

The weight came out of the front core, and I will add that near 100% weight retention is not always, or even often, better. As those little fragments of lead come off they are causing damage, damage to lungs if everything went according to plan.
I really wish they would put a boat tail on a partition to up the bc a bit. A high bc partition would be an excellent long range bullet because they can be made very soft, yet are still tough enough for shots that are close

 

[AckleymanII]

Before my trip elk hunting i decided to test my rifle. A friend owns an auto scrap yard and I wanted to see if my rifle had the balls to kill an elk. We found a big commercial well pressure tank and I backed off and shot the tank. When i walked up to inspect the penetration or lack of penetration, I noticed 2 holes in the tank. The front part of the bullet separated and went through and from the partition back made a separate hole.

I have seen this happen on deer, 95g Partitions, 6 Rem, MV 3150

Deer are real dead, real quick

 

[ebb]

This was a galvanized water tank that was about 3/8s thick and it was a 250-grain partition.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

That is exactly why I use them for hunting. Hit bone and they keep on going. Wife shot a 130 Partition through both shoulders of a bull Elk with her 270 one year. Found the bullet in the off shoulder, inside the ball joint. Bull dropped where he stood.

 

[markT]

I am very pleased with the Nosler...My first deer this year I double lunged it and it ran ~20 yds spitting blood. Every other shot has been one of those shot you see on those BS hunting shows.. The deer have just dropped. Absolutely satisfying. We process our deer so "I'm in a deer" a lot and can see:
A: where vitals are and where to aim
B: what the bullet does
I don't have long shots ( max 173 yds) so why shoot something that kills on both ends?

 

[AWS]

I use the 100gr in my 25-204 at 2850fps and they are great. I need to find some 100gr Partitions for my 6.5G