Nosler Partition or Trophy Bonded Bear Claw?

[hawkenman]

Last year I was fortunate enough to kill an elk, I was using a 7mm Mag. with 175 grain Federal Acu-Bond and it may have been a one time occurrence but the bullet didn't mushroom well. I've had some say Nosler Partition and others recommend the Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. The Winchester Supreme Elite XP3 was also suggested but they are hard to come by here in Florida.

[Drilling Man]

  The Bear Claw will retain more weight, but the Nosler Partition will expand faster and penetrate deeper, and i'll bet the NP will work at a higher velocity spread too...

  I like a bullet that expands well with excelent penetration, others like retained weight...  That part you will have to decide..

  DM

[hawkenman]

Thanks Drilling Man, I've wanted to try the new Winchester ammo Supreme Elite XP3 but no one seems to have them yet. But they've been advertising them for over 3 years.

[lucky guy]

I shot an elk this year with a Partition (180 gr 308, 2700 fps, 75 yds), and it weighed 93.5 gr. when I recovered it!!!  I can't say it didn't do its job, but I don't think I'll use them anymore.  You might want to check out the Barnes triple shocks.   They are awesome for weight retention and nearly perfect mushrooming.

Good luck with it!

[Drilling Man]

I shot an elk this year with a Partition (180 gr 308, 2700 fps, 75 yds), and it weighed 93.5 gr. when I recovered it!!!  I can't say it didn't do its job, but I don't think I'll use them anymore.

  An NP is suppose to expand fast, usually blowing the nose off the bullet, and then the rest of the bullet should keep on penetrateing.  It looks to me like your bullet did just that...

  That's what i like about NP's, they will even expand on thin skinned animials, or when the velocity falls off, yet they penetrate well too.

  That's why NP's are pretty much all i use these days...

  DM

[lucky guy]

  An NP is suppose to expand fast, usually blowing the nose off the bullet, and then the rest of the bullet should keep on penetrateing.  It looks to me like your bullet did just that...
  DM

Well, I'm not sure that the penetration was all that great for 75 yds and not hitting any major bones - about 24" and stopped inside the hide on the far side.  The nosler plant is here where I live.  I'm going to talk to them and see if that's what they had in mind.  I'll let you know what they say.

[lucky guy]

Well, I'm not sure that the penetration was all that great for 75 yds and not hitting any major bones - about 24" and stopped inside the hide on the far side.  The nosler plant is here where I live.  I'm going to talk to them and see if that's what they had in mind.  I'll let you know what they say.

I stopped in the Nosler shop today.  They seemed to like what they saw.  They thought the bullet hit a bone (rib on the way in?) and then it tumbled once or twice after the nose sheared off. 

 

[Bubber]

Well, I'm not sure that the penetration was all that great for 75 yds and not hitting any major bones - about 24" and stopped inside the hide on the far side.  The nosler plant is here where I live.  I'm going to talk to them and see if that's what they had in mind.  I'll let you know what they say.

Another guy from Bend Huh.
I have several Partitions I have recovered from just under the hide of elk, I have never thought about taking them into the pro-shop. All but one was perfectly mushroomed like you described. I usually buy their factory seconds and have always been satisfied with them.



 


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[Varmint Hunter]

If you want a Partition "like" bullet that will retain MUCH more bullet weight, shoot the Swift A-frames. They are an H mantle bullet similar to the Partition except they have BONDED cores which do not permit the nose of the bullet to smear off. Penetration will be better.

[Drilling Man]

If you want a Partition "like" bullet that will retain MUCH more bullet weight, shoot the Swift A-frames. They are an H mantle bullet similar to the Partition except they have BONDED cores which do not permit the nose of the bullet to smear off. Penetration will be better.

  True, BUT they don't expand as well at low velocities, or on thin skinned game as well as NP's do either...

  I've found no bullet that works as well as an NP, at both low and high velocities or works as well on BOTH thin skinned and tough bigger animials...

  DM