Nosler Partitions And Ballistic Tips....misunderstood?

[devon deer stalker]

You lot just over think things, double lung shot, job done, big target area, it's not that difficult is it?
Cheers
Richard

 

[A Guy Out West]

Some more sound advice from Richard.

 

[Blobby159]

And speaking of over-thinking.....

I have used Nosler Partitions and Hornady A-Max projectiles (both the 140gr variety in my 6.5 Swede) loaded to a very decent and accurate 2,850f.p.s. approx' for deer hunting and never really wanted for more .... till now.!

I have seen a few items and videos extolling the virtues of the new(ish) Speer 'Gold Dot' RIFLE bullets in this caliber and other calibers like .223 Rem. From what I have seen these may very well cover me fir the lack of the brilliant A-Max bullet line by Hornady, in lieu of their replacement with (why???) the also excellent but MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE ELD and ELD-X bullets - both as projectile alone for us reloaders, and in boxes of 20 Premium loaded bullets

In the ballistic jell tests (shot into at very close range of around 10 meters) these Speer Gold-dots held together in an almost ideal manner, mushrooming perfectly (and erm.... beautifully) with HARDLY ANY core loss due to the bonded nature of lead core to the copper jackets... The mushrooming was really well controlled and the shape of the final resting projectile was truly about as symmetrically perfect as I have seen in recovered bullets, and NO BLOWING UP despite hitting the jell at near 100% muzzle velocities.

And from memory of other Speer projectiles I Am betting these won't be anything like the new Hornady ELD / ELD-X units in their high pricing!!?

Anyone have any actual hands on experiences of loading and shooting this new Speer offering please? I would be right interested in discovering whether reality comes anywhere close to hype.... .?

P.S. The Gold-dot in 140gr 6.5mm has a decent B.C. too I believe, somewhere in the low to mid 0.5 range.

ATB ..... and shoot safely!

 

[finnbear270]

Hornady was a bit cunning about how it changed the application for A-Max. Simple expansion of their product line, and tighter “compartmentalising” of what was to be used for what... I think the change came in edition 9 of their reloading manual, as my edition 8 still has the A-Max listed as a medium game cartridge. (No game in the UK or NZ can be classed as Large Game, as we know). My cuzzies used 105gr A-Max in their fast twist 43s in Colorado for years, what a bullet.

Edinburgh is spot on with his comments about performance changing with bullet weight. The small, lighter AMax behave like varmint pills, the medium and heavier weight range behave like the equivalent GameKings. The .30cal bullets are just fantastic on red deer. I have used 168gr AMax on mature reds and nothing anyone can tell me from anywhere in this universe will change the fact that they pole axed those beasts on the spot with clinical killing performance. Last time I checked, the red deer here were the same species as those in the UK...

My reloading exercise today in this foul spring weather is one hundred .308 168gr A-Max for deer in anticipated 200-300m ranges. Perfect bullet at that range.

I concur with your A max experience, I used the 7mm A max on Arran, a long time back before all the fuss began to be made around them.

 

[Orion]

I concur with your A max experience, I used the 7mm A max on Arran, a long time back before all the fuss began to be made around them.

Much of which would have been due to commercial expediency to ensure they remained outwith of S.5 expanding status to ensure continued use for papaer punching.

 

[Orion]

Well, proof of the pudding and all that!

Three from a group of 20 hinds fell to the 165gr Oryx from my .308 this morning.

First was a stationary stiff legged reaction from the shot to the boiler room at circa 200m, followed by a keeling over after a few seconds. As they were all looking on and wondering what had happened, the second had the same fate and consequences. Both were in plain sight in the field from my vantage point..

Number three was taken on the edge of the wood after they decided things ‘weren’t quite right’. Unfortunately for me and the subsequent gut busting recovery, she went approximately 10m forward but 20m down the bank into a bramble patch - happy days (not!).

All shots were through and though with considerable visible blood splatter, (and obvious trail in the case of the last one), should any follow up have been required.

These bullets do exactly as advertised and I can only assume that they are not more widely used in the UK due to availability from the usual outlets. Euroland suppliers may be an option if you want to pursue this option - and possibly less expensive!

 

[User00033]

Good stuff and good shooting. It does seem clear now that the through and through is valued far more in the UK than here in NZ, where (generally speaking) the preference is for massive internal trauma by fragmentation and energy transfer. If it exits then all good, but if it doesn’t, it usually doesn’t matter because the animal is lying right there. This does of course all hinge on it having been shot in the right place.

@Orion any chamce you could explain the S.5 expanding status part as I’m not familiar with what that means.

 

[enfieldspares]

I found that as they were over long for calibre that in my 6mm Remington Parker Hale that 100 grain Nosler Partition bullets would not stabilise. That's not a fault of the bullet of course, just that the twist that Parker Hale used wasn't compatible. The rifle wouldn't shoot them at all. By two hundred yards they were tumbling.

 

[Orion]

Until relatively recently here in the UK ‘expanding’ bullets were subject to (insert your own definition of moronic governmental control) restrictions as per S.5 prohibited items but with a derogation for hunters, and we were unable to purchase within our own borders unless by way of face to face transaction with registered firearms dealers or other individual firearms certificate holders. This entailed a premium on cost due to transport etc. The crazy thing was that we could buy from abroad and have the things delivered direct to our home address because the rest of the world were far more sensible about pieces of lead and copper!

As a result of that crap legislation, which we are now glad to report is a thing of the past, certain bullets were classified as ‘naughty’ - V-Max, SST etc. etc. But because A-Max was a designated ‘target’ bullet it escaped the legislation - go figure.

Happily, some semblance of normality has now prevailed and any ‘expanding’ bullet is now uncontrolled. Here endeth the lesson!

 

[User00033]

Crikey. What you guys put up with... Mind you I am sure we are going to see a tightening of the rules in NZ. Firearms incidents are on the rise. It is not the gun’s fault or that of the sporting shooter, it is the individual’s choice of dirty scummy drugs in the majority of cases: methamphetamine. Oh well, doubtless we’ll all pay for the decisions made by junkies just like we pay for their drugs through their welfare benefits, as well as the additional income we provide in the form of what they steal from us. Right, better stop there.

Yes I agree that classification of the AMax as non-expanding is utterly daft. I’ve got some pics somewhere of a recovered 168gr after it travelled through most of the length of a fairly large pig. A beautiful 2½x calibre mushroom weighing about 110gr if I remember correctly. In 30cal in particular they are much misunderstood by those that haven’t used them.

 

[Orion]

It does seem clear now that the through and through is valued far more in the UK than here in NZ, where (generally speaking) the preference is for massive internal trauma by fragmentation and energy transfer. If it exits then all good, but if it doesn’t, it usually doesn’t matter because the animal is lying right there. This does of course all hinge on it having been shot in the right place.

Agree with the shot placement being paramount, but the Oryx really do seem to deliver on both counts - substantial energy transfer without fragmentation plus retained mass for a through and through. They also put driven wild boar down ‘with authority’. (In 9.3x62 @ 232gr).