Recovered Nosler Partitions..Let's See 'Em!

elkaholic06

New member
Joined
Jul 23, 2016
Messages
51
Location
Colorado
I was reading some stuff by John Nosler the other day, and it got me thinking about his partition. I have hunted with partitions for a long time, but I have yet to recover one! I think it would be cool to see some recovered partitions from ya'll. Please include the weight, cartridge, animal, range, and velocity if possible!
 
150 gr. out of a 7mm on either elk or deer. Never chronographed it since it was the most accurate load out of the gun. Bullets are in same order throughout the pictures.

attachment.php

attachment.php

attachment.php
 
Here is a 250 grain from my .35 Whelen. I took a Wildebeest at about 125 yards quartering away. ThePartition is on the left. That's the only one I've ever recovered. I think it's about 70% retention with a muzzle velocity around 2450 fps.IMG_0236.jpg
 
I shot a huge bodied mule deer with a .270 130gr Nosler Partition. He came in below me and wouldn't turn broad side. I was about 50 feet above him and he was contemplating on going down into this badlands hole. I usually don't like taking a front on shot but at 170 yds and the angle I felt comfortable. Last thing I saw through the scope was him taking a nose dive into that hole...needless to say it wasn't fun getting him out. When I quartered him out I found that my bullet had gone dead center of his neck and lodged about to the back of his shoulder blades and was lodged in his spine. The bullet was a perfect mushroom and I had set it down to take back with me. Well at some point I had forgotten about it and moved what I had set it on. So it is in the badlands of South Dakota. Very impressed with Partitions and Accubonds.
 
140GR Partition 7MM Rem Mag- Shot a Mule deer buck at 100 yards while facing me head on and found the bullet in his hind quarter next to his femur. Bullet weighed 86 grains when recovered
Nosler 140GR 7MM.jpg
 
An interesting comparison. Bullet on the right is a 180gr Partition from the old Federal High Energy factory load. I believe it's 2650ish FPS, this came out of a Bull in 2011. Shot was quartering to at about 150yds, broke the close shoulder, slug was against the far skin, about the 3rd to last rib. Bullet on the left is a 200GR 8mm Nosler Accubond from a .325WSM. Recovered this from a Mule Deer, taken at 135yds, buck was bedded and quartering, the slug penetrated through 4 neck vertebrae before coming to rest on the far skin just in front of the far ham. Second picture is the partition from another angle. Happy with both bullets.
IMG_2032.jpg
IMG_2033.jpg
 
Last edited:
An interesting comparison. Bullet on the right is a 180gr Partition from the old Federal High Energy factory load. I believe it's 2650ish FPS, this came out of a Bull in 2011. Shot was quartering to at about 150yds, broke the close shoulder, slug was against the far skin, about the 3rd to last rib. Bullet on the right is a 200GR 8mm Nosler Accubond from a .325WSM. Recovered this from a Mule Deer, taken at 135yds, buck was bedded and quartering, the slug penetrated through 4 neck vertebrae before coming to rest on the far skin just in front of the far ham. Second picture is the partition from another angle. Happy with both bullets.
View attachment 72016
View attachment 72017

You have both bullets as "bullet on the right". Maybe an edit would clarify.
 
Not a partition, but an accubond. 9.3mm out of a 9.3x62. Impact velocity approx 2450-2500fps. @ 50 yds punched through both shoulders of a big bull elk breaking both scapulas, recovered under the skin on the far side. Weighs 172 grains, so 68% weight retention.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0620.jpg
    IMG_0620.jpg
    95.7 KB · Views: 479
  • IMG_0619.jpg
    IMG_0619.jpg
    62.5 KB · Views: 480
I have only recovered one from an animal.

1998 Partition Gold .277 150gr at around 2850 fps. Colorado cow quartering away at 150ish yards. She dropped at the shot and the bullet was just underneath the hide on the far side. Broke a rib going in and completely smashed the off shoulder. Best bullets every made. Glad I still have 250 or so left.

The one on the left was the bullet recovered from the cow elk. The other two are from a soft mud embankment we used to shoot into at 100 yards. Same load, just those are the Moly Free versions. As you can quickly calculate, the retained weight is 90%, 84% and 85%. I will take that all day long. I am still at a loss why these were discontinued.

Partition001.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thanks pre6422, unfortunately I can't view the photo. I have to join photobucket and pay $399 for a year. Sounds like excellent performance, especially from a .270 You will get people that will argue all day long that the .270 is not good enough to kill an Elk. We know better, don't we?:hump:
 
Shoot I had heard that Pbucket wasn't playing nicely anymore. What is the best way to post pics now?

And yes we do know better!
 
I recovered one of the 180s that I put into my moose a couple of years ago. I'll have to weigh it when I get home tonight to see how much was left. I don't recall if I found the lead from the front end or not, but do remember that it separated from the copper jacket like some of the pictures in this thread.
 
Heres a few Ive recovered. all 3 are 7mm 160gr partition handloads @ 3030fps

L-R

1. Neck shot on bull elk @ 100yds

2. this one was complicated ...75yd shot that kissed a small pine tree and hit a bull elk in the paunch. I think it was tumbling when it hit the elk. had about a 4-5" entrance hole.

3. Pretty standard for most ive recovered

IMG_0207.jpg
 
Last edited:
These all look stellar. I have only recovered part of one bullet and it was a Hornady SST from a yearling doe shot entering the last rib. There was an exit but the jacket was in the offside front shoulder when I processed it. That was on a .270 150gr. I've never recovered a soft point from any caliber on any animal.
 
Here is a 250 grain from my .35 Whelen. I took a Wildebeest at about 125 yards quartering away. ThePartition is on the left. That's the only one I've ever recovered. I think it's about 70% retention with a muzzle velocity around 2450 fps.View attachment 72002

When Nosler came out with the bonded bullet, I called them to see what kind of weight it was supposed to maintain. They told me, "70%, same as the partition"! That looks about right!
 
Back
Top