What type of bullet is best for large game?

I've hunted largely with Nosler Partitions for over 5 decades.
They have never let me down.

Sure, I tried a few others from time to time, but keep coming back to them.

I will not shoot mono's for game.
Witnessed a few too many horror stories involving their use when guiding in Alberta.
Firm Pass.

Cheers
 
IronNoggin said:
I've hunted largely with Nosler Partitions for over 5 decades.
They have never let me down.

Sure, I tried a few others from time to time, but keep coming back to them.

I will not shoot mono's for game.
Witnessed a few too many horror stories involving their use when guiding in Alberta.
Firm Pass.

Cheers
Click to expand...

I’ve killed around 50+ big game animals with mono’s since they came out. Everywhere from 10 to close to 600 yards. 6-7 different rifles. Never an issue at all. Have also been around 30 or so more kills by others that have pulled the trigger using mono’s. Never an issue.

The biggest horror stories are from poor shooting.

Have loaded and killed with most bullets on the market over the past close to 40 years. If you saw my reloading room you’d know I’m somewhat in the know.

Mono metal bullets work if loaded and used within their parameters. Period.

The horror stories and crap you’ve read about are from poor reloading or poor shooting skills, nothing more.
 
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crazy_davey said:
The horror stories and crap you’ve read about are from poor reloading or poor shooting skills, nothing more.
Click to expand...

Each to their own.

In the early days of their production I was guiding elk, moose & whitetails in Alberta.
Many of our clients were repeat customers with decades of experience.
On many occasions I personally witnessed very experienced shooters pencil hole big whitetails and elk at reasonable shooting distances.
Enough were recovered to determine those projectiles had not expanded, simple leaving a small hole through and through.
A handful of those animals were never recovered.

That put a bad taste in my mouth for obvious reasons.

In the time since I understand serious improvements have been made.
But as a result of those experiences I personally am never going to find out.

Cheers
 
RyPal said:
I’ve been using partitions for a long time. Not fancy, but never failed as far as I can tell. Ranges from 25-250. Have not recovered a single one.

Ryan
Click to expand...
in all my years hunting with the 7mm rem mag, I've had pass thru shots with every nosler partition I have used (for deer)
This year however, I was using my usual 160 gr nosler partition factory federal premium load and I brought out a deer with no exit wound. It dropped where it stood but still, no exit wound. I figure it's in the offside shoulder but still can't believe it didn't exit the animal. Shot was 30 ish yards , 1/4ing away , missed the heart but the lungs were both jelly. Being it was a Black tail deer I am still stumped on the lack of an exit hole.

I generally use federal powershock in .308 or .303 and federal premium with partitions for my other rifles.
I also once shot a bullmoose in the boiler room with a 7mm rem mag factory loaded Accubond 160gr and had to track the thing for a kilometer and a half. Bad thing for me is it entered First Nations land and was shot by a native hunter while we were tracking it's blood trail through thick lakeside brush. At least the animal met it's demise and fed someone rather than being lost to the wolves and maggots. I've used partitions ever since
 
IronNoggin said:
Each to their own.

In the early days of their production I was guiding elk, moose & whitetails in Alberta.
Many of our clients were repeat customers with decades of experience.
On many occasions I personally witnessed very experienced shooters pencil hole big whitetails and elk at reasonable shooting distances.
Enough were recovered to determine those projectiles had not expanded, simple leaving a small hole through and through.
A handful of those animals were never recovered.
Click to expand...

I’ve heard that fairy tail too, but only on the internet.

You’d think with seeing 80+ animals first hand killed with mono”s I’d have seen at least a few like you mention. Nope, never once. Hence I’ll call it a fairy tail. I’d say my sample size is fairly good.
 
crazy_davey said:
I’ve heard that fairy tail too, but only on the internet.
Click to expand...

No fairy tale, I was there and saw what occurred.
If it makes you feel superior to try & degenerate someone whose experiences and resulting position differs from your own, fill your boots.
Oh... wait... you just did.

Have a nice day.
 
IronNoggin said:
No fairy tale, I was there and saw what occurred.
If it makes you feel superior to try & degenerate someone whose experiences and resulting position differs from your own, fill your boots.
Oh... wait... you just did.

Have a nice day.
Click to expand...

I would say my sample size is pretty reliable, no? Want to call bullsh1t? Ask the guys here that know me. If I ever saw anything like you explained I probably would not currently own between 4-$5000 dollars alone in Barnes TSX’s for reloading for multiple different rifles. I also own thousands of dollars in different bullets for all my different rifles. My bullet selection alone probably weighs more than my huge gun safe and all my rifles. Can’t be honest about how much powder I have…

I really don’t care what you thought you saw, some piece of the puzzle is missing. I’ve seen weird crap with partitions, interbonds, and a list of other cup and core bullets. I don’t discount them though, mostly just weird circumstances. But I have seen more weird crap over the years with cup and core bullets far more than I’ve ever seen with mono’s.

Please show me some of your first hand experience with your pictures as evidence. I don’t want any internet stories or pictures. Please show me what you have to prove your statements.
 
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crazy_davey said:
I really don’t care what you thought you saw, some piece of the puzzle is missing.
Click to expand...

I really don't care for your near abusive stance.

A little more disclosure for you: When in College, I took over the active Wildlife Forensics Department that serviced Alberta F&W.
I dissected literally hundreds of big game animals over those years.
From that experience, I know EXACTLY what I am looking at when it comes to wound channels and bullet performance.

I am not going to dig through ancient photo boxes simply to satisfy you.
Those days were long before digital, so only faded paper copies may exist.
Simply not worth my time to bother to scratch your itch.

I well know what I witnessed, and could not care much less for your opinion of that.

Again, have a nice day.
I am done with you on this one.
 
I have found a bullet that expands and releases all it's energy within the animal has always worked well for me. Usually the bullet is recovered from the far side while processing the meat. Hornady is my favorite.

Moose at 328 yards
154 Hornady.JPG



Deer at 250 yards
139hornady.jpg
 
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IronNoggin said:
Each to their own.

In the early days of their production I was guiding elk, moose & whitetails in Alberta.
Many of our clients were repeat customers with decades of experience.
On many occasions I personally witnessed very experienced shooters pencil hole big whitetails and elk at reasonable shooting distances.
Enough were recovered to determine those projectiles had not expanded, simple leaving a small hole through and through.
A handful of those animals were never recovered.

That put a bad taste in my mouth for obvious reasons.

In the time since I understand serious improvements have been made.
But as a result of those experiences I personally am never going to find out.

Cheers
Click to expand...
I and others witnessed the same pencil hole shots with the famed Nosler Partition bullets as well... in the early 70's...
 
I used copper monos for a while, mostly due to the 'rah rah' fanboy-ism here. TSX, TTSX, and Hornady GMX. They were.... okay. But certainly not the magic death-nuggets that their proponents suggest. I find they have a narrower 'optimum' range of conditions than a more traditional bullet. But I have not experienced the near-mythical performance they're reputed to have. They're okay, but usually fit into the 'almost as good' category
 
crazy_davey said:
I’ve killed around 50+ big game animals with mono’s since they came out. Everywhere from 10 to close to 600 yards. 6-7 different rifles. Never an issue at all. Have also been around 30 or so more kills by others that have pulled the trigger using mono’s. Never an issue.

The biggest horror stories are from poor shooting.

Have loaded and killed with most bullets on the market over the past close to 40 years. If you saw my reloading room you’d know I’m somewhat in the know.

Mono metal bullets work if loaded and used within their parameters. Period.

The horror stories and crap you’ve read about are from poor reloading or poor shooting skills, nothing more.
Click to expand...
My experience mirrors yours almost exactly. Great bullets. I stray often but always end up back at Barnes. If you are having bad experiences, you are missing what you should be hitting.
 
Pencilling? 🙄

snsUuDQ.jpeg
 
pathfinder76 said:
There are a lot of paths to the vitals. They aren’t all the same either.
Click to expand...

There are a lot of suitable bullets. Its hard to find one that doesn't work lol

IronNoggin said:
I really don't care for your near abusive stance.

A little more disclosure for you: When in College, I took over the active Wildlife Forensics Department that serviced Alberta F&W.
I dissected literally hundreds of big game animals over those years.
From that experience, I know EXACTLY what I am looking at when it comes to wound channels and bullet performance.

I am not going to dig through ancient photo boxes simply to satisfy you.
Those days were long before digital, so only faded paper copies may exist.
Simply not worth my time to bother to scratch your itch.

I well know what I witnessed, and could not care much less for your opinion of that.

Again, have a nice day.
I am done with you on this one.
Click to expand...


There are plenty of pictures of recovered monos that didn't expand, both on this very forum and elsewhere, and no proof that those people are lying.

It hasn't turned me off of them, as they've given great results on several moose and several deer here. I think especially today the odds are quite low.

But...I don't doubt that its happened, that you've seen it, and that others have posted pictures of it.
 
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