.358 Nosler 250gr partition back in stock
- Thread starter Holijay
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Probably not; but if you already have your loads developed for them it would cost you something to start over so there’s that.
There’s a bit of a pattern for flat based Hornady Interlocks shooting together with Partitions of the same weight. That might be your lower cost practice option. I ised to use those in my Whelen, nothing came back to life.
I wonder sometimes if Nosler is deliberately pricing the Partitions off the market.
Aways back I grabbed a single box of 500 grain Partitions for my 458. Price was unmarked; turned out to be 155 bucks at tje counter. Thats for 25. I’m not sure why I didn’t just leave them there. At that time I could buy A-Frames for 80 per 50. Winchester Supreme loaded with the same Partitions were cheaper than the bullets.
There’s a bit of a pattern for flat based Hornady Interlocks shooting together with Partitions of the same weight. That might be your lower cost practice option. I ised to use those in my Whelen, nothing came back to life.
I wonder sometimes if Nosler is deliberately pricing the Partitions off the market.
Aways back I grabbed a single box of 500 grain Partitions for my 458. Price was unmarked; turned out to be 155 bucks at tje counter. Thats for 25. I’m not sure why I didn’t just leave them there. At that time I could buy A-Frames for 80 per 50. Winchester Supreme loaded with the same Partitions were cheaper than the bullets.
I work up loads with 250 Speer Hot-Cors and then shoot a group with 250 Partitions just to confirm POI, before I head out hunting... they are almost always bang on, or at least within an inch or so at 100 yards. I still have ten boxes of .358 250 Partitions and it is crazy to me that is over $1500 in bullets... my confidence in them performing at this power level is extreme, but probably not north of $150/box extreme. I loaded the 250's for my .350 Rem.Mag carbine, zeroed at 200 yards... I'm good to go...
I only use Nosler Partition in 30cal 200gr for my Ruger no1 300wm. Main reason for selecting that bullet is a) very dependable hunting performance for anything around here and b) it's blunt enough shape and expensive enough to shoot that I don't start pretending the No1 is a long range mega blaster! It's just not accurate enough of a rifle to make the 212 ELDx etc worth using
As effective as the NP is, it's basically a poor bullet design in 2026.
As effective as the NP is, it's basically a poor bullet design in 2026.
Actually, the Partition is just as good a design today as when it was first introduced, and will be as good 100 years from now... the game has not changed, deer hide is no thicker, moose scapulas have not gone titanium. The whole point of the bullet was to split the difference between a soft and a solid... the front opens quick the back continues forward... I have seen it do that hundreds of times with boring regularity... it will probably keep doing that.
It would definitely be my go to, in many situations at a certain range of power level, on most NA game, across a broad range of distances. IMO, it is the absolutely perfect bullet in bears out to a couple hundred yards. It is perfect on moose to the same distance, and somewhat more from typical 7mm 160 grain, .30 cal 180 grain, .338 200 grain etc... it would not be my choice at either ultra high speed or low speed or long distance. One thing it doesn't get enough credit for is straddling the fence well at 20 yards AND 200 - 300 yards from medium speed cartridges, like the most common standards, .270, .280, .308, .30-06 etc... where some of these "splash" at close range with light C&C bullets and "pencil" at longer range with stout Bonded or mono bullets... the Partition performs pretty well in both scenarios... so I always say if both scenarios are on the table, then the Partition is a solid choice... rather than optimizing for one end of the spectrum or the other. YMMV.
Having said that, the current prices are definitely killing the Partition compared to other more financially reasonable options.
I killed a few truckloads of game with Partitions but I haven't used them in many years. Yes, they kill well but so do many other bullets. If you want to stick with Nosler, the Accubond line of bullets basically does the same thing as a partition- open up fast then keep the shank together to penetrate well. But due to it's bonding there is less shrapnel in the meat which was always an issue with Partitions. And the Accubonds are much more aerodynamic as well.
I've actually had a Partition fail (which I never thought possible) when it hit the spine of a giant 7 foot black bear spine. The front blew off as always but the shank tumbled and lost it's rear core, too. I was shooting down at the bear at pretty close range so no doubt the bullet was stressed. But we found it under the hide, it did not smash through the vertebrae as I would have thought. I know for a fact a Barnes TSX/TTSX would have plowed through as I've done a similar thing with them. And I think an Accubond with the bonding would have held together too.
I once shot a 260 Accubond from my 375 Ruger end to end on another huge black bear. Bullet entered the chest (frontal shot) and we found it when skinning out the hams, just under the hide. The bullet looked perfect., like you would see in a promotional advertisement. IIRC it was about 70% weight retention. Would a partition have done the same? I am sure it would have killed the bear, but it probably would have thrown shrapnel all through it and not penetrated as deep because once that front section is gone you are into 50% weight retention.? I'm just guessing at that but that's about normal from Partitons I have recovered if I remember correctly.
Even Nosler says that the process of making Partitions is very costly and it's easy to see why when you look at it. Bonding lead to copper is going to be a much more streamlined process than having a front and rear lead core with a copper partition in the middle. Even all copper bullet manufacture is less complex.
I will never say that the Nosler partition is a "BAD" bullet, I killed way too many animals with them. But I will state why I don't use them anymore.
Expensive for what you get
Poor BC compared to many other similarly capable bullets
I've never had a problem figuring out an accurate load with the NP but no question the partition in the middle of the bullet lends an "imbalance"(for lack of a better word) and many other bullets the accurate and fast load will show up quicker.
Front *and maybe rear) blows off really easily (maybe even more easy than many regular cup and core bullets, because the front lead section of the NP is small compared to the whole lead core of a standard bullet)
Lots of shrapnel in meat
NP's were created to PENETRATE. They started because of poor penetration with standard bullets on a wet muddy moose in Alaska. We have all heard the Partition story. Yup they were supposed to open up fast and penetrate but lots of bullets do that. These days we have bonded bullets that open fast and retain more % of weight and penetrate. We have copper bullets that also open up fast, retain weight and don't blow lead all through your meat. if you want PENETRATION there are better bullets to achieve that.
if I went on a trip and was a visiting hunter and got handed a 30-06 and a bunch of ammo loaded with 150-180 gr Partitions I would say "ok lets go kill a moose " with complete confidence in the bullet. But if I had a choice of any bullet, NP would be several steps from the top/
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Hell... that was a mouth full, and I agree with most of it.
I will push back on the above statement a bit. Partitions were designed to penetrate, BUT only to penetrate "better" than the unbonded C&C bullets of the time, while "at the same time," performing as well as a C&C bullet within their niche... light bullets at high speed on heavy game, is NOT their niche.
We still have not designed a bullet, with all the modern technology available, that performs across such a broad range of scenarios and as wide a performance band as the Partition. There are absolutely better bullets for most, if not all, specific scenarios, ie. Big bears up close, mountain goats at distance, charging DG at bad breath range, etc... pretty much for any scenario you can think of... there is a better bullet to use than the Partition. However, if you spend a lot of time in the bush and you don't know what you are going to run into on any given day, the Partition is probably going to "get it done" in most situations... or at least in more of those situations than any other bullet design. When gearing up for outings with a specific purpose, then choose the optimal bullet for those narrow parameters... When I hunted mountain goats, I used an Accubond, a tough bullet with better BC, for a pretty predictable scenario... shooting 400+ yards through thin mountain air. In Africa, I used a .375 cal 235 grain TSX, a tough bullet that will stay together and perform on the wide range of game sizes, from Kudu, Wildebeest and Gemsbuck, and yet will not blow the hell out of Tiny Ten antelope. When hunting moose in cuts and over water where shots can often be long, I go back to heavy Accubonds from larger cartridges. However, when I don't know what I am going into, where shots can be at 30 yards or 300 yards, I like a Partition in the pipe... I know it will probably get it done, that is where the Partition shines. I don't think there is a better general use bullet out there. The caveat again, is the current prices... the damn things should not cost as much as they do.
