165gr vs 180gr Partition

The 180 Sierras that I have I have about 1250 of the round nose pro hunters. I think I have a few boxes of the 150s as well. They came from an estate sale. I think I have some 150 pointed and 165 pointed to with the boat tails. Sierra basically told me to stay away from the boat tail versions under 180 grains or they’ll never exit a deer. The 150 boat tails were the ones I was having trouble with. I have a box of a 1000 .311 core lock pointed soft point. I’ll have to load some up without trying to size them down to 308 with my pet load and see if they shoot just as tight in my 30-06… long as they fit in chamber. I also need to pick up a .308 push through sizer die push a few through and see how they group as well with my pet load for the 180 grain .308 core loct.
 
I guess basically I need to load some up and see what kind of groups I get with the 165gr Parts out of my 06. This will be the only way to know. I have stuck with the 180s for many years because there is the chance that I can run into a grizzly bear even while whitetail hunting. This year found large grizz tracks in my boot prints. I have been using H4350 powder in the 06 and 180gr Parts. Will see what kind of loads I can put together same powder and the 165gr.
 
I normally use the 150gr Partition for deer in my 308 Win. I know I don’t need them for deer but there’s no question that they work great.

Just rebarreled with a 26” McGowen barrel, and refinished it to a hot blue gloss finish, and put a PT&G bolt head on it. Headspaced with Forster gauges but haven’t shot it yet. Dan saw pictures of it. I’ve started doing my own work. It turned out good.

Trying to work up a load with 150gr E-Tips and H4895. I’ll have to see what it likes. CFE223 shot well with the Partitions with the other barrel. The E-Tips have taken the Partitions place in my 270’s, 7mm RM’s, and 223 Rem’s. I still have a box of loaded Partitions when I go hunting though.
 
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I will say I got my first actual one hole group with the 140gr 7mm E-Tip from a new manufacture Remington 700 in 7mm RM. The only thing I changed on it was changing the stock trigger to a Timney Elite Hunter. Even with that it’s hard for me not to hunt with Partitions.
 
In my experience, I’m hunting whitetails, the 150 grain AccuBond has performed extremely well.
The OP doesn’t say what he’s hunting, but I’ve taken at least 12 deer with my REM 700 in 30-06 and the 150 AccuBond, and have never had one travel more than 50 yards.
I shot a doe last season at approximately 40 yards with my 308 Win with the 150 AccuBond also with excellent results.
Both my rifles shoot the AccuBond very accurately
Now if the OP is going for Elk or larger, I’m using my REM 700 30-06 with probably a 165 AccuBond.

Doe from last season

IMG_5421.jpeg

Some deer from my 30-06


IMG_0146.jpegIMG_0078.jpegIMG_0048.jpeg
 
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That’s why I don’t like accubonds. They don’t open up and dump enough energy for a DRT unless you brake shoulders. Fifty yards is too far for me. I’ve shot hundreds of deer with a plain old 180 grain core loct and 99.9% drop on their tracks. Had a few travel 15 to 20 yards at the most. Shot maybe a dozen with 180 grain ballistic tips and all dropped in their tracks. Maybe I’m just lucky. Hard premium non expanding bullets with the same heart and lung shots and aiming for the opposite shoulder using accubonds and Barnes I get 100 yard track jobs on average. I sit 87 yards off my property line so I won’t use those projectiles anymore.
 
I definitely would not classify Accubonds as hard bullets. They expand readily and down to some low velocities, same with Partitions. Most copper bullets are harder and require more velocity to really expand, though there are some exceptions. The regular TSX is a very tough bullet and unless you go much lower in bullet weight and therefire higher velocity, they are not ideal for deer and smaller in my opinion.
 
I would guess if I switched from 180 grain to 130 grain in .308 there would be a much more different outcome. I would assume I’d get some quick expansion and energy dump with a lot lighter projectile pushed much faster. Just not willing to take that chance after the poor experiences I’ve had with accubonds. They don’t make anything lighter than 260 grain in .375 so they are not an option for deer anymore for me.
 
I can understand your situation, not wanting to track deer, especially since your property is limited.
I’m just explaining my experience, and it’s been very positive.IMG_0505.png
I posted this picture on another thread, but here is another picture of an AccuBond that I recovered.
It retained 65% of its original weight, opened up to almost the size of a nickel, and the Buck was dropped right there.
It is the one in my other post in this thread with my 700 on top of it.
We all must do what works for us, I understand your thinking and can appreciate what works for you in those regards.
 
I’m curious to what what your shot placement was, how far the shot was, the muzzle velocity, and why it stopped inside the animal? I’ve never caught any .308 diameter bullets in deer throughout the decades accept for a a couple of completely disintegrated Sierra 150 grain boat tails that basically shattered into 1 million pieces to the point you didn’t even know it was a projectile. I also found a few separated jackets from 125 grain ballistic tips driven ant 4,000 fps out of my RUM but no cores were recovered. Smaller .243 BTs I’ve recovered in deer. Imo a projectile that hard out of a 30-06 should exit and completely pass through another whitetail… or two. Kinda weird you caught one in a deer out of a 30-06.
 
badaxeriverman said:
My average rifle shot in the Deer woods is normally within archery range so I like the 180s to make sure they hold together and get an exit every time. I guess if I lived out west and I could shoot a country mile or two I’d want something flatter. A 150 yards is a super long shot for me. Fifteen to 45 yards is an average shot. I can’t see further or I wouldn’t have a clear shot if I tried to shoot any farther. I’d rather have a big chunk of lead that can clear the deer from one side to the other If for some reason I have an extreme angled shot.
Click to expand...
I hear where you're coming from. Many long tears ago I used the hunt the Northwest corner of California which is some very thick rain forest. One thing tried which worked reasonably well was load 170 gr. 30-30 bullets n my 30-06. They usually dropped deer on the spot loaded to about 2450 FPS estimated. No Chronographs back in the mid to late 1950s. The few that tried to run didn't get far. The on;y dark spot was they really messed up a lot of good eating meat, especially if a shoulder was hit. That was better that if the deer ran off regardless of blood trail as it was so thick that if a deer went more than 25 yards the odds of finding it dropped drasticallt. Limit was two deer back the and one could get two bear tags for $2.00. Fill those and you'd get two more free. Those days are long gone I'm afraid. These days I run the 165 gr. Speer Hot Core at 2550 from a Ruger M77 RSI or 2610 FPS from a Winchester M70 in my .308s. I've used the RSI most of the time and deer never went far, most being DRT. I think the most any deer went was maybe 45 yards. but these deer were shot in Nevada and Arizona, not the rain forest.
Paul B.
 
Curious of where your shot placement is, high shoulder I’m guessing? All mine ran a football field length with heart and lung broadside shots. A high shoulder hit and they dropped but normally need to be finished off.
 
No shoulder shots just boiler room.
Write up from one 4 yrs ago

416 Barnes 350gr TTSX

The Barnes did a real good job , nice entrance and exit. Outside entrance Inside entrance Inside exit Outside exit I’m starting to like the solid copper bullets no lead and jacket shrapnel. Clean in clean out.
forum.nosler.com
 
Used the .308 180’s in my 30-06 at 2650 fps load data. Don’t know what the time if that was for a 24 or 26 inch barrel but I was shooting it out of a 22 inch. I also did a max load in my 375 rum with the 260 grain versions. I still have some of the 260’s left. I assume I have some of the 180s as well. I bought them the first year of production. Maybe they use softer alloy now since shooters are getting DRT results. I posted a few times in the last month of how they just went right through deer like full metal jackets, and they still stood there looking at me. Happened several times. All Deer were recovered and when I feel dressed them, it looked like someone just poked a sharp stick through them or an arrow with a field point.
 
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