I know they are not coming back but.........

[reflex264]

I am still sick over the 300gr .458 Partition being discontinued. I have quite a few of them on hand and a .450 Marlin I let people borrow to gather data with various loads and components. The loads have taken all manner of beast from a B&C black bear to a bunch of huge black bears, deer, elk and may soon take a Kodiak bear. In adition to loads I loaded for .450 and 45/70 rifles others have used my data to take all manner of game in Africa and Canada. Just for a good chuckle here is the latest account of the use of my ammo using the 300gr Partition. The bear obviously has some sort of physical problem which may have been the reason for the charge as well as the low body weight. Here it is for your enjoyment.

O.K. fellers here we go! I know Reflex is about to drive himself crazy wanting details, I guess I will tell the story now! Arrived on bait at about 3:30pm Monday. At 4:30 I heard a noise that sounded like a bull moose moving in the timber. Bear do not make noise in the woods right? Wrong! I looked out of my blind and to my extreme right I sighted a Bear headed directly for my location. This bear kept coming and coming and coming, till finally he looked in the blind where I was sitting. I do not think he could make me out against the black background. After a few seconds he turned and went back the way he came about 15 yards. I thought now was the time to get a shot at him but due to my position I could not shoot right handed so I had to go it left handed. I got the gun up and the scope on him just as he turned. He sized up the blind for a second or two shook his head gave a quiet little "woof" and CHARGED THE BLIND!!!! I thought he was bluffing till he got to about 6 feet away. I decided that he was certainly not bluffing and HAMMERED HIS ASS WITH REFLEXES 450 MARLIN!!!! The 300 grain Partition took him through the base of his neck split his chest bone clipped a shoulder blade in half and landed just rear of his tenderloin. He reared up and over on his back. He then lay gagging for two or three seconds. Then a fountain of blood spewed up about a foot high from his throat and he was over! He weighed only 175 pounds but had the Frame of a bear more than twice his weight. Mike thought he should have been carrying around 350lbs of body weight. His head will go 19-19 and 1/2 inches. His paws are huge! Mike and I have discussed this over and over in detail. We cannot figure why this bear had no fat whatsoever on his body and why a seemingly healthy animal with no trauma from old wounds would behave in such a manner! Thanks to Reflex and his Bear Loads! I got about 46-47 inches of penetration with them and the bear was mighty impressed! Thanks to onemaineguide for a wonderful time had by one and all! He really put in a lot of hard work to get all of those bait sites ready and managed to have multiple bear on almost every one! There are three or 4 more stories to tell but I will tell them one at a time over the next few days! Thanks for all the Good Luck Wishes from everyone prior to my hunt I know that was a big part of my success as well! Gatgun98


.458 300gr Protected Point- Rest In Peace

 

[russ808]

Wow, what a close one.

 

[DrMike]

Great story. It always gets the blood pumping when they charge.

 

[Guy Miner]

Agree Reflex - the late, much lamented 300 grain Partition may well have been the best of the Premium bullets for the .45/70 & .450 Marlin:

Proven performance on game from deer - dinosaurs. Penetration compares favorably with far more powerful cartridges.
Light enough to be driven fast, to flatten the trajectory a bit.
Easy to substitute inexpensive & readily avail 300 gr bullets for practice.

Looks like Nosler abandoned that niche to the 300 gr Barnes TSX... :twisted:

I'd sure like to see 'em bring it back, or maybe adjust the weight upwards a bit, say to 350 or so...

Guy

 

[reflex264]

Yep Guy I ran them toe to toe against one of my .416s in a penetration test and they actualy made a good showing despite the 2000ftlbs deficit. One thing is for sure. It is a better bullet than the Barnes 300gr. It out penetrates it and retains energy better as well as better accuracy on most guns. I may write a lament for them. :lol: reflex264

 

[Charlie-NY]

Well.............you could always switch to the Swift 350gr A-Frame. Here is what one guy had to say:

"Excellent choice for hot loaded 45/70. I get 0.75 inch groups at 50 yards out of TC Encore. The AFrame seems to like IMR4189 at 44grs. The load gives a very respectable 2050 fps. It kicks like mule from the bench but thats ok. The load knock the stuffing out of GA hogs and does create huge amounts of meet damage."

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=351446

 

[reflex264]

I have issues with the A-Frame that I won't discuss here. It is a good bullet but in head to head testing the 300gr Nosler beat it every time. It is a good bullet but it aint a 300gr Nosler. reflex264

 

[Charlie-NY]

I have limited experience with the A-Frames myself. However, I did use a 300gr A-Frame in my 454 with good effect on large hogs.

I'd be interested to know what you didn't like about them. At $60 a box it sure would be nice to get a little free advice before making a decision to buy them or not.

 

[reflex264]

The issues I have with the bullet are more with the company than the bullet. It faired well in the ballistic buff but the Partition out penetrated it every time. Out of a .450 or 45/70 I wouldn't hesitate to use it on a moose or big bear. reflex264

 

[Charlie-NY]

Thanks for your reply. In the absence of the Nosler 300 Partition the Swift may be the next best bullet of its kind for the 45/70. While the $60/box is a bit steep, I would still use them for hunting if lighter constructed bullets weren't up to the task.

For whitetails on down, almost any .458 bullet will work fine. Its the big stuff that tends to put a bullet to the test.

 

[Charlie-NY]

delete duplicated post

 

[reflex264]

Maybe they are comming back..............Thanks. reflex264

 

[JD338]

Nosler,

Can you comment on this?
What about even limited runs of the 300 gr PT. It is just too good a bullet to stop making it!

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

WE NEED AT LEAST SEASONAL RUNS MAN! :evil:

 

[Anonymous]

So, I printed a couple of these posts out and made sure that John and Bob got a chance to look through and read all your comments. I was told to let you guys know that we can't guarantee anything but because everyone has been so adamant and it is such a loved product, we will be reviewing it's discontinuation.

See how well telling us what you want works. :grin:

 

[JD338]

Thank you JusMo for the heads up and Nosler's consideration.

JD338

 

[jaycocreek]

I have been a Nosler man from day one going back to almost when it was first made..I shoot nothing but Nosler bullets and have a reputation on the Internet for just that.Some good some bad but it is the net....

When I first bought the 45-70,the 300 Nosler was my first order for reloading as Noslers have never let me down and have filled my freezer for over 50 years.

On the old Marlin talk I took alot of heat sticking up for the 300 grain Nosler as a hunting round when most think or thought a 300 grain bullet is to lite for anything but Deer..Not true!!!!I could go into test with wet print and show it out penetrated every available bullet for the 450 Marlin by over 8" with the 300 Barnes second,but I won't!!! :grin:

I have over 100 of them stocked up but I still hope you reconsider and keep them atleast on some kind of a re-run..No other bullet can match the velocity/pressure and penetration of the 300 Grain Nosler PP...

350/400 grains would not do as well as the current 300 PP as the 300 PP out penetrated the 400 Swift A-Frame at max velocity by Rick Jaimeson.

Just my opinion as I use 165 and 180 grain Noslers for this years hunt out of my .300 Win Mag and '06....

Jaycco

 

[Mad Dog]

I have used noslers, since I started reloading back in the 80's. In my 1895 Marlin Guide Gun, it is my go to hunting bullet, for everything, including my 2008 plains game hunt in RSA.

Here is a pic of the only bullets I have recovered from any animals, the rest were all pass throughs.

Mad Dog

 

[reflex264]

thanks again. I was going to re-write the article slightly to compinsate. The free press the bullet will get should make more people aware of how good this bullet really is. reflex264