Nosler 6.5 mm 125 gr Partition. What is it's application?

[Savage99]

A friend shot two deer last year with the 125 gr Partition out of a Rem M7 260 with a 20" barrel. Both deer got away! He trailed them and ran out of blood sign.

I have known this guy since the 60's. He hunts from the Carolina's to New England and also shot 15 deer last year with the same rifle but using 120 Ballistic Tips and Sierra's. Each of those dropped right away. He says he never takes hard shots. I know he won a national title a few years back so he is a good shot.

The change to the Partitions was due to meat damage with the 120's.

Someone said that a gunwriter claimed the 125 gr. 6.5 mm Partition is for game heavier than deer. What say you?

 

[FOTIS]

http://noslerreloading.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=181

 

[Taos]

My son hit a 5 pt. bull elk in the seat of the pants this year with a .260 and 125 grain Partition at about 300 yds. The bullet broke the bulls pelvis and put him in the dirt. The bull then struggled up and moved about 50 yards downhill where a broadside finisher was applied through both lungs. That bullet was through and through and may still be going for all we know. We wil be using that bullet again for elk in our .260 and 6.5 x .284. I do not think I would hesitate to shoot a moose with one at reasonable ranges.

 

[NOSLER]

Basically anything you want to shoot with a 6.5mm

 

[FOTIS]

Basically anything you want to shoot with a 6.5mm

Good answer! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Rogue6]

I had the my 260 shilen barrel chambered to fit 125 gr partitions at 2.90 and it was a great decision. I read you post at 24hr and I just have not had the same experience with that bullet. Assuming your friend is a super shot that never ever blows a shot, maybe hit hit a branch mid flight and stuck it in the guts. Unless the animal is recovered one never knows.

 

[martinbns]

The 125 gr Partition is my bullet of choice in my 260. shot two deer with mine last year and they went about 5 feet combined, both chest shots through the top of the heart in both cases. My son lost a doe with a 270 last year and another friend lost one shot with a .58 ball through the ribs at 20 yards. Sometimes weird things happen this is defintiely not the fault of the load.

 

[Eagleye]

I shot a smallsh Whitetail buck about 5 years ago with my 264 Win mag and the 125 Partition. [ MV 3450 ] Shot was about 75 yards. At the shot, he humped up and then ran out of sight behind some short scrub. I waited a bit, then started to sneak around to see if he was down. He got up and ran another 75 yards before he stopped, obviously seriously injured. I gave him another one in the neck, since he was facing straight away, and he dropped. Post-mortem showed extensive damage to both lungs, and a decent exit. How could he live so long with this injury? I don't think any of us can answer that. I am sure he was "dead on his feet', so to speak, but the will to carry on drove him to give me a hard time. I have taken quite a few deer and one moose with the 125 - 6.5 Partition, and all dropped within 20 yards, except this one. Go figure! Definitely not a bullet failure, just a determined animal. Regards, Eagleye.

 

[RogueRiver]

I shoot for the shoulder, I break the shoulder take out anything between the game is not going anywhere. You lung shoot something who knows how long it will be until you find it. I hunt in thick brushy steep areas where if a wounded animal gets away it might take all day to get to it. I would rather loose a little meat then wound an animal and create cougar bait. Elk are a lot tougher then deer and can go alot farther I would not want to be tracking an elk and have someone else make the killing shot. I put my animals down. That is why I like Partitions they are tough enough to go thru shoulder blades or spines.

 

[Savage99]

"The change to the Partitions was due to meat damage with the 120's. "

It seems that we all want everything. He wants no meat damage and yet for the animal to drop soon.

The SC deer study showed that deer hit in the nervous system averaged one yard, those in the shoulder three yards and other hits averaged about 50 yds. The study did not include animals in the data that were not recovered at all.

http://www.rathcoombe.net/sci-tech/ball ... study.html

 

[Scott A]

I've killed a couple of meat deer and several hogs with the 125 in a 6.5X55 at a muzzle velocity of about 2780. Everything I shot died very quickly. Both deer were shot behind the shoulder at less than 75 yards. One went down where it stood and the other made about a 50 yard death run. Most of the hogs I shot were shot in the head so I'm not sure how much can be determined by that. In all cases, however, internal damage was massive and little meat was destroyed on the off side where the bullet exited. Your friend's experience was probably just one of those things.