Discussion Forums

Nathan Foster

As long as the deer are not too heavy, this bullet performs very well.

What you have to understand is that this bullet does have to work hard after impact to stay together. Hornady utilized a flat base as well as their Interlock swage and external cannelure swage and these features do allow the bullet to penetrate to vitals on mid sized deer.

Quite often you can see that the 95gr SST has only just held together or fallen completely apart after reaching and passing through vitals. Wounding does tend to be more dramatic than the Partition because of this.

Wounding is quite often identical to the Nosler Ballistic Tip however the method of controlling expansion within the SST does appear to help add a small level of insurance, even if it is only a slight delay before the bullet comes apart.

All in all a very dramatic killer providing it is not pushed too hard into the shoulders of large, tough animals.

Everybody, please understand the following:

The smaller the bore, the more it is reliant on high velocity in order to create a wide, disproportionate to caliber wound.

A bullet that sheds some weight can also help create a disproportionate wound. There is another thread on this forum where Brendon has switched to the V-Max because the goats in his location are small bodied and the V-Max has displayed better performance than others because of this.

But in the likes of the .223 and .243, we need to make sure we have some remaining bullet weight for penetration relative to the size of the animals we are hunting. This can be a tall order for the .243 and especially the .223.

If we go too far either way (bullet too tough with 100% weight retention or bullet too thin / fully frangible) we can run into problems on medium game depending on body weights and ranges. For this reason, you can see why a bullet like the little Partition can be of use, soft up front, secured at the rear. The Partition has its limits- make no mistake. But if there is any doubt when using a .243 for deer hunting, this bullet is never a bad choice.

At close ranges, we need to take care with shot placement but at extended ranges, the same holds true. As I wrote in the KB, it is important to try to keep shots forwards when using the .243 past 200 yards because that initial burst of high velocity now begins to fade. However, to take this shot, the bullet needs to be capable of adequate penetration.

A good hunting buddy of mine once shot a red stag in close with his pet Sika load utilizing the 85gr GK HP. He could see the bullet strike on the shoulder- but he never found that stag. After this, he switched to the then new Barnes X bullet. This worked well in close but had its failings out long. One extreme to the other. Answer- Partition. Just like Bob's softpoint Gameking up front, but again, locked at the rear.

About the worst I have seen is the latest from PPU (Highland / case stamped NNY). The case is filled with 50BMG powder, the muzzle velocity for the relatively tough 100gr bullet is around 2600fps. This load has been created and sold without any compassion towards the animals we hunt. It might be OK as a youth load providing the youngster is trained well and the load is used in close. But beyond this, it is the anti of how a small bore should be run- remember, high velocity is a key factor to fast clean killing when using a very small bore.