Spike Camp

Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr

Rigger28

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #15 on: November 11, 2014, 09:06:09 AM »
120 grain Speer Grand Slam.......

curthopson

  • ***
  • 212
  • Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid.
    • View Profile
Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #16 on: November 11, 2014, 09:54:53 AM »
Great topic. I always believed that elk rifles start at 30 caliber with .338 being just perfect. My 13-year-old son has helped me rethink this with his success this year. He has killed an antelope buck and a mule deer buck with heart shots, and a spike elk with a double lung shot and all three fell over stone dead within 3 steps. The elk humped up and lowered his head before tipping over, the other two took 2-3 steps and collapsed. All of this was done with an 80gr Hornady GMX bullet at around 3400fps. The elk was 115yds and the pronghorh 298 and deer 323. I couldn't have made three cleaner kills with my 416 Weatherby and a 300gr bullet. He has made a believer out of me. Premium bullets really can be trusted even if they are very small. Food for thought. Curt.
Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid.

zonie

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #17 on: November 11, 2014, 10:49:31 AM »
I have friends and their kids boy's and girls who started  out with 243's on elk.  They drop them just as dead as the larger calibers.  The bullets they are using are premium types and shots are not terribly far.  I'm not a fan of using a 243 on elk and the 257 wouldn't be my first for fifth choice, but both will work in the right hands that's for sure.   Normally I use a 270 win or one of our 30 cal's,    but this year I felt like something different.

badsection

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #18 on: November 11, 2014, 11:14:58 AM »
Assuming this is a guided elk hunt, a new Vanguard in 300 WBY would not be a large percentage of the cost.   ;D

OldFashionedDad

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #19 on: November 11, 2014, 12:22:15 PM »
badsection it is not a guided Elk Hunt but it might as well be my father private access to a 50,000 acre ranch that he has hunted with the owner for years.  As I have 4 little kids I could never afford a guided trip.
Not sure I would use any .25 caliber rifle as an elk rifle.  Plenty of nimrods will disagree, but elk rifles start at .277 bore by most informed and experienced opinions.
  Shot placement is key and I am highly accurate and confident with my 257, whether I am a nimrod or not a friend of mine is a professional guide and on the board of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and he has harvested elk with a 257 WBY so I am not going to lose any sleep over it.  As I originally stated I understand it is not optimal but I will only take well placed shots under 300yds so I am confident that 2729 Ft. lbs. with 3200 velocity will do the job with the right bullet, hence the originally stated question.   A new rifle is not in the cards and I am not going to borrow a rifle that I am not as accurate and confident with as I am my 257.

OldFashionedDad

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #20 on: November 11, 2014, 12:37:57 PM »
Great topic. I always believed that elk rifles start at 30 caliber with .338 being just perfect. My 13-year-old son has helped me rethink this with his success this year. He has killed an antelope buck and a mule deer buck with heart shots, and a spike elk with a double lung shot and all three fell over stone dead within 3 steps. The elk humped up and lowered his head before tipping over, the other two took 2-3 steps and collapsed. All of this was done with an 80gr Hornady GMX bullet at around 3400fps. The elk was 115yds and the pronghorh 298 and deer 323. I couldn't have made three cleaner kills with my 416 Weatherby and a 300gr bullet. He has made a believer out of me. Premium bullets really can be trusted even if they are very small. Food for thought. Curt.

Curt my thoughts exactly, thank you for the advice and open mind.  I will never purposely cause cruelty to these beautiful animals we hunt.  I firmly believe in proper conservation and herd management over hunting. Any nimrod can go out and take potshots at animals.

curthopson

  • ***
  • 212
  • Life is tough. It's tougher if you're stupid.
    • View Profile
Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #21 on: November 11, 2014, 01:06:32 PM »
Best wishes for a great hunt. Please post your hunt results on this thread when you return so we can all share the fun. Curt.
Life is tough.  It's tougher if you're stupid.

OldFashionedDad

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #22 on: November 11, 2014, 02:46:34 PM »
Thank you Curt I will, hopefully I will have some pics to post.  It's not till next fall but I am excited and hopeful.  5 out do 6 guys got a deer this year but only 3 got an Elk.  Knowing my dad he will have the  game  tracked before we go.

badsection

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #23 on: November 11, 2014, 02:49:18 PM »
Good luck!   :)

honkerhitter

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #24 on: February 13, 2015, 08:19:27 AM »
Hope you keep us posted on how the hunt goes.. FWIW my brother in law has hunted with the .257 bee for 15 yrs he has a very accurate load using retumbo and the 117 gr Seirra .  He's take 3 elk , 3-4 moose , and a number of deer both mule and whiteys.  He has been quite happy with the performance of the 117 gr,  this in itself would give me the confidence to use the 120 gr PT without worry. Again the swift may be more of a good thing although I have not personally used them as they are not as readily available here north of the 49th.
 I'm also a father of four youngens , I know what you mean about guided hunts and new equipment, in my house hold it would be pretty selfish to buy my self a new rifle for a single hunt . 

Skeezix

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #25 on: December 01, 2015, 07:45:07 PM »
I usually choose the Swift A-frame over the Nosler Partition because the point isn't damaged nearly as much in the magazine by recoil, and the forward section of the bullet is bonded and more heavily constructed, resulting in a higher percentage of retained weight.  And I'd definitely go with the 120 grain.

I've used the 100gr Barnes TTSX loaded pretty hot with Ramshot Magnum in a rather long-throated Ruger No. 1 in .25-06 and getting 3395 avg fps.  That load blows right through pronghorn and 300+ lb northern Missouri whitetails at about any angle leaving good blood trails, if you need 'em.  It'll go lengthwise through a coyote or feral dog with a chest-on or Texas heart shot.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2015, 07:48:58 PM by Skeezix »

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #26 on: March 24, 2016, 01:35:40 PM »
 120 grain Speer hot core or grand slam will work well for you.

Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #27 on: March 25, 2016, 01:22:38 PM »
Since this thread was started two falls ago for a hunt that was going to take place last fall, it would be interesting to hear the outcome of that hunt.

As for his original question, I believe that either a 120 gr partition or a 120 grain A-frame would certainly kill an elk IF it was put into the right place. 

The quickest kill that I've ever made on a bull elk was from a 117 gr Sierra GameKing bullet from my .257 Ackley.  The bullet went in just behind the bull's shoulder, hit a rib, and literally exploded inside his chest cavity.  He simply collapsed dead where he was standing.

One of my friends only has a .25-06, shoots only factory non-premium bullets, and has killed quite a few elk.  Again, bullet placement is the key.

As to the question about the Barnes TSX vs TTSX bullets, the last bull elk that I killed was with a 168 gr Barnes TTSX bullet, the bull before that was killed with a 168 gr TSX bullet.  Both were one shot DRT kills from my .300 Weatherby, which I consider as my ultimate elk rifle.
NRA Endowment Life Member

danno50

  • *****
  • 6026
    • View Profile
Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #28 on: May 01, 2016, 10:58:08 PM »
Either the hunt never took place for unforseen reasons, or the hunt had an unsuccessful outcome, or the op's choice of calibers didn't perform as he had expected, or the ammo didn't give the accuracy expected at 300 yds, who knows why he never posted again.  Quote from op "Accuracy at 300 yds will decide because of the the perceived limitations of the 257 with game the size of elk". There aren't any perceived limitations of the 257 Wby at 300 yds, no one in ammo mfg or any professional hunters, or even the Weatherby ballistics chart claim the 257 Wby is a large game cartridge. No one is saying it hasn't been done or can't be done, but not everyone who decides to try it may be as good or fortunate as you. It's like if 10 people say its ok cause i've done it, or I know someone who does it regularly, or I've done it it with a 243, that it gives license to just about anyone who consistently shoots moa on paper to go after elk with the 257. No matter how much confidence you have, things can go wrong. Buck fever, the wind, last minute movement by the game animal(who hasn't used that one) or mis judged distance can all be factors when you get that shot of a lifetime. Instead of asking on the forum, why don't you email an industry guru, or a rifle or ammo mfg company and ask which load you should use in a 257 Wby to go elk hunting. JMO, but I think they would suggest a larger caliber(and the fact that its the only rifle you have should not be enough reason to warrant its use just because someone else has done it) Some guys shoot paper targets for years before they might go on an actual hunt, and having the crosshairs on a live, breathing animal is a lot different from a bullseye on a 100 yd target. The 257 is a great cartridge, and has been credited with some extraordinary results, but the "fact" that it is so flat shooting, carries a tremendous amount of energy(for the bullet weight and mass that it carries), and is very accurate, its limits should not be pushed past its intended use as an all around great medium game cartridge. Maybe my position isn't supported by many, but in the end, the choice is left up to the individual hunter, and the disagreement goes on regardless. Again, JMO on the same 257 for large game subject.
« Last Edit: May 02, 2016, 05:17:03 AM by danno50 »
DosEquisShooter

PARA45

  • *****
  • 6336
    • View Profile
Re: Nosler Partion 120gr vs Swift A-Frame 120gr
« Reply #29 on: May 02, 2016, 06:21:22 AM »
Well said Danno!
Senator John Kennedy  " If you support defunding the police, you've tested positive for stupid".