Photos courtesy of Nosler
Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared Tuesday on Nosler’s website. The story is by company founder John A. Nosler, the father of the famed Partition bullet. Enjoy!
After shooting the big .300 H&H for so many British Columbia trips, I began eyeing the 7mm caliber. A few companies loaded the 7x57mm cartridge, so I found a rifle in 7×57 to try. It was fun to shoot. I began wondering what it would be like in a larger case.
Nosler’s Partition bullet was the result of a failed moose hunt. The .300 H&H slug Nosler used failed to penetrate the mud-caked shoulder of the big bull, leading him to develop his own brand of bullets for better performance.
I was already making some Partition bullets and I strongly felt the Partitions would save the life of the .300 H&H cartridge, so I managed to have some Partitions in .284 diameter 160 grain bullets made ready. The Winchester Model 70 rifle came out with an extra-long action to accommodate the .300 H&H-length cartridge. No other actions were long enough, so I shortened the .300 case to .30-06 length and formed it to take the .284 diameter bullet. This cartridge loaded with the 4350 powder was fun to shoot, and with the Partition bullets, looked like it would be an excellent cartridge for rather large game.
So I was off to British Columbia to try the 160 grain Partitions. They had tested out very well in the test that all Partition bullets must pass, so I was very interested in their big game performance. They were much more fun to shoot than the big .30 caliber.
“So I must admit my favorite rifles are
chambered in 7mm caliber.”
~John A. Nosler
The first game I wanted to hunt was the Rocky Mountain goat. The wild goats were difficult to get up on so the best I could do was around 300 yards. I had time to shoot so I took a good rest over my folded coat on a rocky cliff and fired. The goat just stood there for about 30 seconds and then fell over. I was very happy about the way the goat went down.
Upon examination inside the goat I was very pleased with the bullet’s performance. The lungs were all bloody with much other tissue damage. The bullet went out the other side: excellent performance! The Partition bullets taught me that a big moose was not hard to kill, it was just a matter of getting the bullet to get through the heavy-boned shoulders.
John A. Nosler, with his trophy goat in the top left-hand corner.
With my introduction of the plastic tip to the bullet world, which the bullet industry went all out for, the 7mm caliber became my favorite fun gun. I could make long-range hits so much easier. Recoil was a minimal problem. So I must admit my favorite rifles are chambered in 7mm caliber.
John A. Nosler’s writing on the 7mm Remington Magnum continues in Nosler’s Reloading Guide 6. A whole chapter is devoted to the cartridge, beginning on page 332.
