Can someone tell me what happened to this bullet?

I had one do that during load testing. The tip got clogged by a piece of leather I used to simulate deer hide and the projectile failed to expand. Out of over 200 fired to date, its the only one to ever do that

wvbearhunter
Yet all it takes is for a bullet to fail in a similar fashion when harvesting an animal to ruin your day, not to mention said critters day! I want my hinting bullets to work every time, no matter the situation. The only bullet I hunt big game with is the Nosler Partition. No exceptions.
Cheers,
crkckr

Hand Skills said:

Recommended twist is indeed 1:8 (or faster)

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In my last three builds, I went with the faster barrel twist rate recommendation for the bullet I will use for my intended purpose.

- .257 WBY = 1:7"
- .264 Win = 1:7"
- .338 Thor (NMI) =1:8"

crkckr said:

wvbearhunter
Yet all it takes is for a bullet to fail in a similar fashion when harvesting an animal to ruin your day, not to mention said critters day! I want my hinting bullets to work every time, no matter the situation. The only bullet I hunt big game with is the Nosler Partition. No exceptions.
Cheers,
crkckr

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Sadly ANY bullet can fail. Or for that matter, anything made by man can fail. I had a 150 grain Speer Spire Point fail to expand from a 308 at 2550 fps. Things happen

Muddyboots said:

Don't know is why I asked. Crazy having 2 same weight different usage.

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One for Supers and one for subs, I use them myself with great results I'm running them 1040 ft./s

6mm06guy said:

This came from the offside of my 10 year Olds first buck. It's a 200 gr maker from a 300 blackout @1146 fps.

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It would help to know:

1) Which bullet is it - most people are assuming it is the 200 Grain .308 Expanding Subsonic
2) How far was the shot?
3) Was there any brush at all in between the shooter and deer at any distance?
4) What was the animal's orientation - broadside? quartering to? quartering away?
5) What was the point of impact/entry on the deer?
6) What did the entrance wound look like? - nice and round?
7) Where was the bullet recovered on the deer?
8) What damage did you observe to the deer?
9) What is the twist rate on the rifle?
10) Is it at all possible that something clogged the hollow point on the bullet, prior to firing?

If you shoot enough of any one bullet, you will find one that fails. Having said that, the failure to open this time did not impact its ability to still kill the animal. I use the same bullet in my 300 BO. It's a great performer. The pictures do suggest a clogged tip. I wouldn't worry about it.

6mm06guy said:

This came from the offside of my 10 year Olds first buck. It's a 200 gr maker from a 300 blackout @1146 fps.

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What happened to it? It killed a deer. Looks like it worked to me.

As stated don't bail on that bullet because of one instance. Every bullet will have a failure.
But we try and measure how many and what happened to help prevent.

Check your twist. This is what it looks like happened to me marginal stability. Flies fine then doesn't have enough spin when connecting. I would give it another try. It will show up and if it does again then move down to a 190gr or something for a 1-9 twist

Looks like it may have hit an unseen twig just before impact.

The only complaint I have ever heard is that on close in shots, the Nosler Partitions tends to work too well, often destroying a lot of meat. I can easily accept that "problem." I have, in 60+ years of hunting, never had a Partition fail, including a "hail Mary" 700+ yard shot on an antelope that my ex-father-in-law had wounded. I had never taken the ballistics of my Win 270 out that far and had zero ideas what the drop might be but managed to connect after 3 or 4 shots. The poor goat had his lower jaw blown off and was standing there trying to graze. He probably would have died from either infection or starvation as he actually wasn't bleeding that badly. Any 130 gr bullet that will work at that range has my vote! The Partition hit a rib on the way in, expanded perfectly and after passing between ribs on the far side, stopped on the hide. Had I planned on that shot I probably would have used the 150 gr bullets but a shot at that distance had never even occurred to me.
Cheers,
crkckr

jemo4570 said:

Looks like it may have hit an unseen twig just before impact.

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If that was the case and it still killed the deer, then it is good to go.

I hope you get a chance at more cause I'm also going to some subsonic loads for my blk for a few stands that have 65 yards and under shots. Subs with a can under 100 is pretty cool. Tried the sub x and they had vastly variable outcomes. So on to the cutting edge 190. These bullets and a few other peaked my interest.

Rib strike is my guess, at the low speeds it folded over.