Old Bullets OK

[Lee Goodwin]

The Nosler pro shop has a small display and show some older bullet boxes. They had a fire a few years back and a lot of that stuff burned up. I bet they would not mind some of those real old boxes for their display.

 

[freefloater59]

You should be fine. I have many boxes of circa '65-70's of .223, .243, .257, .277, .308's in Barnes, Sierra, Hornady, Nosler, all inherited or just collected over the years. I dropped whitetail in 2014 with the same Hornady 243 bullets leftover from 1968. I loaded leftover Sierras from 1971 for my brother-in-law's 270 Win for his hunting last year (one shot, DRT). I do like to polish the tarnish off of my bullets just for looks. Have fun,

 

[RAGGED EDGE]

Ten years ago I bought a bunch of 160-grain Bitterroots that had been stored in heat for a long time. The foam they were packed in had become "bonded" to those bullets. I tried acetone but no go. Ended up throwing them in the tumbler with worn out walnut shells and let them go overnight. Boy, did they look good in the morning! Miked within half a thou of where they were before tumbling. Shot great. Wish I had more.

 

[Newtire]

Those older bullets had the belt around them to reduce bore contact and lower friction and pressure they said. I used those to bag a couple whitetails.

 

[betolatinlu]

I got some old bullets in a trade; including some 270 130,150 and 160 gr Nosler Partitions. I have used Partition bullets for years for years but wonder if they (or any bullets degrade over years).I have never seen a Nosler Partition box that look

 

[betolatinlu]

I've been reloading since 1971 . Some of the bullets I have are actually over 30 years old . They work just fine .

 

[Ted Sierocinski]

I got some old bullets in a trade; including some 270 130,150 and 160 gr Nosler Partitions. I have used Partition bullets for years for years but wonder if they (or any bullets degrade over years).I have never seen a Nosler Partition box that looks like these.
What say you guys?

Cooper and lead are very stable. Is there any oxidation? If so clean it off with fine steel wool and try some reloads. They'll probably be fine.

 

[nt7332]

Really, 5 pages for a simple question?

 

[Lefty G-gear]

I got some old bullets in a trade; including some 270 130,150 and 160 gr Nosler Partitions. I have used Partition bullets for years for years but wonder if they (or any bullets degrade over years).I have never seen a Nosler Partition box that looks like these.
What say you guys?

My Dad gave me a box like that, they are originals.
The bullets were turned on a lathe!
They will still shoot accurate and work on game, but they are collector items.

 

[DavidleeCole]

My dad got some .300 Whby mag loaded bullets with 180gr partition with 7828 when he bought some loading equipment back in the 80's and 4 years ago I shot a group of them and suprising they shot rather well around 1 1/2" at a 100 yards. For Arkansas that's more than enough especially for a load not worked up for your gun.

 

[Wade Phipps]

I had some .277 130gr partions In the same kind of box and the same level of tarnish. They killed hogs just fine and performed as expected of a partion. I had to switch back to 20+ year old Speer 150s. My dad is still hunting with partions purchased in the 70s.

 

[aushunter1]

I got some old bullets in a trade; including some 270 130,150 and 160 gr Nosler Partitions. I have used Partition bullets for years for years but wonder if they (or any bullets degrade over years).I have never seen a Nosler Partition box that looks like these.
What say you guys?

I don't even want to read the reply's on this thread just to say if you have enough of them to develop a load with them & use them & have a couple of years back up then go for it.
If you don't then do not waste your time as where will you source more from?

 

[Guy M]

For comparison, here are two 300 grain, 375 Nosler Partitions:

The top one is current production. These bullet jackets are extruded.

The bottom one is an old, really old, Nosler bullet. It was made on what's been called a "screw machine" which must have been some sort of lathe. It is considerably different!

From my memories of shooting the old style Partitions in the 1970's and early 1980's, they were acceptably accurate for me, but clearly not as accurate as a Sierra bullet for instance.

Today? The Nosler Partitions shoot as well as most hunting bullets or better. I have been pleasantly surprised and impressed several times over the past 20 years or so, when Partitions proved to be very accurate.

As I recall, the earlier ones were a bit more brittle up front? The new ones expand very nicely and consistently, or at least they have for me. I have a fair number of the old style partitions in 6mm, and 375, and possibly some in 30 cal as well. Not sure about that. I like the newer version better, but absolutely, I'd hunt with the old ones.

Regards, Guy

 

[LoneTraveler]

With the Lathe turned grove on the bullets, They date back to the 1980's to early 90's. In 1994 the 338 225 gr. I bought, For my first moose hunt, Had no lathe grove. Those bullets are near antique status.