Frangible bullet

Loaded up some 130 gr 270 ammo. It's for a Ruger American that I had never hunted with. A couple of weeks ago I shot a 3 year old doe and hit about an inch in front of the front shoulder. About 125 to 150 yard shot. Both front shoulders were totally destroyed. So, I need to make a change. In my "collection" I found an unopened box of 130 gr Nosler Partitions. Not sure where I got them. Any idea how these things perform? I've found very little on the web about their frangibility.

What bullet were you shooting? Shoulder shots are hard on any bullet. As an aside, there are few things more American than the .270 and 130 grain Partitions. Kind of like peanut butter and jelly. They just go together and work.

Partitions are the gold standard for on-game performance. That’s the last bullet I would worry about killing medium-sized game.

They will shed some weight as the nose comes apart, but they mushroom nicely and penetrate like crazy.

If you’re concerned about losing shoulder meat, avoid shooting the shoulders. Pretty much any bullet will do that.

Actually didn't hit the shoulder; about an inch in front of heart area and a little bit low. Both shoulders were trashed.

The load: Hornady Interlock 130 gr SP#2730 52.8 grs IMR 4831. Deadly accurate at the range at 50 yards which is what I expected to be shooting. Never seen anything quite that frangible. Obviously it didn't mushroom or even hold together. If the 130 gr Nosler will mushroom and expend its' energy inside the deer or for the next 9 months inside a hog, I'll use it.

Did any of the Hornady bullet exit? I have used that bullet on many game animals loaded hotter than your load too. It would seem if you would load it down to 2700 feet per second you would have less recoil and meat damage. Several years ago I shot an antelope at 250 yards, the bullet hit low in the chest just in front of the "elbow" and it blew a 5 inch diameter hole through the antelope where when I got there I couid see the antelopes heart hanging out of it. He ran 20 yards. Have to say that bullet is designed for quick killing and it does it well. That said the Nosler Partition is an excellent bullet but as bullets kill game by destroying tissue you will lose some meat with it too.

OP, please don’t take this as a shot at you or what you’ve stated happened. Depending on the deer’s leg position, an inch forward of the heart should have put you square into some sort of leg bone. At the least the knuckle of the elbow. Your original post said your shot was in front of the shoulder, which I read as brisket or where neck and brisket meet. Regardless of whether you hit any heavy bone, a standard cup and core bullet, at moderate to high velocity such as I would expect with what you described is going to expand violently. You’re going to get bloodshot tissue. I wouldn’t expect two completely trashed shoulders without hitting any major bone though. I would look into some of the bullets others have posted. Partitions, Accubonds, or Barnes if you want something that’s going to hold together better. They will all still trash shoulders though if heavy bone is impacted.

CBlack, no problem. I'm asking questions.

Rick, some of it exited because there was a good sized hole on the other side. I believe from looking, it hit a part of a rib bone and some of just came apart. BUT, I DIDN'T SEE THAT AND DIDN'T LOOK. The interesting thing is that it destroyed both shoulders without going through either of them. In about 50 years of killing dang near everything on 4 legs in North America, I've never had that happen and have been rolling my own ammo for about 35 years. I really think it blew up on part of a rib bone. I didn't examine it and should have. I wound up with hind quarters and straps.

I'll try the Noslers. However, unless I use it on a pig, it will be next year before I can test it. At least, my land is loaded with pigs and I have Grandsons who don't mind staying up all night to hunt them. Since I have my own 100 yd range, I'll try some sand bags when I next go there and don't have to work my butt off.

BTW, the deer actually made it about 30 yards before going down.

After I used the Hornady 130 SP for a couple seasons I switched to 150 grain bullets, Hornady SP and Nolser Partitions and I still load them. I typically took broadside hits behind the shoulder or the neck in front of it. There both pretty destructive if you hit bone. The reality is the 270 is a bad @$$ed powerful rifle excellent for quick kills on deer and feral hogs.

Yep. Velocity tends to magnify the destruction. I use 308 capacity cartridges so I generally don't get excessive damage.

Although I have and reload for a lot of rifles of different calibers, 90% of my hunting has been 30-06 with a tried and true load. But Ruger came out with the dirt cheap rifles and I figured to try it. $299.00 with a scope that worked real well when shooting at 50 yards at the range. Not so well at 100 or so yards. That's another change to occur. This was my first experience with a 27 caliber and I have some learning to do regarding velocity and the resulting damage.

I don't have a 270. I load for a fairly wide variety of cartridges though, from 22 up to 358. I've moved to either Accubonds in most or Partitions. Main reason is just for what you're griping about - loss of meat.
The partitions are designed to mushroom/shred the nose of the bullet and leave the lower half intact for penetration. Pretty much the 'gold-standard' people have when comparing bullets. Partitions are designed to keep around 50% of the bullet intact for penetration. Only problem is, some people can't get them to shoot in their firearms accurately enough to suit them.
The Accubond is designed to mushroom from the tip down, in most cases, without shedding the front portion of the bullet. A special bonding agent is used to bond the lower half of the bullet to the copper outside. Accubonds tend to keep 40-50% of the lower part of the bullet intact for penetration. I've only recovered 2 Accubonds - a 90 243 in gallon jugs of water that retained 45% and a 142 gr .264 AB Long Range (designed to open to a lower velocity that regular accubonds) recovered after penetrating an elk hip and one shoulder and lodging in the meat of the off shoulder.
The 243 was shot with a mv of 3200 and the jugs were at 100 yards. The elk was shot at 137.5 yards (rangefinder). (BTW, the first shot on the elk was 2/3 up from the bottom, just behind the shoulder. The bullet went through the scapula's on both sides and left a 1" hole on exit. Internal damage was about 3" on the far shoulder and less than 2 on the near shoulder)

Another option is to go with a heavier bullet than the 130's. The slower speeds should help the bullet hold together a bit better.

I think I'm going to try the Nosler and a slower speed.

As if that will happen?

Gary, I used to have a list but every where I look, there are things that need doing. If I lived there, I would never be able to slow down.

Went to the Nosler website and found an accuracy load that is also min with H380. Loaded 10 and will see how it shoots

The partitions will perform very well for you.

"Soft" bullets also tend to magnify destruction even in the 308.