Power,

Thanks for taking time to show all these pics, the rib cage pics were very informative, especially the inside the rib cage one!!!

I have shot Nosler Ballistic Tips and had almost identical reactions. Am considering trying Barnes X bullets this year.....any experience?

Very impressive bullet performance I would say..teriffic damage inside and on the way out. I hit a 60 lb doe a couple of years back on a peanut farm on the east side of this state ..range about 200 yards with a 300 wthby and 180 grain partitions. It ran about 150 yards with internal parts hanging out of it ..talk about gory kill scene. Every animal is a separate entity and they are all wired differently. This tiny doe just ran off fast no knockdown ..no back legs kicking no nothing.

I'm going to try 175g Partitions and see if they will shoot in my rifle. I ended up taking a rat-tail file to my detachable mag last night to give a few more thousands of an inch clearance inside the mag so I'm not as limited for bullet lenghth, since my free-bore is pretty good. Never had this problem until the Scirocco but since I have more room in the mag now might give them another shot since they cost the same as the Partitions.

Glad to share this with you all. I know how hard it can be to make these decisions with all the new stuff coming out.

Well, the partitions work pretty well. Got my first elk with them;

http://www.powerandfury.net/j02elk.html

I think I'm going to keep them for a while. Several old elk hunters have told me they use them and like them for everything from deer to elk and beyond. They shoot ok out of my rifle too.