Nosler 300 SAUM 165gr Partition Trophy Grade – Superb 20 Round Box

Description

A 300 SAUM owner has two sensible factory choices, and the difference between them is 15 grains and 75 feet per second. The Nosler 300 SAUM 165gr Partition is the flatter of the pair, and for open country it is usually the better buy.

• When the Lighter Partition Is the Right Call
• Nosler 300 SAUM 165gr Partition Specifications
• Honest Notes on Owning a 300 SAUM

When the Lighter Partition Is the Right Call

Bullet weight in a 30 caliber magnum is a trade, not an upgrade. Heavier means more sectional density and deeper penetration; lighter means more velocity and a flatter curve. The Nosler 300 SAUM 165gr Partition takes the second side of that trade, leaving the muzzle at 3025 feet per second against 2950 for the 180 grain load in the same box design.

Seventy-five feet per second sounds trivial and mostly is inside 200 yards. Where it shows up is past 350, when a mule deer is standing across a coulee and you are estimating rather than ranging. The lighter bullet drops a few inches less and gets there a hair sooner, and on the open plains and sage country where SAUM rifles tend to live, that is the margin that matters.

Interestingly the ballistic coefficients are nearly identical, 0.475 for the 165 grain against 0.474 for the 180. Nosler shapes the lighter Partition with a longer ogive to compensate, so the velocity advantage does not wash out downrange the way it would with a blunter bullet.

Nosler 300 SAUM 165gr Partition Specifications

The Partition itself is unchanged: two lead cores separated by a copper wall, the front expanding aggressively while the rear stays intact and keeps penetrating. John Nosler designed it in 1948 and it has outlasted every bullet technology that was supposed to replace it, because the mechanism is simple and does not depend on impact velocity falling in a narrow window.

Muzzle energy for the Nosler 300 SAUM 165gr Partition is roughly 3352 foot-pounds, about 125 less than the 180 grain. Both figures are well past what any state requires for elk, and both are enough for the animal itself. The 180 grain is the safer choice only when a heavy quartering shoulder shot is likely.

Cases are Nosler premium brass, weight-sorted and boxer primed. For a discontinued chambering that is a meaningful part of the value: the brass is genuinely worth keeping, and reloading is how most 300 SAUM owners keep their rifles fed.

• Cartridge: 300 Remington SAUM, Short Action Ultra Magnum
• Bullet weight: 165 grain
• Bullet type: Nosler Partition spitzer
• Muzzle velocity: 3025 feet per second
• Muzzle energy: approximately 3352 foot-pounds
• G1 ballistic coefficient: 0.475
• Case: Nosler premium brass, boxer primed, reloadable
• Series: Nosler Trophy Grade
• Rounds per box: 20
• Boxes per case: 10
• Manufacturer part number: 60061
• UPC: 054041600613

Honest Notes on Owning a 300 SAUM

Buy the Nosler 300 SAUM 165gr Partition if your 300 SAUM is a deer, antelope or open-country rifle and most of your shots are past 250 yards. The flatter trajectory is a real advantage when you are holding rather than dialing.

Step up to the 180 grain if elk, moose or bear are on the list, or if your shot opportunities tend to come at awkward angles through heavy shoulder.

The cartridge caveat stands regardless of bullet weight: 300 SAUM is discontinued and factory ammunition appears sporadically. Buy several boxes when you find them and keep every case. That is not a criticism of the round, which is an excellent short-action magnum, but it is the reality of owning one.

Same rifle, heavier bullet: the Nosler 300 SAUM 180gr Partition penetrates deeper on heavy game. For a second rifle, the Trophy Grade 308 Win 168gr ABLR covers longer distances. Nosler documents Trophy Grade ammunition specifications on its own site.

MAG5 Firearms stocks ammunition for chamberings the big-box stores have given up on. If you shoot something uncommon, ask us before you assume it is unobtainable.