RIFLES
Pronghorn Proven
Nosler's new sub-inch rifle accounts for a "mega-inch" New Mexico antelope.
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I've had poor luck with pronghorns. I've hunted them in four states with success, but I've always shot poorly. I don't know what it is, but a big buck pronghorn makes me buck-fever sick. As much as they give me fits, though, I do love hunting pronghorns, a unique animal in unique habitat. So, when J.R. Nosler--grandson to John Nosler, who founded Nosler Inc. more than a half-century ago--called me last spring and asked if I'd accompany him and a handful of other magazine types to New Mexico's NRA Whittington Center for an August antelope hunt, I couldn't resist.
And then came the kicker: "You'll be one of the first guys to see some of the new products we'll be introducing in 2005, and I think you'll be surprised," he said.
"Nosler has some new bullets?" I asked.
"Err, umm, well, yeah," was J.R.'s reply.
Something significant was up, and not even my boss or magazine deadlines could keep me from making this trip.
Nosler's New Niche
It's interesting to me that it's been nearly 60 years since John Nosler--then a truck driver hauling produce up and down the West Coast--conceived of the Partition bullet. Nosler shot a bull moose in British Columbia, wasn't satisfied with the performance of the bullet he was using and began sketching projectile designs in a quest for something that shot accurately and penetrated deeply. Since then the Partition has won the respect of hunters throughout the world. What's more, it spawned a thriving family business.
Today, 91-year-old John Nosler wears a tie into the office each morning and continues to burn up pencil lead and graph paper designing bullets. His son, Robert (Bob, as his friends call him), runs the day-to-day operations at Nosler Inc. (nosler.com), and Bob's son, J.R., heads up Nosler's marketing.
Collectively, the Noslers agree that they have yet to build a bullet that outperforms the Partition, but there have been some good and useful designs along the way--the Ballistic Tip (20 years young now) and the more recently introduced AccuBond, which sort of splits the difference between the Ballistic Tip and the Partition. But we weren't in New Mexico to dwell on the past. These days the company has a whole lot more to talk about than timeless bullet designs, including the new NoslerCustom Rifle, a surprise worth the trip alone.
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