Bullets from days long ago

[Paul Hoskins]

Just plundering the gun/reloading room and came across these old bullets. Didn't see any of the old R B Sisk bullets. Should be a few 17 caliber Sisk bullets somewhere in that mess. Here is some old Curry and Nosler bullets I came across. There is a full box of Curry 200 grain 30 caliber bullets and part of two boxes of 160 grain Curry spitzer and round nose bullets. These are the only Curry bullets I ever saw. One box of the 7mm bullets has a red sticker that says "factory seconds."The Nosler bullets are also 7mm but 140 grain partitions. These Noslers are odd because the jacket is NOT copper. They appear to be made from bronze ot an alloy of brass/copper. Oxidation from many years has tarnished them a bit but when polished back to original, they look to be pure brass. The groove in them has obviously been machined on them. I see no reason for the groove except to possibly cut down on pressure over the partition. None of my other Nosler partition bullets have this groove. The solid band of copper that forms the partition will not create more pressure. I will argue that point. Interesting old modern  bullets nevertheless.  .......Paul H

[gitano]

The first Nosler Partitions I ever shot were in .338, and had that 'odd' cannelure. Those Partitions shot straighter than the "new" ones without that cannelure. Same caliber - .338; same weight - 210. Worse precision in the 'new' ones. Whooduhthunkit? The REAL question is WHY? Seems in EVERY walk of life from automobiles to bullets, the manufacturers have ALWAYS "fixed" things that weren't broken, and made them perform WORSE than the original.

There are of course examples of both 'improvements', and innovations. The innovations - new ideas - don't count because they ARE the "originals". Disc brakes are most certainly better than drum brakes. However, I might suggest that disc brakes weren't an "improvement" on drum brakes, they were a NEW IDEA for brakes.

Maybe I'm just a being a typical cranky old man, but I don't think so. I've observed this since long before I got old. My Dad complained of this when he was 'young', and I observed it and complained of it when I was 'young'. I am inclined to imagine an 'evil force' in the universe that WORKS at taking "good stuff" that WORKS, and making it into stuff that doesn't work nearly as good as the original. I just can't understand WHY!

Like I said, there are plenty of examples of genuine improvement. However, the issue is: "Why are there SO MANY examples of "improvements" that don't work as well as the original?" That question haunts my thoughts.

Paul