The 26 Nosler Any Thoughts?

[DOC-404]

The 26 Nosler ? Nosler

Introducing 26 Nosler | Flat to 415

 

[Biggdawg]

I like it. I love the 6.5mm rounds have 3 of them now. Looks like that one will be a barrel smoker but for a flat out hunting rig I would love to have one.

 

[35bore]

It was actually a topic at the gun shop yesterday. I was just listening, but a lot of good statements made about the limited bullet drop. Then they started talking about velocities and powder burn rates and how to tweek it with handloads to make it better, blah blah blah, so on and so forth. One of the major cons that was brought up, was that several of the guys had compared it to the 264 Win Mag, then the topic of barrel life, (rifling life) came up. There was an old codger there, easily in his early 80's, who said his old Model 70 264 barrel survived appox. 1200 rnds before he had to replace it. Several guys were suggesting that the 260 would be suffering the same side effect.

Then again, I know one fella who deer hunts with his 264wm every year, and loves it. My guess is, some folks will love the new wheel and some will hate it.

 

[Diamondhitch]

Its good but the "flat out to 415" claim is bogus. I just ran their #s through Quick target and a 129gr accubond has a 6" point blank range of 329yds, way behind the .257 WBY at 355yds. Now maybe at 20,000 feet they could be flat to 415, but not where I hunt. Still it looks like a great cartridge if it shoots well.

 

[Diamondhitch]

It was actually a topic at the gun shop yesterday. I was just listening, but a lot of good statements made about the limited bullet drop. Then they started talking about velocities and powder burn rates and how to tweek it with handloads to make it better, blah blah blah, so on and so forth. One of the major cons that was brought up, was that several of the guys had compared it to the 264 Win Mag, then the topic of barrel life, (rifling life) came up. There was an old codger there, easily in his early 80's, who said his old Model 70 264 barrel survived appox. 1200 rnds before he had to replace it. Several guys were suggesting that the 260 would be suffering the same side effect.

Then again, I know one fella who deer hunts with his 264wm every year, and loves it. My guess is, some folks will love the new wheel and some will hate it.

The .264 WM is a well debated cartridge that many believe did not get a fair shake. We have many overbore cartridges out today that are as bad or worse for burning out barrels. The one thing that I think everyone can agree on is if you plan to shoot without allowing the barrel to cool sufficiently, all rifles and especially overbore magnums will burn barrels up. Keep that barrel cool and save the high volume shooting for a bull bbl .223 and you will be fine. Besides, most people never shoot enough ammo in a lifetime to burn a bbl anyway.

 

[colorado]

I've always liked the 264 Win Mag as a cartridge, but since I bought my 270 in the late 60s never had a need for one. I have a 270 Weatherby as well so overbore has never been a concern of mine. It's not like we need a new cartridge but that's probably been true since the 50s. It does looks like a good cartridge though

 

[04sika]

I have done the 6.5x257 weatherby thing that beats the nosler hands down. Its also called the 264 brookes It can realy move the 130 to 140 pills along

 

[Double D]

I recall when I was a kid a fellow told me his 264 was flat to 500 yards then started to rise a little.
I am on my third .264. My handload was from a old hornady book but it was backed off a long time ago. My first rifle was a pre 64 that had to go when I needed a education, the second one was post 64 with a 24" barrel actually shot better but got rid of it for a 257 wby. Later I ran across the nice lady from the Winchester custom shop at SCI "1997". They built me up a dandy left hand custom classic with a octagon barrel. This is easily the most accurate rifle I own. Problem is its to damn nice to hang on the side of a horse. So I had been just about ready to re barrel or buy a Montana rifle in .264 when this 26 thing showed up. Now remember 3200 fps with 140 grn bullets is prity easy to do with a 264 so is the 26 worth it? I contacted Clymer about a reamer they said they had no specs as SAMI had not approved the round yet. Then I contacted Huntingtons about dies and basically they said the same thing. Point being it might be a while before we see the round in a factory rifle. So by chance yesterday I picked up a magazine that had a article on the 26 and in the article it stated that the brass cartridges and rifles would be available by the time the article was published. Don't think so? I am interested but probably wont wait to long before going with another 264. By the way I have a 6.5 x 300 wby with a gain twist 29" barrel for punching holes in paper way out there, the case capacity is likely about the same as the 26 and 3400 ft/sec is easy enough to get but not the most accurate load as twist may be a problem at higher velocity. 600 rounds threw it and no change in accuracy, the throat is discolored but I don't see any major erosion yet. Its going to be interesting to see how long it will go before the accuracy starts to fall off. I might run out of money, bullets or ambition first.

 

[JamesJ]

I would stock up on brass ASAP.

Nosler is the only company forming brass (which may be proprietary Nosler's SAAMI application says "uniqe case"), the only company loading for it and the only company making rifles for it. I don't expect it to last, but I have been wrong before. With that kind of limited distribution, it's just not feasible for it to really be widely accepted. The Nosler label is going to hurt it as well, Remington wont load for it or build guns for it, Winchester wont either, neither will Hornady and Barnes.

It will be a tough sell on the shooting public as well, "barrel burners" scare people away even if its not true. limited and expensive ammo chase away buyers as well.

They should have named it the Badmofo .26, i might buy that.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I talked to PT&G on 2/28/14 and bought the reamer & it was supposed to be shipped the same day. Go and no go gauges are on backorder. It's a hunting rig so I'm not going to rapidly pound round after round out of it at the range so I'm not worried about it being a burner. Going to mate a Lilja 3 groove 1-8 SS fluted with a Pierce CM Remington clone action and DBM for Africa next year.

 

[MerlinMc]

I have posted a report on the 26 Nosler here:

http://www.africahunting.com/threads/report-on-26-nosler-for-plains-game.29772/

 

[CAustin]

Thanks MerlinMc I read the report and it was a good one!

 

[Hogpatrol]

Same here, thanks for the writeup. Not too many hunters that I know of taking the new Noslers to Africa.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

My next rifle will probably be a 26 Nosler. If the Winchester M70 .264 WM Sporter came with a faster twist barrel I'd just get one of those. As it is they come with a 1:9 twist. I want to shoot 140 grain Berger Hunting VLD's and they call for a 1:8 twist. I don't have a reason why I want to do it, I just do. My CZ 550 American 6.5x55 will pretty much do what I need in a 6.5 caliber cartridge.

 

[Hogpatrol]

My next rifle will probably be a 26 Nosler. If the Winchester M70 .264 WM Sporter came with a faster twist barrel I'd just get one of those. As it is they come with a 1:9 twist. I want to shoot 140 grain Berger Hunting VLD's and they call for a 1:8 twist. I don't have a reason why I want to do it, I just do. My CZ 550 American 6.5x55 will pretty much do what I need in a 6.5 caliber cartridge.

Dwight, Disregard my previous post on this thread regarding barrel wear. I built two of the .26 Noslers. Barrels were Brux cut and Lilja button. The first one I had the barrel nitrided and it didn't seem to make a difference in barrel wear. Using Reloder 33 and 140 VLDs, the throat lengthened .060 in 300 rounds. The second one is shooting the same loads very satisfactory. Luckily, I didn't have to travel the same road with load development. In my opinion, if one is only shooting factory loads and not trying to work up reloaded ammo, the 26 is ok. Otherwise, shooting VLDs, unless you are fortunate to get something good early, be prepared to deal with throat wear issues during load development. 1-8 twist works well with the 140s.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

If and when I get a 26 Nosler I will handload for it as I do for my 6.5x55. I've not looked at any load data but don't think pushing a 140 grain Berger Hunting VLD to around 3050-3100 fps will be close to max charge which hopefully will help with barrel wear. I've never shot enough to wear out a barrel. The reason I want to push the bullet at that velocity is to somewhat match 130 grain .270's. I have no idea why but I really want to.

 

[ChrisG]

I have to ask why? I understand the desire to shoot flatter, but, it's not like you're gaining 400 yards MPBR out of the 26 Nosler. I shoot too much to be burning through a new barrel every 2 years (1000-1500 rounds/year). If you want to take full advantage of a round like this, you need to be practicing with it a lot. Not to mention, for the cost of one of Nosler's Melonite, tupperware stocked rifles, I could have a beautiful CRF Winchester Model 70 in any of the already potent, and widely available calibers. All that to gain 100 yards of MPBR on an animal with an 8" kill zone. Not to mention all the meat that is going to be toasted by a bullet that hits it at 3000fps. I think history has shown that standard weight to heavy weight bullets work very well at moderate velocity (2200-2800 fps). Especially at any ranges a hunter should be ethically shooting anyway. If your eyes are good enough and you can hold steady enough from a field position, and you have the marksmanship skills, then by all means, shoot from beyond 450 yards. The problem with Rifles like this, is that they tend to imbue the new owner with the delusion that BECAUSE he has a 26 Nosler, he now has filled all the prerequisites of shooting at extreme ranges... Unless you are a trained military sniper,spend a huge amount of time practicing from field positions on targets of opportunity, or you have a nack for reading wind, I don't believe you need to be shooting animals at 700 yards. You need to be an expert at putting your rounds, cold bore, on target from long range from any available field position, unless you can do this without fail 90% of the time, you should not be shooting at live animals at any range beyond about 400-450 yards... and in most places.. it is very very easy to get much closer than that. Now I do concede that there are like a very very small percentage of animals that cannot be hunted any closer... THAT is where your real hunting skill is tested... because you should let them walk. If you can't get closer, work on your stalking skills, don't buy a rifle that shoots a little flatter and call it good.

Now I am not saying to underarm yourself either... obviously there is a happy medium here. If you book a $13,000 elk hunt and you plan to bring your 25-20, well, you either have money to blow or you need a new rifle that shoots flatter and hits harder to ensure you have the best chance of taking the animal you want. But don't use expensive equipment with the latest whiz bang ballistics as an excuse for shooting at crazy ranges and wounding animals that will die slow, horrible deaths.

Sorry for the rant.... I just hear too much ignorance at the local gunshop and on other forums to not say something. Too many people want to be Mark Walberg in the movie Shooter... problem is... he's a fictional character.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

I wouldn't call it a rant. I'd call it an expression of pomposity.

 

[ChrisG]

ChrisG, I don't need a 26 Nosler. I want one. I really shouldn't bother responding to such a patronizing post but will make a few points.

You ask why? If you would bother to pay attention I said I don't know why, I just do.

Shooting animals at 700 yards? Longest shot I've ever taken is around 330 yards and I've been hunting for almost 50 years.

I wouldn't buy a Nosler, I would have a semi-custom made. Since the 26 Nosler is not a dangerous game cartridge I don't have to CRF though I do prefer it.

If you can't hit what you are aiming at with 100% confidence from field positions you shouldn't be taking any shot, not your arbitrary numbers of 90% and
400-450 yards.

You sound like someone who has read a lot on the Internet and hunted little. You make way to many assumptions that have no basis.

Do you know what a rifle looney is? If so you wouldn't ask why a person would want a 26 Nosler.

I just opened my back door and took a picture with my iPhone. I own my own land and hunt all of the time. How often do you hunt.

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Whoah!! I think you took the post a little personal... The post was not directed at you... In fact, I hadn't even read your comment as I more skimmed it the first time. It was a general rant about companies trying to come up with justifications for their new cartridges and people jumping on the bandwagon FOR those justifications. The word "you" in there was more a general term for "people" not directed at Dwight Beagle... Also... If I had meant to direct it at you... I would have quoted your response as part of my response. My response was a general post about the .26 Nosler...

But I'll address your reply I guess, not to start an argument, but to address the facts.

First of all, this post was started by DOC-404 asking about thoughts on a Nosler... so It was my thoughts on the .26 Nosler.

700 yards was an exaggeration obviously, but was more pointed to some of the folks over on the forums like longrangehunting.com and similar, who claim that if you can't hit a deer at 1,300 yards with a 6.5-284, then you are not a rifleman

If anyone claims they can hit something 100% of the time, they are kidding themselves and, If anyone claims they haven't ever wounded a single animal because all of their shots were 100% true all the time, then they are embellishing the truth, or they have very limited experience taking game animals.

I have hunted quite extensively, not just in the U.S. True, I have not made it to Africa yet, but I have my plan set for 2020. But I have hunted Moose in Ontario, Black Bear in Quebec, and every year I go out for my deer, bear, turkey, coyotes and a plethora of small game with Muzzleloader, Bow, and Rifle in the Adirondacks... where I live. I am not always successful but I do hunt hard. I know people see "NY" and they assume everyone is from New York City... but NY is a big state and NYC is a very small part of it. And yes... I have read a lot... though not much on the internet, as anyone can post whatever they want and call it fact. Most of my reading is from guys like Capstick, Boddington, Taylor, Teddy Roosevelt, Corbett, among others. While I am sure they embellish some things, they at least can be cited as relatively reliable in their opinions.

I am sorry if the opinons expressed personally offended you, but you seem like you came back with a vengence and tried to start a fight with someone who wasn't even directing anything your way... If you want to have a gun... it's a free country. Buy one. My argument was that it is unnecessary. Then you try and imply that I am some incompetant moron who knows nothing about hunting and tell me how much you hunt.

Maybe you are the better hunter... I'll concede... you were right. I was wrong... Let's just leave it at that so this thread can get back on topic... Name calling isn't really going to accomplish much.

 

[Dwight Beagle]

I deleted that post because after second thought I realized your post wasn't aimed at me. My bad and I apologize. I still think your post was rather pompous and full of assumptions.

As to your argument the 26 Nosler is unnecessary, that is true, and so are all of the .30 caliber magnums that came out after the .300 WinMag, as is the .375 Ruger and the .416 Remingtion if you apply the same logic.