26 Nosler - Hot rod for the 21st Century

[ADMIN]

I think Nosler has a winner in their new 26 Nosler cartridge offering. The 26 Nosler when zeroed at 350 yards, has a maximum Point Blank Range of 415 yards. For quick shooting situations such as with whitetail deer in long bean fields this cartridge could be just the ticket. With whitetails you often don't have much time to range and dial before the animal has moved on. Read More...

This is a thread for discussion of the article, 26 Nosler - Hot rod for the 21st Century, By Len Backus. Here you can ask questions or make comments about the article.

 

[djcwardog]

Len,

I enjoyed your article on this new cartridge and I share your passion for hot rods as well. My current fun car is a '75 Caddy Coupe Deville! I did a top end rebuild on the factory 500 CI motor and it now has a proper torque cam in it, from Marty Lane at MTS. Yes indeed, she pulls the left fender up almost a foot as she launches! This car is as much fun to drive and work on as my prior two Corvettes combined, and at 1/20 the cost.

As for hot rod rifle cartridges, I also enjoy doing what work I can without access to a lathe in building rifles up from parts. Lately, I have been on an old Sporterized Mauser kick. I have been working on a .416 Rem Mag 28" barrel and some VLD 395 gr Barrett bullets. Think .416 Barrett but flying maybe 600 fps slower! Out on our farm I can take shots of half a mile or more, so I also prefer high BC bullets. My old Arisaka 7.7 with a Vortex Viper 3x9 will serve for a whitetail in the brush on our knob woods, so the LR shooting is really about punching paper for me so far.

Keep writing about those great hunts out west as well, great stuff!

Thanks again for the web site and the knowledge sharing.

 

[Len Backus]

djcwardog

Well you sure know how to have fun!

I owned several successive Cadillac Coupe DeVilles starting around 1975. None were souped up like yours, though.

 

[kiwhite]

Len, can you supply any info as what throat length for the longer 140 grain bergers do you use and what max cartridge length do you seat them at?

 

[winmagman]

Len,

Nice write up.

I'm curious to know if you had the barrels melonited/nitrided. If so, did you do any barrel break in before treating. How many rounds?

Thanks

 

[jonthomps]

Excellent article. 3400fps w/ a 140gr?!? Awesome! I really like the 6.5 cal for hunting - very versatile. I will be very interested to hear what barrel life is for shooters that run 2-300 rounds per year or more. That's pretty much all there is to worry about with this beast!

 

[hsupply]

I bought a 26 nosler and I think it's a dud. The amount of powder it takes and the extra recoil compared to my 6.5 wsm convinced me to get rid of the 26 nosler. With 140 berger vld hunting bullets the velocity on the 26 nosler has about 15 ft/sec faster than but, takes 26.5 grains more powder. No brainer to me as to which gun I keep.

 

[Jokostel]

I have 2 26 Noslers.... both run VERY well.
A Browning Western Hunter and a Nosler M48 Patriot.
They run ~ 3350 with a dose of rl33 and 3450+ with rl50, with 130 Accubonds.
These are running what I feel are mid-loads. I could care less about the powder I burn, or barrel life. It's a production level hotrod that took NO load development at all. Literally. I love the wildcat idea... but the simple fact of creating a red-headed step child round that only I can load for and is worthless to all, sans another handloader is a WASTE OF MY TIME.

 

[Thesteeleboy]

I have 2 26 Noslers.... both run VERY well.
A Browning Western Hunter and a Nosler M48 Patriot.
They run ~ 3350 with a dose of rl33 and 3450+ with rl50, with 130 Accubonds.
These are running what I feel are mid-loads. I could care less about the powder I burn, or barrel life. It's a production level hotrod that took NO load development at all. Literally. I love the wildcat idea... but the simple fact of creating a red-headed step child round that only I can load for and is worthless to all, sans another handloader is a WASTE OF MY TIME.

I have been disappointed in the accuracy of the 26 nosler with factory ammo. After all the hubbub about the new Nosler rifles and their moa accuracy, I expected more. Not many people achieve moa results with the 26 nosler long range bullets or factory ammo as far as my research has indicated or my personal expsriance has indicated. It seems the accubond factory loads shoot better than the long range ammo in the 26 but then you loose valuable BC. I would be interested in other shooters thoughts on the matter.

 

[kiwhite]

I HAVE A .26 NOSLER CUSTOM BUILT WITH A PREDATOR LONG RIFLE ACTION, TIMNEY TRIGGER SET @ 2#, A BROUGHTON 5C PROFILE 26" BBL,BUSHNELL 3.5-21-50 SCOPE. RELOADING DATA IS HARD TO COME BY. IT TOOK ME 200+ RDS TO GET THINGS GOING RIGHT. MY BEST LOAD IS A 127 GR BARNES LRX wITH 74 GR RELOADER 26 PUSHING IT FOR 3412'/s. IT IS LOADED.029 OFF LANDS @ 3.385" TOCHES LANDS @ 3.414. THIS LOAD IS ONE HOLE AT 1OO YARDS. NOW wORKING ON THE NEW 143 GR HORNADY ELD-X. IT'S -1/4" BUT AM STILL PLAYING WITH SEATING DEPTH. IT WILL DO BETTER WITH IT ABOUT .030 OFF LANDS ALSO. THE FACTORY MAX OAL IS A 1"+ GROUP FROM THIS RIFLE. I HAD THROAT EXTENDED TO 3.412 WITH BERGER 140 VLD'S. NOSLER'S FACTORY AMMO IN THIS RIFLE IS +1.5" WITH THE 129 ABLR BULLET. IF HANDLOADED 3.450" IT TOUCHES LANDS @ 3.484" WITH MY THROAT.
I'm having fun now but throat wear in this rifle is EXCESSIVE AS MUZZLE PRESSURE WITH QUICKLOAD PROGRAM IS OVER 15,000 # MY 6.5-S84 WITH A 30" BROUGHTON BARREL IS BELOW 9,500#. IF IT GOES OVER 500 ROUNDS WITHOUT A SETBACK OR NEW BARREL I WILL BE SURPRISED. NOT SOMTHING YOU WOULD TAKE WITH YOU ON A HIGH VOLUME PRARIE DOG SHOOT. BUT FOR LONG RANGE HUNTING IT IS OUTSTANDING.
LAST YEARS ANTELOPE WAS TAKEN @ 580 YDS . 2 DOE DEER AT 385 & 415 ALL ONE SHOT ,DOWN IN THEIR TRACKS. IT IS EFFECTIVE.

 

[sakohunter62]

kiwhite,

What primers are you using? and have you done anymore development with the 143grn ELDX? I've been using the Winchester LRM with so so results.

Thx,
Mark

 

[kiwhite]

I USE FEDERAL GMM MAGNUM PRIMERS IN ALL MY MAGNUMS. ITS THE ONLY PRIMER TO USE FOR CONSISTENT RESULTS.
I HAVE LOADED THE 143 ELD-X TO .030 OFF THE LANDS AND NOW AM @ 1/4" GROUPS. LOADED WITH 76.2 GR. ALLIANT RELOADER 26, @ 3325'/s. THAT IS THE LOAD I WSILL STAY WITH THE ELD-X BULLETS!

 

[Thesteeleboy]

I have been shooting 143 ELD-X through two different 26 Nosler with 30 inch Bartlein 5R barrel. 86 gr of RL-33 shoots 3520 fps and under 1/2 moa. These rifles loves the 143 ELD-X and the 140 ELD-Match bullets. Unfortunately, only for about 250 rounds. Granted that is an extreme hot rod load, but thats why I built it { just to see what it would do }. Fortunately I have another barrel setting here ready to go because my barrel looks like an alligator hyde through a bore scope in the rifle with the 250 rounds. Im currently running some Tubbs TM bullets and JB bore compound through it to milk out a few more rounds, but the barrel will fowl so fast from this point forward its almost more work than its worth to try and stay on top of the maintenance. The second rifle has shot fewer rounds but will be starting its own maintenance program to try and extend its life beyond what the first one shot. The accuracy of the Nosler Long Range bullets were a huge disappointment to me, Both factory ammo and reloading for it. 1 1/4 was about as good as it got consistently, 3/4 once in a while. If your going to build one jump on the first load you find under 3/4 and call it good, then take it out prior to the hunt and run 2 or 3 through it, now go kill your critter , take it home, clean it and put it away for next year. Just my thoughts on the matter.

 

[SansSouci]

When I was young and knew everything there was to know about everything, I sure as heck lacked knowledge of important stuff. It wasn't until I got in to hand loading that I figured out importance of sectional density. 6.5MM bullets have excellent sectional densities. A 140 grain 6.5MM bullet will penetrate the heck outta any North American big game animal.

To be honest, I don't have skills to become a long range anything. I live is the most gun-hostile state in the country, which is why I refuse to patronize California with hunting license and tag fees. I have to drive about 150 miles or more, round trip, just to get to a rifle range. Were I inclined to give long range anything a shot, I'd have to dedicate a whole lot of hours every month to get comfortable shooting at long range, and I'd have to stay at it to keep -prayerfully- acquired long range skills honed. With full disclosure out of the way, I would like to own a 6.5MM Swede. It would be compatible with my skill set.

Years ago, I watched a TV program about long range competition shooting. The competitors had fortunes invested in their sport. And they were fiercely competitive. I think long range shooting ought to become an Olympic sport.

I'm sure this hero would love to compete in Olympic long range shooting: Hero SAS sniper 'killed FOUR ISIS terrorists with single bullet as they prepared to execute hostages with flamethrower' - Mirror Online

I would think the the 26 Nosler would hold its own when it comes to long range shooting.