Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Out of touch: Verdicts on the 26 Nosler cartridge?

Cars are meant to be driven and they make more gas every day too. I still don't want one that gets 2 mpg and needs a new engine every month, even if it will go 400 mph.

John,

Nosler sent me a Patriot Model 48 (their lowest-priced rifle) for a couple of magazine assignments. Because of the testing required for the two articles, so far I've put over 200 rounds through it and while a little erosion is visible in the bore-scope, it still shoots very well. Dunno how long that will last but my guess is years during normal hunting.

The Nosler brass is pricey but of excellent quality. What I like about the round is it does what the .264 Winchester was always supposed to, plus a little bit more, without having to lean on it very hard.

At the end of the testing I bought the rifle, and am using it for some hunting this fall. Haven't taken anything yet, but based on experience with other cartridges in the same class I guessing it will kill big game pretty damn well.

Well I would think that it qualifies as overbore, but with those low BC 6.5 pills.. It should make out to be rather formidable long range weapon.

PD shooters around here shoot out barrels every one or two years. 22-250 is the most I replace followed by the 223 Remington,and 243 Winchester. Several others at a lesser degree probably due to backup use. These are SS varmint contour barrels i'm talking about not sporters.

IF you could get a 180 VLD (.659) going 2,900 in a 7WSM, it still drifts more than a 140 VLD (6.12) going 3,200 in a 26 Nosler.

Then again, we're talking about +/- an inch and the Nosler is just an answer to a question that wasn't asked.

I wish the "developers" would put more emphasis on the lower end of the spectrum, instead of hot rods.....

High BC bullets in low recoiling rifles are a lot more fun.

Isn't that what all new cartridges are intended to do, or am I the only fall guy?

"But this one goes to 11........."

16bore,

You mean the "developers" should offer some new designs to fill the gaps between the 6.5 Grendel, 6.5 Creedmoor, .260 Remington, 6.5x55, 6.5x47 Lapua and 6.5-284?

Or the 6mm PPC, 6mm BR,6x47 Lapua, .243 Win., 6mm Remington and .243 WSSM?

Or the .22 Hornet, 221 Fireball, .222 Remington and .223/5.56? Or the .17 Hornet, .17 Fireball and .17 Remington?

Of course, there could be a few .20's added, since so far there's only the .204 Ruger. But Jim Calhoon makes a line-up of .19 wildcats that pretty well cover the milder rounds, and not only makes rifles but offers dies, brass and bullets.

Every time you invent a new cartridge, you create two new holes to fill.

Golly gee whiz, I guess there aren't any gaps to fill on the low end either.

Just stick a short case in a long action with a long throat. Bang away!

ok that was funny.

My take is if Barsness likes it, it must have merit and I am sure he will enjoy what it can do, even if I don't see myself ever buying one.

Can't blame Nosler for making and marketing it. Nosler rifle needing Nosler components sounds a bit 308 Marlin to me. Nothing wrong with that. I just have to wonder how many out there are really saying - "Ah, Finally!"

Comparing 140 Accubonds across the 26 Nos, 270 WSM, and 7RM its pretty much just another f'n rifle. I'm sure they'll be some pics of dead animals and a guy saying "I just couldn't have pulled it off, had it not been for my new 26 Noz"

Zzzzzz....

16bore,

They're all "just another f'n rifle," since all they do is burn powder and push bullets. And they all kill stuff when we point them right.

However, I am always amazed at the instant reactions when ANY new cartridge is introduced, 90% of which come down to: "What the hell do we need that for? XYZ already does that." This happens no matter what the cartridge, whether it's the .17 HMR, .300 WSM or even the 6.5 Creedmoor. I mention the Creedmoor because a BUNCH of people questioned the need for it too. Most were .260 Remington fanatics, but not all.

The one trend I've seen with these instant anti-cartridge reactions is they're almost universally from people who have never fired the new round, and don't intend to, because they somehow already know everything about it.

I dunno what the 26 Nosler is good for, but bought my test rifle because I wanted to find out more than 200 rounds of test-shooting could provide. That's my job.

Because I've used enough big game rifles on various animals to know that all they do is burn powder and push bullets, I didn't expect the rifle or cartridge to change my life--unlike many Campfire members who seem to expect a new and magic existence because they switch from a Remington 700 action to a 700 clone costing several times as much, or from a standard .280 to a .280 Ackley Improved.

But I do know that Nosler is having a hard time keeping 6.5mm bullets in stock, all because of the demand for the 26 Nosler. I know this because I called their writer-contact guy the other day, to see if they had any 6.5 140 Partitions to spare, because I couldn't find them anywhere and needed some for various articles. Even he guy didn't have any in his stash, or any other 6.5 bullets for that matter, due to the 26 Nosler.

That never happened when various "developers" brought out the 6.5 Creedmoor or 6.5/.284, or any of the several other mild 6.5 cartridges you think there aren't enough of. So SOMEBODY doesn't think the 26 Nosler wasn't a total waste of time.

One thing's for sure, nobody ever passed a Federal, state or local law compelling anybody (even Campfire members) to buy rifles chambered for new cartridges, especially when they already know all about them, even if they've never even seen one.

The demand for 26 Noz depleted all the inventory of 6.5 bullets? That's a bold statement. Its not surprising that the Creed didnt, considering it was from Hornady. Plenty of Lapua around as well.

Even you agree that you have no idea what its good for and not "life changing". But hey, it goes to 11....

Oh, I do actually have some idea of what it will be good for, based on personal experience with a bunch of animals taken with the .264 Winchester Magnum, .270 Winchester, .270 WSM, .270 Weatherby Magnum, 7mm SAUM, 7mm Remington Magnum, 7mm Weatherby Magnum, and 7mm STW. (But no 7mm Mashburn, sadly.) Oh, and several smaller 6.5's, including the .260, 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5x55 and 6.5-06. (Alas, no 6.5/.284.)

Based on those experiences, I would be willing to bet the 26 Nosler will kill a wide array of big game very effectively, at widely varying ranges, from pronghorn and springbok to wildebeest and elk. But as all Campfire hunters know, unless some specific cartridge is used to propel the bullet, then it doesn't count.

New look, same great taste.

Sure, it'll kill stuff dead just like everything else on the list. But, maybe some are more interested in what they gain over what they already have (or what's available). This assumes they have the rest of the shooting/hunting equation figured out, being that ALL are equal in ability and the hardware is equally capable. So in the end, once ALL those factors are equal, the gain is the same 6.5mm bullet, going faster.

And compared to the same weight bullet of a different diameter, the advantage at 500 yards is a few inches of drop, an inch of drift, maybe 100FPS and 100 FPE.

Those might be big differences for some, but odds are 90% of shooters will never notice it because of the other 99% of the factors involved.

But, Nosler needs to sell rifles, you need to write about them, and loonies need to buy them.

Get back to us after you've thoroughy wrung out the 7MM Mashburn so we'll know you really know what you're talking about.

Somehow I don't think I trend the with instant anti-cartridge reaction because I'm a universally never fired the new round - don't intend to because I somehow already know everything about it. Can't I just be uninterested? The only information I have is what I've read and I remain completely uninterested. Now had Nosler had the good judgment to introduce a 25-08, well, I'd do my best to become an expert.

has anyone stopped to actually compare the drop and retained energy out at lets say 700 yards and under, from the new 26 nosler and lets say the 270 wby 7mm rem,300 win 300wby, 340 wby , each using a decent similar sectional density bullet,of semi similar ballistic coefficient, just to see if its providing much if anything but a bit less recoil ?
new stuffs great, but at some point the old stuff still works and you step back and wonder why you need to jump on the latest choice if your old choice still has it covered so well?

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...oat_Tail_Matchking_100_Count?clicks=box4

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...ain_Spitzer_Boat_Tail_Gameking_100_Count

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...0_Grain_HP_Boat_Tail_Matchking_500_Count

http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.c...in_HP_Boat_Tail_Matchking_LRSP_500_Count