Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting 26 Nosler with 160 Matrix

I've noticed this too shooting the 150 BT vs the 162 Amax from the 7 Rem Mag at the home range at 600 yards.

Due to trees the wind tends to funnel and blow opposite directions at the same time. When conditions are good, 600 yard groups with both are about the same,but when it really kicks up, the Amax takes over and is more consistent.

Good to know on the powders as reloader powder is pretty much extinct in canada
my local shop has lots of 869 and 20n29
i find 869 to be a pain in the ass to work with, clean up etc so i think im going to stick with 20n29 if it gives me what i want

Quick update
settled on a load
Bullet 143gr eld-x
coal 3.53
powder 20n29
primer fed 215m
fps 3398
group under .5 moa if i do my part out to 750 yards so far

Thanks for that info.

If you burn 869 or 872 hot, they're not that bad.

I've not used 20n29.

DF

Is there anymore progress or information on this?

I'll add some info. I've been working with an xbolt. Having a good time with it. Shot some factory 129 ABLR and wasn't impressed at all. Pulled the bullets and found 85 grains of short dark stick powder. Tried gmx with wc872 215M started at 86 and went to 92. Inconsistent accuracy and got pressure at 90 and loosened primer pocket at 92. Went to the lrx and immediate consistent groups, 1/2 to 3/4 but only 2 shots, trying to keep it cool. Settled on 88 wc872 215M and lrx, no idea the velocity, sorry. Looking forward to drawing blood. Thanks to DF for all his work and info on this thread!

Old thread, new info.

First of all, from the thread heading, I'm NOT impressed with 160's in a 6.5 mm. They just don't run that fast. For 160's, I'm bumping calibers to 7mm.

I don't trust VLD's at these speeds as mentioned earlier, so they're out even though they're very accurate and would be great for banging steel, not so much for critters, IMO.

My latest experimentation has been with Vihtavuori n-570. It's a coarse double based, high energy stick powder that's about impossible to meter thru a powder measure. Vihtavuori admits as much in their introduction. I removed the Uniflow drop tube, dump a charge into a scale pan and weigh, n-570 stacks and clogs with the drop tube in place, OK with it removed.

N-570 is expensive, over $50 retail; Powder Valley has it for around $36, IIRC. I don't mind the price if it will do what I think it will.

Quick Loads shows n-570 as top performer in the 26 Nosler.

I tried 130 gr. SSII's over 80 gr. n-570, wide S.D.'s poor accuracy, hard bolt lift. SSII's have a very long shank, probably too much resistance. Speeds were around 3,400+.

I tried 120 gr. A-Frames, thinking they were tough bullets and may work. 80 gr. n-570 pushed these to around 3,550 with no pressure signs. but accuracy was only fair. These bullets don't have good B.C.'s.

I tried 129 gr. ABLR's over 80.5 gr. Magnum. They shot around 1 1/2" at 3,405 fps, av, 49 SD, 91 ES. No pressures signs.

I tried 139 gr. Scenars over 79 gr. n-570, 3,316 fps. 32 SD. 64 ES. .5" group. With my thinking on VLD's, knowing Scenars were tougher, I sent Pat (Scenarshooter) a PM asking how the 139 gr. Scenar would perform at these speeds. He thought they'd do OK, said he was running them at 3,200 fps out of his 6.5 SAUM.

Overall, at high speeds, I trust mono's more than C&C's. The 127 gr. LRX over 91 gr. 869 shot .57", didn't get the speed. Chrono was on and off that day. Mono's like to jump and that load jumped the LRX, .1". If mono's aren't grouping, increase the jump...

Need more work, but think n-570 may have promise. It's a faster burning powder than 869 and 872, but is high energy. Data is lacking on n-570, so I calculated the relationship between n-560 (where there is data for both) and n-570. If you divide n-560 data by .86 you'll be in the ball park for n-570. Of course, do this with caution as that formula may not work for every application. Drop back and work up.

DF

Another thought on the 26 Nos.

My gun has a full mag length 3.6" box mag. I had been loading long because I could.

My current thinking, load them to factory 3.34" which gives a bit of freebore. If you are a Wby fan, that extra jump may help with pressure. Ole Roy taught us that trick many moons ago. Mono's like to jump, anyway.

My next loads to test are gonna be 127 gr. LRX and 120 gr. TTSX over n-570, watching the Chrono.

I'll bump the 139 gr. Scenar loads up a bit (carefully) to see how they run with 79.5 gr. and 80 gr. n-570.

DF

My 26 is a Sendero with a Rock Creek barrel. I use 140 Ballistic tips with 869 powder. I load it to 3200 fps. It hammers deer and pigs. I would go to an accubond if I hunted heavier game. I try to load a little off the max, I figure the barrel will last longer. I suspect it will kill as well at 3200 as it would at max velocity.

How does the 140 NBT hold up at those speeds?

DF

I haven't found one, it passes through deer and pig shoulders. All I find are dead animals. I think Ballistic tips are a lot tougher than they originally were. I killed a 200 lb Aoudadlast year also. He didn't move, dead right there. Passed through him also. I shoot a lot of Ballistic tips.


http://a64.tinypic.com/zt88x1.jpg (226 KB)

Thanks for that report. I've been suspicious of NBT's at high speed, may have to try some.

They're usually very accurate, in some cases more accurate than NAB's.

Next time you're in the market for US869, try WC872, a Vulcan takedown surplus powder.

IME, performance is identical to 869; same charges, same velocities.

Here's a link. Talk to Jeff; he's knowledgable about these things. 872 is cheaper than 869.

http://www.gibrass.com/gunpowder.html

DF

I just built a 26 Nosler and plan to use 127 LRX's with US869. So your saying WC872 powder is identical to US869? Might have to find some WC872 powder.

Others may not agree, but it's my expereince that 872 and 869 are interchangeable, shoot the same loads, same POI, same velocity.

I'm working with n-570 at present. When I get time, I'm going to shake out that powder in the 26 Nos. I think it may run 120 TTSX's, 127 LRX's a bit faster than 869/872. Right now, mono's are my favorites in the 26. My hunting bud like 140 NPT's and I keep him some loaded with 872, running around 3,250 fps. They kill stuff and he likes the load.

DF

That's the main thing. Kill them right there. I get enough looking for them between my boy and I bowhunting. Stomping through cactus, dodging rattle snakes ain't real appealing to me.

Not sure what gun you shot, but my 26 nosler shoots factory load 129 gr long range accubonds at 3540 fps.