Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Long Range Hunting The new 26 Nosler

It's always interesting to read reactions to a new cartridge. especially the accusation that Nosler is "marketing" something. Geez, last time I looked, that's what companies in the business of selling stuff do. It would be pretty dumb to make a new product and not market it. As for whether Nosler did their "market research," I would strongly suspect they did, since they're also not in the business of offering products just because they guess somebody MIGHT buy them. They also went to the trouble and expense of having the round approved by SAAMI.

I doubt Nosler cares whether another company chambers their new round. They're not Remington, Ruger or Winchester, out to produce and sell hundreds of thousands of bolt-action rifles a year, everywhere from mom-and-pop stores to Walmart. Instead they make a few thousand that are relatively specialized, in somewhat the same way Ruger makes No. 1's anymore.

If we are excluding long range from the equation, I still believe the average guy would be better off with a smaller round, as the 26 Nosler will be over most folk's (read: the average guy who doesn't shoot much) recoil threshold.

As to the name, I kinda like that Nosler left out any Ultra, Xtreme, or Magnum type nomenclature.

It takes a whole lot more than 8-10 rounds a year to be proficient at 300-500 yards.

The barrel life thing is nonsense...if you burn one in 1000-1500 rounds, screw on a new one.

Doesn't any serious rifleman have a spare tube at home for his favorite rifle? If not,it makes as much sense as having one box of bullets.

Barrels re MADE to be burned out.

I shot a lot of rounds out of different rifles I don't have to shoot my largest powder burner all the time to be proficient with it.

The 264 win mag is a barrel burner but rcumuglia is proficient with his and so is John Burns

Wow, didn't mean to ruffle so many feathers! I never said that I intend to shoot long range with the rifle. I will not personally shoot at anything over 300 yards. That's just my comfort zone. And I also have plenty of other rifles that I shoot to keep my form. The point I was trying to make is this........if a guy has several rifles in his battery, and he only uses each one occasionally, he will never shoot the barrel out of the 26 Nosler. Why does everyone automatically assume that a guy can't just buy a rifle because they like it? What's wrong with having a rifle for every day of the week? Isn't variety the spice of life? It would be a boring hobby if we only bought guns we had a purpose for.

Besides, if a man's rifles are all set up the same as far as optics and trigger pull, does it really matter which one he is shooting as long as he is shooting one of them? I don't think it does, but I'm no expert. As long as your fundamentals are sound, and you practice like you hunt, I don't see an issue.

I don't believe anyone is surprised that Nosler is marketing its new product, that's not what I was commenting on. The question is whether the attibutes of its new product are just marketing hype or real. I think it's the former.

Well, we'll all be able to find out shortly. But I just ran some numbers through various calculations, and there's no reason a somewhat larger capacity 6.5mm than the .264 Winchester shouldn't get 3400 with a 129-grain bullet, especially with a 26" barrel. And if they do, there's no reason not to meet their claim of a 415-yard point-blank range with a zero at 350 for mule deer/caribou/elk-sized game.

In fact I've run a 100-grain bullet from a 24" .257 Weatherby at about 3500 fps, sighted it in 2" high at 100, and found bullets still landed about an inch high at 300 and 5-6" low at 400. That was in typical pronghorn weather of 50-70 degrees, but the rifle did it over and over again. Why couldn't a 6.5mm 129 with a MUCH higher BC at 3400 fps do something very similar?

Sure it could. Why stop at 3400 though.

It could and it should be a success because many hunters would love that type of a point blank range.

Recoil would not be a problem IMHO, a win, win

Personally, I think it looks interesting as well. I will have plenty of slightly build shooters who will need to learn the long range game. Could be an interesting platform for this. However, that tube would see a lot more then 10 rounds a year.

Interestingly enough, one could load a 270 Weatherby with the 130 grain Berger Classic Hunter at 3400 fps, and at 400 yards, it is within .5" of drift, and .2" of trajectory of the 26 Nosler, when both are zeroed at 250 yards, at 3200 feet ASL.

Edit: A Berger at 3400 fps probably wouldn't be my first choice if and when an up-close shot presented itself. I simply put this up as an example of what a similar extant round is capable of.

Chuckling at this one....

Like most generalizations this one flops into the hopper.

I could cite lots of examples, but what's the point.

You're right, of course. I don't doubt that the new cartridge will do what they say it will (poorly-worded post, my fault) I'm just skeptical of the practical advantages. I was ready to shoot my pronghorn with my 6.5-06 Ackley at 500 yards this year but ended up shooting it at 60 with a MV of 3,050. I had plenty of velocity and the right bullet to get out past 500 and I agree with Prairie Goat on the downside of hyper-velocity at close range, it was bad enough at 3,050.

It all boils down to "how much is enough" and you can't get much more subjective than that. I'd bet that Nosler will sell enough rifles to make it worth their while, and they are smart to capitalize on all the interest in LR hunting with both the ABLR and a new cartridge that will be the velocity king in factory .264's.

When people talk about the advantages of 6.5's they invariably talk about the caliber being a good balance between high-bc bullets that are heavy enough for big game up to elk but with manageable recoil. It just seems to me that a 130 or 140 pushed by 90 grains of powder will be nudging the outside of that envelope, as far as recoil.

Just the opinion of a guy who sold his 264 WMs in favor of the 6.5-06, so take it with a grain of salt.

By the way, is the italicized text in your quote above what Nosler said about the cartridge, or is that an interpretation on your part?

That's what I am thinkin too.. Should be an easy 3200 with the 140's and man, recoil shouldn't be horrible at all. My 264 is really a baby with 140's right at 3200.. Plus, mine is a Sporter weight rifle. Might not burn up the sales, but I like being about to get the cartridge in a regular magazine (on a Model 70)..

"With minimal recoil, tremendous velocity, energy and the ability to point and shoot at the intended target up to a quarter mile away, this is the quintessential deer, antelope and long-range target cartridge available on the market today.�

What's the correlation between water capacity (stated in the Nosler info as 93gr) and powder capacity? I'm trying to guess how much powder this new cartridge will take so I can get an idea of actual recoil, not some advertising guy's subjective opinion.

I would bet, as the others have said, it is probably based off the 375 Ruger. So it is probably somewhere between the 264WM and 6.5 Weatherby..

Cartridge : .264 Win. Mag.
Bullet : .264, 140, Nosler AccuBond 39457
Useable Case Capaci: 74.857 grain H2O = 4.860 cm�
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.340 inch = 84.84 mm
Barrel Length : 26.0 inch = 660.4 mm
Powder : Alliant Reloder 33

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-10.0 90 68.25 2854 2533 42416 14079 94.8 1.523
-09.0 91 69.01 2892 2599 44039 14259 95.4 1.496
-08.0 92 69.76 2929 2666 45731 14432 96.0 1.470
-07.0 93 70.52 2966 2735 47497 14597 96.5 1.444
-06.0 94 71.28 3003 2804 49326 14754 97.0 1.418
-05.0 95 72.04 3040 2874 51219 14904 97.5 1.393
-04.0 96 72.80 3078 2944 53185 15046 97.9 1.369
-03.0 97 73.56 3115 3016 55230 15179 98.3 1.345
-02.0 98 74.31 3152 3089 57357 15303 98.6 1.322 ! Near Maximum !
-01.0 99 75.07 3189 3162 59571 15418 98.9 1.299 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 100 75.83 3226 3236 61875 15523 99.2 1.276 ! Near Maximum !
+01.0 101 76.59 3264 3311 64275 15619 99.4 1.254 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.0 102 77.35 3301 3387 66775 15704 99.6 1.232 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+03.0 103 78.10 3338 3463 69381 15779 99.8 1.210 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0 104 78.86 3374 3540 72097 15844 99.9 1.190 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+05.0 105 79.62 3411 3617 74930 15898 100.0 1.169 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by � 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 100 75.83 3402 3599 77164 14976 100.0 1.162 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 100 75.83 2977 2756 47606 15061 92.8 1.428


Cartridge : 6.5-300 Weath. Mag.
Bullet : .264, 140, Nosler AccuBond 39457
Useable Case Capaci: 89.427 grain H2O = 5.806 cm�
Cartridge O.A.L. L6: 3.560 inch = 90.42 mm
Barrel Length : 26.0 inch = 660.4 mm
Powder : Alliant Reloder 33

Predicted data by increasing and decreasing the given charge,
incremented in steps of 1.0% of nominal charge.
CAUTION: Figures exceed maximum and minimum recommended loads !

Step Fill. Charge Vel. Energy Pmax Pmuz Prop.Burnt B_Time
% % Grains fps ft.lbs psi psi % ms

-10.0 84 76.50 2929 2667 44926 15860 96.9 1.533
-09.0 85 77.35 2965 2733 46531 16040 97.4 1.507
-08.0 86 78.20 3001 2800 48191 16212 97.8 1.481
-07.0 87 79.05 3037 2867 49909 16375 98.2 1.457
-06.0 88 79.90 3073 2935 51687 16529 98.6 1.432
-05.0 89 80.75 3109 3004 53526 16675 98.9 1.409
-04.0 90 81.60 3144 3074 55431 16811 99.2 1.385 ! Near Maximum !
-03.0 91 82.45 3180 3144 57402 16937 99.4 1.362 ! Near Maximum !
-02.0 92 83.30 3216 3214 59442 17053 99.6 1.340 ! Near Maximum !
-01.0 93 84.15 3251 3286 61555 17159 99.8 1.318 ! Near Maximum !
+00.0 94 85.00 3286 3357 63744 17255 99.9 1.296 ! Near Maximum !
+01.0 95 85.85 3321 3429 66011 17339 100.0 1.275 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+02.0 96 86.70 3356 3502 68360 17413 100.0 1.254 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+03.0 97 87.55 3391 3575 70794 17478 100.0 1.234 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+04.0 98 88.40 3426 3649 73317 17539 100.0 1.213 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
+05.0 99 89.25 3460 3723 75933 17600 100.0 1.194 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!

Results caused by � 10% powder lot-to-lot burning rate variation using nominal charge
Data for burning rate increased by 10% relative to nominal value:
+Ba 94 85.00 3447 3693 77940 16625 100.0 1.184 !DANGEROUS LOAD-DO NOT USE!
Data for burning rate decreased by 10% relative to nominal value:
-Ba 94 85.00 3053 2897 49857 17065 95.3 1.447

Why would you set up a Long Range rig exactly like all your other rifles? A 6.5x20 works well on a plains rifle, but it's too much magnification for a general purpose rifle that may be in and out of the woods. A long barrel will add velocity a person can take advantage of in the open, but again, it's less then optimum in the bush.

Once your on the windswept plains of Wyoming and Montana, it's not the distance your fighting, it's the wind. Distance is a constant. Within certain limits, you can dial it and forget it (until the game moves), but wind is a variable, and spin drift can cause bullets to do strange things at distance. Change the caliber, you change these behaviors. When you start dealing with this, computer charts and tables will only get you so far, the rest you have to figure out the hard way, shooting your LR rifle at distance under varying conditions.

Besides, if you plan to set up every rifle exactly the same, you might as well just have a .300 WSM with a 180gr NBT, and a .223, and be done with it.

So somewhere between 75gr and 85gr of powder for a max load?

With 85gr of powder, a 129gr bullet, in an 8lb rifle producing 3400fps, the free recoil energy is 24.01 ft/lbs.

As a comparison, a 300 Win Mag with a 180gr bullet @ 2918fps, using 67gr of H4350 in the same 8lb rifle would produce 24.93 ft/lbs of recoil.

So this "mild recoiling" 26 Nosler will actually be almost indistinguishable from a 300 Win Mag in recoil.

If, however, we go with a max load being 75gr of powder, free recoil drops to 21.61 ft/lbs. That's almost identical to a max load of H4350 with a 180gr bullet in a 30-06: STILL not a "mild" recoiling cartridge in my book!