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

Never shoot the donor...

DF

Seems Nosler is pushing their new round as a flat line shooter.

The PBR advertised for the 26 Nosler using 93 grains of water capacity is 415 yards.
At 500 yds it is 15.8" low.

In comparison.

The 300 WSM using 76 grains of water and shooting 125 AB at 3,650 has a PBR of 416 yards and is 15.8 low at 500 yards.

hey brass is available....

saw it on line, for an amazingly LOW $61.00+ for 20 cases.....

( yeah that is sarcasm.... as much of it as one can put online...)

whoever wants one, knock yourself out....

I wouldn't take one if it was free... but Nosler can set ya up with a rifle for under $2Grand... hell of a deal....

The sectional density and BC of a 130gr 6.5 bullet is significantly greater than that of a 30 cal 125gr bullet. I haven't run the numbers but at 500yds, the 6.5 bullet is going to penetrate deeper, and drift a hell of a lot less in the wind.

I'll use the 125AB in my 30BR, but not in any cartridge I expect to shoot past 250yds.

FWIW, Nosler is testing the 26 Nosler
for barrel life. They are nearing 1k rounds with no issues.

Do you know how they are going about the testing?

No I do not know specifics yet.

I would imagine they're shooting the same barrel in their test tunnel with various powders and loads, while developing loading data. They could then periodically bore-scope the barrel (say once every 100 rounds), along with shooting accuracy tests with a load that proved accurate early on.

But that's just a guess.

Makes sense, kill two birds with one stone, Just curious how tight the controls might be if any at all!

Nosler's a member of SAAMI, so there are quite a few controls, such as consistent temperature and humidity. There's even a protocol for how the round is handled before it's inserted into the chamber of the test barrel, called "the SAAMI spin."

The shooting's done indoors, with a professional chronograph under consistent lighting, not outdoors with a $100 chronograph under varying light and temperature conditions, and a guess at how many rounds went down the barrel. There's also a record not just of the velocity of every round, but the peak pressure and the pressure curve. Oh, and how far the chronograph is in front of the muzzle.

I've visited a number of professional pressure labs, including Nosler's, and while methods vary somewhat, they're always a lot more "controlled" than what happens on shooting ranges, whether private or public.

Interesting info.....thanks John!

if you ever get the chance to visit a pressure lab, it's well worth it. I've visited at least half a dozen now, some more than once.

It can go far beyond what I just described. The most thorough lab I've visited (they do a lot of work for other companies) is a good example. I spent most of day with one of the techs while he ran a test on ONE combination of bullet and powder. Of course, my questions and photography slowed him down some, but even without my "delaying tactics" it would have taken at least three hours for him to simply prepare two dozen test loads.

Among other things, when doing piezo-electronic testing the brass itself has to be tested for hardness, since piezo testing is done through the pressure on the side of the case. This was done with an expensive hydraulic machine, filling the case with fluid and measuring how much X amount of pressure expands the case walls. And of course that requires an average of several cases.

Unfortunately, not many pressure labs give tours, generally because they're too busy.

I'll likely not get a chance, but would enjoy it...thanks again!

This has me laughing!! LOL.....

Another to check out is the 270 Weatherby with higher bc 130s. It will run right with the 26 Nosler.

Yep, and so will the 7 mag shooting 120 BT's of which the Nosler folks back in the day told me were good on deer size game at 700+.


..they were right.

I do like its design though, no girdle.

Nosler should be sending it off with a 150 grain LRAB with a .65 BC

Agree that a super high bc bullet should be an option.

Lots of ways out there to get similar performance - that 7mm Mag/120 route is a lot cheaper way to get there too!

Please enlighten me. I ran the numbers with a 6.5 130AB (JBM doesn't have the 129LR yet) at 3400 and .30 125BT (JBM doesn't have the 125AB yet)at your 3650. With 200yd zeros the 6.5 drops 29.0 and drifts 15.3 (10mph) at 500yds. The .30 drops 28.4 and drifts 20.4. The .30 cal bullet drifts about 30% more at 500. From where does your amusement come?

Mine comes from all the speculation about a cartridge no one has seen yet. I think SU's point is, marketing it as a flat shooter with maximum PBR is not playing to its strengths. Or, if that approach does sell rifles, people would be buying them for the wrong reasons (maximum PBR) whereas you're pointing out some of the right reasons (long range capabilities with a good bullet).

First of all SD is not going to mean anything (deeper penetration) for these light bonded bullets on thin skinned game.

Also, 5" wind drift at 500 yds is not going to make much difference with a center mass shot on an deer sized animal. Take that to 700+ and then I would start looking at the difference and compensate.

I'm a total 6.5 slut and love the design of the 26 Nosler. I'm just trying to find a need for it.
How far do I want to take my impact velocity of 2,000 fps?
The 26 extends it out further than I care to try and take game. Especially with a 129 grain bullet.
Soooo, I'll take the less recoil cartridge of my 6.5 Rem Mag.



Exactly....