Looking for any insight from anyone that has handled or shot the NOSLER 21 rifle. Especially the Nosler 33 chambering. I'm considering investing in one and getting rid of my two .300 Win Mag's and the 300 RUM. Anyone own one yet?

Didn't they just introduce them?

I had a pretty bad experience with Nosler QC and CS. They eventually got it right, and now I have a good gun, but the experience was enough to keep me from ever wanting to deal with them again.

PaulBarnard...any specifics you can share concerning your experience with Nosler? Which rifle did you buy in which chambering?

It is a whole new design compared to the older Nosler rifles. Stock, Action and trigger. It sure has quality components .

Sounds like a bad idea right from the start

Just by looking at specs for these rifles is a no go. 24" barrel is longest length they offer in even their magnum chambering.

Given my intense dislike for barrels over 24", there are quite a few chamberings that I could like on their list.

Not sure why they went 24" on their Nosler chamberings, but I'd be more interested in the other chamberings anyway.

It's a really nice package, with McBros EVO action, Shilen stainless barrel, TriggerTech trigger, and McMillan Edge stock, and I'm seeing street prices as low as $1750 !!!

To the OP, I've got a 22" 338WM that I like quite a lot. I'd not be too scared of a 24" 33 Nosler if I wanted one.

Same here. I’d be fine with a 22-23” 33 myself depending on contour.

All of Nosler load data is based on a 26" barrel. Why not just buy a 338 win? My concern is Nosler chamberings with a 24" barrel.

Can't speak for the OP, but if you like the M21 package (McBros EVO action, Shilen stainless barrel, TriggerTech trigger, and McMillan Edge stock) and want a 338 then the 33 Nosler is your only option.




The OP is specifically interested in the 33 Nosler.

And I guess you're saying that the 33 Nosler's lesser case capacity and more favorable expansion ratio of the 338 bore won't allow it to work just as well in a 24" barrel as a 26, 27, or 28 Nosler work in a 26" barrel?

I tend to disagree.

Thanks WhelanAway...you you expressed my sentiments perfectly. I'm fortunate enough to be able to purchase any rifle within reason that appeals to me and the M21 in 33 NOSLER is currently that rifle.

Good luck with it and will be looking forward to any feedback on it. For the money they are selling for and the quality of components it is a hard rifle to pass up.

33 Nosler in a 24” barrel likely isn’t a speed demon but it’s still a tad more then a 338 WM and I don’t see anyone saying it ain’t big enough for anything in North America.

Being it’s a Mac bros action and a shilen barrel I’m betting it’s a sweet hunting rifle as issued.

It’s pretty much the same as the 340 Wby in capacity isn’t it?

Looks like:

338WM 78.6gr
33 Nosler 88.3gr
340 Weatherby 98gr

Seems like that would be a nice place to be.

It fits about midway between the WM and WBY in terms of case capacity.

Hard to go wrong with any of them in my book as a light .33 is never the wrong choice when a medium large bullet is desired.

Thanks for all of the opinions and feed back guys. I've pretty much decided to make the purchase. Now I just need to find one in stock!

Please report back with pictures and your thoughts. They look good with a true magnum long action.

Wil report back in once I find somewhere that has one in stock!

Looks like everything but the 33 on Gunbroker.

Okay, it was a touch less than I thought, but yep, great place to be.

I agree. A 24" barrel is more than enough for a 33 nosler. My 28 nosler has a 26" barrel and I wish it was a 24". The 33 is much more efficient than the 28. I have thought for several years that a 22-24" shorter weight 33 nosler would be about perfect for me as an elk rifle. I don't like muzzle braked and a 24" 338 ultra mag on a rem 700 was about as much recoil as I wanted.

I often thought if the 338 was a but shorter it would be perfect for me. Then the 33 nosler came out. The 21 looks like a lot of great parts for the money.

My only concern is the modified m16 extractor. I get really tired of all the custom actions that bounce cases off of windage turrets and back into actions. Maybe the Evo will work but I'd be more comfortable with an origin.

If a model 21 can eject at a lower arch i want one or more. I'd like a 33 nosler too. If it'll shoot the 265 ablr it should get things done.

Bb

Because 24" is plenty. An extra 40-50 ft/s is not worth 2" of extra rifle.

Does anyone here have a model 21 yet? I interested to hear how the ejection angle is on them from someone with a larger windage turret.

A 28 nos, a 33 nos, a 300 win, or a 280 Ackley are all interesting me right now.

Bb

They seem like a heck of a lot of rifle for a street price of $1600. Components alone are more than that if purchased retail.

Not to you but I like 26" barrels on magnum chambering.

At that price it is a deal and 1/2 half. Thinking of one in a 6.5 PRC

Just finished testing a Model 21 in 6.5 Creedmoor. It was one of the most accurate “factory” rifles I’ve ever evaluated. Based on what I saw, I’d buy with confidence.

Good to hear. I am definitely considering one.

Wow. Nice rifle. I need to keep my eyes open for a 280 AI. The one on gunbroker is just too high for me.

Not my best group with the rifle but a good one.

Wish I could find one in 308

The $1600 28 noslers on GB sure dried up quick!

I am numbed by the minutia our gun righters have sold.

That was bound not to last long, can't build something like that for that crazy price.

Would've been an even better rifle had they used a McMillan Hunter instead of the McMillan they chose.

Does anyone know of a place online that has these for under $1800 still that isn't through gunbroker. I'd rather not go through gunbroker I'd prefer to buy from a dealers website. Most have gone out of stock recently or have raised the price by more than $500.

I should have bought last month.

Bb

I just figured out that the last 4 or 5 nosler model 21s that were still under $1800 were actually all the same rifle. I guess it often happens that multiple sellers that use the same distributor will list the same rifle for sale and once it sales through one of them the adds drop for all of them. They never actually have possession of the rifle they just sale it and the distributor drop ships it for them.

That's why the other day there were several 28 noslers left in the $1600-$1700 range and then they all dropped off of gunbroker at about the same time. It was all 1 or maybe 2 rifles listed by multiple different sellers.

I wish I would have bought a 21 a few weeks ago when many where available around $1600. It looked like there were many more available than there was. I would have probably preferred a 280 ai or a 28 nosler but the 280s went fast and the cheaper 28s dropped off this weekend. I thought there were 5 or 6 available Friday then 1 sold and they were all gone.

Today there were about 5 different listings for 300 win mags in the $1700 range. I broke down and bought 1 and they all went away. I'm not a big belted mag fan and prefer a longer neck but performance wise it's hard to argue with the 300 win. I've shot most of my big game the last 8 years or so with my custom 300 wsm.

I love my 300 wsm and I think the 300 wsm is one of the most inherently accurate rounds I've used. However, the 300 win usually feeds better and it's easier fir my fat fingers to work in the long action. Plus with most long actions you get more mag box room to seat bullets out ith the win than you do with the wsm in most all short actions. Another plus to the 300 win is its been long established and usually available throughout the world. Every camp I've been in in Africa always has 30-06, 300 win, and usually 375 h&h ammo on hand. I've heard most camps in Alaska have 30-06 and 300 win ammo too.

I'm excited to see how the nosler 21 shoots. My only concern is ejection angle but I'll soon find out if casings will clear a windage turret. I think I can do most things with a 300 win and 200g partitions, 200g NABS, or 215g Berger hybrids.

Bb

Burleyboy, i have owned 2 Mack Bros actions and know of buddies with 6-8 more between them and have never heard of an ejection issue. One of mine had a 4-16 Atacr and one a k624i and neither ever ejected into the windage turret,

It is curious to me that it is offered in 375 h&h and for ages the McMillan party line was that edge stocks were not to go on anything larger than 300’s (although many did). Maybe change in manufacture, the new ownership, or simply a large enough contract? Interesting nonetheless.

BB, will be watching for your review. Kind thinking I should have snagged a 28 N or 6.5 PRC when they were $400 less expensive. Oh well!

The stock with low rings sits to high for the stock. You dont get a natural cheekweld. This is my only complaint with the rifle. I have a 280ai but havent shot it yet. I wasnt happy with the rail height. The stock just doesnt fit the height of the scope with low rings you have to hold your head up and was poorly thought out. The rifle will be perfect however as soon as someone makes low mount options. It uses 700 hole spacing but 700 talleys wont fit. I want to mount a 40mm as close to barrel as possible it looks like nearly half inch gap. I like the m16 extractor works flawlessly and the stock is fitted to rifle best Ive seen on a factory rifle. Trigger is creep free. Mine adjusted to 2 pounds even. The barrel is extremely nice and the chamber is cut nicely. The finish on all metalwork is top notch. Has a wyatts outdoors follower. Cycling rounds is butter smooth and ejects nicely without hitting scope when cycling cartridges. I paid 1645 shipped from shooting surplus. The price has since went up. Would I pay 2000 for this rifle? yes Would I pay 2300? No

6/48 or 8x40 mounting screws?

This thread alone: It shows you can never make everyone happy.

Name a rifle that connects all the dots .

My Barrett Fieldcrafts in 6 Creedmoor and 7-08 come pretty close for me.

Bb

Hopefully my 300 win will be here next week. I'm interested to see how the stock fits and the scope mounts if those bases put the scope up high maybe that's how the m16 ejection angle works. My challenge with those type of extractors is that I like to mount my scope as low as possible and many of my scopes are large.

By the time I paid shipping, card fees, extra gun broker fees, idaho taxes and some other shipping sir charge they just sent me I'll be about $1950 in to mine. I wish I would have jumped when they were closer to $1600 but I didn't do to bad as the base price on mine was about $1750.

Maybe next week a bunch will list sgain around $1600 but it looks like they're all headed higher. If someone does find more for around $1600 please let me know because I may want another.

For now I'll be dusting off the 300 win dies and opening a new can of H1000.

Bb

I understand your concerns. I do not use scopes with large windage turrets (only capped) but I like my scopes mounted very low as well.

Over the last couple years I have had to sell a three rifles with M16 style extractors that I really liked, because I just couldn't find a scope that worked at a mounting height that was acceptable to me due to the high angle of ejection. I understand the extractor can be "tuned" to result in a lower ejection angle, but I wasn't ready to trust that, and being a cost/benefit kind of guy I felt it was better to just move them along.

Now, I am always a little concerned about buying a rifle with an M16 style extractor.

It appears that the bases included on the M21 are much thicker than a Warne base (for example) so maybe that is a way of eliminating the issues for most buyers. But hat really wouldn't satisfy a low-mounted scope lover.

I really like the rifle, and I'll be anxious to hear how it works out for you. I hope it works out well.

This is why, I have some made just for me. (custom)

I had one in 270, I could like it and down the road it went.

That is the only true way to go.

I hope someone offers a different mounting option than the thick bases that come with the model 21. I know Talley lightweights aren't the toughest mounting system but I'd be willing to use a low set on a 21 to get rid of their tall rails. I like the 2 piece rail option better than 1 piece on a hunting gun because it gives you easier access to the action I just don't think they needed to be so tall.

When it comes to custom actions these days I find myself looking at bighorn because of where their extractor is located. A couple of my most accurate older custom builds both have stiller actions and they've always been a struggle to get the cases to clear the windage. I've even taken a tiny bit off the top corner edge of the extractor off to try to flatten the fling. A hair too much and you have to start over with a new extractor.

Many off my oldest builds have trued rem 700 actions and they clear a turret fine. I wish more custom action builders would figure it out. I talked to the guys at gunworks years ago about it and they said they were going to work on an action with s better angle. They came out with one later that looked interesting but I didn't like the thread pattern they used.

I'm probably just going with an origin on an future builds but I wish they were set up for a longer bdl style mag box. I don't like AICS on some hunting guns but like the ability to seat out closer to 3" in SA and 3.8" or more in a LA.

Bb