# The 26 Nosler



## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

So I have been seeing this cartridge being talked about lately and decided to look into it a bit. 
I must say according to the website http://www.26nosler.com/ this is a truly awesome cartridge. They energy chart alone is very convincing. 
Compared to the 30-06 a 129gr ABLR in a 26 Nosler has 1256 ft-lbs at 800 yards where as the 30-06 with 180 gr AB is only 922. 
http://www.26nosler.com/_media/26Nosler_Comparison-Charts_Low-Res.pdf
Something to consider I guess for my next gun. When other gun manufactures start producing them of course.:mrgreen:


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## fishreaper (Jan 2, 2014)

The real question on my mind is barrel life and brass/ammo availability. I've heard the 26 nosler is among the hottest rounds out there, and with the media attention it is getting obtaining brass and bullets, much less factory ammo, may be a bit difficult. 

But with that said, It does seem like a nice new toy to add to one's arsenal. I wonder what the recoil/muzzle blast is like in an ultralight weight goat/sheep rifle. Probably needs a long barrel to take full advantage of its abilities.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

That looks like a really cool cartridge, but I find it kind of strange that all of their comparisons are with the 26Nosler using the AccuBond LRs and other cartridges using the regular AccuBonds, Ballistic Tips, or Partitions. No doubt the ballistics for the 26Nosler will be superior to a lot of the other cartridges regardless, but what about the ones that are close using a bullet with a lower BC than the AccuBond LRs? Especially the 270 Weatherby Mag. They're comparing it using a Partition! 

I know there is very limited selection for the AccuBond LR, but I'd just be curious to see how it stacks up against the other calibers using the regular AccuBond. 

I'm sure it's a marketing thing to show the 26Nosler as superior to all other cartridges in all respects, but to me when I see the bullet selection is different from all others, it kind of takes a little away from the awe factor.


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## mikevanwilder (Nov 11, 2008)

fishreaper said:


> The real question on my mind is barrel life and brass/ammo availability. I've heard the 26 nosler is among the hottest rounds out there, and with the media attention it is getting obtaining brass and bullets, much less factory ammo, may be a bit difficult.
> 
> But with that said, It does seem like a nice new toy to add to one's arsenal. I wonder what the recoil/muzzle blast is like in an ultralight weight goat/sheep rifle. Probably needs a long barrel to take full advantage of its abilities.


When the 204 Ruger came out I thought the same thing. But it wasn't terrible finding brass or bullets for it. I assume this will be like wise if it really does perform as advertised.
I also found it odd that they used the ABLR with the 26 Nosler and nothing else. But even with that, beating a 180 gr AB out of a 30-06 in Ft-lbs with any 129gr bullet is impressive.


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## Loke (Sep 7, 2007)

What's the point? And what can this cartridge do that the 264 Winchester hasn't been doing since 1958? A lot of advertising hype and propaganda to get you to buy new guns. Oh, wait. I sell guns. Never mind, come in and order 2 or 3 of them. And scopes for them all.


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## MKP (Mar 7, 2010)

Chuck Hawks has an interesting (if short) article on it. http://www.chuckhawks.com/26Nosler.htm

He speaks against it, but I must say I still have some interest in it.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

Just for fun, I took one of Nosler's minimum loads and plugged it into a barrel life calculator spreadsheet (found here). The spreadsheet is obviously not exact and is really for target accuracy. You could assume longer life for hunting accuracy, though I'd have no idea how much longer.

At any rate it predicts a barrel life of 450 shots.:shock: If you put the maximum load in it drops to 409 shots. Not exactly what I want to see when I'm looking to buy a gun. By comparison using my load for a .300 WM gives a barrel life of 1270, again for target shooting accuracy.


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## scoutm (Jul 29, 2014)

As far as 6.5s go I don't understand the need for such a big one. Barrel life will be questionable at best and for what? Are the increased cost of powder, brass and barrel life really worth the gains over say a 6.5x284 or the .264 Win Mag. I don't see it.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

How many of you guys really care about barrel life? If you're shooting benchrest you're probably not going to be shooting a 26 Nosler against all the BRs. Most benchers see barrels as a consumable. If you're a varmint hunter you're probably shooting something flatter and cheaper to shoot. It's a huntin' caliber. My favotite hunting gun, a 300Wby Accumark, has shot 30+ animals and only has maybe 500 rounds through it. I have a long way to go at this pace before I wear out it's barrel. Lisa and I shoot a lot. Two years ago we shot over 4000 rounds. We've only shot out a few barrels in our lifetime. For 99.9%, barrel life is just something most shooters will never have to worry about. Don't judge the 26 Nosler on barrel life. It's a sizzling, flat-shooting, antelope/deer dropping 6.5. 
As far as reloading components, if you're a reloader, you'll never have anything to worry about. I have some pretty hard to find calibers and I've always found components for them somehow. Sometimes I have to look hard but I don't see this happening with the 26 Nosler.


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## timberbuck (May 19, 2010)

The 7mm ultra mag shoots almost as flat and is a better choice for big game.


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## willfish4food (Jul 14, 2009)

longbow - 
I see your point on barrel life and that's probably true for most hunters who have several guns to choose from. For me however, until about two years ago, I didn't have a favorite hunting rifle; I had my only hunting rifle. So in the short 8 years I've owned that gun, I've put about 1000 rounds down the tube. So as someone that likes to shoot/practice a lot and will probably only own a handful of guns, barrel life is a concern when I look for a new gun. 

The reason I think a short barrel life shouldn't be a concern for the 26 Nosler:
Hunters like me who only have a couple of rifles stick to standard calibers.
Hunters that have a lot of rifles probably won't shoot any one of them enough to really shoot out a barrel.


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## fishreaper (Jan 2, 2014)

willfish4food said:


> Just for fun, I took one of Nosler's minimum loads and plugged it into a barrel life calculator spreadsheet (found here). The spreadsheet is obviously not exact and is really for target accuracy. You could assume longer life for hunting accuracy, though I'd have no idea how much longer.
> 
> At any rate it predicts a barrel life of 450 shots.:shock: If you put the maximum load in it drops to 409 shots. Not exactly what I want to see when I'm looking to buy a gun. By comparison using my load for a .300 WM gives a barrel life of 1270, again for target shooting accuracy.


I'd be interested to see what is entitled by target accuracy, and the therefore loss of. An additional .25 inches on a group? But other factors like how well it is taken care of affects it greatly. I've read that an abused .243 may only last 1200-1400 rounds before becoming erratic, but taken care of and never over heated can be capable of putting out a good 3.5-4k rounds before going off the deep end. As in greater than 3-4 inch groups I assume, when originally closer to .5-1.0


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## waspocrew (Nov 26, 2011)

fishreaper said:


> I'd be interested to see what is entitled by target accuracy, and the therefore loss of. An additional .25 inches on a group? But other factors like how well it is taken care of affects it greatly. I've read that an abused .243 may only last 1200-1400 rounds before becoming erratic, but taken care of and never over heated can be capable of putting out a good 3.5-4k rounds before going off the deep end. As in greater than 3-4 inch groups I assume, when originally closer to .5-1.0


Totally agree- for benchrest standards, 1/4" makes a lot of difference, but to the average hunter, you'd never notice such a drop in accuracy. I'm sure you could make this round last quite a while if you take care of it. Also, if you really thought there was a lot of throat erosion, you could most likely have the barrel set back and then you'd be good to go again.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

I could care less about this round as a 6.5. Neck it up to 7mm or 30'cal and have a great case design that uses a standard bolt face size. My 7 Dakota replacement might be a 28 Nosler. Like it or not, need it or not, this is a well designed case that will prove to be very useful for a myriad of purposes. I know a few guys that have 270 WSM's necked down to 6.5. Let's just say that they have found some great uses for them.------SS


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## swbuckmaster (Sep 14, 2007)

This is an interesting rifle id consider for hunting mule deer but cant see why anyone would buy a 26 nosler over a .270 wsm. They both shoot a 130 bullet about the same speed. The 26 nosler is 1600 bucks or twice as expensive as a 270 wsm.

Granted I dont know what im talking about being a bow guy though. Help me understand

My guess is the 26 noslers longer bullet in 130 grains is a better performer when bucking wind and penatrating?


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

fishreaper said:


> I'd be interested to see what is entitled by target accuracy, and the therefore loss of. An additional .25 inches on a group? But other factors like how well it is taken care of affects it greatly. I've read that an abused .243 may only last 1200-1400 rounds before becoming erratic, but taken care of and never over heated can be capable of putting out a good 3.5-4k rounds before going off the deep end. As in greater than 3-4 inch groups I assume, when originally closer to .5-1.0


You're right fishreaper. Keeping your barrel from overheating goes a long ways in keeping your throat from eroding. I have a few COL gauges that I use to track the erosion of some of my barrels. Each time Lisa's groups with her Lapua would start to open up I would measure the jump to her lands and sure enough, she had eroded the throat. This is a varmint rifle that gets heated up quite often on prairie dogs. I lengthened her COL and groups returned to normal.


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

swbuckmaster said:


> This is an interesting rifle id consider for hunting mule deer but cant see why anyone would buy a 26 nosler over a .270 wsm. They both shoot a 130 bullet about the same speed. The 26 nosler is 1600 bucks or twice as expensive as a 270 wsm.
> 
> Granted I dont know what im talking about being a bow guy though. Help me understand
> 
> My guess is the 26 noslers longer bullet in 130 grains is a better performer when bucking wind and penatrating?


You're right about that. For longrange shooting, it is better. For the average hunter shooting at the end of his point-blank range...not much difference.
If you shoot at long range, the 6.5 is a much better bullet than the .277 (usually).


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## fishreaper (Jan 2, 2014)

longbow said:


> You're right about that. For longrange shooting, it is better. For the average hunter shooting at the end of his point-blank range...not much difference.
> If you shoot at long range, the 6.5 is a much better bullet than the .277 (usually).


Would that difference be notable to a competent marksman out to 500 yards, or would you have to be reaching closer to 700+ to really see the difference?


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## longbow (Mar 31, 2009)

When comparing ballistic coefficients of bullets you can tell a difference in wind drift more than anything. At 100 yards, wind drift makes a difference. At 500 yards it makes more than 5 times the difference. Your bullet's arch is a parabolic curve. The wind also blows your bullet sideways in a parabolic curve. With rangefinders these days we can calculate where the bullet should hit way out until the bullet velocity poops out and the bullet plops to the earth. Wind drift is [email protected], [email protected] hard to read and predict. High BC bullets help narrow your margin of error in wind drift prediction. 
A competent marksman can defiantly tell a difference in high or low BC bullets.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

What Longbow says is TRUE. I'd rather shoot a 308 with high BC bullets than a 300 mag with low BC bullets. What the charts can show you is the most important thing.......repeatability. Just my experience but I have had much better luck doping wind and drop with low drag bullets. Others seem more erratic and hard to predict. Can't prove this with numbers but 10,000+ rounds of experience make me a believer.-------SS


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## Bax* (Dec 14, 2008)

I was surprised they weren't using 140gr bullets on this. 

Who cares about barrel life for a hunting rifle? Are you gonna shoot it so much that your groups finally open up that much?

I think that this cartridge has cool factor cuz no one has one but I agree with Loke about the .264 Win, there is still some great potential with that cartridge and not many guys have one anyways so you can still be cool.


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## Kevinitis (Jul 18, 2013)

There is one category in which the 26 nosler does not win, and that's in recoil.


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## Mtnbeer (Jul 15, 2012)

Bax* said:


> I think that this cartridge has cool factor cuz no one has one but I agree with Loke about the .264 Win, there is still some great potential with that cartridge and not many guys have one anyways so you can still be cool.


Sweet, I have a 264 WM. Finally, it's great to be one of the cool kids. 

I like my 264 WM, but the darn thing was really tough to develop a good load with. Took me nearly a year, but I finally got there. I wonder how difficult load development would be with the 26 Nosler (cuz no one is going to buy a gun chambered in that round unless you're a handloader).

Plus, Nosler already rakes you over the coals buying their brass for any magnum rounds. I submit that Nosler should supply a lifetime's worth of 26 Nosler brass to anyone who buys a 26 Nosler from them.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Cases with similar design have lasted a Long time for me. I wouldn't be surprised if the 26 Nosler lasts a third longer than the 264 just due to case design. Short, fat, with broad shoulders and a long neck......just like me.---------SS


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## brookieguy1 (Oct 14, 2008)

OK. I'm a bit ignorant, and it really doesn't matter other than my curiosity. Where does my .257 Weatherby Mag sit in this discussion? Worthless old novelty?
I still love looking at that huge casing with that little missile poking out the end.


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## Springville Shooter (Oct 15, 2010)

Well.....I guess the .257 Weatherby would be kinda like the little brother in this conversation considering it is .007" smaller around than the .264's we are talking about but still really cool and useful. 

Main difference is that when I think of the .264's, I think of high BC and long range accuracy. When I think of the hot 25's, I think of blistering speed and maximum point-blank range.-------SS


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