26 Nosler - Hot Rod for the 21st Century
By Len Backus
I think Nosler has a winner in their new 26 Nosler cartridge offering. The 26 Nosler when zeroed at 350 yards, has a maximum Point Blank Range of 415 yards. For quick shooting situations such as with whitetail deer in long bean fields this cartridge could be just the ticket. With whitetails you often don't have much time to range and dial before the animal has moved on.
The 26 Nosler achieves 3,400 fps with a 129 grain Nosler ABLR bullet according to Nosler. We have shipped a couple to rifle customers already.The first one I shot for groups achieved nearly 3,400 fps firing a 140 grain Berger with its accuracy node down just a little in the 3,340 fps range.
Its accuracy is excellent. I fired a series of 2-shot groups while checking pressures at increasing weights of Hodgdon's US 869 powder. I got one group of ¼ inch, a couple at 3/8 and a couple above that. After a total of 10 rounds fired I cleaned the barrel for the first time. Then I shot 5, three-shot groups with the same variance in powder charges and the best two groups again came in at 3/8th inches using 88.0 (3,340 fps - 26 inch barrel) and 88.5 grains of powder. This was with no variance in seating depth having been tried -- so there is even more potential to improve the group size.
I shipped one new 26 Nosler rifle to a customer last month and I took this second one to the shooting class put on by Non-Typical Outfitters last month out in the Wyoming mountains. When checking zero at 100 yards the rifle again shot a 3/8 inch, three-shot group. I fired shots as far out as 630 yards and had more good groups at those longer ranges too. All with almost no real load workup.
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By Len Backus
I think Nosler has a winner in their new 26 Nosler cartridge offering. The 26 Nosler when zeroed at 350 yards, has a maximum Point Blank Range of 415 yards. For quick shooting situations such as with whitetail deer in long bean fields this cartridge could be just the ticket. With whitetails you often don't have much time to range and dial before the animal has moved on.
The 26 Nosler achieves 3,400 fps with a 129 grain Nosler ABLR bullet according to Nosler. We have shipped a couple to rifle customers already.The first one I shot for groups achieved nearly 3,400 fps firing a 140 grain Berger with its accuracy node down just a little in the 3,340 fps range.
Its accuracy is excellent. I fired a series of 2-shot groups while checking pressures at increasing weights of Hodgdon's US 869 powder. I got one group of ¼ inch, a couple at 3/8 and a couple above that. After a total of 10 rounds fired I cleaned the barrel for the first time. Then I shot 5, three-shot groups with the same variance in powder charges and the best two groups again came in at 3/8th inches using 88.0 (3,340 fps - 26 inch barrel) and 88.5 grains of powder. This was with no variance in seating depth having been tried -- so there is even more potential to improve the group size.
I shipped one new 26 Nosler rifle to a customer last month and I took this second one to the shooting class put on by Non-Typical Outfitters last month out in the Wyoming mountains. When checking zero at 100 yards the rifle again shot a 3/8 inch, three-shot group. I fired shots as far out as 630 yards and had more good groups at those longer ranges too. All with almost no real load workup.
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26 Nosler Hot Rod FOr The 21st Century - page 2
26 Nosler - Hot Rod for the 21st Century Page 2
By Len Backus
The scope used in this shooting was the new 5-20x56 version of the Nightforce SHV, utilizing the MOAR reticle, one of my recent favorite reticles. Nightforce has made a bold move with their more affordable SHV line of scopes. My sense is that it is a huge success for them. And now with the addition of a 5 to 20 power version, they are a tough, tough competitor for the likes of Vortex and Huskemaw. You can read a full review of the 4-14x56 Nightforce SHV riflescope right HERE.
I see comments on the internet about the 26 Nosler being a hot rod cartridge, with expected relatively short barrel life. That may be so but I don't consider that to be a significant factor for many hunters in selecting a cartridge. If a hunter has more than one quality, accurate rifle, as shown in an LRH poll of 4,500 members, he can simply do the majority of his serious practice with a milder cartridge, saving the "hot rod" for limited serious practice and for hunting. Twenty-five rounds of practice and trajectory validation per year plus ten rounds of actual hunting shots would last 15 to 20 years. The exact numbers in this example are not at all critical to the selection process in my opinion.
I happen to have a little personal experience in the selection of "hot rods" only mine were cars back in my mid-twenties. Shortly after getting my first good job I successively owned two different Jaguar XKE coupes. Talk about "hot rods"!
First I bought a one or two year old navy blue Jaguar XKE, two seat coup. They weighed only 2,520 pounds and the 6 cylinder, dual overhead cam engine produced 252 horsepower for a one to one power to weight ratio. This was before I had the responsibility of children (or a fully developed brain) and one night on a dark Wisconsin highway I took it up to 145 mph. Back then there wasn't another faster production car priced under that of a Ferrari or Maserati...except maybe a Shelby Ford Cobra.
I sold that first XKE shortly after losing my drivers license for 30 days because of a speeding violation. A year later I fell off the speed-junky wagon and bought a replacement XKE, this time a brand new coupe in primrose yellow hue. Years earlier as a teenager I had seen one of that color. It was parked outside the restaurant/deli where I worked, bathed in the warm glow of the parking lot lights. I was hooked from that moment on.
That second one was built with the encumbrances of the first federal government safety and emissions requirements so it did not have as high a top speed but had more torque and acceleration. I sold that one a couple years later with no additional speeding violations, by the way.
In any case, neither one was built for bringing large quantities of groceries home but we also had a large, cushy Pontiac four door sedan for that task. Same concept as with the 26 Nosler cartridge.
Much has been written already in the LRH forums about the 26 Nosler cartridge case design. In brief, it has a case capacity in between the 7mm STW or 7mm Dakota and the 7mm RUM. The case is shorter and fits more easily in magazines than the RUM family of cartridges. The brass quality is excellent. The case mouths and flash holes are prepped while the cases themselves are weight sorted.
So far there is lots of buzz about the 26 Nosler cartridge and we see it as a big seller at Long Range Rifles, LLC.I know that Nosler has plans for other cartridges based on this same case. Probably a 28, 30, and maybe a 33 Nosler version will eventually come to market. I have been shooting a 7mm Dakota for about 14 years. It gets 3,100 fps with a 180 Berger. I think a 28 Nosler with its 9 or 10% larger powder capacity will get around 3,050 shooting Berger's "someday" 195 grain bullet with an expected 0.794 BC.. That is on my personal wish list of a perfect cartridge and bullet combo for long range elk in the future.
Len is the owner of www.LongRangeHunting.com. He has been a long range hunter since the nineties. He is as likely to bag his game with a camera as with a rifle or handgun. His nature images can be viewed at LenBackus.com
By Len Backus
The scope used in this shooting was the new 5-20x56 version of the Nightforce SHV, utilizing the MOAR reticle, one of my recent favorite reticles. Nightforce has made a bold move with their more affordable SHV line of scopes. My sense is that it is a huge success for them. And now with the addition of a 5 to 20 power version, they are a tough, tough competitor for the likes of Vortex and Huskemaw. You can read a full review of the 4-14x56 Nightforce SHV riflescope right HERE.
I see comments on the internet about the 26 Nosler being a hot rod cartridge, with expected relatively short barrel life. That may be so but I don't consider that to be a significant factor for many hunters in selecting a cartridge. If a hunter has more than one quality, accurate rifle, as shown in an LRH poll of 4,500 members, he can simply do the majority of his serious practice with a milder cartridge, saving the "hot rod" for limited serious practice and for hunting. Twenty-five rounds of practice and trajectory validation per year plus ten rounds of actual hunting shots would last 15 to 20 years. The exact numbers in this example are not at all critical to the selection process in my opinion.
I happen to have a little personal experience in the selection of "hot rods" only mine were cars back in my mid-twenties. Shortly after getting my first good job I successively owned two different Jaguar XKE coupes. Talk about "hot rods"!
First I bought a one or two year old navy blue Jaguar XKE, two seat coup. They weighed only 2,520 pounds and the 6 cylinder, dual overhead cam engine produced 252 horsepower for a one to one power to weight ratio. This was before I had the responsibility of children (or a fully developed brain) and one night on a dark Wisconsin highway I took it up to 145 mph. Back then there wasn't another faster production car priced under that of a Ferrari or Maserati...except maybe a Shelby Ford Cobra.
I sold that first XKE shortly after losing my drivers license for 30 days because of a speeding violation. A year later I fell off the speed-junky wagon and bought a replacement XKE, this time a brand new coupe in primrose yellow hue. Years earlier as a teenager I had seen one of that color. It was parked outside the restaurant/deli where I worked, bathed in the warm glow of the parking lot lights. I was hooked from that moment on.
That second one was built with the encumbrances of the first federal government safety and emissions requirements so it did not have as high a top speed but had more torque and acceleration. I sold that one a couple years later with no additional speeding violations, by the way.
In any case, neither one was built for bringing large quantities of groceries home but we also had a large, cushy Pontiac four door sedan for that task. Same concept as with the 26 Nosler cartridge.
Much has been written already in the LRH forums about the 26 Nosler cartridge case design. In brief, it has a case capacity in between the 7mm STW or 7mm Dakota and the 7mm RUM. The case is shorter and fits more easily in magazines than the RUM family of cartridges. The brass quality is excellent. The case mouths and flash holes are prepped while the cases themselves are weight sorted.
So far there is lots of buzz about the 26 Nosler cartridge and we see it as a big seller at Long Range Rifles, LLC.I know that Nosler has plans for other cartridges based on this same case. Probably a 28, 30, and maybe a 33 Nosler version will eventually come to market. I have been shooting a 7mm Dakota for about 14 years. It gets 3,100 fps with a 180 Berger. I think a 28 Nosler with its 9 or 10% larger powder capacity will get around 3,050 shooting Berger's "someday" 195 grain bullet with an expected 0.794 BC.. That is on my personal wish list of a perfect cartridge and bullet combo for long range elk in the future.
Len is the owner of www.LongRangeHunting.com. He has been a long range hunter since the nineties. He is as likely to bag his game with a camera as with a rifle or handgun. His nature images can be viewed at LenBackus.com
