26 Nosler

[BumbleBug]

26 Nosler - Wildcating goes mainstream!

Some of these new cartridges like the .26 Nosler remind me of when wildcating was in it's hay days. Shooters loved to take any base case & neck it up, down blow it out, size it in, etc. Great fun to see the results & hear the claims. It seems like the manufacturer are now doing the same thing except they are not restricted by the base case - they can make a new one! It doesn't matter that just about every conceivable "gap" in commercial cartridges from .17 to .50 has been filled!

But Nosler made a big mistake - the name. No charisma in .26 Nosler, which perhaps in the long run, may be its only signature property distinguishing it from the pack!

JIMHO...

...bug

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

Sure is a whole lot of supposition, griping and assumptions on a cartridge that no one on here has shot or experienced. Fact is none of us know very much about it yet. We don't know if it is any more of a barrel hog than any other overbore. We don't know if it is better, the same or worse than a .264, 6.5'06, 6.5-284 etc.

Well, there are blind assumptions and then there are suppositions based on other calculations, experience or related data.

My trajectory numbers are no "assumption". They use the identical bullet at identical velocity as claimed by Nosler and in order to get their claimed trajectory they need to be sighted 5" high at 210 yards. Who sights in 5" high? Nosler's numbers are literally a stretch.

As far as burning barrels, it's quite well known that "over bore" cartridges are rough on barrels. The more over bore the worse they are.

Now, there are various ideas of what constitutes "over bore" and/or predicts barrel life.

One idea is that if the case capacity divided bore area is 1200 or greater, the cartridge is over bore. The 26 Nosler should come out between 1750 and 1860. That would be SEVERELY over bore. Very few cartridges, in fact almost none, calculate that high.

Bart B calculated long ago that the relationship between powder capacity and bore area in mm^2 was an excellent predictor of barrel life. The powder capacity should not exceed the square mm. The bore area in mm of the 26 Nosler is about 35.3. The case capacity is presumedly in the mid to high 90gr range. That puts the case almost 3 times the bore capacity. According to Bart, burning 90gr in a 30 caliber only yields about 750 rounds of competition level accuracy. This thing will be burning more than 90gr in a 26 caliber.

There's also an excel spreadsheet available that predicts barrel life using his basic formula and adds powder heat potential since some powders are harder on barrels than others. That spreadsheet gives the 26 Nosler 341 rounds for barrel life.

In the end, I don't think what I'm making are "assumptions".

 

[Saltydog235]

http://cheaperthandirt.com/blog/?p=52201

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2013/12/09/26-nosler/

http://www.noslerreloading.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26173

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f17/26-nosler-125252/

http://forum.snipershide.com/snipers-hide-bolt-action-rifles/221658-26-nosler.html

BF, your calc's seem to be on. The cartridge though seems to be geared and marketed more towards the hunting crowd with long range aspirations. Doubtful it would be a favorite of those shooting paper or steel at long ranges on a constant basis but, for the average hunter it may be a winner. I'm still interested in finding out more about it for beanfields and the long powerlines we have, though I doubt seriously if it would replace my beloved 7mm08 as my go to since the majority of my hunting is 250 and under.

 

[steveNChunter]

Did anyone figure out for sure what the parent case is?

 

[Brian Pfleuger]

It's rumored to be the .375Ruger.

There's a picture of a loaded round on Nosler's Facebook page. It looks very similar to a 7mm RUM, which has the .300RUM as a parent, which has the .404 Jefferey as a parent.

GunDigest has diagram with only a few dimensions. If it's to scale, the rest could be calculated.

The head diameter matches the .375Ruger exactly and the case is 0.10 longer, which a length increase would be expected from necking it down.

 

[reynolds357]

I believe the claim it will work in a 30-06 length action would eliminate the RUM unless they trimmed it a tad.
If its the .375 Ruger necked down, then in essence, all Nosler did was make a beltless .264 Win. Mag.

 

[reynolds357]

Nosler has now said a "modified" 404 Jeffrey is the parent case.
For all practical purposes, the .375 Ruger is a chopped Jeffrey.

 

[steveNChunter]

I don't currently own a 6.5 rifle, I'd like to change that soon but I don't see a .26 nosler making its way into my gun safe. If I don't rebarrel my .25-06 to 6.5-06 I'll buy a 6.5 creedmoor. The creedmoor is a heck of an accurate round and pretty easy on barrels.

If the 26 nosler is really only going to be good for a few hundred rounds before a new barrel is needed, it will end up being a novelty much like the 7 RUM. Great ballistics and great for long range hunting as long as it stays in the safe most of the time. Sight it in and put it up till your ready to hunt and you will have years of faithful service with it.

I've never been able to do that. I like shooting my rifles too much