New Flat Shooter Emerges

EWQuinn

"26 Nosler" - A new flat shooter introduced by Nosler in 2014. Its going to be a barrel burner but flat and fast it is. (Some may find it alluring.)

http://www.26nosler.com/

http://www.gundigest.com/ammunition-reviews-articles/hot-new-26-nosler-cartridge-unveiled

Chuck Hawks takes a skeptical view:

http://www.chuckhawks.com/26Nosler.htm

meathstevie

Sounds like a little niche product in terms of the Irish firearms landscape to me but bejaysus she'll be a loud belter....

tac foley

Mr Hawks is extremely unimpressed by this new cartridge. Me, too. TBH, it doesn't seem, at first glance, to do what Nosler say it does, and that is to take advantage of the latest thinking behind production high-BC long-ranging bullets set in short, high-capacity, powder-filled cases, since with that long case they are NOT using the WSM formula that allows shorter/stiffer actions. A .404 Jeffrey case shortened to only the same length as a 30-06? C'mon, Nosler. The muzzle blast from this thing is going to make the 6.5-284 look like a .223Rem. And for those who reload, that pound of costy powder isn't going to go as far as you'd like it.

It seems to me that even the old .25-06 could happily compete with this new round in most of Europe [including UK and Ireland] and it's for sure, going to be hard to find in your usual gunstore in Europe for a good while to come. But of course, it's not made for Europe...

tac the cynic.

It wasn't me!

It's very niche alright, but it's also not innovative, except in terms of cartridge design itself. Small bore bullets at crazy velocity is not a new idea. Roy Weatherby's .257 and .270 offerings are similar, with the latter having ballistics right on the heels of this new 26 Nosler, while burning substantially less powder, and having a bit of pedigree.

The real killer of the fast small bores though, are the fast 7mms. The 7mm Rem Mag was what put paid to the .264 Win Mag originally. When the Nosler case was made by shortening a 7mm RUM (the real parent of that being the .404 Jeffery), and playing about with the shoulder, it reduced the original capacity. Even if you want to stick with a .30-06 length action, you still have several big 7mm cartridges in that bracket which will clean up over this new 6.5mm offering, while offering heavier bullets into the bargain. A 7mm Rem Mag will output a 140gr bullet at 3350 according to Nosler data, and faster can certainly be done. This while burning less powder, recoiling less and having substantially better barrel life.

Also, Nosler's claims regarding point blank range are assuming a +/- 6" trajectory. I don't know about you, but I don't want a bullet hitting 6" away from where I'm pointing at any stage unless holding over at range.

EWQuinn

Some critical thinking is definitely in order here. It will be interesting to see how well the folks at Nosler thought this one through. Personally I am fond of several of their bullet offerings.

4200fps

It wasn't me! wrote: »

Also, Nosler's claims regarding point blank range are assuming a +/- 6" trajectory. I don't know about you, but I don't want a bullet hitting 6" away from where I'm pointing at any stage unless holding over at range.

Well I couldn't agree more.

tac foley

EWQuinn wrote: »

Some critical thinking is definitely in order here. It will be interesting to see how well the folks at Nosler thought this one through. Personally I am fond of several of their bullet offerings.

Well, a good few of us in USA/GWN and Europe [is there anywhere else?] fell out with Mr Nosler when he stopped production of the 175gr round-nosed FMJ that we used to shoot in our older Mausers in 7x57. Both of mine - 1897 and 1912 - were designed to this the original shape, not these new-fangled pointy things you seem to be seeing these days.

All I'm doing with spitzers is distributing them over the landscape - a pity, since my guns have to be shot so that I can continue to to justify ownership.

tac

323

Looks like many of the offerings from the US over the last decade or so, a PR campaign to sell rifles while offering little over existing cartridges.

Nosler say "The .26 Nosler case is non-belted, thus headspaced off of the shoulder to further enhance accuracy. The '.26' also utilizes a standard (30-06) length action, meaning shorter bolt-throw and lighter weight than magnum length actions."
RWS covered this over 70 years ago with the 6.5x68mm, they also designed it to feed reliably, may be wrong but the Nosler does not look like that can be certain.

Even if it were to achieve its advertised performance in a standard rifle, its only marginally more than what the 6.5x68mm will do. Although rare in Ireland, its popular enough on the continent still so at least ammunition can be got for it.