What do you 6.5 fans think of the 26 Nosler? It gives a MV of around 3300fps with a 140 grain bullet compared to the same bullet at around 2700fps from the Creedmoor.
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26 Nosler?
- Thread starter Bear44
- Start date
26 Nosler, is a hopped fast round, with a 130 gr bullet is knocks the heck out of deer, does have a kick, over all a great addition to the .264 bullet collection...
just our simple observation after shooting the caliber, 6.5 creedmoor, 260 rem, 264 mag, 26 nosler... all apart of the family...
just our simple observation after shooting the caliber, 6.5 creedmoor, 260 rem, 264 mag, 26 nosler... all apart of the family...
Yeah, I'm looking at getting into the 6.5s, but am just not that impressed with the 6.5 Creedmoor performance over the 308 Win. I'm thinking that, loaded with the right bullet, this should a 1400 or even 1500 yard supersonic round.
It's either that or old reliable, the 300 Win Mag. As it is now, I jump from 308 Win to 338 Lapua Mag and need to fill the gap.
I think if you need a new gun, choosing 6.5 over .308 is a fairly easy decision, but to go replacing .308 with 6.5, yeah, it probably doesn't make a ton of sense for 95% of the population. It's a big enough difference to select it for a new purchase, but not enough of a difference to start swapping out calibers you already have...at least in my mind.
Exactly my thinking. The 308 I have now is one of the most consistently accurate rifles I have ever owned and there is no way I would replace it, so a 6.5 Creedmoor would be rather redundant.
I've decided to go with the 300 WM and have already committed to buying one for sale from a member here. It's a very nice heavy barreled Rem 700 5R in an HS stock at a very reasonable price with only 20 rounds down the pipe. It will be going to Dobb's for some mods, including a new trigger and the ability to take external mags. If everything goes according to plan it will be my go-to rifle when I start competing again. These new Precision Rifle competitions look like a hell of a lot of fun.
Bear, if you're going to shoot your rifles at 1000+ yards, then you're one of the tiny percentage of shooters who would really benefit from a few hundred more f.p.s. velocity and 10% better BC numbers.
I know a .308 "can" get 'er done at 1000 yards or more, but it's simply not the best round for those applications.
A flatter trajectory is more forgiving of small errors in range estimation, headwinds or tail winds, shooting angles other than horizontal, or whatever other "dope" might be a bit off for any given shot.
Although the 26 Nosler's main advantage over something like the .308 is a flatter trajectory at middle-distances in a hunting scenario, with normal bullet weights (120 for the .26 caliber; 165 for the .308 round), AT VERY LONG RANGES:
--the .26 Nosler has half the bullet drop.
-- the .308 has 40% more wind drift.
-- the .26 has a clear kinetic energy advantage out to about 1000 yards, but then the gap narrows.
By 1200 yards, it's about the same, and by 1500 yards the .308's heavier bullet is winning the "energy" race, but both of them are down to the power factor of Bad Bad Leroy Brown's .32 pocket pistol.
BUT, LET ME ASK YOU THIS:
Why do you need or want a middle caliber to stick in between your .308 and your .338 Magnum?
Why not just use the .308 for any targets out to 900 yards, and your .338 Lapua Mag for any shooting at 1000 or longer?
I wouldn't want to invest money, and time, and space in my gun safe, for a rifle that I'd only use for those few scenarios where I need 900-1200 yard performance.
If I had a .338 Mag, I'd use that for ALL thousand yard or better shots.
I know a .308 "can" get 'er done at 1000 yards or more, but it's simply not the best round for those applications.
A flatter trajectory is more forgiving of small errors in range estimation, headwinds or tail winds, shooting angles other than horizontal, or whatever other "dope" might be a bit off for any given shot.
Although the 26 Nosler's main advantage over something like the .308 is a flatter trajectory at middle-distances in a hunting scenario, with normal bullet weights (120 for the .26 caliber; 165 for the .308 round), AT VERY LONG RANGES:
--the .26 Nosler has half the bullet drop.
-- the .308 has 40% more wind drift.
-- the .26 has a clear kinetic energy advantage out to about 1000 yards, but then the gap narrows.
By 1200 yards, it's about the same, and by 1500 yards the .308's heavier bullet is winning the "energy" race, but both of them are down to the power factor of Bad Bad Leroy Brown's .32 pocket pistol.
BUT, LET ME ASK YOU THIS:
Why do you need or want a middle caliber to stick in between your .308 and your .338 Magnum?
Why not just use the .308 for any targets out to 900 yards, and your .338 Lapua Mag for any shooting at 1000 or longer?
I wouldn't want to invest money, and time, and space in my gun safe, for a rifle that I'd only use for those few scenarios where I need 900-1200 yard performance.
If I had a .338 Mag, I'd use that for ALL thousand yard or better shots.
My post above is rather moot now that you've chosen that new rifle.
But, let me ask you this:
At what ranges and conditions would you leave your very accurate .308 at home because the match you're shooting calls for .300 magnum performance?
And, similarly, at what point will you pack up the .300 mag, zip it up in its case, bring out the bigger gun and say "This is a job for the .338 Mag!" ??
I'm liking all the Nosler offerings . I know it's off topic but has anyone looked into the 30 Nosler 210gr over 3000 fps over 4000 ft lbs ? I'm liking it !! It does drop 123" at 800 yrds but that's almost 20" less than the Weatherby
the 33 is Cool too
From what I hear it's the bee's knee's but you will only get 1500 shots out of it. They are very hard on the barrel. Now if you are a hunter and are gonna take a mountain goat once a year all is fine. If you enjoy shooting and will visit the range often be prepared to change the barrel very soon. Not ideal but the it is the nature of the beast. I would look at a different caliber unless you don't mind changing barrels and are a competitive shooter.
