26 nosler or 264 win mag?

[Orr89rocz]

Talk me out of it lol

I kinda want a new rig to play with. I have a large shank savage long action i could build. I was thinking of a big fast 6.5 since i dont really have anything between my 257 bob and 300 wsm which are my two go to long range setups for steel and deer hunting.

Ideally i want a 28 nosler but seems 7mm bullets are impossible to find and brass is rarer. I have located 264 win and 26 nos brass. I see some bullets for sale. 150 sierras, some 140 gr match stuff, 153 atips. 140 ballistics. Stuff like that.

I know they are over bored and can be finicky. Atleast moreso the 26. Could be barrel eaters but i dont shoot long strings and barrel profile will be thicker. Not a sporter hunter. Id use it for 500 yrd or so deer. I do have areas i can hunt longer range but i use my 300 wsm for that since im well practiced with it and i like bigger bullets in case i do misread windage and get a non ideal hit.

I didnt like the idea of belted mag but i always liked the 264 win mag. Barrel around 26-28” not sure yet probably 27-28. Slow powder, squeeze out the most from it. 7 twist likely to have heavies shoot best in cold weather.

Are these cartridges even worth it really? It seems some get them to work ok some do not. Some say couple hundred rounds and barrel is a tomato stake some say almost 800-1000.

 

[Nomosendero]

Hard on barrels yes, but I don't see why anyone would think 200 rds is it IF they are allowing sensible coo down times and do load development like they should. If they try to make it a Target/Volume round that's another story. I would rather have the 264 if chambered and twisted properly. The belt is not needed but not a biggie if you size like any other round. The increase in vel. that the 26 Nos offers is not that great compared to the extra powder needed.

 

[46and2]

Talk me out of it lol

I kinda want a new rig to play with. I have a large shank savage long action i could build. I was thinking of a big fast 6.5 since i dont really have anything between my 257 bob and 300 wsm which are my two go to long range setups for steel and deer hunting.

Ideally i want a 28 nosler but seems 7mm bullets are impossible to find and brass is rarer. I have located 264 win and 26 nos brass. I see some bullets for sale. 150 sierras, some 140 gr match stuff, 153 atips. 140 ballistics. Stuff like that.

I know they are over bored and can be finicky. Atleast moreso the 26. Could be barrel eaters but i dont shoot long strings and barrel profile will be thicker. Not a sporter hunter. Id use it for 500 yrd or so deer. I do have areas i can hunt longer range but i use my 300 wsm for that since im well practiced with it and i like bigger bullets in case i do misread windage and get a non ideal hit.

I didnt like the idea of belted mag but i always liked the 264 win mag. Barrel around 26-28” not sure yet probably 27-28. Slow powder, squeeze out the most from it. 7 twist likely to have heavies shoot best in cold weather.

Are these cartridges even worth it really? It seems some get them to work ok some do not. Some say couple hundred rounds and barrel is a tomato stake some say almost 800-1000.

I have had both 264wm and 26 nosler. I prefer 26 Nosler.
I tried to push the 264 too hard. Accuracy with 140 was not at the velocity I wanted. With the 26 Nosler you can use very slow burning powders that just won't fit into the 264 case.
I just 26" barreled one a couple of months ago. I'm shooting 147gr eld and Reloder 50. This load is not at top gear in my rifle, but I stop when accuracy is good.
These groups are shot from a hunting bag at 200 yards.
The 26 nosler is a hunting cartridge. Do NOT rapid fire it like benchrest rifle!!!

Cold bore shots only. And you'll have several years of hunting from a barrel.

 

[65WSM]

I owned two (three barrels) .264 Win Mags. The things I did not like about them was the short neck, I like to partially size the neck and there is not enough to support the long for caliber 6.5 bullets. The short neck also adds to throat erosion. The second was seating depth. The long bullets have to be seated so deep in the case. This is more difficult that you realized. Coarse powder kernels don't push out of the way and you can bulge cases, ruin Forster seating dies and have bullets grow on your cartridges overnight.

I have never shot a 6.5 Nosler. Are you are willing to walk around with enough barrel to make use of all that powder? I think you can get about all the velocity you can from a 26 nosler from a 6.5 or 7 SAUM with a 26 inch barrel using Reloader 26. The cases from Atlas, Alpha and Peterson are worth the money and available. The SAUM case has a longer neck than the .264 Win. Travis, from R-Bros, who makes $5000 custom rifles, said that he built 6.5 WSM rifles for the three of them as deer rifles. They hunt together in Eastern Washington. The distances are long. He says he gets 3300 fps from a 24 inch barrel with R-26 and 140 Bergers. I am not willing to push my WSM chambered rifles that hard, but I get comfortably over 3200 with 140 gr Bergers from 26 inches.

 

[Louisiana Shooter]

Strictly for hunting...........26 Nosler hands down. Be sure to use a long enough barrel to take advantage of that boiler room on the 26 Nosler.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

The 6.5 Rem Mag, 6.5 SAUM, or 6.5-300 WSM is a great choice in a long action because you can seat the long heavy bullets way out in the magazine to maximize case capacity and keep the bullet bearing surface well out of the donut area in the case neck. 3200+ fps with 140gr Berger bullets is a piece of cake with all of them and performs amazing at long range on big game. 6.5 PRC Ackley would be a good choice too. Anything bigger is just a waste of barrel life in my opinion because the best accuracy nodes for fast 6.5s is always around the 3160-3230 fps area. No need to go any faster

 

[Orr89rocz]

I owned two (three barrels) .264 Win Mags. The things I did not like about them was the short neck, I like to partially size the neck and there is not enough to support the long for caliber 6.5 bullets. The short neck also adds to throat erosion. The second was seating depth. The long bullets have to be seated so deep in the case. This is more difficult that you realized. Coarse powder kernels don't push out of the way and you can bulge cases, ruin Forster seating dies and have bullets grow on your cartridges overnight.

I have never shot a 6.5 Nosler. Are you are willing to walk around with enough barrel to make use of all that powder? I think you can get about all the velocity you can from a 26 nosler from a 6.5 or 7 SAUM with a 26 inch barrel using Reloader 26. The cases from Atlas, Alpha and Peterson are worth the money and available. The SAUM case has a longer neck than the .264 Win. Travis, from R-Bros, who makes $5000 custom rifles, said that he built 6.5 WSM rifles for the three of them as deer rifles. They hunt together in Eastern Washington. The distances are long. He says he gets 3300 fps from a 24 inch barrel with R-26 and 140 Bergers. I am not willing to push my WSM chambered rifles that hard, but I get comfortably over 3200 with 140 gr Bergers from 26 inches.

With saami chamber how long can you get with a berger 140 before on the lands?

 

[65WSM]

With saami chamber how long can you get with a berger 140 before on the lands?

Which cartridge are you speaking about? .264 Win Mag, .26 Nosler? The 6.5 SAUM and 6.5 WSM are "wildcats", even though there is properly headstamped cases available for 6.5 SAUM that are outstanding, from ADG. There are no Small Arms Manufacturers Institute specifications. Here is my reamer specifications for Miroku 1885 High Wall replica. 3.106 is as long as I can go with this rifle and chamber with the 140 hunting.

 

[65WSM]

I forgot, the High Wall is a 6.5 WSM as the reamer sheet states.

 

[L.Sherm]

Here is were im at .015 off the lands with a 140 berger and .180 freebore in my 6.5x300wsm

 

[Orr89rocz]

Which cartridge are you speaking about? .264 Win Mag, .26 Nosler? The 6.5 SAUM and 6.5 WSM are "wildcats", even though there is properly headstamped cases available for 6.5 SAUM that are outstanding, from ADG. There are no Small Arms Manufacturers Institute specifications. Here is my reamer specifications for Miroku 1885 High Wall replica. 3.106 is as long as I can go with this rifle and chamber with the 140 hunting.

I meant the 264 win mag you were talking about having to seat deep

 

[65WSM]

Winchester built the .264 Win Mag on the 3.40 box magazine. It was designed with a two diameter flat based spitzer bullet. The theory Winchester used was that the front bore diameter 0.256 of the spitzer would ride the lands and reduce friction. The groove diameter rear of the spitzer would seal the bore and be engraved by the rifling. In my experience, these bullets would cock in the barrel, the nose of the bullet, diving into the lands on one side and the base of the bullet not perpendicular to the barrel. The bullets would produce oval holes at 400 yards. I didn't have a high enough power scope to shoot past that. I remember passing up a shot at a large mule deer buck and later we paced the distance to 550 yards. My hunting partner, disgusted with me, shot 4 times with his .30/06 to no avail. When I rebarreled, my Krieger was much more respectable, but the factory hammer forged Winchester barrels, (my sample size was two) produced a lot of inch and 3/4 hundred yard groups with Hornady bullets. The Nosler Partitions and Sierra GameKings were only slightly better. Again I was using Leupold 2-7X, 3-9x40 and Tasco 6-18X40 scopes. I can remember a breakthrough with 120 Ballistic Tips and Reloader 22, when those became available from Bufors in Sweden and replaced surplus 4831. Jack O'Connor, got some Reloader 22 before the rest of us, I remember his column about it in Outdoor Life. Another breakthrough was when Hodgdon imported H-1000.

 

[Orr89rocz]

Winchester built the .264 Win Mag on the 3.40 box magazine. It was designed with a two diameter flat based spitzer bullet. The theory Winchester used was that the front bore diameter 0.256 of the spitzer would ride the lands and reduce friction. The groove diameter rear of the spitzer would seal the bore and be engraved by the rifling. In my experience, these bullets would cock in the barrel, the nose of the bullet, diving into the lands on one side and the base of the bullet not perpendicular to the barrel. The bullets would produce oval holes at 400 yards. I didn't have a high enough power scope to shoot past that. I remember passing up a shot at a large mule deer buck and later we paced the distance to 550 yards. My hunting partner, disgusted with me, shot 4 times with his .30/06 to no avail. When I rebarreled, my Krieger was much more respectable, but the factory hammer forged Winchester barrels, (my sample size was two) produced a lot of inch and 3/4 hundred yard groups with Hornady bullets. The Nosler Partitions and Sierra GameKings were only slightly better. Again I was using Leupold 2-7X, 3-9x40 and Tasco 6-18X40 scopes. I can remember a breakthrough with 120 Ballistic Tips and Reloader 22, when those became available from Bufors in Sweden and replaced surplus 4831. Jack O'Connor, got some Reloader 22 before the rest of us, I remember his column about it in Outdoor Life. Another breakthrough was when Hodgdon imported H-1000.

Oh i must have gotten confused. Did you use berger 140’s in the win mag? Either way i go i likely would make dummy rounds and have it throated to seat the bullet out correctly. Just wondering how far down in the case is a long vld type bullet on a saami chamber?

 

[cowboybart]

Don't throat too much, you'll chase the lands as it is.
My 264 WM is a 30" barreled on a 700 action. I throated it for a bullet seated to the base of the neck - mistake. Even though the 700 has plenty of mag space, now I can't hold enough bullet. I have to set the barrel back and do it all over again.
Just bought a 26 Nosler - hope to shoot it this week.

Between the 2, I would lean toward the 264

 

[Orr89rocz]

That is true. I hear the 28 loses .007-.010” per 100 rounds. I imagine the 26 or 264 will be that or worse lol. It might take 100 just to find a load with berger vld stuff, hopefully not but i have had some finicky rifles with those style bullets.
I was able to acquire some 7mm hybrids and found some 28 nosler brass so im leaning towards that heavily now. I still like the idea of a 6.5 since i dont need the energy of a 7mm when i have a good 30 cal

 

[cowboybart]

Let us know how the 28 Nosler works on a Savage action. I have a buddy on a budget and he wants to sacrafice his 338-06 action for the build.

 

[okie]

my vote is for a "leopard" (6.5xWSM)

 

[Orr89rocz]

Let us know how the 28 Nosler works on a Savage action. I have a buddy on a budget and he wants to sacrafice his 338-06 action for the build.

I got a savage in 375 ruger as a donor. I have a 300 ultra mag case and it fits/feeds thru the mag, may bend the sides out a touch since its tight but should work. Just not gonna be able to load out beyond 3.60” I think

Edited

 

[cowboybart]

If you are using the Ruger action that was a 375 - forget all the other suggestions. Go with a 6.5x68!! No feed issues.

 

[Orr89rocz]

If you are using the Ruger action that was a 375 - forget all the other suggestions. Go with a 6.5x68!! No feed issues.

No i mean its a savage 116 in 375 ruger so the case size was about same as a nosler, just a bit thinner