.26N

[CZ]

What can you say about the .26N?? What about this new round?? To my thinking its overbore for much, a .404J Case with a Sharp shoulder and short neck will be conductive to accuracy??
In its time the .264Win Mag was overbore= short barrel life, very short, fouling, blast and kik.
Any reports on it?? thinking maybe 0n a 6.5ought6 but a almost Rum case with a small 6.5mm bullet???
Any reports should sound intersting.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm looking forward to hearing some more myself. Some of the early reports look good but they generally do.

I'm guessing it will be pretty hard on barrels, but it's a hunting cartridge more than a "shooting" cartridge. 2000 rounds of useful barrel life for even hardcore hunters is a lifetime of hunting.

 

[Ridge_Runner]

personaly I don't see a short necked stw capacity .264 case getting 2K rounds of barrel life. but we'll see
RR

 

[Guy Miner]

Apparently gunwriter John Barsness has one in hand for some testing & load development now.

I'd expect an article sometime soon. Can't imagine that Nosler would release it if the .26 couldn't shoot well.

I too expect it will eat barrels, but it's got company in that area.

Guy

 

[SJB358]

Yeah, I am with RR and Guy on this. Cool cartridge, but I don't see it having that much over the 264 Win Mag which doesn't make a hill of beans difference to most guys and to me included. I already have a 264 Win Mag that I shoot gently but fairly often. I guess we shall see.

I don't think recoil would be horrible though, maybe I am way off but my 264 is pretty gentle and actually really easy on the shoulder.

Looking forward to see what JB has to say about it. AS HMan said, it is a hunting cartridge and once a load is found you'll get years of hunting out of it. Even at 1500 rounds of slowly paced firing, it should last through alot of hunts. I see the biggest benefit if there were some 150 or maybe 160 based hunting bullets like a PT or AB. That would make it pretty serious on the hunting side for the average hunter. Pretty easy to make 500 yard hits with relatively little holdover and alot of mass on target. I would actually think about a rebarrel to a faster twist if such bullets were available.

 

[Anonymous]

In keeping with the barrel life trend-

For a lot of hunters (not shooting enthusiasts) I know, with a dedicated big game rifle most only shoot something like 50 rounds a year and some shoot even less.

So at 50 per year:
2000 rounds or barrel life= 40 years
1500= 30 years
1000=20 years

On paper the .257WBY would be as equally hard (if not harder) on barrels and one seldom sees one with much barrel wear at all. These guns are just hunted a lot and shot relatively little apparently.

I also reckon that having to stick a new tube on a rifle is a sign you're doing something right...LOL.

 

[JD338]

I know Nosler was doing some barrel life testing and they were nearing the 1K round count with things looking pretty good. I have to agree though that 2k round count would be pushing it. This is a high performance round so there are trade offs. Keeping it clean and cool is a must. Not a big deal to screw on a new barrel when the time comes.

JD338

 

[Guy Miner]

Hodgeman, I completely agree.

Many big game rifles are fired 20 - 50 times a year, at most. People tell me "You can't wear out a barrel, I'm still shooting my Daddy's .30-06 from 1960 and it still shoots fine."

Yeah, okay. So just how many rounds did that barrel actually see every year? Oh, it didn't even get shot some years? Ah... :idea:

This is like my father's wonderful Springfield sporter. He loves that old rifle, his father "sporterized" it very nicely while Dad was still serving in the Navy. Then gave it to Dad after WWII. It's still got the original barrel, and it still shoots just fine, because on a heavy year, Dad would put maybe 100 rounds through it. Other years, not at all. Dad is in his mid 80's now and doesn't shoot the .30-06 much anymore. I love that old rifle, and doubt I've put 250 rounds through it in all these years. Am thinking it's got maybe 1500 rounds through it total, a pretty wild guess on my part. Likely will last forever at this rate!

Guy

 

[Rigbymauser]

Many big game rifles are fired 20 - 50 times a year, at most. People tell me "You can't wear out a barrel, I'm still shooting my Daddy's .30-06 from 1960 and it still shoots fine."

Guy

My old Mauser in 8x57 from 1913 still works :wink: .

 

[Ridgerunner665]

When it comes to hunting rifles....I'm one of those guys that shoots them as little as possible...Didn't use to be that way, but since I've gotten into the more expensive rifles...after the initial sight in/break in...they may only see 3 rounds per year, when I check zero before season opens.

I have rifles that I get out for plinking fun (AR15, 22's).

The hunting rifles are hunted hard, as hard as time allows anyway...they're not babied safe queens, but I try to make them last as far as barrels go.

Barrels are expendable, but also sorta expensive...I've shot out a few...but don't have the time to shoot as much as I used to...if one has the time and money to buy enough ammo to wear out a barrel these days...they can surely afford to replace one.

I seriously considered a 26 Nosler for my new rifle...but it's really more than I need.

Barrel life would not have been an issue for me...

 

[Guy Miner]

Yes, I still do most of my center-fire target practice with my good old .308 Win.

Been through several .308 barrels over the past 20 years. Long barrel life is a nice attribute of the .308 Win.

My .25-06? It's fun to shoot, and my primary hunting rifle, but yeah, if I shot it as much as I do the .308, I'd be making Krieger very happy by buying .25 cal barrels!

If I had a .26 Nosler.... Appealing idea. I'd treat it like a specialized piece of hunting gear. Use it hard during the season. But I wouldn't be putting a thousand rounds a year through it like I do some rifles. No, it would get maybe a hundred rounds a year...

Guy

 

[Ridge_Runner]

I shoot a .284 rifle with the parent case of a 338 lapua so I'm not afraid to buy a barrel, just looking realisticly at what to expect, a 6.5 Gibbs will only get 2500 rounds max that's keeping it clean, and cool. the 26N might get 1500 if you shoot ball powders, but nobody on the forum cares much for them due to being temp sensitive, but I can assure you a barrel will last longer shooting ball powders exclusively.
RR

 

[SJB358]

I figure when I wear a barrel out, I'll throw a party and you'll be invited. I am not worried about it really. I like to shoot, so it goes with the territory.

 

[gerry]

I was really intrigued with the 26 Nosler when it was announced but it is more cartridge than I can really use around here. Had they come out with a good 150-160 gr slug around 3100-3200 fps I would have thought more about buying one, going with a 270 Bee instead to get precisely those ballistics. The 26 Nosler will be awesome for all those open country hunters, a bunch of guys at HuntingBC have ordered them and I'm looking forward to seeing their results. I do hope Nosler does well with it and like the rest of you said given some care the barrel will last surprisingly long.