26 Nosler

[citysfs]

Anyone reloading for this new calibre. Rumor is that 3400 fps can be attained but best so far is 3050. Any more powder could start to show pressure signs. Using RL22 and Retumbo. 26 in custom bbl. Any one care to comment or was this a wonderful marketing ploy with Nosler etc.?

[Skytop B]

Originally Posted by citysfs

Anyone reloading for this new calibre. Rumor is that 3400 fps can be attained but best so far is 3050. Any more powder could start to show pressure signs. Using RL22 and Retumbo. 26 in custom bbl. Any one care to comment or was this a wonderful marketing ploy with Nosler etc.?

Been playing with Retumbo, 75 grains with a 129 .020 off the lands for 3260 with sd of 15 using a magneto speed chrony, cut my bbl to 24"

Originally Posted by Skytop B

Been playing with Retumbo, 75 grains with a 129 .020 off the lands for 3260 with sd of 15 using a magneto speed chrony, cut my bbl to 24"

Skytop what was your original barrel length and velocity and at 24" are you getting 3260fps or should my question be flipped around and massaged a little?

[Skytop B]

Originally Posted by Precisionshooter

Skytop what was your original barrel length and velocity and at 24" are you getting 3260fps or should my question be flipped around and massaged a little?

I am getting 3260 out of the 24" barrel, original barrel was 28", highest velocity with a 129 LRAB was 3350ish was getting smiley faces. Retumbo is all I have played with cause I have alot of it. I have 100 rounds through the gun and see no fire cracking yet, keeping my loads around 3200 to preserve bore life

[buckbrushoutdoors]

did you buy brass or did you make your own?

[lclund1946]

Originally Posted by citysfs

Anyone reloading for this new calibre. Rumor is that 3400 fps can be attained but best so far is 3050. Any more powder could start to show pressure signs. Using RL22 and Retumbo. 26 in custom bbl. Any one care to comment or was this a wonderful marketing ploy with Nosler etc.?

Nosler dreamed for years of having their own cartridge. Doing a 260 with 75 + grains of capacity and a 129 grain bullet seated way down into the case, so it will fit in a 30-06 length action, is more like a nightmare. Add a 26", likely slow twist barrel, and you really don't gain much if anything over a case that holds 61.5 t0 62.5 grains of Retumbo behind a 129/130 grain bullet.

I know because my 6.5 EXTREME easily gets 3200 fps with the 130 grain TSX and Scirocco II with a full case 61.5 grains. It is optimized for the 140 VLD and Retumbo, with a 26" 8 twist barrel and gets 3000- 3100 fps with 59-60 grains. Adding more barrel and more powder really does not gain much, if anything, but pressure as some are beginning to realize. I believe that the 129 LRAB will leave room for 62.5 grains of Retumbo that should push it to 3250 before the pressure starts to spike. It is possible that H 1000 would do even better or at least 3250 from a 24" barrel.

I see people still going with the 6.5 SAUM, with dreams of it being a good fit for a short action Remington, when in fact bullets have to be seated too long to fit even with a Wyatt extended magazine. As well the SAUM cartridge, with it's rebated rim have never fed well from Remington short actions. Even the GAP designer of the 6.5 SAUM stated that he should have went with a shortened 300 RCM case. Actually the 300 RCM case does not have to be shortened as it has just the right capacity if kept at its new case dimensions. Blowing it out to Saami 300 RCM chamber specs makes it a bit too big to be optimal like the 6.5 SAUM with bullet seated into the case or the 6.5 EXTREME with bullet seated ahead of the neck shoulder junction. Actually the Defiance Medium actions are a perfect fit as they will accommodate a COAL of 3.2".

If you have an 8 twist barrel try going to a 140 grain, or heavier, in a Berger or Chinchaga bullet. Not sure if you will have enough barrel length to take full advantage of H 869 or H-50 BMG but they would be worth a try. Aliant RL 33 may work if RL 50 and the H powders are too slow.

[ranchhand]

Originally Posted by lclund1946

I see people still going with the 6.5 SAUM, with dreams of it being a good fit for a short action Remington, when in fact bullets have to be seated too long to fit even with a Wyatt extended magazine. As well the SAUM cartridge, with it's rebated rim have never fed well from Remington short actions.

I have that exact set up in a 6.5 SAUM. I haven't seen any problems that you stated at all. Sorry, back to the 26 Nosler.

[lclund1946]

Originally Posted by ranchhand

I have that exact set up in a 6.5 SAUM. I haven't seen any problems that you stated at all. Sorry, back to the 26 Nosler.

That's good to know. I had a 7mm SAUM and it did not feed very well from the magazine. I even saw a report where a person lost an opportunity at a nice trophy due to this problem. Perhaps they feed better from the Wyatt extended magazine??

Nosler actually have loads posted and US 869 does appear to get the claimed velocities in a 26" barrel. http://www.nosler.com/26-nosler I don't know if burning the 88 grains of powder is worth the extra velocity. Noslers main selling point for this caliber is that the 129 grain bullet, at 3400 fps, sighted for 350 yards has a point blank range of 415 yards. What they don't tell you is that this is calculated on a 10" target or +/- 5". the same bullet at 3250 fps shoots +/- 5.5" to 415 yards so you may have to aim 1/2" higher. At any rate the recoil will be up considerably and barrel life will be substantially less.

[Mateo]

Originally Posted by lclund1946

Nosler actually have loads posted and US 869 does appear to get the claimed velocities in a 26" barrel. http://www.nosler.com/26-nosler I don't know if burning the 88 grains of powder is worth the extra velocity. Noslers main selling point for this caliber is that the 129 grain bullet, at 3400 fps, sighted for 350 yards has a point blank range of 415 yards. What they don't tell you is that this is calculated on a 10" target or +/- 5". the same bullet at 3250 fps shoots +/- 5.5" to 415 yards so you may have to aim 1/2" higher. At any rate the recoil will be up considerably and barrel life will be substantially less.

Great info here. I've read up on your 6.5 extreme and it's quite the cartridge. Great work. What are your thoughts on the 6.5 SS?

[lclund1946]

Originally Posted by Mateo

Great info here. I've read up on your 6.5 extreme and it's quite the cartridge. Great work. What are your thoughts on the 6.5 SS?

I checked out the 6.5 SS and made a drawing with the 6.5 Berger Hunting VLD seated to 2.8" and found the bearing surface was protruding into the case by 0.033". This could be a problem if proper neck turning procedures are not followed as moving the shoulder/neck down will likely result in a donut forming. I believe that some initial pressure is exerted on the bearing surface which may result in less initial velocity/given pressure.

The minimum optimal length for the 6.5 SS, with the Berger 140 would be 2.833 but would be better running at 2.86". As well the short fat case will likely not feed well from the Remington SA rifles especially since the first person to try this cartridge had to adjust the feed lips on his magazine. Perhaps a Wyatt extended system would work better but I would recommend a Winchester Model 70 WSM action with Controlled Round feed.

The case does hold just the right amount of powder and should perform virtually the same as the 6.5 SAUM. Personally I don't believe that it has any other advantages and the extra hassle of forming and fire forming the brass are what I try to avoid.