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The .28 Nosler  For 2015 Nosler, located in Bend Oregon, introduced a new 7mm Magnum cartridge, the .28 Nosler. It is based on the un-belted .26 Nosler case necked-up to accept 7mm bullets. Here is part of Nosler's press release about their new baby: ". . . the .26 Nosler has achieved such renowned success that adding another member to the cartridge family became an obvious decision. Please welcome the .28 Nosler as the most powerful 7mm cartridge commercially available today. The .28 Nosler shares the same parent case as the .26 Nosler, as well as the COL of 3.340 inches, allowing this cartridge to be operated in a standard length action for lighter weight and shorter bolt throw when compared to magnum length actions. Of course, Nosler will be supporting this new cartridge with Nosler brass, Trophy Grade ammunition and naturally, their full line of M48 rifles in 26 inch barrel configurations." The .28 Nosler is offered in the M48 Custom Long Range (2015 MSRP $5830), Patriot (2015 MSRP $2895) and Heritage (2015 MSRP $1895) bolt action repeating rifles. Nosler M48 rifles are only built to order; see the Nosler website (www.nosler.com) for details. Credit Nosler for simply naming their new magnum cartridges .26 and .28, instead of overstating the actual caliber. The .26 Nosler uses .264 inch diameter bullets and the .28 Nosler uses .284 inch diameter bullets. These are the standard 6.5mm and 7mm bullet diameters. In other areas, the .28 Nosler press release may not be quite so forthright. It indulges in typical cartridge announcement hyperbole while ignoring some relevant details that deserve to be addressed. For instance, the .26 Nosler (introduced in 2014) has not exactly been a "renowned success." To the best of my knowledge, no major ammunition manufacturer loads .26 Nosler ammunition. I have yet to encounter a .26 Nosler rifle at the rifle range or in the field and I live in Oregon, just a couple of hours driving time from Nosler headquarters. The stated COL (3.340 inches) is identical to that of the .30-06 Springfield and any standard length action that can accommodate the .30-06 is long enough for the .28 Nosler. On the other hand, the .30-06 uses a .473 inch rim diameter (and matching bolt face), while the .28 Nosler's .534 inch rim requires a magnum size bolt face. The .28 Nosler should fit standard length magnum actions with magnum diameter bolts. However, the .28 Nosler case has a rebated rim. (The rim is smaller in diameter than the case head.) While the rim should fit standard magnum bolt faces, the diameter of the .28 Nosler case head is .550 inches, with very little body taper. The shoulder diameter is .528 inches and the shoulder angle is an abrupt 35-degrees. For comparison, the very popular 7mm Remington Magnum has a .532 inch rim and belt diameter, .513 inch head diameter, .491 inch shoulder diameter and a 25-degree shoulder angle. The .28 and .26 Nosler cases are based on a shortened version of the Remington Ultra Mag case, which in turn was based on the oversize .404 Jeffery elephant cartridge case. Magazines for standard length belted magnum cartridges, such as the 7mm Rem. Magnum and .300 Win. Magnum, are designed for cases with a .532 inch rim/belt diameter and .513 inch head diameter. This means that you cannot simply rechamber a typical 7mm Rem. Mag. rifle for .28 Nosler and expect it to work, except as a bolt action single shot. Is the .28 Nosler really the "most powerful 7mm cartridge"? That depends on whose factory loads (or handloads) you compare and the barrel lengths in which they are chronographed. The .28 Nosler's case capacity happens to be the same as the 7mm Shooting Times Westerner, so if both cartridges are loaded to the same maximum average pressure (MAP) and fired in barrels of the same length, their external ballistics will be identical. The 7mm Remington Ultra Mag uses a larger capacity case and, loaded to the same MAP, has the potential to outperform the .28 Nosler, although not by a lot. Like the 7mm STW and 7mm RUM, the .28 Nosler is seriously over-bore, meaning that its case will hold more powder than can efficiently be burned and it is definitely into the area of diminishing returns. With full power factory loads or equivalent reloads, expect barrel life to be short. As factory loaded, the .28 Nosler slightly outperforms the 7mm Weatherby Magnum, which was introduced back in 1944. In 26 inch test barrels, Nosler claims a muzzle velocity (MV) of 3300 fps with a 160 grain bullet for the .28 and Weatherby claims a MV of 3200 fps for their 7mm with the same weight bullet. Nosler claims 3125 fps and Weatherby claims 3070 fps with 175 grain bullets. Whether a 55-100 fps velocity advantage, depending on bullet weight, is worth sacrificing the proven, long term availability of Weatherby ammunition and rifles will be up to the potential consumer to decide. So much for advertising brags. Time to move along. The published factory load ballistics for the .28 Nosler are impressive. Here are the velocity/energy and trajectory data for the Nosler 160 and 175 grain factory loads from the muzzle to 400 yards, which is well beyond the Maximum Point Blank Range (+/- 3 inches) of the cartridge. 160 grain AccuBond:
Here are the trajectory figures, based on a 200 yard zero:
175 grain AccuBond:
Here are the trajectory figures, based on a 200 yard zero:
As regular Guns and Shooting Online readers know, I prefer to zero hunting rifles to take advantage of the cartridge's MPBR (+/- 3"), rather than at an arbitrary 200 yards. In the case of the .28 Nosler 160 grain factory load, that would mean the bullet would hit 2.39 inches high at 100 yards, 3.0 inches high at 260 yards and 3.0 inches low at about 326 yards, which is the MPBR of the load. This puts the .28 Nosler right up there with the flattest shooting .270, 7mm and .300 Magnum hunting cartridges, when shooting bullets of reasonably similar sectional density and ballistic coefficient. With either factory load, the .28 Nosler is well adapted for hunting both Class 2 (deer size) and Class 3 (elk size) big game at long range. Its killing power remains adequate for Class 3 animals to well beyond 400 yards. However, very few hunters can reliably put the first shot into the animal's vitals at such distances shooting in the field, so don't let the sterling ballistics overwhelm your common sense and lead you into attempting shots you should pass-up. If an animal is so far away that the bullet will drop more than three inches below the line of sight, given your load and zero distance, don't shoot. It is always better to stalk closer or wait for a better (shorter range) opportunity. Don't let a "hunt of a lifetime" become an embarrassing disaster by wounding and failing to recover a fine game animal. Nosler is offering new empty brass and, of course, their wide range of 7mm bullets to reloaders. In addition, .28 Nosler cases can easily be formed by necking-up .26 Nosler brass, should one discover a supply of the latter. Use large rifle magnum primers. Nosler's announcement of their new .28 Magnum was made on 2 Jan 2015 and, thus far, reloading data is understandably scarce. To approximate the 160 grain factory load, muzzle velocities in the same ballpark (3300 fps from a 26 inch barrel) should be attainable with maximum charges of the slowest burning commercial powders, such as Alliant Reloader 25, Hodgdon Retumbo, Hodgdon US869 and Ramshot Magnum, without exceeding the 65,000 MAP of the cartridge. The same powders will likely also be the best choices for use with 175 grain bullets. As with any new cartridge, the long term success of the .28 Nosler will depend on its acceptance by the major rifle makers and ammunition companies. 7mm STW and 7mm RUM sales have not exactly set the world on fire, although Remington has offered rifles in both calibers and Remington and Federal catalog ammo. Among the various 7mm Magnums, to date only the Remington and Weatherby versions have managed to achieve long term popularity, despite the plethora of 7mm Mag. offerings over the years. Like the .28 Nosler, both are standard length cartridges. Indeed, the 7mm Remington Magnum is the best selling of all magnum rifle cartridges and the only magnum to make the "short list" of all-around hunting cartridges. Whether the .28 Nosler can beat the odds, as the 7mm Remington and Weatherby Magnums have done, remains to be seen. |
