I'm wondering if the 26 nosler is really as hard on barrel throats as all the armchair commanders and mall ninjas online who have probably never seen much less owned one claim.

I'm guessing that if you don't go and try to blast 20 rounds in five minutes every range session the barrel should probably last 1200-1500 rounds.

Shoot heavy for caliber bullets with a powder to fill the case 90%+, keep peak pressure at 60K psi or below, shoot slow enough to keep the barrel cool to the touch and you'll get over 1500 rounds through it fine.  And, yes, I've shot a barrel out in less than 900 rounds.

I'm going to give you a pass on that one.  But do not post such stuff in this Technical Forum again, or you will get a formal Warning.  This is not General Discussion. - Old_Painless

Ok....



What about the people who actually go out and shoot their rifles to become proficient with them and know them in and out?  You know, the ones who actually have good dope for their setups and can make the proper wind and range calls and actually hit their targets?



How about those who compete with their rifles?  Several thousand rounds a year through a precision rifle is pretty easy to do.  Not everyone is happy to go out and shoot 20 rounds a year and HOPE to hit their target.
 

WTH kind of response is this.  Last I checked this wasn't GD.

To the OP, yes the 26 Nosler is a barrel burner.  It is a serious over bore cartridge pushing a relatively small bullet over 3000 fps.  That will burn a barrel out very quickly.  Use it in competitions where shot strings can be upwards of 10 rds at a time and you will see less than 1000 rds before the barrel dies.

Stick with a moderate cartridge like 260 or Creedmoor.  Good performance and barrel life of 2500+ rds.  

I feel sorry for those who fill an annual tag with 5-shots. I get 6 deer in NC and still have out-of-state tags as well for VA deer and bear.  The guys with feral hog populations shoot way more than that.

look at the 6.5 SAUM 4S (GAP version of the RSAUM) if you want that performance but better barrel life 3000+













 

Here is all of the info I have gathered for it, with part numbers for redding equipment.

Loading dies
Rcbs - #38 shell holder
7mm SAUM S-type set #36280
VLD seater insert #55748
Decap rod #11263
Long VLD Seater Stems, 6.5 mm #55746
If your starting on 300 SAUM brass you also need a .311 bushing.
moly neck lube 07200
Size with .311(73311)
then .295 (73295)
then turn .015
then Size with .290 (73290)
7mm saum brass
.295 part#73295

Neck turn to .015
Decapping rod #11263
then Size with .290 (73290)

You are correct:  This is not GD.

"Overbore" is a word used often, understood seldom.  

"Bore capacity" applies to a cartridge in relation to available powders. A case that's "over bore capacity" is a case that can not be loaded with a caseful of any available powder without developing dangerous pressures. It's a matter of how fast and how high the pressure curve rises while the travel of the bullet down the bore bleeds-off some of the pressure. In a case that's over bore capacity, the travel of the bullet down the bore can not relieve the building pressure fast enough to keep the peak pressure (from a caseful charge) down to a safe level.  If there's a powder available that you can fill the case with, without producing dangerous pressures, that case is not "over bore capacity."

Seems there are several powders available that provide over a 90% case fill yet safe pressures:

Nosler data

Basically I shoot a lot. I have a Winchester M70 in 300h&h that I put about 800 rounds on the original barrel and the new barrel which is only two years old probably has near 500 rounds through it.

If I got one of these I would probably end up putting at least 500 rounds through it the first year just because it would be a new toy I would want to shoot all the time.

What I really wanted was a 6.5-06 Ackley with a Sendero profile and 28" long having as deep of flutes as I could get put into it and still maintain bore integrity. The goal was to have a 120 grain bullet that could go at least 3300 FPS in a heavy rifle that could be zeroed @ 400y and have that distance be used as the point blank.

My issue is that I would need a donor M70 action, McMillan or other similar stock and with the Night Force scope I wanted the rifle would probably cost nearly $4k to build.

I was hoping that the 26 nosler would be a better alternative but I know barrel life wont be nearly as long as the 6.5-06 Ackley and brass will be very spendy as of now.

Who would you recommend to talk to about a build like this though? I really would value having someone who can keep a dead line when they set it since I have had trouble with other people in the past.

Your 6.5 Ackley will EASILY launch the 120s at 3300 fps. My .260 will nearly do that.

BUT, I think everyone needs a hot 6.5 or 6mm.

For an Ackley, brass cost & barrel ware can be deceptive since you have to load & fire-form, even with the cream-of-wheat method, before you get to a final load.  Very few AI's have already manufactured brass (ex. 280 AI) and they are spendy too.  

While the 6.5 Nosler is really a hot rod, I suggest people consider why the would need it...

I was having a full custom build done, and considered going with the 6.5x51 AI (essentially a 7.65x51 necked to 6.5mm and blown out).  Then when I looked at the cost/benefit of it I decided to go with a plain 260.  All the extra work making custom cases would net me 200, maybe 300 yards more distance before the bullet would go transonic.  As the plain 260 would reach 1500-1750 yards before going transonic, I had to wonder how often I actually would need to shoot 1700-2000 yards, and the answer was, not in the past 5 years.

In the 3.5 years since completing my build, the rifle has about 2500 rounds through it and easily shoots under half moa.  I don't even need to ad the caveat "when I do my part" because when I let better shooters use the rifle, their groups are closer to .25 moa for 5 shots....regularly.

Sure, the 6.5 Nosler has great performance, and as a pure hunting rifle, it might be great, but I just don't need it.