Sub par results with initial 26 nosler loads. What should I try next?

[bard]

I've got a Browning Hells Canyon Speed in 26 Nosler. Mainly my mounting hunting rig. Seems to shoot good with Factory Nosler trophy grade 140 grain Accubonds. Not so much with factory 142 grain accubonds. I am up in Canada. Getting harder to find factory ammo for the 26 so figured I better start reloading. Went with the Barnes LRX and US869. Found a few people on here that had good success with it. Results were sub par. 2" groups at best. Tried a number of powder weights. Did not change the bullet depth yet. I don't get a lot of time to work up loads so wondering what I should do next? Powder and bullets are sometimes hard to come by and far from cheep. so I am hoping to just change one thing. Powder or Bullet. Any suggestions?

 

[hdc77]

Mono metal bullets like a clean bore, so I’ll start there if you did not do it before hand. Also, jump them at least .050. If still doesn’t work, order some 124 Hammer Hunters if that’s a possibility, they’re easy to tune and shoot amazing. Good luck.

 

[SDHNTR]

Change the bullet or the powder. Whichever one is easier to get.

 

[WyoHuntr]

Hammer just came out with a tipped 125gr bullet. 26N and 142 ablr's are both finicky as hell, so don't get too worried. I ditched US869 in favor of temp stable powders (got sick of my loads going to hell when I needed them). 50BMG doesn't get quite as much speed, but it doesn't fall apart at the seams when temps vary from 90°+ to sub-freezing. I can't speak to a specific Hammer load in 26 Nosler, since I'm still doing some experimenting. But they shoot awesome in every other rifle I've shot them in, and they take pressure very well.

 

[bard]

Mono metal bullets like a clean bore, so I’ll start there if you did not do it before hand. Also, jump them at least .050. If still doesn’t work, order some 124 Hammer Hunters if that’s a possibility, they’re easy to tune and shoot amazing. Good luck.

Thanks for the tips. I did give it a cleaning. I am not an experienced reloader. Jump them .050? Would that be don't seat them as deep as in make the overall longer? or the opposite? I will start to look for some hammers.

 

[TheWhitetailNut]

Get an OAL gauge.

Then use it to measure how deep the bullets need to be seated to touch the lands. Once you have this OAL measurement seat the bullet .050 deeper. Don't waste any more powder, bullets, or time until you do this as you may already have that perfect.

Someone above said Monos like a clean bore.. I've shot TTSX bullets exclusively in multiple calibers for about a decade and this could not be further from the truth for any of my rifles. But by dirty I do not mean copper fouled, nothing shoots well in a copper fouled bore. If the barrel is of exceptional quality, or has been properly broken in copper fouling can no longer occur. I can shoot 2 boxes of 180g TTSX's in .300 Win mag., come home and clean the bore with 3 patches.

 

[longrange13]

What others have said. Clean your barrel when switching to monos or switching back to cup and core. I’ve had good results with og accubonds but the ablr are super finicky. 26 nos with a mono bullet is a killing machine. As others have said, change powders if possible, if not change bullets. The 124 hammer is an awesome choice. I’ve seen that changing seating depth on barnes loads can improve them slightly but it’s not going to make a 2” group become a .5” group. If your get the hammers seat them .020” off the lands and run them up to pressure. It rare for a fun to not either like the 127lrx or the 124 hammer.

 

[DakotaBPNW]

I’m very happy with 156 Berger’s and Retumbo. I tried US869 and some other non temp stable powders and had a tough time with them. My current load pushes those 156’s at 3150FPS out of a 24” barrel.

 

[bard]

Tried some 140 grain speer with the us869 with a real good barrel cleaning and it was worse than the LRX. Shot some of my factory ammo just to make sure something else isn’t up and it shot pretty good. Picked up some Retumbo today and will give that a go with the LRX next.

 

[DakotaBPNW]

I’ve had good luck with Ramshot Magnum and the LRX’s. That Ranshot should be easy to find

 

[Doc Holliday]

Tried some 140 grain speer with the us869 with a real good barrel cleaning and it was worse than the LRX. Shot some of my factory ammo just to make sure something else isn’t up and it shot pretty good. Picked up some Retumbo today and will give that a go with the LRX next.

Any updates? Have you tried the Retumbo/LRX?

 

[bard]

Any updates? Have you tried the Retumbo/LRX?

Yeah. I got out with retumbo and LRX. 72, 73, and 74 grain loads. only 3 rounds each as I was limited on time. 3.355 length. 72 and 73's were a little over an inch groups. 74 was ugly. Weather was hot as hell though. mid 80's. I was happy with the results. Something I can work with. Now what should be my next move? Start playing with overall length? a few smaller and a few longer?

 

[Doc Holliday]

Yeah. I got out with retumbo and LRX. 72, 73, and 74 grain loads. only 3 rounds each as I was limited on time. 3.355 length. 72 and 73's were a little over an inch groups. 74 was ugly. Weather was hot as hell though. mid 80's. I was happy with the results. Something I can work with. Now what should be my next move? Start playing with overall length? a few smaller and a few longer?

I would go shorter. Max SAAMI length is 3.340. In the Nosler load book, they are going with 3.330 for all grains. Barnes generally work better spaced away from the lands… “Jump” So to your question earlier, .050 of jump, means seat them lower/deeper so that they are .050 away from touching the lands. In my experience OAL with my best Barnes loads for a given rifle are always shorter than the best Nosler.loads for that same rifle.

Do you have/have you used a Hornady Comparator and OAL gauge?

This will confirm exactly how far you are to the lands with a given bullet, then you can adjust overall length from there and know exactly how much jump you have with a given OAL.

You will need one of these as well:

Lock-N-Load 26 Nosler Modified Case

Lock-N-Load 26 Nosler Modified Case by HORNADY RELOADING TOOLSThese cases are specially modified to work with Lock-N-Load Precision gauges. A special fine thread is used to attach them to the gauges, ensuring that they remain perfectly square for precise alignment in the chamber of your...

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