Ammo Brief: Smoking Hot 28 Nosler

OK, you have an itch to send a 7mm screaming to its limits, then the 28 Nosler is right down your alley.

What Are The Specifics Of The 28 Nosler:

• Shares the same case dimensions as its sibling, the 26 Nosler.
• Its fat case gives it ample powder capacity.
• Loaded hot, it can kick a 160-grain bullet out at 3,300 fps at the muzzle.

Historical Notes
In 2015, Nosler created its new .28 Nosler by necking up the .26 Nosler case—itself a derivative of the 7mm RUM case, which descended from the .404 Jeffery. Nosler supports this new cartridge with Nosler brass, Trophy Grade ammunition and M48 rifles in 26-inch barrel configurations.

The .28 Nosler is the only cartridge in the family (.22, .26, .27 [wildcat], .28, .30, .33, .35 and .36 Nosler) that shares all the .26 Nosler case dimensions, with the exception of being necked-up. The .27 Nosler wildcat was changed from the .26 as well. The case might be the same length, but the shoulder datum was brought back to a shorter dimension.

Nosler said there were two main reasons these features were changed between cartridges: Designers wanted to stay within a 3.340 maximum COAL and had to design around the longest-ogive Nosler bullets in each caliber. Getting up to .30-caliber-and-larger sizes necessitates shortening the brass—and therefore, moving the shoulder accordingly to preserve adequate neck length.

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The most important reason the shoulder and length dimensions were changed was to prevent cross-caliber chambering. For example, bullet and neck diameter, alone, are not enough to guarantee that someone can’t force a .28 Nosler shell into a .27 Nosler chamber. By bringing the shoulder back on the .27, it can prevent serious injury if a shooter inadvertently chambers and fires a larger-caliber shell in the smaller chamber.

On-Target Ammunition Information:

General Comments
The fat case creates powder space, with a water capacity of 93.8 grains when loaded with a 150-grain AccuBond Long Range spitzer, according to Nosler specs. The rebated-rim centerfire rifle cartridge shares the same overall cartridge length (3.340 inches) as the .26 Nosler, which allows it to be chambered in standard-length actions. Likewise, the .284-caliber (7mm) centerfire .28 Nosler has the same 3.340-inch maximum cartridge overall length as the .30-06, but the case length is 2.590 inches, with a 35-degree shoulder. Accordingly, the .28 Nosler cartridge case can be formed by necking up a .26 Nosler case to 7mm (.284 inch) diameter.

Slower-burning powders and high load densities generally yield the best loads. Some of the best are with Norma 217 and RL 33, but other propellants of similar speed also give excellent results. For family “bragging rights,” the .26 Nosler is capable of firing a 129-grain AccuBond LR bullet at a muzzle velocity of 3,400 fps, but the .28 Nosler launches a 160-grain AccuBond at 3,300 fps, and the .30 Nosler fires a 180-grain AccuBond at 3,200 fps.

Editor’s Note: This article is an excerpt from Cartridges of the World, 16th Edition.

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