Sometimes running around pays off

[kevshell]

During the last elk season my wife snapped her rifle in half while we were chasing elk on horseback. I've been unsuccessful getting a replacement stock for her rifle because the company went out of business (Cooper). I'll eventually get another stock but this is going to be a lengthy process. So that meant we needed to get her a new one/backup.

After thinking about it for a while I decided to get a 28 nosler in a specific rifle. I called numerous places and could not find one and figured I'd have to order it and have it sent to an FFL. Lo and behold I found one at a Bob Ward's in Bozeman Montana. And even better, they are able to sell long guns to out of state residents where they have some sort of reciprocity. I was in luck. So I drove an hour and a half to pick it up and they didn't have it. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. But what made it worse was the guys that told me that it was there didn't care. And they nor their manager were able to check the inventory for other stores as they had a new system and didn't know what they were doing. Ultimately with my lack of faith in them I called the store again and got some random guy in camping who was able to tell me they had one in Missoula.

So my wife and I went on a day trip and drove four and a half hours one way to get the rifle. We were able to get it all set up, purchase all the ammo I needed, etc. And the upshot is I was able to get the rifle, the scope and everything else at a pretty good discount.

Doing all the running around It was good to see a fair amount of reloading supplies on shelves in some stores. The one Bob wards in Missoula had a pretty decent supply. And the Scheels in Missoula had a really good supply of primers. And although the powder and primer prices are not what they used to be, I felt they were rather fair given the prices I have seen. 1000 WLPs were $99 and an 8 lb jug of h110 was $265. Not every store I've run across has been like this but again it was good to see a pretty decent selection on the shelves.

And ultimately my wife's new rifle ended up being a 28 nosler. Pretty crazy seeing The size of these cases. These nosler rounds are based on the 404 Jeffrey. Looking at the box, it appears that trajectory will allow one to shoot with little change in hold out to 300 yd. That comes in handy with the fire drill kind of hunting We end up doing when we chase elk. Typically it's lots of riding on horseback, lots of glassing, some bugling, and then when the moon's align you typically have a small window in which to get your elk. A flat shooting rifle really comes in handy as there's little time to set up and get your shot. I don't have a ton of experience with this but never has it turned out like you see in the shows where guys have all this time to get this absolutely perfect shot. Hopefully I will get to the range towards the end of the week and I hope to have a range report afterwards.

[iwsbull]

Congratulations on being able to find one and being able to purchase it as well. The first stop seemed to be a major pain and unfortunately it seems to be a more and more common occurrence.

[pacecars]

Just curious if you contacted Nighthawk Custom as the new Cooper Rifles owner?

[pacecars]

Also what rifle did you end up with?

[kevshell]

Aug 7, 2023 7:11:01 GMT -5 pacecars said:

Just curious if you contacted Nighthawk Custom as the new Cooper Rifles owner?

I did contact nighthawk and have been doing so since last Thanksgiving. I'm not really knocking them. They have attempted to be helpful but I've learned more and more about the Cooper unwinding and then how nighthawk came to buy them. There was a gentleman that used to work there that went through every pallet of supplies that came from Montana to nighthawk. He attempted to find a stock that had not been fitted to a rifle. They just didn't have any. And hunting season is coming upon us soon. They don't even know if they're going to make the rifle that I have again under nighthawk. And personally I think that would be a massive mistake because it's a great rifle.

I end up getting the nosler 48. A good friend of mine has one and I was able to handle it two years ago and really liked it. He gets really small groups out of his. And the fact that I bought it for the price that I did compared to what they're going for I'm even more happy with it.

[bigbrowndog]

Having the Scheels and Bob Wards across the parking lot from each other is pretty convenient for those in Missoula as well.

Trapr

[kevshell]

Aug 7, 2023 11:45:41 GMT -5 bigbrowndog said:

Having the Scheels and Bob Wards across the parking lot from each other is pretty convenient for those in Missoula as well.

Trapr

Funny you say that. We got the rifle and everything we needed except for ammunition at Bob Ward's. I walked across the parking lot and got all my ammo, The gun case and a handful of other items. Plus my wife likes shopping at Scheels. I wish there was more of those stores around and they can get rid of the Bass Pro and Cabela's as far as I'm concerned.

[kevshell]

Bob Ward's is trying to get their stuff together because they were sold out. That's why I had so much trouble at the Bozeman location. No one knows what's going on.

[potatojudge]

I have a M48 in 28 Nosler also. They're good rifles but they don't do the 28 case justice. Short mag, long throat, 9 twist leaves a lot on the table. Mine shoots the 175 ABLR fine but is probably better suited to something like a 160 Accubond or 168 Berger. I think you chose well with the ammo you bought. 

Nosler often has 28 Nosler ammo on sale as blemished product through shooters pro shop, and sometimes that goes on deeper discount. I've managed to scrounge a pile of ammo and new primed brass without paying $80 a box.

H1000 is the go-to powder but RL33 does the trick as well.

I've had good success with mine. The maximum point blank range stretches a little farther than typical rifles, but the down range energy and drift resistance are the real strengths. It really is an impressively large case.

To me, it kicks about like a 30-06 but that mostly can be attributed to the fit of the rifle. Regardless, it's not a burden to shoot or carry.

I think a No 1 in 28 Nosler cut and twisted for 180-190 grain bullets would be a great rig.

[kevshell]

Aug 7, 2023 12:37:50 GMT -5 potatojudge said:

I have a M48 in 28 Nosler also. They're good rifles but they don't do the 28 case justice. Short mag, long throat, 9 twist leaves a lot on the table. Mine shoots the 175 ABLR fine but is probably better suited to something like a 160 Accubond or 168 Berger. I think you chose well with the ammo you bought. 

Nosler often has 28 Nosler ammo on sale as blemished product through shooters pro shop, and sometimes that goes on deeper discount. I've managed to scrounge a pile of ammo and new primed brass without paying $80 a box.

H1000 is the go-to powder but RL33 does the trick as well.

I've had good success with mine. The maximum point blank range stretches a little farther than typical rifles, but the down range energy and drift resistance are the real strengths. It really is an impressively large case.

To me, it kicks about like a 30-06 but that mostly can be attributed to the fit of the rifle. Regardless, it's not a burden to shoot or carry.

I think a No 1 in 28 Nosler cut and twisted for 180-190 grain bullets would be a great rig.

I toyed with the idea of the 26-in barrelled long range version. But ultimately we need something that's more handy on horseback. I knew it would not squeeze everything out of the cartridge and if I like this one well enough may end up having one custom built later down the road to get everything I can out of the cartridge. Hand loader magazine did an article on this exact setup several years ago and I'm not sure if his groups were better with the 160s because he shot them early on or because the 160s shoot better than the 175s. I did get two boxes of the 175s and we will find out at some point.

www.riflemagazine.com/28-nosler-mountain-carbon-rifle

[potatojudge]

One other point: barrel life

Should the rifle ever reach that 800-1000 yard mark and start dropping off in velocity or accuracy, it's common to rebarrel to 30-28 Nosler. Barrels tend to die on these before the cases give out.

Simply neck up the old cases, swap out the bushing in your resizing die to a 30 cal and resize, then load. The 30-28 has much better barrel life and very few would ever burn out a barrel in a cartridge like that.

[Odin]

Aug 7, 2023 12:37:50 GMT -5 potatojudge said:

...Nosler often has 28 Nosler ammo on sale as blemished product through shooters pro shop, and sometimes that goes on deeper discount...

I'm not exactly sure what a "deep discount" is, but the blem price beats buying at Midway by a wide margin.

www.shootersproshop.com/28-nosler-160gr-accubond-trophy-grade-ammunition-blem.html

[kevshell]

When I see that same ammo on the shelf it's right around $100 per box. I've never seen it for the retail price advertised on that website but if you could get it for $60 per box that would be pretty awesome. That's the same price they sell the ballistic tip ammo for. I was not in a position to get set up to reload for this and get ready for the season. This is the first time I've bought rifle ammo off the shelf like this.

[potatojudge]

Deep discount is $35-40 a box. June 2023 was the $35 a box for 160 Ballistic Tip ammo so I picked up a couple. Before that was 185 RDF ammo for $40 a box that I doubt the M48 will love, but I have a remage barrel in 28 that's set up for heavier bullets. 

I'd have passed on the 26 inch gun also. They just get too long for blind hunting for little improvement in performance. I mostly meant the action and chamber aren't optimized for the 28, so the custom rifle makers build them on longer actions with extended magazine boxes, then cut the 7 or 8 twist barrels with throats for long seated 180+ grain bullets. BUT, it does work in the standard length action like a 284 can work in a short action- just leaves a little on the table, which is a reasonable trade off.

No shame in using factory stuff in a pinch or to get the brass. That's what I do most of the time also. 

[Fowler]

My brother has had better success with his 28 Nolser with heavy 175-190gr bullets, but it is a Fierce and perhaps they have a different barrel twist for the heavier bullets.

Word to the wise, Sportsman's Warehouse has most of their primer out for $5.99/100, 1k limit. they tend to have a thin selection because they are reasonably priced (relative to the times we are in). Now than Bass Pro, Scheels, etc. all price match so all you do is pull the item up on your phone and bingo you get the $59.99/1k price at the other stores, just have to ask.