I recently picked up a 28 nosler. Christensen Arms Ridgeline. Topped with a Leupold VX-6 3-18X44. Anyone here own one of these or have any experience. I have yet to take it to the range. I picked up some 160gr Nosler Accubond for it. This will be the rifle i take to AZ for late season elk. Just wondering what ammo worked best for you?

The CA rifles are hit and miss on accuracy and consistency. Some will shoot very well, and some will string shots as the barrel heats up. But the 28 Nosler is one of the best rounds out there. I've loaded for many of the CA rifles in 28 Nosler. One of the main things I notice with most of the CA rifles, is the 2 ejectors plungers they use on the bolt face. These rifles exhibit pressure sooner than your traditional bolts do. If I know I'm loading for a CA rifle with 2 plunger bolt, I'll back to load down some, especially when shooting suppressed.

The other big issue we've seen with the 28 Nosler ammo, is the lack of a quality factor load for it. We've tested it, and many gunsmith's I sell to have also. I get phone calls all the time and these high end rifles and ammo that won't shoot the factory ammo, especially at longer ranges. The 28 Nosler is one of my top sellers. I've gone through over 20,000 rounds of 28 in the several months. It shines when you shoot the 180 grain and 195 grain bullets!! The CA rifles are a 1:9" twist, so you have to keep to about the 180 grain weight and less.

Thanks Chad.
Any experience loading the Barnes ttsx out of these? I run that out of my 300 weatherby and 338win mag and absolutely love the performance.

I've loaded the 168 and 175 LRX (when I can find them), but the TTSX would work fine. The main issue would be the barrel copper fouling up quick at the faster speeds of the 28. I ship a lot of Barnes TTSX and LRX to California for their non-lead hunting.

I’m a Barnes fan but, it’s going to foul baddddddd, with that much powder. I’ve been happy with 180hybrid and 195 bergers.


My advice is try Chad’s ammo or have a load worked up for with it and don’t look back. It’s not a gun you are going to want to pound steel with all day. It's a pure hunting caliber IMO.

That's my 2cents as a 28 owner

BIG DITTO on the pressure issue!!!!!!!!!

I had one we tried to push 195 Bergers. Started seeing pressure signs well below published data. I want to say the fastest I could push the 195s was around 2700fps when I started seeing ejector marks on the brass. I couldn't take it any further. I can try and pull up my load data if you are interested.

For comparison, I sold the rifle and built a custom. My current load pushes the 195s over 3200fps without pressure signs. I stopped there as I wasn't comfortable going until I saw pressure. The barrel has speed up 100-150fps since load development, and I have a sticky bolt at the top. So, I've got some work to do this off season backing off my original load.

Yep lot of folks ruined a lot of 28 Nosler brass trying to run 195gr up at 3200.
With 30 inch barrel and longer throat and with right powder you can without too short of brass life but really 3100 fps with 195-197’s is about redline to make brass last.

Thanks for all the info!

Chad,
I just ordered some 300 win mag for my Stepfather off of your site. Super fast turnaround time. Thank you very much! Back to the 28 Nosler discussion. As spring creeps up im getting ready to make the ammo purchase I was looking at your website im interested in the 175 long range accubond. Do you think that will work well? Thanks again for all the help.

Any reason your against Berger?

No. Just looking for something around 168-175 grain and have shot Nosler for years. but if the Berger is better ill definitely give it a try.

Why buy a sports car and not drive it over 55mph? The 28 Nosler was built to run the 195s in my opinion.

The ABLR is my favorite bullet in CM from an on game performance stand point, but they aren’t my best grouping bullet

I haven’t used the ABLR’s in 28 yet. Have used 195bergers and was happy with it’s on game results. I also shoot bergers out of my 257wby.

based off of what was stated above the CA has a 1-9 twist so the bullet needs to stay 180gr and below

You can still shoot the 195’s, you just loose a little BC particularly at sea’ish level

180gr hybrid from Chad or unknown ammunition is a great choice also.

195's will stabilize at 28 Nosler speeds in a 1:9...Berger's website even states 1:9 as the minimum twist.

Now, it's the trendy thing to do...over twisting everything is definitely in vogue.

Completely agree. It is an absolute hoss!

Don't shoot my 2 MOA steel with it, less than 500 yards. It tears stuff up.

Thank you, Anthony Archer!!

The CA rifles run the 1:9" twist. The 195 Berger's will be marginally stable in the 1:9" twist. We have tested them in the 1:9" and even the 1:8.5" twist rifles. But.... they are certainly more finicky on getting them dialed in and shooting good at longer ranges. The 28 Nosler really shines at long range. But our groups were noticeably larger with the 1:9" and even the 1:8.5" twist barrels. We've run multiple rifles side by side when testing only at 1000 yards with the same ammo and loads. The 1:8" twist has shown to be go-to twist for the heavier bullets. If you drop down to the 180 grain VLD or Hybrids, the groups tighten right back up at long range. So, I do think in the 1:9" twist barrels, I'd lean towards the 180 and lighter.

On the 175 LR Accubonds, yes, they will perform on game well. But.... this bullet does not shoot near as good as other bullets. If you measure the diameter of most of the LR AB bullets, they are under sized. A 7mm bullet should be .284" in diameter. I have measured them at .281" and .282" in diameter. And, they are VERY soft. If I am not carful when seating these bullets, the seating stem will leave a ring around the top of the bullet from the pressure during bullet seating. You have to make sure you have the correct seating stem in your die also. And the case necks can not have too much neck tension, or they will ring the bullet. So, in combination of the bullet under sizing and soft lead, I think this contributes to the bullet not shooting that well. If a hunter wants target grade accuracy in combination with a good hunting bullet, the LR AB is one of the last bullets I'd recommend for accuracy. They certainly are more finicky to get dialed in. But I have seen a few of them shoot pretty good.

Well, I am still waiting to draw my AZ tag so the CA was sitting in the safe until this Month. I did the barrel break in procedure and then shot some factory 175 ABLR. And yes you all were right. I can't get these to hold any kind of group to save my butt. So I ordered some 180gr VLD from Chad tonight. I will be taking CA to Pennsylvania to do some deer hunting with my Dad and Brother. Can't wait to test out these rounds.

I've had the 195's lose stability in 1:9's. Berger shows on the product page minimum is 1:9". But run the same 195 in the twist rate calculator, and it shows 1:8". I've seen some issues with 1:9" twist barrels pushing the 195's. I wouldn't recommend it.