New Custom Rifle - 28 Nosler

Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,097
385
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
I will never forget seeing my first custom rifle. I was at a California Waterfowl Association fundraiser and they brought one out for auction. My mind was blown, it was the most beautiful rifle I had even seen. Since that day, it was always a dream of mine. After more than 25 years and a convincing dinner conversation with my wife, this year I got my first custom rifle.
I worked with my local gunsmith for 6 months researching every single component, balancing performance vs budget. Caliber was of course one of the biggest hurdles, but the performance of the 28 Nosler is simply unreal. 30 cal was highly on my radar because of the weight of the bullet and the reduced wind drift, but ultimately I settled on a 195 grn for the 28 with the reduced recoil. So many theories and thoughts went into the consideration. It was a super fun process.
Anyways. Here it is:
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Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,097
385
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
I've been contemplating the .28
Which NF scope due you have mounted?
Total weight?
The 28 has some crazy impressive stats. At 1250 yards it’s still delivering 1800 FPS and 1400 ft ponds of energy, on my loads.
I went with the NXS 5.5-22x56. MOAR reticle.
Total weight is 9 lbs 12 ozs. The scope is pretty heavy and adds a ton of weight.
I spent a lot of years chasing weight reduction and only the last few have I found the value in added weight. And of course in this scenario, long range accuracy.
 

Winchester

Veteran member
Mar 27, 2014
2,464
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Woodland Park, Colorado
Very nice rifle!! Congrats
I too built a .28 Nosler with my gunsmith last year (posted about it previously).
The main difference is I went for less weight … barely 8 lbs with a March scope.
Looks like they both shoot very well … it's a great caliber.
 

Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,097
385
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
Very nice rifle!! Congrats
I too built a .28 Nosler with my gunsmith last year (posted about it previously).
The main difference is I went for less weight … barely 8 lbs with a March scope.
Looks like they both shoot very well … it's a great caliber.
Nice... thank you. What bullet did you end up going with?
 

sneakypete

Veteran member
Aug 9, 2011
2,811
249
Oakdale Ca.
Tell us about the build, obviously it has a Proof barrel. and how about the cost of the build. I ask a have a friend who just called me yesterday and told me he wants to build one with a Proof barrel and brake. Thanks in advance
 

Winchester

Veteran member
Mar 27, 2014
2,464
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Woodland Park, Colorado
Nice... thank you. What bullet did you end up going with?
Currently using Berger bullets.
I've killed a black bear and two mule deer with the 195gr EOL Elite Hunter.
It groups very well and hits hard … all three animals literally dropped in their tracks.
I'm still reloading to see what the gun likes the best.
 

mallardsx2

Veteran member
Jul 8, 2015
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I read somewhere that those rifle barrels are extremely easy to shoot out. Any truth to that? Just wondering how many rounds the people said the barrel was good for.

Awsome rifle and pictures btw!
 

Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,097
385
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
Currently using Berger bullets.
I've killed a black bear and two mule deer with the 195gr EOL Elite Hunter.
It groups very well and hits hard … all three animals literally dropped in their tracks.
I'm still reloading to see what the gun likes the best.
I almost guessed that. It seems the 28 Nosler and the 195 EOL were made for each. Across all Gunsmith’s this is by far the most popular combination, which was also a big leading factor to my decision. It is the exact combo I am running too.
 
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Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,097
385
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
I read somewhere that those rifle barrels are extremely easy to shoot out. Any truth to that? Just wondering how many rounds the people said the barrel was good for.

Awsome rifle and pictures btw!
Thank you. I appreciate it. I actually haven’t heard that about Proof Research barrels. They are a local company to Montana and the word here is pretty high quality. Very well known, but it could totally be a local thing. I’ll let you know in the next 5-10 years haha.
So that last statement just spurred a new thought. Like most things, I think it depends on the user. I am running light loads for 2 reasons. #1, recoil reduction and #2 life of gun. I’m only running my loads getting 2920 FPS which is on the light end of this caliber.
Still great results IMO.
 

Winchester

Veteran member
Mar 27, 2014
2,464
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Woodland Park, Colorado
I almost guessed that. It seems the 28 Nosler and the 195 EOL were made for each. Across all Gunsmith’s this is by far the most popular combination, which was also a big leading factor to my decision. It is the exact combo I am running too.
Yeah, it seems to be working very well so far as my groups look a lot like yours.
I'm going to mess around with some different powders but just for fun.
My groups can't realistically get very much better … not with me shooting them anyway. :rolleyes:
 

Winchester

Veteran member
Mar 27, 2014
2,464
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Woodland Park, Colorado
Thank you. I appreciate it. I actually haven’t heard that about Proof Research barrels. They are a local company to Montana and the word here is pretty high quality. Very well known, but it could totally be a local thing. I’ll let you know in the next 5-10 years haha.
So that last statement just spurred a new thought. Like most things, I think it depends on the user. I am running light loads for 2 reasons. #1, recoil reduction and #2 life of gun. I’m only running my loads getting 2920 FPS which is on the light end of this caliber.
Still great results IMO.
I'm using the same barrel on my .28 Nosler and my gunsmith thinks I should be able to run about 1,000 rounds through it before I start seeing any degradation.
 

DRUSS

Very Active Member
Jun 22, 2014
536
157
nw oregon
good choice on the 28Nosler, I just had got one this year also. end of hunting season though. similar weight but chose a ATAC 4-16. still 195gr bullets. what twist and length did you choose for your barrel? I got a Benchmark Carbon on mine 25"
 

Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,097
385
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
good choice on the 28Nosler, I just had got one this year also. end of hunting season though. similar weight but chose a ATAC 4-16. still 195gr bullets. what twist and length did you choose for your barrel? I got a Benchmark Carbon on mine 25"
Twist rate is 1:8, barrel length is 26 inches. I also went with the terminator brake, which is a tank. Adds 3 more inches which is crazy and all adds some “getting use to”. But there literally is zero recoil. That brake is arguably the best on the market but they warn the hell out of you to make sure you have hearing protection at all times.

Post some pics of your gun if you can. Fun to see.
 

Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,097
385
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
Very nice rifle!! Congrats
I too built a .28 Nosler with my gunsmith last year (posted about it previously).
The main difference is I went for less weight … barely 8 lbs with a March scope.
Looks like they both shoot very well … it's a great caliber.
Any pics of your rifle too? Love seeing all the combos.
 

Montana

Veteran member
Nov 3, 2011
1,097
385
Bitterroot Valley, MT.
Tell us about the build, obviously it has a Proof barrel. and how about the cost of the build. I ask a have a friend who just called me yesterday and told me he wants to build one with a Proof barrel and brake. Thanks in advance
So I am a bit of a research junky. I’ll start with that. I enjoy the morning coffee, gathering thoughts, opinions and weighing out pros and cons of all components/products. So, with that said, price probably wouldn’t be very fair, I took 8 months buying all the product.

I’m sure everyone feels this way, but in all my research I didn’t find a cheaper gunsmith. It wouldn’t be fair for me to say he’s the best, because I don’t have that experience but I can tell you he is dang good. He produced a very accurate rifle for me and everyone I know that he has done work for. My mind was blown on his price, guess the value of small town living :)

List:
Proof full-size Sendero barrel (not the popular Sendero Lite)
Stiller Predator Action
AG Composite stock - Alpine Hunter
Trigger Tech Special, set at 1.6 pds. This surprises some folks. It is an incredible trigger, way below the radar, great price, incredible performance/quality.
Terminator T3 brake. Another up and coming, arguably the best brake on the market. This was my only splurge on price.
Stiller 20 moa Picatinny rail
Nightforce low rings
Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x56 MOAR Reticle

If your buddy is interested in any insight, have him contact me. I learned a ton in this process. A lot of folks helped me out so I am happy to now return the favor 😁👍
 
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Slugz

Veteran member
Oct 12, 2014
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Woodland Park, Colorado
Montana thanks for all the info, really appreciate it. I've been wanting to build a 28 Nosler and its really got me thinking.
My goal of this build is just a light rifle, 8lb total weight, that I can shoot a 160-175ish modern bullet out of it. I don't need 600+ yards. I rarely shoot over 400 yards. Now with some of the bullets having a really low energy requirement to perform ( Nosler ABLR).....I'm beginning to lean towards a 308 and go really ultra light on the build.

Ugh..... I'm really torn now on a caliber and need to go back to the drawing board.