Another .224" cartridge? Oh joy. Now it should be noted that there are a few .224" chamberings in my safe, .223 Remington, 5.56 NATO, .223 Wylde, .22-250 Remington and .22-250 Ackley, and somewhere in the gloom at the rear of the safe, a .220 Swift resides. The newer rifles, all homemades, have faster twists, 1:10", 1:9" and 1:8" all for the advent of the lead free stuff such as Barnes Varmint Grenades, Hornady's NTX, and Nosler's really great BT Lead Free.

While I usually jump on the bandwagon for new cartridges, loving the excitement of experimenting with new loads and endless Excel spreadsheets of chronograph data, this time I'll pass. Why? Because I can, and because I also have numerous other fabulous cartridges that are obscure, obsolete, unobtainable or limited to seasonal runs, or proved foolish after the hype wore off. The .243 WSSM comes to mind, a truly unsung misunderstood cartridge that I found superb for varmint when loaded with 62 grain Barnes Varmint Grenades in a 1:8" twist Brux barrel. Ground squirrels feeding on wet alfalfa simply disappeared, sucked into a vortex to another dimension, out to 350 yards. But everybody laughed at the fat stubby little case, and I proved prescient when cornering the market on .243 WSSM brass to keep it fed.

Then I must ask, just how much killing is necessary when hunting ground squirrels? The photo below is what remains of one such rodent when hit by a 50 grain Varmint Grenade from a .22-250 Remington at a bit over 100 yards. Note that I think it was trying to flip me the bird just before his paw was disconnected from his central nervous system. A few feet-per-second more hardly making much difference, with this extended as true for bullets designed for larger game.

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Nonetheless, it's good Nosler keeps the bandwagon rolling along with excellent products for new generations of hunters and shooters.