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