Don’t let the small diameter fool you…the .22 Nosler packs the punch you need for a wide range of hunting applications
by Paul G Markel
During the last ten years or so, the centerfire rifle ammunition world has exploded with new cartridges. It seems as though, at every SHOT Show for the last decade, at least one, perhaps more, new rifle cartridges are introduced as the new “perfect” long-range or hunting round.
While a lot of the sales pitch might be industry hyperbole, is there a cartridge that is truly an improvement on an existing idea? What is the track record in the field? Let’s take a look at one that is not so “new” but might offer advantages for both varmints and mid-sized North American game.
The .22 Nosler
My experience began in mid-2017 while I was having a conversation with a friend of mine at Nosler. I had recently relocated to Wyoming — a rifleman’s paradise. “Have you tried out our new .22 Nosler?” my pal asked. I had to admit that I had not. The upshot of our conversation is that it put me on the path to building an AR to chamber that round, which was to be followed by some serious time in the wide-open hunting grounds of the Cowboy State.
You will not be surprised to read that, at the time, I had more than one AR lower and had a box of pieces and parts for the Stoner-based rifle. While I have assembled AR uppers, I will admit to taking a shortcut and purchasing a complete AR upper receiver chambered in .22 Nosler from Midway USA.
Before we get ahead of ourselves, though, let’s consider the cartridge itself.
The origin of the .22 Nosler actually began during the height of the Global War on Terror, when Remington Arms introduced the 6.8mm SPC II cartridge as a potential replacement for the 5.56mm NATO. The parent case for the 6.8mm SPC II was the .30 Remington. While it was never fully adopted by the US Department of Defense, the 6.8mm SPC case was necked down by Nosler to .224mm, and this became the .22 Nosler round.
Like most serious ammunition makers, Nosler has added its name to numerous cartridges. What the folks in Bend, Oregon, did was capitalize on the larger capacity of the 6.8 SPC II case and its established history of being used in AR-style semi-automatic rifles. The thought process seemed to be, can we take the plethora of .224-caliber projectiles and launch them at higher velocities, thereby surpassing the .223 Remington in that category?
For my part, I spent innumerable hours in the field with bolt-action .22-250 Remington rifles destroying varmints. The idea that I could get similar results from the autoloading AR platform was, indeed, intriguing. As an example, the 62-grain “Varmageddon” load in .22 Nosler pushes a FBHP projectile out of the muzzle at 3250 fps. That is about 200 fps or so faster than the standard loading for the .223 Remington cartridge.
At press time, Nosler had these loads available with numerous bullet weights from 55 grains up to 85 grains. Which load would work the best in my rifle was a question yet to be answered.
Rifle Build
The rifle that I assembled was a standard AR lower with a Timney Trigger installed. The aforementioned upper from Midway USA had an 18-inch, heavy fluted barrel with a 1:8 RH twist surrounded by an aluminum forend with M-LOK mounting. The original scope that I mounted was one that I had on the shelf from an older review. That model is currently out of stock/discontinued. And so, for this updated review, I added the new VUDU-X 1-6 x 24 SFP riflescope from EOTech Inc.
The VUDU-X is a more economical (not cheap) offering from EOTech Inc. The glass is crystal clear, the aluminum body is rhino-tough, and the entire unit is weatherproof. For those who might be tempted to think that 6x is not enough power for distant shooting, I can assure you that out here on our rifle range, we routinely clang steel plates at 300, 400, and 500 yards with 5 and 6x scopes. My field experience in Wyoming has been that varmints and mid-sized game routinely present from 25 to 200 yards on average. Shots beyond 300 for such happen, but they are rare.
Also, fast-moving game, such as jackrabbits and coyotes, often pop up unexpectedly and take off from close ranges, thus requiring instant or snap shooting. To prepare for that eventuality, I installed a 45-degree canted red dot mount and zeroed the 1:1 dot at 25 yards.
For fun, I applied a Duracoat finish to the entire rifle in a “wild sagebrush” camouflage pattern. No, that was not necessary, but I think it looks good. Feeding the rifle is best accomplished by using dedicated 6.8mm SPC magazines. These are readily available, and I used the PRI brand with 100-percent success.
Getting on paper, I tried out .22 Nosler loads in 55-gr., 62-gr., and 70-gr. With the VUDU-X optic BZO’d at 50 meters, I found that the barrel preferred the 62-gr. “Varmageddon” load the best.
Three-shot triangles well under one inch were the rule. I fired one group that put three rounds in a cluster that measured sub-½ MOA at that distance.
The other loads grouped in the 1 to 1.5 MOA range. Why mess with success? I settled on the 62-gr. Varmageddon load. Naturally, such things are common and testing different loads in your rifle to see which one performs the best is a part of the fun.
In the Field
Wyoming is truly rifle country. Varmints, from the nuisance prairie dogs and jackrabbits to coyotes, marmots (rock chucks), and badgers abound. Badgers are furbearers and require the requisite permit. Coyotes, particularly when found amongst grazing cattle, need to go now.
What about the American pronghorn? Discussing the topic with seasoned guides and hunters in the Cowboy State, a great number of them responded that the thin-skinned pronghorns falls rapidly to the .22-250 when the shooter puts the bullet in the right spot. Of course, putting bullets in “the right spot” is what hunting is all about anyway. So, that much is a given.
Therefore, if an American pronghorn will fall to the bolt-action .22-250, why would it not fall to the .22 Nosler cartridge? For those in the east, particularly the southeast, my friend and fellow Shoot ON contributor Richard Mann has a great amount of experience taking the thin-skinned whitetail with expanding bullets from the .223 Remington. If a good bullet from a .223 can drop a whitetail at 67 yards in Alabama or West Virginia, why would the .22 Nosler not do so as well?
NOTE: For the uninitiated, southern whitetails are not quite like the huge bucks you find further west. The first buck (approx. two years old) I took in Alabama field dressed at only 110 pounds. I took a doe that was similarly just under 100 pounds. Southern deer are not that large and don’t really merit “magnum” rifle cartridges, in my opinion.
Several years back, I was night-hunting for hogs in the wide-open fields of central Texas with friends. A feral sow surprised us by rushing out of knee-high grass and charging. I had to snap-shoot it at about 20 yards or so. A single round of Black Hills Mk262 5.56mm (77-gr. OTM) dropped the hog in its tracks. Yes, the bullet went where it was supposed to go. She tipped the scales between 250 and 275 pounds. It was a pucker moment to be sure, but the projectile was not found wanting. The ballistically superior .22 Nosler certainly would give similar results.
Parting Shots
For larger game, such as mule deer, elk, bear, moose, et cetera, I would definitely go .30-caliber and up. Nonetheless, for smaller, thin-skinned game and varmint/pest animals, the .22 Nosler has much to recommend it. By the time I sat down to pen this review, I had lost count of the varmints and vermin that the rifle put down. I could not be more pleased with the set up and the cartridge.
