.20 Nosler – a New Cartridge that is Not Yet Announced?!
SAAMI has accepted cartridge and chamber drawings of a couple of new cartridges. Both are Nosler cartridges. One is the recently announced .22 Nosler, which we covered in a separate article. And the next one is a .20 Nosler, which is a cartridge not yet officially announced by Nosler as of today (06/16/2017).
If you remember, the .22 Nosler is a .224 caliber cartridge with a case body similar to that of 6.8 SPC but with a rebated rim of .378 diameter. The case thickness allows to fit the cartridge into 6.8 SPC magazines and the rebated rim makes it fit the standard AR-15 .223/5.56 bolt face. So to switch to this caliber all you need is a different barrel and 6.8 SPC magazines.
Judging by the drawings, the .20 Nosler is based on the same rebated rim case as the .22 Nosler. However, it is not quite a necked down .22 Nosler. If you look closely, you’ll see that it has slightly different shoulder and neck height. Obviously, both cartridges are aimed at the varmint hunting market. The .20 Nosler should be able to offer impressive ballistics for a cartridge fitting into the AR-15 platform. I assume it will be offered with some of the following .204 caliber Nosler bullets:
The most notable of current .20 caliber cartridges suitable for the AR-15 is perhaps the .204 Ruger. Probably, the .20 Nosler will offer a comparable percentage of muzzle velocity increase over the .204 Ruger as does the .22 Nosler over the .223 Remington.
Interestingly, Pacific Tool & Gauge already offers chamber reamers for the .20 Nosler as a new product in their catalog.
Managing Editor Being a lifelong firearms enthusiast, Hrachya always enjoys studying the history and design of guns and ammunition. Should you need to contact him, feel free to shoot him a message at Hrachya@TheFirearmBlog.com
More by Hrachya H
![[NRAAM 2024] SIG-Sauer is an App Developer Now?](https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2024/06/04/064425/nraam-2024-sig-sauer-is-an-app-developer-now.jpg?size=350x220)
Comments
Join the conversation
Dear TFB,
PLEASE get your hands on a 22 Nosler rifle and load up some M885A1 projectiles. I want to see how many planets that thing can punch through!
Seriously, a video test of 22NOS/M885A1 VS LVL-III and LVL-IV armor would make my year. For science, of course.
the worst thing about SPC is getting good mags.