Fans of the Nosler proprietary cartridges will be thrilled to hear about the new 27 Nosler rifle cartridge the Bend, Oregon based company just unveiled.
Long known for making high quality hunting ammo, Nosler kicked off their line of proprietary cartridges back in 2013 when they introduced the 26 Nosler centerfire rifle cartridge.
Since then, they've continued that trend by introducing the 22 Nosler, the 28 Nosler, the 30 Nosler, and the 33 Nosler cartridges to the hunting and shooting worlds. Well, the company just formally introduced another member to the family: the 27 Nosler.
Here's what you need to know about it.
27 Nosler Cartridge
Each cartridge in the Nosler lineup is named in accordance with the first two digits of the bullet diameter it uses: .224" for the 22 Nosler, .264" for the 26 Nosler, .284" for the 28 Nosler, .308" for the 30 Nosler, and .338" for the 33 Nosler.
As the name states, the 27 Nosler uses .277" bullets like the legendary .270 Winchester as well as the newer 270 Winchester Short Magnum (270 WSM) and .270 Weatherby (270 Wby) cartridges.
Just like the other Nosler cartridges (with the exception of the 22 Nosler), the 27 Nosler uses a rebated rim case descended from the .300 Remington Ultra Magnum, which is itself descended from the .404 Jeffery. The result is a cartridge with a very large case capacity that still fits in a standard length rifle action.
Nosler advertises that the 27 Nosler case has approximately 43% more case capacity than the .270 Winchester, about 25% more case capacity than the 270 WSM, and about 12.5% more case capacity than the .270 Weatherby.Not surprisingly, this additional powder capacity translates into extra velocity, more kinetic energy, less wind drift, and a flatter trajectory when using the same bullets.
For instance, the chart below shows the stark contrast between the performance of the 27 Nosler and the other popular .277" cartridges.
When firing a 150 grain AccuBond Long Range bullet from a rifle with a 26" barrel, the 27 Nosler has an approximately 400 fps advantage over the .270 Winchester, about a 300 fps advantage over the 270 WSM, and about a 100-150 fps velocity advantage over the .270 Weatherby.
While that extra velocity does indeed translate into less bullet drop and more energy retained downrange, the 27 Nosler also has another important advantage over comparable cartridges: a faster rifling twist.
Most rifles chambered in 270 Winchester, 270 WSM, and 270 Weatherby have a 1:10" rifling twist rate. This works just fine for bullets in the 130-150 grain range those cartridges are most popular in. While there are a handful of options for 160 grain bullets in that caliber, a 1:10"rifling twist rate is usually not quite fast enough to properly stabilize bullets much heavier than 150 grains.
For that reason, there are not a lot of options for hunters looking for a really long, heavy, high ballistic coefficient .277" bullet.
Well, the folks at Nosler decided to use a 1:8.5" twist barrel for their M48 rifles chambered in 27 Nosler. That will be perfect for the new .277" 165 grain AccuBond Long Range bullets they're also rolling out in 2020.
So, not only does the new cartridge have a definite velocity advantage, but it can also use heavier and more aerodynamic bullets than the competition.
Nosler will be offering their complete line of M48 rifles in the 27 Nosler chambering. Initial factory loads will include the 150 grain AccuBond and the 165 grain AccuBond Long Range (ABLR) bullets. For handloaders, Nosler will also offer fully prepared Nosler brass, the aforementioned component bullets, and reloading data for the 27 Nosler. RCBS reloading dies are also currently available for the cartridge.
Note that while Nosler's proprietary cartridges (to include the 27 Nosler), and the rifles they're available in, are capable of excellent accuracy at long range in the right hands, they're designed primarily for big game hunting, not for competition shooting.
That said, if you're a fan of the .277" bore diameter and want a cartridge capable of firing heavy, high BC bullets at a faster than usual velocity, then the .27 Nosler may be just what the doctor ordered.
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