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.224 Valkyrie


baldie

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Just now, The Gun Pimp said:

I don't mind RCBS Dave.

For some reason, i've always had a plethora of stuck cases, and dents , even with the breather hole Vince.

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  • 1 month later...

Managed to stick 25 rounds down it last weekend.

After the barrel had broke in, the groups started shrinking. This one was half way up a load range, and produced 3150 fps with an ES of 10.

All loads, right up to .1 over max gave no problems at all with extraction. Recoil felt less than a .223, and these speeds were with a 70 grain Nosler RDF.

Having done all that brass prep to the cases, I didn't expect them to be stunning whilst fire forming, but I would live with regular .4" groups out of an AR....especially at those speeds.

I feel better is yet to come on the 2nd firing. Hopefully, brass won't be too long now.

M93mmy4.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
17 minutes ago, Hobbit said:

looks interesting - barrel length/MV relationship a lot more linear than usual

Would 224 valkyrie in an AR be legal in a CSR match or must it be 5.56/223 rem?

Thanks

It would be legal in Practical Optic class, but not in Service Optic. Remember that the maximum permitted MV on MOD gallery ranges is 1000m/s (3280 fps), so be careful not to exceed this if using lighter bullets.

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  • 6 months later...

An update on the Valkyrie.

A long and tortuous path. ?

After several range visits, I concluded the 6.8 SPC brass was simply not good enough, and shelved the gun. 

Then good old Gavin at Brownells, let me know some Starline brass was inbound, so I had 500 cases.

This made a big difference, and we experimented with various powders, most of which were just not quite right.

I beat the cfe223 to death [probarbly because I have 10 tubs of it ] ? The yanks keep on about it, but no matter what i did with it, the ES spreads [and groups ] were not great.

Tried a variety of bullets, mainly nosler RDF's in 70 grain and 85 flavour, and got good speeds and accuracy with the 77SMK.

Then Adam at Sassen, asked if I would test them a new cut rifled blank in .224. So on went a 1 in 6.5" twist at 24" this time, so I could see what an extra 4" difference made.

Surprisingly...not a lot in speed terms.

The new sassen cut rifled blanks are something else. The bore is like a mirror.

These patches show what came out, after 100 rds. The last patch had sweets on, and was left to soak . 

No copper whatsoever.

The cartridge is a pernickety little swine, and only likes certain powders, but it seems to handle various bullet weights well.

I found the RDF's definately have a sweet spot, at 0.040" back, and I suspect , 0.050"  will be even better.

Despite my crap bench technique, I have had some satisfactory results now, with two loads shooting around 0.4" .

I think to wring the last out of it, it would need to be bench rested. AR's , off a bipod on a concrete bench , are like a roller skating pig.

Speeds ?

2850 with an 85 grain, and 3050 with a 77.

Couple that with perfect extraction, and you have a very marked improvement over a .223.

The BC's of the 85 RDF's are huge, compared to a SMK, and that translates into less drop, and a lot less wind drift.

I have a fat box of sierra 90 grain matchings come today, so will give these a whirl too.

Many thanks to Adam and James at Sassen, for their help on this project.

A beautiful barrel that just works.

I will now see how it fares in next years Practical class at Diggle.

msa8kGS.jpg

RduEzJ3.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hopefully going to test the 90 grain SMK this week.

Other news is that I have some 6.8SPC bolt heads for the Bighorn actions on their way.

Those, coupled with my BR converted mags will make a top end bolt gun possible.

I was having this conversation the other day, when a friend asked ...Why ?  Why not use a 22br etc ?

Recoil.  There is a fair bit less, giving faster target re acquisition .

The valkyrie reamer will handle the 90 grain bullets without throating too.

Having done all this testing on an AR, i'm fairly certain a bit more could be wrung out of a bolt gun.

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It will end up getting better. A stunning development with thr Valkyrie here is that the inexpensive ($11/20) Federal American Eagle 75 grain FMJ will shoot ridiculously small groups from AR's. Better or equal to the heavier match loads.

Valkyrie ammo and components are now available and inexpensive here. I wonder when that will materialize for UK shooters?~Andrew

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27 minutes ago, Andrew said:

It will end up getting better. A stunning development with thr Valkyrie here is that the inexpensive ($11/20) Federal American Eagle 75 grain FMJ will shoot ridiculously small groups from AR's. Better or equal to the heavier match loads.

Valkyrie ammo and components are now available and inexpensive here. I wonder when that will materialize for UK shooters?~Andrew

Unfortunately, it never will Andrew.

Anything remotely exciting and gaining traction/popularity Stateside means the importers & distributors here will instantly bump prices up 50%. I can already see them rubbing their grubby hands with glee at the prospect.

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  • 2 months later...

First time out today at Diggle.

A truly horrendous day with winds gusting up to 45 MPH.

It was too windy to use hand held targets, so we rigged up our electronic targets and shot the 300 yards match.

Had I not been too slow on the 2 x 5rd stages, i would have shot a perfect score

10 wash

9 wash

10 wash.

The cartridge took half the wind of the .223's and 6.5's....it proper hammered them.

Well worth the last 12 months of experiments, and the bolt gun will be even better.

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53 minutes ago, baldie said:

First time out today at Diggle.

A truly horrendous day with winds gusting up to 45 MPH.

It was too windy to use hand held targets, so we rigged up our electronic targets and shot the 300 yards match.

Had I not been too slow on the 2 x 5rd stages, i would have shot a perfect score

10 wash

9 wash

10 wash.

The cartridge took half the wind of the .223's and 6.5's....it proper hammered them.

Well worth the last 12 months of experiments, and the bolt gun will be even better.

Well done Dave👍, i bet that will become a popular round for the future!!

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On 11/17/2018 at 3:53 PM, Andrew said:

I'm sorry to hear that. Doesn't seem right. ~Andrew

Andrew, a Boyd's At-One for a CZ527 is $199.99 on their website. To order one through Edgar Bros, the UK Distributor, the cost is £320. (Which is ~$420). I can appreciate things cost more in the UK but I think that is ridiculous...

Scrummy

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