Lol! 0000042952 00000 n The trim length, of course, is nominally .010 inch less than that, so cases ready to go should be about 1.590 inches in length. Subscriber Services. The average weight of the sample cases was 115.1 grains, with an ES of 2.5 grains, and an SD of .7198 grain. However, a standard 6.8 SPC mag is recommended and will function without any issue. At this point, Chris and I scratched our heads and sent the 88-grain loads downrange to see just how far the rabbit hole went. The .224 Valkyrie has spawned a crop of new high-tech bullets that add significantly to the potential of the cartridge, to help it achieve its lofty goals. Values in green indicate MAXIMUM loads use CAUTION. Our takeaway for the Valkyrie handloading project is that this is a very viable and interesting round for handloaders. Reaching a speed where the round will staystabilized past 800 yards is a challenge. A recent addition is the new .224 Valkyrie, developed by Federal as a low-recoil round for long-range shooting. And since I would be reloading several hundred rounds, I decided to use a spray lubricant to speed up the process. 205, CCI-41, and Winchester Small Rifle. 0000101288 00000 n I have no clue what length the Valkyrie chamber will accept a 95 SMK at but the 2.260 length is based on what a thick-walled aluminum GI mag will accept. So, its obvious that these cases are ready to go with minimal, but necessary, preparation. .224 Valkyrie - Wikipedia trends and tips from the leader in reloading. Varget hits the sweet spot for the best performance in this cartridge." 0000098734 00000 n Reloading Data .224 Valkyrie Metallic >V (`f` Again, the Sierra 65-grain SBT shot great, at .66 inch. Their availability will certainly contribute to the successful Flight of the Valkyrie. Over the years, I've always been able to fine-tune cartridges to run better than factory ammo, and I was certain this cartridge wouldn't be any different or so I thought. .224 Valkyrie vs 6.8 SPC Some writers have described the Valkyrie as a "scaled down Creedmoor." However, the Valkyrie case is derived from a slightly shortened 6.8 SPC case, necked-down to .22 caliber. Hodgdon Trail Boss: Is it Useful for Modern Sporting Rifles? Varget hits the sweet spot for the best performance in this cartridge.. I tried a slew of powders, but heres the bottom lineHodgdons CFE 223 was the hands down winner in both rifles. You are using an out of date browser. I will not post velocities (I don't care about velocity, only accuracy.) Location. Round two, here we go. Looking it over, we found a dozen different powders that we can load with, and staring at me were two of my favorites. .224 Valkyrie (Load Development) reloading data with 60 loads. The new brass is available from Starlines network of dealers in pre-packaged bags of 250, 500, or 1,000 or Factory Direct online at www.starlinebrass.com. _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); Because I was reloading for an autoloader, I chose to full-length size every case to ensure it would function reliably. 0000098223 00000 n 224 Valkyrie Load Data for Hodgdon Powders - Guns and Ammo If you are the site owner (or you manage this site), please whitelist your IP or if you think this block is an error please open a support ticket and make sure to include the block details (displayed in the box below), so we can assist you in troubleshooting the issue. 6.5 Creedmoor vs. 6.5 PRC: Which is Better? 88 ELD and CFE 223 - 224 Valkyrie Forum Starline Brass and the author accept no responsibility for use of the data in this article. This substance is a mild lubricant that should be removed from the inside of the case necks before loading. While new load data will continue to be updated on Hodgdons Reloading Data Center, this new 224 Valkyriedata is available immediately at www.HodgdonReloading.com. Primer: Federal 205 Small Rifle. The new Sako Finnlight II sports an innovative stock and Cerakote metal paired with the terrific 85 action. The different brands of brass weighed almost exactly the same, so I didnt need to adjust charge weights to accommodate capacity differences. Journey to Find a .223 Rem F-Class Load. 0000099588 00000 n 80.5 Bergers & 85 Nosler RDF with CFE-223, Re: 80.5 Bergers & 85 Nosler RDF with CFE-223, Quote from: 1000 yrd guy on August 08, 2019, 04:13:28 AM, Quote from: Alaska_guy on August 12, 2019, 12:27:46 PM, Quote from: igotta40 on August 28, 2019, 10:29:49 PM. 0000031612 00000 n This data is available for 80 different loads featuring 50- to 90-grain bullet options (from Hornady, Nosler, Federal, Swift and Sierra) and powders from Hodgdon, IMR and Winchester . A faster barrel will certainly help. We never did figure out how big those groups werebecause we couldnt keep five shots on an 8.5x11-inch target.Something was very wrong, so we packed up and did some investigation. Federal was happy to provide us with the same brass that the company uses in its factory ammunition. Who knew wild turkey's were so stupid!? The 224 Valkyrie does not have a dedicated magazine yet. Give a Gift Give a Gift 0000022266 00000 n 0000042641 00000 n To reduce shooter error, we installed a RISE Armament RA-535 APT match-grade trigger, which broke cleanly at just 3 pounds. - Ron Reiber, Hodgdon Product Manager and Ballistician. CFE 223 26.0 did a solid 1 moa, the upper charge at 26.6 did 2 moa. Here is Rowland's account of how he developed a .223 Rem load. However, Lane easily duplicated the ballistics of factory-loaded ammunition. The RL15 sucked at 25.4 with 3 moa, the upped charge at 25.9 grouped it at around 1 moa+-. If you own an AR, youve probably heard of the hot, new .224 Valkyrie cartridge. Will test again with incremental loads) 300 = 1.56 (A 4 shot group level at 1.09". This allows you to load the longest, heaviest .224-caliber bullets and still feed reliably from an AR15-type magazine. More accuracy can be achieved by adjusting seating depth, but it certainly will be a shooter. The rifles differ slightly in throating. I obtained several boxes of Federals 90-grain match ammo and a hundred pieces of new, primed brass. The company distributes gunpowder under the Hodgdon, IMR, Winchester and Goex brands. 0000034850 00000 n I think the round has tremendous potential, but if it is to be the be-all, end-all cartridge with heavyweight .22-caliber bullets, more moderately-priced rifles, like the bolt guns I used, need to enter the marketplace. Joseph Von Benedikt is with Rafe Nielsen of Browning to take a look at a new X-Bolt series rifle. Tips, techniques, and equipment are applied to these classroom discussions on how to become more proficient and successful at making long-range shots while hunting with AR-platform rifles. /wp-content/uploads/2017/02/imr_stickylogo_red.png. The author uses C Products Defense magazines as they are always true to spec and allow for an overall length of up to 2.270 inches. 0000042977 00000 n Franchi Momentum Elite Bolt-Action Rifle in Varmint Configurations, Savage Model 110 Timberline 6.5 Creedmoor Rifle: Full Review. I am able to "real world" test at every range from 100-1000 yards so velocity is not important to me. A critical marksmanship skill that is easy to overlook. These are excellent bullets, but these lighter bullets are a few bubbles off the .224 Valkyries heavy bullet paradigm. The author was able to meter each throw to within 0.1 of a grain. There are thinner walled steel mags available that will accept 2.290-2.300 . Uniform components are very important for accurate handloads, and Starline cases demonstrated their quality, both on the range and in their empirical measurements. Hodgdon Powder Company announced the launch of load data for the new 224 Valkyrie cartridge, now available on Hodgdon's Reloading Data Center at www.HodgdonReloading.com. With that knowledge, we decided to go with the bookends and build a heavy-for-caliber target round and a light-for-caliber varmint round.For our project, we selected the Hornady 60-grain V-Max, as I have had amazing luck with this bullet in a standard 5.56 NATO cartridge. So, I was anxious to try out the new Starline brass in the .224. Hodgdon CFE 223 - Hodgdon Powder Co. A Luth-AR buttstock with adjustable LOP and comb height and 15-inch M-Lok forend were added. Hornady, Sierra, Berger, Nosler, and probably other companies offer long, heavy-for-caliber bullets with high ballistic coefficients that buck the wind and are especially designed for long-range accuracy. I decided to rebarrel two of my guns, and Lothar-Walther USA provided two stainless-steel barrels chambered for the new round. Hodgdon Releases 224 Valkyrie Data - Hodgdon At Hodgdon, weve been researching this cartridge since before its introduction and are excited to release load data for the Valkyrie featuring powders like Hodgdon CFE 223, IMR 8208 XBRand Hodgdon Varget. All Rights Reserved. bulletin.accurateshooter.com/2020/04/load-data-for-224-valkyrie-optimizing-the-cartridge/, Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/103.0.5060.114 Safari/537.36. The rest of the process typified reloading any other bottlenecked rifle case. : 2.110" Powder: 28.8 gr 31.1 gr Vel. 0000015504 00000 n Although our original barrel was defective, we still felt that a 10+ MOA load need some sort of change, and we were hell-bent on making the 88-grain rounds fly. Handloads for the .224 Valkyrie | Load Data Article After a quick swap, we headed back to the range and duplicated our test parameters. "Shooting heavier . Hornady takes the 224 Valkyrie to new heights! About Hodgdon Powder Company, Inc. This data is available for 80 different loads featuring 50- to 90-grain bullet options (from Hornady, Nosler, Federal, Swift and Sierra) and powders from Hodgdon, IMR and Winchester . Walther's new Performance Duty Pistol is ready for both concealed carry and conventional service situations. 0000050046 00000 n Also on the list wasCFE 223. 224 Valkyrie Load Data: Everything You Need to Know The .223 is limited by powder capacity, but not the usual 7- to 9-inch twists. 0000035008 00000 n All Shooting Times subscribers now have digital access to their magazine content. For. 0000022377 00000 n A round that can cover more distance in less time will impact at a similar elevation over a wider range. We took a cartridge that offers less wind drift, drop and recoil and added the accuracy and consistency that made Hornady famous! Our test rifle consisted of a basic 20-inch 1:7-inch twist barrel with an M-Lok free-float rail. What seating depth is actually doingactual node or just pass/fail? | Luckily, this was just a few days before SHOT Show 2019, where I would be immersed in a wealth of gun knowledge and industry information. Shaw booth at the NRA Great American Outdoor Show, a company known for its world-class, bolt-action rifle barrels. Up until recently, the only means to send a heavy .224-inch bullet was to either single-load or run it out of a bolt gun. Introduced by Federal in 2017 and approved by SAAMI in 2018, the new 224 Valkyriehas been quickly adopted by long-range shooters. To show viewers how to succeed at long range, J. Guthrie gears up for a challenging shot while chasing Colorado pronghorn at long range with DPMS' Panther 6.5 Creedmoor. Notes:1. 0000100071 00000 n I am beginning to work up a load for my valkyrie bolt gun. With a slower round that's dropping faster, 25 yards of error in range estimation could be the difference between a hit and a miss with asteeper, rainbow-style trajectory. Once you know how much distance you need to dial, all you have to do is spin your turret and pray that the wind doesn't affect your bullets course. To this day, it is still my go-to service rifle loading for reduced course matches. (Above) Case-neck thickness was checked with a ball micrometer and found little variance. We show you how. The correct shellholder is the same as the 6.8 SPC. As an example, the 6.5 Creedmoor was introduced in 2008, and is indeed a terrific cartridgeflat shooting, efficient, and super accurate. For our heavy target round, the new Hornady 88-grain ELD MATCH bullet piqued my interest, and I was excited to have an opportunity to do some work with it.We contacted Hornady for the projectiles and reached out to RCBS for a pair of these scarce dies. I have used Starline cases in numerous cartridges for years and have been impressed with their performance and uniformity. And, since the Valkyries maximum overall cartridge length is 2.26 inches, it fits comfortably in the ubiquitous AR-15 platforma major plus. If the case is 1.620, then loading it to 2.260 puts the ogive below the case mouth. A lot of components are available for handloading the new .224 Valkyrie, but load data is limited at present. 0000019414 00000 n The dead in Valhalla were considered heroes and were fed lavish feasts by the Valkyries; Oden feasted there with his heroes, day after day. Established in 1947 by Bruce and Amy Hodgdon, today, sons JB and Bob have grown Hodgdon Powder Company into the largest US supplier of smokeless, blackpowder and blackpowder substitute propellants. Those loads have factory-rated muzzle velocities of 3,300 fps, 3,000 fps, 2,700 fps, and 2,700 fps respectively. Those not familiar with this series of powders will be interested to know that it actually removes copper fouling as you shoot. 0000096374 00000 n In addition, Hornady has its exceptional new ELD Match bullet in an 88-grain version, both in loaded ammo and as a component. Weather was good, optic was solid and previously tested on other firearms, shooters were both NRA-certified instructors, but still the gun wouldnt perform.Now Ive had plenty of guns that simply could not achieve any reasonable accuracy with factory ammo, so it didnt stop us from carrying on, and we continued.We went through our loads with the 60-grain V-MAX loaded with CFE 223 and they were just a hair better than our average factory group, acceptable but certainly not handload-level accurate. Both have 22-inch barrrels, and 6.5-inch twists.2. scope set at 10x.3. Benelli Lupo Bolt-Action Rifle Line Expanded with New Chamberings, 11 Top Hunting Rifles Chambered in .350 Legend, Top 10 6.5 PRC (Precision Rifle Cartridge) Rifles, Savage Impulse Big Game Straight-Pull Bolt-Action Rifle: Full Review, Mossberg Patriot Long-Range Hunter Bolt-Action Rifle: Full Review, Remington .50-70 Rolling Block History: New York's Pick to Arm Its National Guard, Kimber Hunter Pro Desolve Blak - A Lightweight Heavy Hitter, Browning BLR Lightweight '81 Stainless Takedown Lever Rifle, Mossberg Patriot Predator 6.5 PRC Rifle Review, Review: Springfield Armory M1A Loaded Rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, RCBS ChargeMaster Lite Review: Not 'Lite' on Ability, Remington Model Seven SS HS Bolt-Action Rifle Review. As I see it, Federals plan for the .224 Valkyrie seems to be geared to that long-range shooting weve discussed, and factory ammo reflects that. No such luck. The increased surface area allows the gun to cool faster. The good ones are the aforementioned steel from PRI. 0000001896 00000 n Hodgdon Releases 224 Valkyrie Data Hodgdon, the Brand That's True , is pleased to announce the launch of load data for the new 224 Valkyrie cartridge, now available on Hodgdon's Reloading Data Center at www.HodgdonReloading.com. It may not display this or other websites correctly. The recent introduction of the Federal Premium 224 Valkyrie, reviewed here by Shooting Illustrated's Ammo editor, aimed at solving this shortcoming, so we decided to see what kind of capabilities could be had with this new round.A number of cartridges have been designed with the idea of getting more effective range from an AR-15-sized cartridge. 223 REMINGTON 223 WSSM 224 VALKYRIE 5.56 NATO 10.5 BARREL 5.56 NATO 14.5 BARREL 5.56 NATO 16.5 BARREL 5.56 NATO 20 BARREL 224 WEATHERBY MAGNUM 22-250 REMINGTON (NEW) 22 HORNET.243. At this time, only Federal and Sierra have published load data for the .224 Valkyrie. Valkyrie means chooser of the slain, so we may assume that the connotation is that the .224 Valkyrie cartridge is going to go forth to a battlefield, and choose the dead with its accuracy and long-range power. All Rights Reserved. The faster that bullet is moving, the more ground that will cover during this drop. 0000087437 00000 n 0000022543 00000 n Starting with the 60-grain V-Max loads, we fired our five-round groups and hit a node at 26.9 grains, giving us a group that measured just inside of an inch. They were easy to decap while resizing, but you must remove the crimp before you can reprime them. 0000035033 00000 n The results are shown below. The Sierra 77-grain Tipped MatchKing over 27.0 grains of CFE 223 registered 2,933 fps and averaged a tidy .77 inch. I have been an early, yet trepidant, fan of the .224 Valkyrie, and have tested several rifles with many handloads. Learn more and buy today. I just thought it might be helpful to some even though everyone has a different setup. The powder measures very well and consistently. PDF 224Va ek i yrl - Hornady I don't believe the 22 nosler can handle the high BC bullets like the 90g SMK. Introduced by Federal in 2017 and approved by SAAMI in 2018, the new 224 Valkyriehas been quickly adopted by long-range shooters. 0000035400 00000 n A lot of recent cartridge and rifle development has been geared to long-range shooting. (Of course, what is considered long range means different things to different shooters). Learn the difference between revolvers and semi-auto pistols and what makes them different. While new load data will continue to be updated on Hodgdons Reloading Data Center, this new 224 Valkyriedata is available immediately at www.HodgdonReloading.com. The average length of these cases was 1.5906 inches, with an extreme spread of only .0095 inch, and an SD of .0016 inch. Can you find a barrel for a 22-250 with an 8 inch twist? 0000098105 00000 n 22 PPC does better on performance. Federal Premium drove it home with the 224 Valkyrie at the 2018 SHOT Show, and a number of barrel manufacturers quickly started churning out barrels chambered in this overnight success. Valkyries rode to war on horses wearing shields and helmets; some even flew through the air. Why? Mikey Hartman, Lt. Col. 0000056766 00000 n The .224 valkyrie should be a better choice with heavier bullets since it is shorter and will allow longer OAL with the longer bullets. If youre considering a .224 Valkyrie, youre in luck Sierra Bullets has just released comprehensive LOAD DATA for this new cartridge. Min Charge Max Charge Optimal Charge Bullet Make Bullet Type What powder for 224 Valkyrie | Sniper's Hide Forum Introduced by Federal 2017 and approved by SAAMI in 2018, the new 224 Valkyrie has been quickly adopted by long-range shooters. 0000000016 00000 n For the life of us, we couldnt find a factory load that would stay inside of 3 MOA. Shown below is Sierras load data for bullet weights from 77 grains to 90 grains. However, one thing is for sure: The AR-15 platform is incredibly versatile, and rounds like the 224 Valkyrie only enhance its potential. Interesting data. Starline Brass is well known for its large selection of pistol cases, and now offers over 40 rifle cases. Metering it is effortless and very consistent. This data is available for 80 different loads featuring 50- to 90-grain bullet options (from Hornady, Nosler, Federal, Swift and Sierra) and powders from Hodgdon, IMR and Winchester. At Hodgdon, weve been researching this cartridge since before its introduction and are excited to release load data for the Valkyrie featuring powders like Hodgdon CFE 223, IMR 8208 XBRand Hodgdon Varget. (Above) Test handloads were prepared with RCBS dies. 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Fortunately, this is a one-time step in the reloading process. To get started, click the link below to visit mymagnow.com and learn how to access your digital magazine. As you can see in the performance chart, I test-fired factory ammo and handloads topped with only the heavier .22-caliber bullets. Nevermind,they made the case length 0.02 shorter than everyone else lists to fit it in. 0000048231 00000 n This data is available for 80 different loads, featuring 50- to 90-grain bullet options (from Hornady, Nosler, Federal, Swift and Sierra . Nosler, the world's finest bullets, ammunition, rifles, & brass. My power charges were like those that have performed well for me in other .224 Valkyrie rifles. var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); Weighing a sample, we found them to be exceptionally consistent with just a weight variance of +/- 1 grain from the median weight of 114 grains. Oden sent Valkyries to the battlefields to choose one half of the slain who were worthy to go in his afterlife to a magnificent palace in Asgard called Valhalla (hall of the slain). . About Hodgdon Powder Company, Inc. These are all shown in Table 2. Lighter and tougher and more precise than ever, it's the perfect back country hunting rifle. Hornady's match-grade 224 Valkyrie load features an 88-grain ELD Match bullet with a polymer tip that, unlike standard polymer-tipped ammo, won't melt in flight at extreme velocities. 2520 was solid with both 25.8 and 26.3 both yeilding around 1 moa. Demonstrating a solid commitment to a successful debut of the new cartridge, Federal introduced four different factory loads with the Nosler 60-grain Ballistic Tip, American Eagle 75-grain TMJ, Fusion 90-grain SoftPoint, and Sierra 90-grain MatchKing. Just a few weeks later, I found myself at the E.R. A World Record Attempt and everyone is out at the range shooting and practicing. So far both bullets perform well. This prep is carefully described on a card supplied by Starline in their packages. With the 90 to 95 grain bullets, the little Valkyrie can give 6mm match cartridges a real run for their money offering similar ballistics with less recoil. 0000015856 00000 n Introduced in 1965 with the .444 Marlin cartridge, the Model 444 was the most powerful lever action of its day. 0000002920 00000 n _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-6323545-2']); A value-priced red dot with a full set of features. 0000006041 00000 n The quality of Starline brass is well known, so this is a welcome addition to our loading benches. 0000043396 00000 n Joseph Von Benedikt visits with Aaron Oelger from Hodgdon about the unprecedented demand on the shooting supply industry. 0000006276 00000 n Login with username, password and session length. 0000030317 00000 n We manufacture Partition, AccuBond, E-Tip, Ballistic Tip, Custom Competition and much more. SPF Bighorn .223 Wylde barreled action $1500. The rim diameter of both rounds is .442 inch. Scott Rupp gets a chance to talk to Aaron Oelger about a few new products from Hodgdon and why reloading store shelves are empty. I prepped a bunch of new Starline cases, and prepared 28 different handloads, 14 for each rifle, using a wide variety of powders and bullets.