.224 Valkyrie? Future competitor to the 6.5 Grendel?

[LRRPF52]

Well, it's for real. Will I be lining up to get one? it didn't make me feel like I had to have one - which is odd for any AR. Lol

Instructor was/is working on prototype JP barrel and brought it to Blue Steel Ranch. 20" barrel with R+2" / 1:7 twist pushing factory 90 gr SMKs in the low 2600s. Shot a 5 shot group with it at the sight in range and it's pretty damn accurate- especially since was getting broken in. Stock was way too short for me so I strung the group vertically around an inch but it was around 1/2" horizontal. Hard to judge recoil since it had a full auto rated Thunderbeast on it and a PRS. Felt like a 223. My guess is that it will be like my 22 Nosler - a sharp 223 - without the hefty can.

Winds were 15+ mph when instructor had it at the KD range. Was really hard for me to see hits on the heavier plates and with the lighter splash with the wind. I did take it to 1k on the last day in the morning calm, but their 1k plate is really heavy and I didn't see any movement or splash but instructor saw trace go in. One of the students rifles went down early the second day (Jewell trigger on a 6.5 CM Surgeon). He ended up using the 224V for the better part of 2 days without knowing what it was! Wasn't hard to see/hear most hits out to 700 on a relatively calm day, but my Grendel was smacking them a lot harder last year pushing factory Amax around 2450. I guess one benefit is that we did a timed stage with 2 shots on each target. Lighter hits mean you don't have to wait for the plate to stop swinging for as long.

90 gr VLDs probably won't shoot well due to jump. Barrel life of around 8k is what Federal is thinking with factory ammo. Pressure is relatively low - powder charges are closer to 223 than Grendel. Was also noted that Federal has been working on hardening their case heads.

This post means a lot more when you're familiar with the range down there-awesome facility really.

That's my biggest complaint with .223 pushing 77s as well. It's very hard to get a register on a plate, even when you center-punch it when there is typical wind for out here in the Western US.

It's not like Grendel hits a plate like a magnum, but you definitely hear it even at 1000yds most of the time, even from shorter barrels.

I personally get the most satisfaction from 7mm Magnums, .300 Win Mag, or .338 LM with high BC bullets on steel if you want to hear it get beat like John Bonham trying to destroy his kick drum heads.

That 28 Nosler or 7mm WSM on steel with a 180-195 Berger is a sound of pure joy, but you aren't sitting down and launching 100 of them in a day without gas-checking your throat into hell.

The .224 Valkyrie will be a great solution for these newer gas gun matches with ranges typically in the 300-700yd distances.

In the wind, 700 and 800yd plates are often hard to get solid RO-observed registers with 6mm 105s going fast, so there is no free lunch.

Buddy of mine specifically made a 7mm WSSM wildcat for this reason for PRS shooting the 195gr Berger EOL. Makes the plates try to wrap around the hangar bar on impact.

ROs love it, but there is more recoil to disrupt sight picture.