The latest 224 caliber round.

[dsdmmat]

LaRue tactical is producing rifles in the 224 Valkyrie. I wonder how long it will be until we can get barrels in this caliber.


https://www.federalpremium.com/224-valkyrie/

Looks like a new horse is settling into the barn. I wonder if this will flop like the 22 Nosler?

Looks interesting though.

 

[dsdmmat]

Think I found the caliber for the NYFG 007 receiver.

 

[Marine Cpl]

Looks like a Grendal.

 

[dsdmmat]

6.8 necked down to 224.

 

[Podmonkey]

Isn't this basically a .223 WSSM?

 

[ManrisFrack]

Shoulder is bumped back a fair amount too so the 90s can be loaded at mag length. It evidently needs a twist faster than 1:7 for the 90's so that might cause issues with lightest bullets.

Black Hole (Columbia River) and ARP have already done wildcats that are very similar. However, they made the choice not to bump back far enough for the 90's - cost too much case capacity. This 224 Valkyrie has factory ammo and multiple companies marketing it though.

 

[Podmonkey]

I must admit this is an interesting concept. Long range .22s are outside the conventional wisdom. I would imagine high volume rapid fire would erode the barrel very quickly?

 

[dsdmmat]

Supposed to have an arc similar to the 6.5 CM

 

[dsdmmat]

I must admit this is an interesting concept. Long range .22s are outside the conventional wisdom. I would imagine high volume rapid fire would erode the barrel very quickly?

90 grain bullet at 2700 FPS not too much of a barrel burner.

 

[Podmonkey]

90 grain bullet at 2700 FPS not too much of a barrel burner.

You gonna do one if these? A range report would be most interesting. As a non handloader this caliber is a nonstarter for me though. Can you imagine what it would cost to shoot by the case monthly?!

 

[dsdmmat]

You gonna do one if these? A range report would be most interesting. As a non handloader this caliber is a nonstarter for me though. Can you imagine what it would cost to shoot by the case monthly?!

Lmao if and when I do this caliber it will be after I return from an overseas vacation.

 

[JamieZ]

So what would be the benefit being that it shoots 90gr bullets slower than the 6.8 shoots them. 6.8 fps on a 90 is 2900 to 3000 fps

 

[Podmonkey]

So what would be the benefit being that it shoots 90gr bullets slower than the 6.8 shoots them. 6.8 fps on a 90 is 2900 to 3000 fps

Smaller frontal area for same weight increasing sectional density and thus decreasing rate of deceleration in flight wguch in turn produces a flatter trajectory over long distances would be my guess.

 

[Podmonkey]

Lmao if and when I do this caliber it will be after I return from an overseas vacation.

It smells overseas. Your welcome. Now do the .224 valkyrie build.

 

[dsdmmat]

So what would be the benefit being that it shoots 90gr bullets slower than the 6.8 shoots them. 6.8 fps on a 90 is 2900 to 3000 fps

The 224 caliber bullet has a higher BC better for distance shooting

 

[JamieZ]

Makes sense for the distance shooter but I think as someone who shoots under 350yds I'll keep the 6.8. Basically cant get myself to blow money on something that isnt better for me......This coming from someone who is itching to build another.

 

[Podmonkey]

The 224 caliber bullet has a higher BC better for distance shooting

At what point would the two trajectories cross though? I'm guessing that anytging under 300 yards the 6.8 would be flatter.
This a @meketrefe question. Calling @meketrefe! I know you wanna talk technical!

 

[dsdmmat]

Shoulder is bumped back a fair amount too so the 90s can be loaded at mag length. It evidently needs a twist faster than 1:7 for the 90's so that might cause issues with lightest bullets.

Black Hole (Columbia River) and ARP have already done wildcats that are very similar. However, they made the choice not to bump back far enough for the 90's - cost too much case capacity. This 224 Valkyrie has factory ammo and multiple companies marketing it though.

I read somewhere they were using 1-6.7 twist.

 

[JamieZ]

My longest kill was 341 yds

 

[dsdmmat]

Makes sense for the distance shooter but I think as someone who shoots under 350yds I'll keep the 6.8. Basically cant get myself to blow money on something that isnt better for me......This coming from someone who is itching to build another.

Yeah at 350 yards you are not going to gain anything. If you were shooting over 800 you would see the difference.

 

[dsdmmat]

My longest kill was 341 yds

My longest hits were at 1100 meters from a helicopter with an M60D machine gun.

 

[JamieZ]

Hmmmm that sounds like fun,,,I'll have try that chuck hunting one of these days

 

[Marine Cpl]

Smaller frontal area for same weight increasing sectional density and thus decreasing rate of deceleration in flight wguch in turn produces a flatter trajectory over long distances would be my guess.

So basically this would benefit the long range target shooter.

For an average Joe, the extra reach isn't worth it unless it becomes standard in price.

It would be great for a military caliber change though.

 

[ManrisFrack]

You gonna do one if these? A range report would be most interesting. As a non handloader this caliber is a nonstarter for me though. Can you imagine what it would cost to shoot by the case monthly?!

Federal has said that they will be making ammo for it. It's also been submitted to SAAMI.

 

[Podmonkey]

Federal has said that they will be making ammo for it. It's also been submitted to SAAMI.

Yeah, at $1+ a shot no doubt. I can only get out to 200 yards at my range. I favor 55 gr pills for that. The Hornady 55gr Match I used was pretty good actually.

 

[meketrefe]

hi guys,
let me break down this for you a little.

The 224 VAlkery is nothing but a 6.8spc case necked down to 22 caliber.
This caliber has enough freebore to use long match 22 caliber bullets.
The 22 nosler is also similar with as the 6.8 but it is longer and uses the 223
base that is a rebated rim, and it does not have the long freebore but
should someone decide to ream the neck and use a 1:7 twist then the 22 nosler
could be potentially used with longer bullets if we have longer than average magazines.

The funny thing with the 22 nosler is nobody cares about the 223 bolt alleged benefit
and it was made for a restrictive use both in length and freebore. Two big mistakes
in my opinion.

Now lets talk about this "new" 224 Walkery.
The 22 wildcats have been around for quite some time and this is not a new development.
you have 22 versions from the 6.8, 6.5 grendel and 5.56 case itself that do quite well
from the AR15. This 22 form a 6.8 was done before and now it is being renamed for
commercial purposes.

The Good:
- It is a 22 bullet so some people can use 22 bullets to reach higher velocities and
w/o running out of room (COAL) in standard AR magazines.
- Value packs of 22 bullets are inexpensive and 6.8spc is a great donor round for
the brass than by itself is an amazing hunting round.
- It can make 1000 yards supersonic but there are other calibers that can do that
too including the 223 itself.

The Bad:
- While it is an easy wildcat and if ammo is costly one can easily produce their
own ammo for a lot less dollars.
- The thing is the 6.5 Grendel necked down to 22 caliber is also available as a
wildcat and in both the 22 and 6mm versions it has a slight advantage over
the 22 Walkery and also shoots flatter and further than the parent 6.5 grendel.
- A well though out 5.56 reload with good brass and perhaps a PRI, ASC, etc..
magazine can be loaded up to 2.31 and can produce very decent trajectories
using the 5.56 brass with bullets from 75 to 85 grains. After all we are comparing
the best bullets they can find with the longest possible barrels of 24".

Airborne Arms HERJA - 1300 yard supersonic AR-15 cartridge .224 Valkyrie - The Firearm Blog

Here they give the impression they can achieve this from a 11" barrel that is not
possible. This is misleading with marketing stunts.

Larue Stealth 2.0 In .224 Valkyrie - Big 3 East - The Firearm Blog


The Ugly:
- That 1300 yards claim is not really that accurate. We shoudl pull out ballistics with real data
and then see if we can make it to 1100 yards but even then what? There is not much left
in the small bullets other than paper punching and perhaps kill some chipmunks for those
who can hit them.

- That is where the 6mm comes into play. They can advertise all they want but the 22 caliber
assortment of bullets other than match purposes is very limited when it comes to hunting.
One could say the 6mm assortment starts where the 22 ends and the 6mm wildcats
based on both the 6.8 and 6.5grendel can also shoot that far and on top put more momentum
on the target. But they also provide a much larger assortment of bullets in the 80-105gr
to hunt white tail with more wounding and momentum.


IMO It is great to see they might have the barrels and dies ready but if one wants to build their own
one could use the reamer and dies of the legendary 224 winchester that has similar dimensions
close to the base so the 6.8 is a perfect donor. One will ask to ream the throat for a proper
freebore depending on bullet and magazine situation.

On top, the 6mm Hagar could be used to explore more performance than the 22 walkery.
That has similar dimensions and extend the case 1/8" for extra performance.

But the ideal round if one was going to make a more versatile round it would be in 6mm. IMO the 6.8 spc simply necked
down to 6mm can be made with the 6mm wasp reamer and dies since the hagar is too long for the best bullets to be
efficient in the AR magazine...

Or one could simply do a 6mm Grendel that is going to allow you to shoot the 105gr past 2700fps.
This is one version of that called 6mm AR that is also available for the AR.

So in summary and IMHO nothing new here.

Just think about it even the 223 AI that is so simple can be shot from the AR in native version or from
center feed magazines that also work in the AR and can put bullets past 1000 yards w/o problems but
the 223 can also do that with 5.56 brass and careful reloading. So not sure how practical yet another
22 is specially with the limitation on bullets.

I can give you examples where the 6mm beats the 22 caliber every single time when shot from the
same cases including the 6mm-223(6x45) and 6mm TCU.

Want something simple that can make a substantial difference for many uses? ... get into a 6mm cat.

 

[Podmonkey]

Ha 6mm FTW!

 

[meketrefe]

Another thing is that in order to use the longest possible bullets one needs a 1:6 twist.
With those twists varmint bullets cannot be pushed to the full potential at the risk of exploding as soon as they leave the muzzle
due to jacket separation.
I think the marketing is pretty misleading.

 

[Podmonkey]

Another thing is that in order to use the longest possible bullets one needs a 1:6 twist.
With those twists varmint bullets cannot be pushed to the full potential at the risk of exploding as soon as they leave the muzzle
due to jacket separation.
I think the marketing is pretty misleading.

I thought the purpose of marketing was to be misleading.

 

[meketrefe]

I thought the purpose of marketing was to be misleading.

I think there is a different between not being totally accurate and simply lying.
I have serious doubts about this wildcat. 6mm is a much better option for everyone.