The reamer crap is old news so that shouldn't be an issue anymore. I think a lot of people, myself included, are finding out that it's a finicky cartridge. However, once you find a load it likes it's awesome.
- Thread starter milprileb
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I want to do a prefit build on it sometime as a trainer, I think that as a low cost trainer/pest control rig it really could shine.
I'm going to be chambering my own barrel when I do, though.
A pre-fit that you chamber?
Apologies. Your previous comment led me to believe you thought it was the cartridge.
Yep, I want to be able to swap barrels from another more substantial caliber for those times I can't make it to a longer range. If it duplicates 6.5CM out to 600 or so, it really would help with ammo costs and reloading supplies.
Edit: I don't think I'm ready for a gas gun build simply because I have much less control over the process when it comes to barrels and I prefer bolt guns most of the time anyway, though I get that application is not really what it was designed for.
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Back to the 224V it was designed to push a .224 bullet as fast as possible with sub MOA accuracy out of a AR platform rifle
So does it or is it up to opinion. Seems to me , by now, the caliber ought to stand by itself w/o much debate its a accurate sub MOA caliber at 1000 yds.
So does it or is it up to opinion. Seems to me , by now, the caliber ought to stand by itself w/o much debate its a accurate sub MOA caliber at 1000 yds.
Close, but its design was a 1300 yard package in a AR. This means being able to push a heavy bullet fast enough to get it there. The 22 Nosler is closer to what you originally described.
The design does do it but like anything else it has its drawbacks. But in essence, yes.
The .224 cal bullets can be finicky in general. If you spend the money on components (rifle/ammo) you'll likely have no problems. If corners are cut in a couple areas then I wouldn't be surprised to see some struggles ahead. Turns out most people are cheap and dont know how to shoot to begin with.
I'll be watching the 6 ARC to see how it does but I imagine it will be fairly forgiving with both loads and rifles. But the PSA/BCA boys will still be there with their privi ammo in hand. The AR world is a special place...
What about the 22PPC with a fast twist barrel?
It looks like a scaled down 6BR and has an impeccable reputation for accuracy just as 6BR had before the long range adaption.
Internal case capasity is almost identical to the 224V.
For serious handloading caseforming from Lapua 220 Russian brass is even simpler than forming to the world beating 6mmPPC.
It looks like a scaled down 6BR and has an impeccable reputation for accuracy just as 6BR had before the long range adaption.
Internal case capasity is almost identical to the 224V.
For serious handloading caseforming from Lapua 220 Russian brass is even simpler than forming to the world beating 6mmPPC.
Sounds like the 220 Thunder bolt. There are a lot of great wild cats out there, the 224 Valk is just the one we ended up with. If that's the path you want to go then no one is stopping you but that doesnt nullify the 224 valkyries performance potential and availability.
Not to beat a dead horse but most these mirical wild cats are tested and developed with quality components. Throw them in a mass produced AR and you'll get the same results as the Valk. This is where inherent accuracy of a round can be a deciding factor of whether or not a cartridge succeeds.
A 22PPC, with a fast twist barrel for long range, would be a bolt rifle built to almost BR tolerances and only shot with top quality components, fireformed Lapua 220R cases etc. The point is to adapt the 22PPC to long range work like it was done with the 6mmBR.
6mmBR performance and accuracy with even less recoil might be obtainable.
6mmBR performance and accuracy with even less recoil might be obtainable.
Yeah, and it puzzles me that 22PPC has been overlooked so much.
The secret here is factory Norma brass which is supposed to be strong stuff, or fireforming Lapua.
Might be able to get 150 fps over 224V??? but I don't know.
I'd try the 22 cal 95gr SMK in it.
When I had my 6mm FatRat done I didn't know about 22PPC factory brass or I would have done one.
That was just before 224V came out and during this time frame I had read about all the reamer problems, the weak brass, poor accuracy, etc of 224V before people started to sort all that out.
At some point I'd like to try a 22PPC in a super long barreled AR just for the fun of it!
I have both a 223 700 and a 224V AR so I think I have a good perspective on both setups.
The 223 bolt is an awesome gun. I keep pretty good records and it is currently averaging 0.56 moa with a best of 0.28 with a sample size of 136 5-shot groups. It’s got 1360 rounds recorded and who knows how many before I started keeping track. It has a 1:12 twist and it’ll shoot just about anything well that’s under 55 grains. I’ve been able to get some 55gr SMK’s to shoot ok but XM193’s are end over end at 100yds. My go-to load is a 40gr Nosler, CFE223, starline brass and a 7 1/2 primer. It also does well with Varget and 4895. It costs me about $0.34 to pull the trigger and anything out to 400 (maybe 500 if it’s calm) is DRT. I can get up to 10 loads out of a case.
The Valkyrie is a completely different animal. I wanted a varmint AR so I started looking for something that fill that same role, but out to greater distances. It came down to Nosler & Valkyrie and the Valk isn’t quite as proprietary. It’s built out of some very good parts, but it’s not the tack driver the 223 is. It is currently averaging 0.88moa with a best of 0.46 with a sample size of 30 5-shot groups. Round count is 435. It is very finicky about what it eats. My current go-to load is a 75ELD, Varget, starline brass and a 7 1/2 primer. It doesn’t like Hornady brass, CFE223, or 4895. It will tolerate H335. It costs me about $0.66 to pull the trigger and I average about 4 loads per case. A couple of weeks ago, I used it to kill around a dozen prairie dogs that were just over 900 yards away. Never did it on the first shot, but often in the 2nd.
I think the 223 role could just as easily be filled with a 204, 22-250, 220Sw, or a host of other calibers. The 223 is what I have and it’s cheap to shoot.
I’m not totally sold on the AR platform for whacking vermin. I feel like the 224 would be more accurate if I had built it as a bolt gun, but maybe I’ve just not shot it enough. I’ve used a lot of guns from a 17 Rem to a 243 and none of them would reach out there like the 224 with recoil is so low you can watch your trails and see the impact (it does weigh 14.5#). It costs about twice as much to pull the trigger as the 223, so you don’t use it for the 200yd shots. You keep it for when you want to reach out there.
Those are just my personal observations after shooting the 224 since Feb. I’m going to keep shooting it to see how things do for maybe another year. I may end up replacing it with a bolt. Are there any other 22 cartridges that would be better? 22CM? 22WBY? 22-250AI?
The 223 bolt is an awesome gun. I keep pretty good records and it is currently averaging 0.56 moa with a best of 0.28 with a sample size of 136 5-shot groups. It’s got 1360 rounds recorded and who knows how many before I started keeping track. It has a 1:12 twist and it’ll shoot just about anything well that’s under 55 grains. I’ve been able to get some 55gr SMK’s to shoot ok but XM193’s are end over end at 100yds. My go-to load is a 40gr Nosler, CFE223, starline brass and a 7 1/2 primer. It also does well with Varget and 4895. It costs me about $0.34 to pull the trigger and anything out to 400 (maybe 500 if it’s calm) is DRT. I can get up to 10 loads out of a case.
The Valkyrie is a completely different animal. I wanted a varmint AR so I started looking for something that fill that same role, but out to greater distances. It came down to Nosler & Valkyrie and the Valk isn’t quite as proprietary. It’s built out of some very good parts, but it’s not the tack driver the 223 is. It is currently averaging 0.88moa with a best of 0.46 with a sample size of 30 5-shot groups. Round count is 435. It is very finicky about what it eats. My current go-to load is a 75ELD, Varget, starline brass and a 7 1/2 primer. It doesn’t like Hornady brass, CFE223, or 4895. It will tolerate H335. It costs me about $0.66 to pull the trigger and I average about 4 loads per case. A couple of weeks ago, I used it to kill around a dozen prairie dogs that were just over 900 yards away. Never did it on the first shot, but often in the 2nd.
I think the 223 role could just as easily be filled with a 204, 22-250, 220Sw, or a host of other calibers. The 223 is what I have and it’s cheap to shoot.
I’m not totally sold on the AR platform for whacking vermin. I feel like the 224 would be more accurate if I had built it as a bolt gun, but maybe I’ve just not shot it enough. I’ve used a lot of guns from a 17 Rem to a 243 and none of them would reach out there like the 224 with recoil is so low you can watch your trails and see the impact (it does weigh 14.5#). It costs about twice as much to pull the trigger as the 223, so you don’t use it for the 200yd shots. You keep it for when you want to reach out there.
Those are just my personal observations after shooting the 224 since Feb. I’m going to keep shooting it to see how things do for maybe another year. I may end up replacing it with a bolt. Are there any other 22 cartridges that would be better? 22CM? 22WBY? 22-250AI?
I'm going to sell my current .224 Valkyrie ... it's my 3rd attempt (using progressively higher end parts) and all three rifles are coated with "tears of disappointment". I shoot sub-MOA with everything else (.223, .300-WM, 6.5-CM, 6.5-Grendel, etc.), but when I pick up my .224 and aim it downrange ... I shoot like a monkey f**king a football. I'm officially "done" with this caliber. It's just not worth the effort when other rifles shoot 5x tighter groups at half the build cost.
I’ve had good luck with accuracy and match shooting with mine but I’ve thought about selling it off for something else. What, I don’t know. I’ve got about a thousand pieces of unfired brass and another 300 or so 1-2x fired, along with a healthy supply of 80gr ELDs and 90gr SMKs with my loads worked out. I may just shoot it all up until the brass is bad and my bullets are gone. Heck by then the barrel might be shot out and it’ll be time to replace it anyways....
I’m sorry to hear y’all having shithouse luck with your 224’s, I was in the same boat, with 3 different builds, but for some reason my hardheaded ass wouldn’t quit, and finally quit with the 1-7 twist barrels because if the damn thing won’t shoot 90’s, I got a pile of other .22 calibers that will shoot 40-75 grainers lights out, so I don’t need it, so I went with the 1-6.5 Faxon and this damn thing shoots 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch moa with any factory ammo including the old federal 90’s that everyone said were shit, and even better with handloads, my wife shot a 3 1/2 inch group at 889 yards with it, and now her 6.5cm sits in the corner lonely as shit.
22” faxon 1-6.5 barrel, faxon bolt, velocity trigger, the wife shot a measured 5.75” 5 shot group at 988 on a 10” plate, with factory fgmm 90gr. That was a consecutive 5 shot string. I have yet to get a hand load with that accuracy, best I’ve been able to get out of a handload is an 8ish in group at that range. The wife built one with a 20” barrel, she’s gonna shoot the 80.5 Berger’s out of it, haven’t had a chance to stretch its legs, will check back when I get some data.
Lighten up, Francis. If you had any reading comprehension at all, you would realize that the answers in this thread all leads to your answer. You didn’t say to prove that it will shoot to 1000 on paper or shut up. You asked for opinions as to whether or not anyone believes the caliber is all it was chalked up to be.
As I said, the posts in this thread tell you the answer. It is no. Except for Frank, I have yet to see anyone able to make this caliber shine at the magical 1000 yards plus that the original claims made, in an AR platform. Bolt yes, AR no. The closest anyone seems to get is with factory loads believe it or not.
The .224-Valkyrie-Anonymous 12-Step Program meets every Thursday at 3:00pm at your local range.
Rusty: "Hi, my name is Rusty and I can't get a tight group with this crap caliber to save my ass."
Group: "HI RUSTY!"
Rusty: "Hi, my name is Rusty and I can't get a tight group with this crap caliber to save my ass."
Group: "HI RUSTY!"
My daughters rifle is a custom bolt action I assembled on Stiller 6.8 bolt face short action and 1:7 bartlein 23” barrel. I have a PT&G custom reamer (yes, PT&G as it was the only real source I had at the time. I checked the reamer dimensions and it was spot on).
My daughter has no problems hitting 500 yards cold bore. She was 10 years old when we started. She is 13 now and routinely hits at 700 yards (longest distance around here. Plates are about 2 moa down to about 1 moa in size.
3 shots at 100. Hornady 88 ELD factory
5 shots at 100. Hand load we were working on.
We will be rejuvenating this little rifle over the next few weekends. Full custom cerakote for stock and barreled action. Little family project. Kind of a budget build in the beginning.
My daughter has no problems hitting 500 yards cold bore. She was 10 years old when we started. She is 13 now and routinely hits at 700 yards (longest distance around here. Plates are about 2 moa down to about 1 moa in size.
3 shots at 100. Hornady 88 ELD factory
5 shots at 100. Hand load we were working on.
We will be rejuvenating this little rifle over the next few weekends. Full custom cerakote for stock and barreled action. Little family project. Kind of a budget build in the beginning.
Attachments
Is your daughter available to lead the Thursday afternoon .224-V 12-Step group in Central Oregon?
Three words:
Bolt versus AR
That's technically two words and an acronym ... but I get your point.
We have the best long distance range in the Pacific Northwest ... it's a wonderful place to own LOTS of rifles.
Is his last name trombone?
Rusty Trombone?
Hell I don’t have any issues with mine. First load I worked up with a Berger 80.5.
The .224-Valkyrie-Anonymous 12-Step Program meets every Thursday at 3:00pm at your local range.
Rusty: "Hi, my name is Rusty and I can't get a tight group with this crap caliber to save my ass."
Group: "HI RUSTY!"
I do have a 224 Valkyrie AR running a Craddick Precision chambered Bartlein 1:7 twist. It does ok with factory and a little better with hand loads. Maybe a little under MOA on average.
Steel is 500 yards
Paper targets are 100 yards.
Not super impressive but the load I’m working on is getting better. I stopped last year for hunting season. Haven’t messed with it this year. About to start again. I think it has potential. But yes, it’s a pain in the ass really.
PS - I think I suck at shooting ARs. It shoot bolt guns. I assemble or bulky for myself bolt guns, ARs and pistols. Usually if they don’t shoot I sell them. This is my sons gun and the same caliber as my daughters. The Bartlein is my second barrel for it. The first one was crap. Not sure what reamer was used for this chamber.
Steel is 500 yards
Paper targets are 100 yards.
Not super impressive but the load I’m working on is getting better. I stopped last year for hunting season. Haven’t messed with it this year. About to start again. I think it has potential. But yes, it’s a pain in the ass really.
PS - I think I suck at shooting ARs. It shoot bolt guns. I assemble or bulky for myself bolt guns, ARs and pistols. Usually if they don’t shoot I sell them. This is my sons gun and the same caliber as my daughters. The Bartlein is my second barrel for it. The first one was crap. Not sure what reamer was used for this chamber.
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Haven’t you heard, we’ve got runaway inflation, and a recession in the making. If you want anyone to believe those groups, you need to cover the “fliers” with a $10 bill.
LOL! Good point.
They are not too pretty, but effective for Varmint when messing around.
PS - at the 500 yards I was OK with just hitting the ~8” plate. The larger plate has more dispersion. Really hope to dial in the load a bit more. Ive heard this caliber is finicky; well its proving such.
600 yards, factory Federal 90s, Valkyrie Boltgun
400 yards... Left Hand Gain Twist Barrel
Did this chart win a Nobel Award? If not it should.
Well, I decided to rebed my daughters 224 Valkyrie bolt gun. I always thought it had a little stress on the fint action lug. I could feel every so slight movement when starting to loosen the front action screw. It shot well so I didn't worry, but a flier here and there got under my skin. Once I started that venture I decided to do a full Cerakote job on everything. The barreled action was never coated as I was building on a budget and didnt know if she would enjoy shooting it.
With that said, I will be running some factory and relaods when I finish; hopefully next weekend. I’ll post back and see how the groups and velocity are looking. The bedding feels great now and the Cerakote so far is looking awesome. After 5 hours of stencils it better!!
Finished - it shot excellent. I regret not taking pics of the groups during zero with factory ammo. Hot here in Louisiana. Oh well, next time.
With that said, I will be running some factory and relaods when I finish; hopefully next weekend. I’ll post back and see how the groups and velocity are looking. The bedding feels great now and the Cerakote so far is looking awesome. After 5 hours of stencils it better!!
Finished - it shot excellent. I regret not taking pics of the groups during zero with factory ammo. Hot here in Louisiana. Oh well, next time.
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Technically, it’s two words and an initialism.That's technically two words and an acronym ... but I get your point.
That’s actually a pretty sweet looking paint job! Very nice work!
Thanks! Lots of stencils and different coats. We like it too!
224 VALKYRIE BRASS | Brownells
The .224 Valkyrie was introduced in late 2017 by Federal. Unlike many calibers in the past that have been a joint effort between an ammo company and a single firearm company, the Valkyrie is already being chambered by several AR-15 manufacturers s...
www.brownells.com Plus there's a $40 off code!
In my mind the 224 Valkyrie turns the AR15 into a respectable 1000 yard gun. It isn't a bench rest round, and if you are looking to punch small holes at 100 yards just stick with a .223 or a 5.56. It's fun to shoot at 1000 yards, has low recoil and the bullets are pretty economical if you reload. I find it is easy to get 1MOA out of it, and that's really all I need when you consider everything else that's going on in an AR 15. I like the round a lot.
