If I see another PSA 224V review....

I blame arfcom for the twist rate stupidity.

Funny thing is, PSA is now making theirs in 6.5 twist...

I consider PSA a great asset for what they are.

My brother in law is looking for his first AR and I don't hesitate to recommend PSA to him. But, he also will probably never shoot it over 50 yards. It's all about buying them for what they are. Are there outliers that shoot amazing with not improvements done to them? Absolutely. Those are the exception, not the rule though. Their guarantee levels tells you all you need to know about their confidence in their barrels. They only guarantee 3 MOA with a Barreled upper/BCG combo.

Your first mistake was watching a youtube review.

Subwrx300 said:

Hahah! Wouldn't matter if it was a 1in 5 twist! Shitty barrels are shitty barrels. If bullets aren't keyholing at 25-100yards, they are at least somewhat stable.

The fliers people get could be from anything! Bad shooting, bullet damage from gas port burr, gas block hitting rail, BCG unlocking too early, bad chamber, misaligned bolt to barrel, and 1000 other things. But idiot savants keep saying "it must be the twist rate".

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Exactly: internet experts at their finest

Browse YouTube for a day, believe what you see, and voila! Dumb for a lifetime.

Next review: we found some vintage pistols in a trunk in the ground. Let's test the .45 and see if it's a good round. We have to hurry though, mom is making a roast.

White oak armament is putting out Valkyrie uppers now. You have a choice of a Krieger or their house barrel. Seems to me this would be the economical way to go if you are serious about accuracy.

Subwrx300 said:

No shit right? My personal rifle works great, so I occasionally watch the other "reviews" (loosest possible definition of that term) and find myself wanting to punch them through the phone to see if I can knock loose a few extra IQ points to get to at least below average...as opposed to non-existent.

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There's a lot of stupid people in this world and 99% of them have a youtube channel.

I guess I got lucky with my PSA 224 Valkyrie barrel. I just ordered it on a whim, realizing that I'd probably only get 1 MOA out of it at best, but I've been pleased with it thus far. Here is my write up from another post I made here:

Here's some targets that I shot last week out of my PSA 20" barrel. I didn't spend a lot of time on paper as I wanted to see what this load was going to do further out. I shot the American Eagle first and you can see they didn't group very well for me. I shot 3 rounds of the Hornady 88 gr. Match just to see how they would group, then saved the rest for the steel targets at distance. Then the first 5 of my reloads, indicated with the calipers are just under 0.6" at 100 yards. I then proceeded to shoot steel at distances from 200 out to 700 yards. My load was performing great! The 88 gr Hornady's did well on the steel too, but not as well as my reloads. My last 3 shots of the reloads I had left were shot at the other target on the left. As you can see, they did very well.

I'm waiting for the Rex Review before I make up my mind.

I know someone like that swears up and down his gun shoots 5 thru the same hole during practice. Can't hit shit in a match!

Subwrx300 said:

I'm glad you received a winner. The issues being seen online though are guys shooting mainly factory ammo, or handloads with no discernable development and shooting multiple 5 shot groups FAST and expecting .5" bugholes back to back (unrealistic by any standard).

If you can, would love to see (4) 5 shot groups back to back with factory ammo, then with handloads. One or two groups that are decent aren't out of the question; it's the repeatability of said groups that's important.

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Yes! From the few video's that I've watched, I agree that the people shooting for groups were doing it all wrong. Like you said, shooting fast and often times without any rear support at all. Some were using a bipod and others a bag up front, but nothing to really support the rifle in the rear.

I'll see what I can do on the (4) 5 shot groups. The picture above is from one range session, after I had found the reload that I liked and thus I wanted to focus more on distance for that particular range session. I can say that I was pleased with the results at distance too.

When I first got this barrel, I was disappointed with what I was getting for accuracy. The very first results with Federal 90 SMK's, and American Eagle 75's, and the Federal 60 gr loads were well over 1 MOA. And shooting these rounds at 700 yards, I was seeing rounds that would hit left, then the next round would be way right and I know it wasn't me. So I was very discouraged in the beginning. But over time, it seems to have improved greatly. Even the Federal 90 smk ammo that I recently picked up was shooting well.

I'll admit that if anyone asked me, I would recommend that, if they have the money, to buy from someone else, like JP, Wilson, etc. But, thus far, I'm pleased with this $100 (or whatever I paid for it) barrel.

redneckbmxer24 said:

Your first mistake was watching a youtube review.

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Reviews, hell. The 'unboxings' drive me crazy.

yeah, that was me. Nice build, good glass, cheap PSA upper. Repeatable 1.5” groups; but have ordered a craddock upper as replacement. I’ll put it together with some stuff I have in the safe; and unload it on someone that will appreciate it!

I just feel that if you want a precision rifle, you need to buy precision quality parts. You try to cheap out and expect top notch results and you’re rolling the dice.

There are a lot of PSA 224v review lol. They must be selling pallets of them.

You would be surprised to see what happens to a cheap factory barrel after you send a treatment of Tubb Final Finish down the bore.

I have numerous PSA semi autos in 10.5” 223, 10.5” 7.62x39, and an AK47.... obviously they are not precision firearms, but just some simple fun & cheap plinking at the range. I consider my PSA firearms = don’t need to reload for collection with super cheap ammo that I don’t mind running steel cases ammo thru... I did try PSA’s stainless 18” 308 AR10 and the accuracy was ungodly horrible even with reloads. On the other hand I absolutely love my PSA 10.5” 223 and 7.62x39 AR pistols and AK47.... each obtained for under $500... they are what they are. Funny thing is my PSA firearm reviews hands down get the most reviews in comparison to my other precision videos... it’s not even close. My PSA reviews below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyPEnjRX7eaV9527SX1997vS744CwXeN

Subwrx300 said:

No shit right? My personal rifle works great, so I occasionally watch the other "reviews" (loosest possible definition of that term) and find myself wanting to punch them through the phone to see if I can knock loose a few extra IQ points to get to at least below average...as opposed to non-existent.

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If you can make a youtube video you must be an expert right?

Definition of “expert”:

- “X” is an unknown quantity
- a “spurt” is a drop of water under pressure

Therefore, by extrapolation, an “expert” is an unknown quantity under pressure. Think about it for a minute. If you’ve ever met or hired an “expert”, you know that it is true.

Subwrx300 said:

If you can, would love to see (4) 5 shot groups back to back with factory ammo, then with handloads. One or two groups that are decent aren't out of the question; it's the repeatability of said groups that's important.

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Ok, I found a box of Federal 90gr. SMK and used it to do the (4) 5 shot groups. It was cold today. Temperature was 30 degrees and started to go down as I was out there, so my fingers were cold and I think it reflected in my shooting ability. All shots were at 100 yards. Here's a couple of pictures:



This is my rifle. PSA 20" barrel with 1:7" twist. MEGA upper and lower. ATC AR Gold trigger. PSA BCG. Odin works handguard. Magpul adjustable stock (something I'm going to change soon. Going to get a Magpul precision or LUTH). Nightforce NXS 5.5 to 22 scope, Nightforce rings, YHM Nitro Suppressor, Harris bipod, and rear bag.

The very first 5 shots are indicated in group 1. This is a cold/dirty bore group. Meaning these were the very first shots of the day out of the rifle. You can see that they went high. (that rectangular looking hole to the left is where the staple was) I think that is because my scope is zeroed for my reloads. I then adjusted the scope for the next 3 groups. I didn't spend a lot of time in between groups 1 and 2 and then 2 and 3. The only thing I did was loaded up 5 more rounds in the magazine, got up and looked through the spotting scope and then back down on the mat to shoot the next group. I took my time shooting each round. I definitely didn't blast them off like we've seen on some YouTube reviews!

I don't know what happened on group number 3, other than I think I was just cold. After that group I took a little bit extra time and warmed my fingers up. It was maybe 5 minutes but no more than 10 before I started shooting again. That's when I produced group number 4 at 0.454".

I then took some Hornady 88gr Match and shot a 5th group. As you can see, this rifle, does not like the Hornady factory load. I may order some Hornady bullets and see if I can get a load of my own to shoot those better.

The remaining reloads that I had, I used to shoot at distance and have a little fun on the steel.

I'm still happy with the barrel and will enjoy it until I need a new one.