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  1. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Well, I just mic'd the expander ball in my Redding premium sizer, and it is .222", same as the RCBS. Since the Starline brass is springing back by .005", it would be reasonable to conclude that the Redding expander will also leave a .217" neck, which is too small. I also just ran a couple...
  2. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    I'm getting neck ID's of .217 with unfired and fired Starline out of my standard RCBS sizing die. I've mic'd the expander ball and it is .222". So, yeah, .005" brass spring-back with Starline. That seems a bit extreme. I've been able to open them up to .220-.221 by dropping the expander plug...
  3. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    What happened to this thread? The silence is deafening. Did you guys all sell your rifles? LOL!
  4. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Well, 25.2 looks pretty dang good to me, and 2719 fps is nothing to sneeze at.Good shooting!
  5. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    PS...Don’t forget to check neck concentricity after sizing, and bullet concentricity in your final product. About a year ago I was having trouble with my handloads not being consistent. I discussed this problem with a shooter friend who is an accomplished machinist and he explained to me how...
  6. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    JPatzig, I use RCBS Competition series dies. There are two sizing die flavors in these sets: 1. a full-length bushing sizer, and 2. a neck-size only bushing sizer. Stay away from the neck-size only, that’s for the bolt-action guys. As for bushing choice, you will need to determine that for...
  7. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    The Sierra article is indeed an excellent source of information, I’ve seen it before. But the last two sentences of third paragraph under “neck tension” says it all about the subject at hand: “That having been said, crimping is still, at best, an occasionally necessary evil. Avoid it if at all...
  8. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    I'm not crimping. I'm using competition dies that do not give you the opportunity to crimp. I do see now though that Lee has the factory crimp die available for the Valkyrie. I have a friend who uses these dies in AR's with good results.
  9. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    I sent two sets of three sample bullets to RCBS and had two custom seating stems made. It took 6 weeks for them to get done, but they were delivered last week, and they work great, an absolutely perfect fit for the bullets! It was $43.36 for the two stems, including shipping, and they sent the...
  10. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Sorry, the CFE223 load development got stalled for personal reasons. I have the test loads made up and hope to get the Val out to the bench next week. Fingers crossed.
  11. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Well, I'm not as thorough or scientific as these other guys, and the 95 SMK project is a work in progress for me. But, here is the best load I have so far: 224 VALKYRIE Sierra SMK95 Alliant PP2000-MR 25.4 gr FED case FED 205M primer 1.170" CBTO Estimated 2550 fps Measured 0.812 MOA (5 shots @...
  12. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    So far, the best powder I’ve tested has been CFE223, across the board. Varget is a close second. Haven’t had much success with PP2000-MR or RE17. Haven’t tried RE15 yet, but I’ve got some on the bench. Vihtavouri of some type has crossed my mind, since N160 is such a good performer in my .243...
  13. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Thanks, Subwrx300...you beat me to it! Been a crazy day here, had the house painted. After 3 days of prep, today was the “big day”.
  14. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Just took a look at the Hodgdon’s preliminary data. Lots of good stuff, but sadly, no specific 88 ELD-M or 95 SMK loads.
  15. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    I just heard from Hodgdon's that they have finished up development of the Valkyrie dataset for Hodgdon powders, and that data will be published in the online Reloading Data Center "with the next update". They didn't say exactly when that would be, but it should be soon. However, if you ask them...
  16. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Great info, glad I didn’t spread the rumor. I put together my 224V build for less than $2K total, and I am happy with what I got. I’m going to play with it this year, and If I’m still interested in it, I will more than likely take your advice and rebarrel it with the Bartlein. Thanks again, been...
  17. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Interesting...thanks. They swear their barrels are “Made in the USA”, but they will not divulge their source. I am getting OK accuracy, a little under 1 MOA, certainly not what I would expect from a “Match Grade” barrel, as they advertise. But I am still very early in load development. Today in...
  18. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Thanks, I see that now. Keeps me guessing about their barrel source. Who else is making 6.7 twist barrels?
  19. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    Cool! Thanks for the tip!
  20. P

    .224 Valkyrie

    One more thing...I am using the small-base sizer because a regular sizer would not produce ammunition that could go into battery in my rifle, and it wasn't because of bulged necks. I'm shooting a 24" Sanders side-charger upper that has (I think) a Rock Creek barrel. Sanders does not divulge the...
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