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Federal .224 Valkyrie 75 TMJ, is it just me?

Mike_in_FL

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  • Feb 29, 2008
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    So I bought 800 rounds of this ammo when I caught it on sale for next to nothing. My first rifle chambered for the round is an ARC Nucleus action with a custom Krieger prefit. After setting up the rifle this is somewhat hard to chamber yet the factory Hornady 88s go in like butter. The bullet isn't contacting the throat.

    Tonight I just finished putting together an AR upper. Craddock Precision Bartlein. So I try to chamber some of these and I have to mortar the rifle to get one of them out. As a sanity check I try some Hornady black 75s and 88s, no problem.

    I see no recall online. Has anybody else had this problem? TIA.
     
    It sounds like you need to do some measuring. If it’s not the throat/lands, then it pretty much has to be either neck diameter/length or headspace length.

    FWIW, I’ve shot about 100 of those so far in my Craddock Precision chambered Rock Creek AR with no issues that I noticed. That’s no scientific study or meaningful result, just one data point. I do notice they eject further forward at about 2:00, but that’s to be expected with a lighter projectile and different load.

    I’m interested in what you find.
     
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    I marked up a round completely with a Sharpie and I only saw one tiny stripe on the body of the case. I can't tell if it's just something I missed or what. I chambered that round several times without any clear wear pattern. I also tested with the Hornady OAL tool. These are roughly 2.140 and I have .030 before I hit the lands with that bullet.

    I did pull 20 of them and made the Mex match per the JP video above. I will shoot those tomorrow BUT one of the first I checked is still stiff on closing the bolt. I finally bought a box of the Fed. 90SMK and I'm not getting that with it either.
     
    This is the result of using JP's Mexican Match recipe with 77 TMKs. These were doing an average of 3150 out of my 26" Krieger.


    15722283380452520151853557962629.jpg15722283651227906428573306625889.jpg
     
    Last edited:
    So I bought 800 rounds of this ammo when I caught it on sale for next to nothing. My first rifle chambered for the round is an ARC Nucleus action with a custom Krieger prefit. After setting up the rifle this is somewhat hard to chamber yet the factory Hornady 88s go in like butter. The bullet isn't contacting the throat.

    Tonight I just finished putting together an AR upper. Craddock Precision Bartlein. So I try to chamber some of these and I have to mortar the rifle to get one of them out. As a sanity check I try some Hornady black 75s and 88s, no problem.

    I see no recall online. Has anybody else had this problem? TIA.

    New to shooting. But My Rem 700, 224 build loves Federal 75 TMJs and likes 90 SMKs.