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Range Report New 224 Valkyrie Ammo from Federal

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Jan 28, 2018
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Meet the Expanded Family of Options for the Industry’s Number One New Cartridge, 224 Valkyrie

ANOKA, Minnesota – January 18, 2019 – The industry’s number one new caliber from the number one rifle ammunition brand continues to grow. Federal expands its options for 224 Valkyrie with three new loads: 80.5-grain Gold Medal Berger Hybrid, 60-grain Hornady V-Max and 78-grain Barnes Triple-Shock X (TSX). All will be on display during the 2019 SHOT Show (Booth No. 14551), January 22-25 at the Sands Expo Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The additions bring the total number of loads in the Federal-designed cartridge to seven. Each of the three new offerings further expand the versatility and effectiveness of 224 Valkyrie:

80.5-grain Gold Medal Berger Hybrid—This competition load features an advanced Hybrid OTM boat-tail bullet with an extremely high ballistic coefficient to provide the flattest trajectories, least wind drift and drop, and world-class long-range accuracy. It uses Gold Medal match primers, Federal brass and specially formulated propellant. Gold Medal Berger Hybrid loads adhere to Federal’s strictest specifications for accuracy, pressure and velocity.

60-grain Hornady V-Max—Destroy everything from prairie dogs to coyotes with the precision of Federal Varmint & Predator. The new loads bring the accuracy and explosive expansion of the proven Hornady V-Max bullet, loaded with Federal’s extremely reliable brass, primer and propellant.

78-grain Barnes TSX—This proven all-copper hollow point groups tightly at long range and delivers consistent, lethal expansion. The monolithic bullet design retains more than 99 percent of its weight on impact to penetrate deep, and its grooved shank minimizes barrel fouling and improves accuracy.

After years of development, Federal introduced the 224 Valkyrie cartridge to the world in fall of 2017. It became sanctioned when the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute (SAAMI) voted to approve the 224 Valkyrie as an official new cartridge during its committee meeting at the 2018 SHOT Show in Las Vegas.

In 2018, the Federal-designed cartridge became available in four of the company’s proven product lines, Gold Medal Sierra MatchKing, Nosler Ballistic Tip Varmint, Fusion MSR and American Eagle TMJ. This variety offered serious options for competitors, long-range target shooters and hunters pursuing varmints up to deer-sized game.

The cartridge takes the long-range precision and ballistic performance of the MSR 15 platform to unheard of heights, with extremely flat trajectories, supersonic velocities at as far as 1,300 yards downrange, and match-grade accuracy.
 
Nice! @Lowlight. U got your hands on any of that 80.5gr berger ammo yet?
 
Meet the Expanded Family of Options for the Industry’s Number One New Cartridge, 224 Valkyrie

ANOKA, Minnesota – January 18, 2019 – The industry’s number one new caliber from the number one rifle ammunition brand continues to grow. Federal expands its options for 224 Valkyrie with three new loads: 80.5-grain Gold Medal Berger Hybrid,

That's great. I'm a big fan of Berger bullets.

I picked up some80gr Berger VLD's to load and try in the Southern Precision Rifles 224V I ordered.

Now I'l hafta get summa these too. :)
 
Does anyone know the difference between the Berger 80 grain VLD's and these 80.5 grain Berger hybrids?

Well… I mean other than half a grain. Lol
 
Does anyone know the difference between the Berger 80 grain VLD's and these 80.5 grain Berger hybrids?

Well… I mean other than half a grain. Lol
80.5 Full bore has a slightly different ogive shape (tangent shape) vs 80 VLD which has a secant shape and is slightly longer in overall length.

Generally, the 80.5 should be more forgiving for jump/seating depth compared to the VLD. Not always the case but in my experience, this holds true.
 
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80.5 Full bore has a slightly different ogive shape (tangent shape) vs 80 VLD which has a secant shape and is slightly longer in overall length.

Generally, the 80.5 should be more forgiving for jump/seating depth compared to the VLD. Not always the case but in my experience, this holds true.

Thanx. Helpful.
 
Any range report on the 80.5s or the 78 TSX accuracy? Still can’t find these local and shipping for one box is ridiculous.
 
Hello

First post here. Mostly post on Calguns.

I googled FGM 224 Valkyrie Berger 80.5 gr and found this post. I shot my first box yesterday and this happened to 2 of 20. I probably have around 200-300 rounds of FGM 90 gr (1st & 2nd gen), Hornady 88 gr, and Federal Eagle 75 gr without any issues.

Production #653A338647344. I contacted Federal today so hopefully I'll hear back from them.

Anyone else experience something similar?

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2900 fps with my 20" 1:7 CMT upper. I'm getting about 2,670 fps with FGM 90 gr and 2,660 fps with Hornady ELD 88 gr.

ACtC-3cgXYsZHAujwR4dHtTRV26r18V-X7HZfYcI0ujmDGp3mG9orKUJTeDU9Yrlm184NhnVyt6hemV1T3chKyo-3I7ceUeQs3QpFYdOj3UIItuyfqfjLRr7wmAtNsAhfEqLnxvKKUEXhFEYc7_pZloXaDGC=w890-h937-no


1/2 MOA excluding flyer

ACtC-3cnjYUJv76yOy6r3EV95Ijb-PJq8OILgZJELd7a_RRfN18yBJvAJCbaCXl-XM3PLXBGbAimqQ45mfUQns7k7Cdf4JT6pyfGhxQe5CTeUjvjbQfOBAAYjzVvL2_mxb53YuB09bw45mMxBFgzqzgSBzxm=w893-h937-no


1 MOA with flyer

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Don’t have a valkyrie, but when I was messing with the 6.8, 85gr tsx at 3065fps was really high pressure; deformed rims, ejector/extractor swipes, primers falling out the pocket. I’m inclined to think 2900fps out of a .224 bore in that case has to be up there in pressures to have case head separation like that. Curious to know what the freebore is in that barrel.
 
I didn't hear back from Federal so I called this time and they called me back less than an hour.

According to the person I spoke with, he's saying it's a headspace issue and the case is expanding too far before it contracts again before being ejected. I asked if the brass composition had recently changed because I've shot hundreds of FGM 90 gr & AE 75 gr without this problem and he said no. He also said Federal brass is softer than others. So if he's correct, I should be able to duplicate this problem with other Federal ammo. If not, it's not a headspace issue.

He also said he's going to send me return info and I can send back a box of ammo (I have 4 boxes left) and he'll have it tested.
 
I didn't hear back from Federal so I called this time and they called me back less than an hour.

According to the person I spoke with, he's saying it's a headspace issue and the case is expanding too far before it contracts again before being ejected. I asked if the brass composition had recently changed because I've shot hundreds of FGM 90 gr & AE 75 gr without this problem and he said no. He also said Federal brass is softer than others. So if he's correct, I should be able to duplicate this problem with other Federal ammo. If not, it's not a headspace issue.

He also said he's going to send me return info and I can send back a box of ammo (I have 4 boxes left) and he'll have it tested.
Federal took good care of me when I sent back some that I was having ejected primers. I still have no idea what was the cause, it was not the ammo though. Sent the rifle back to the mfg, they disassembled it, cleaned it and sent it back to me and never had another ejected primer.
 
I didn't hear back from Federal so I called this time and they called me back less than an hour.

According to the person I spoke with, he's saying it's a headspace issue and the case is expanding too far before it contracts again before being ejected. I asked if the brass composition had recently changed because I've shot hundreds of FGM 90 gr & AE 75 gr without this problem and he said no. He also said Federal brass is softer than others. So if he's correct, I should be able to duplicate this problem with other Federal ammo. If not, it's not a headspace issue.

He also said he's going to send me return info and I can send back a box of ammo (I have 4 boxes left) and he'll have it tested.
Compare an unfired round to one that ejected from your gun in one piece. See how far out the shoulder is on your spent case. Bear in mind a saami spec case is going to be a bit undersized for your chamber..
 
Compare an unfired round to one that ejected from your gun in one piece. See how far out the shoulder is on your spent case. Bear in mind a saami spec case is going to be a bit undersized for your chamber..

Wish I saw this earlier.

See below.
 
So I sent in a box of 80.5 gr back to Federal. They initiated UPS pick up. We'll see what they say...

However, I went out today with all my 224 Valkyie ammo: FGM 90 gr (red box), FGM 90 gr (gold box), AE 75 gr, and FGM 80.5 gr.

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And as I expected, only FGM 80.5 gr had case head separation. Everything else was fine.

Federal 224 Valkyrie 7.4.20 label.jpg


I'll wait to hear what Federal says after they run their tests, but If something goes wrong, it seems like ammo makers always blame the rifle and rifle manufacturers always blame the ammo. It wasn't surprising Federal's initial response was "there's something wrong with the rifle" but I think this proves
it's not the rifle.
 
Okay, so going back to what @Powder_Burns said in post #18, can you compare an unfired round (case length) to the case length of a fired but still intact casing? Also, how does the length (headspace length) of the fired and intact casing from the FGMM Berger 80.5 compare to fired casings from the other loads?
 
I didn't see his post until I posted today. I don't reload so I didn't save brass. Next time I go out, I'll bring them home and bust out the caliper.
 
Anytime that you have an issue such as this one, it pays to do due diligence in analyzing what happened. First, in order that maybe you can avoid it in the future and second, because you sent off some ammo to Federal to have them test it. You already expect that they will come back to you and tell you that it’s your rifle.

So, you owe it to yourself to truly eliminate that possibility. Now, just because your rifle shoots all of the other Federal ammo without issue, doesn’t automatically mean that the rifle, and how it is configured, didn’t contribute or cause the problem.

You already know that this is quite a bit hotter than the other ammo you’ve shot in the rifle (over 200 FPS faster for a not much lighter bullet). I can tell you that when I was trying out different .224 V ammo types in my rifle, they cycled at very different rates. I had to adjust my gas block quite a bit, from one extreme to the other to get Hornady 88 gr to cycle after shooting Federal 90 gr ammo.

Even today, while I can switch back and forth from shooting Hornady 88 to AE 75 without adjusting the gas, one throws the brass at about 2 o’clock and the other throws it at 5 o’clock. This tells me that the pressure curves and therefore bolt cycle times are different between them.

The point of all that is that with what is likely a good bit higher pressure round, you may be getting a bolt that is unlocking to cycle before the pressure curve is complete, allowing the brass to over-stretch enough to separate. This is only a theory I’m throwing out for you and only your data and observations can confirm or disprove it.

Have you observed that your brass from these different loads ends up in completely different places from your point of fire?
 
Thanks for the input. You brought up several points I didn't consider and I remembered some some initial issues that I addressed a while back.

I had no cycling problems with FGM 90 gr, but later on, when I tried the Hornady 88 gr, I had some FTE and/or it was ejecting closer to 5 o clock. Since the upper didn't have an adjustable gas block, I think I put in a lighter buffer and I haven't had any cycling issues since and it ejects closer to 4-5 o clock.

Since then, ejection pattern isn't something I paid close attention to, but while rest of my AR's (10-18", gas piston & DI) eject between 2-3 o clock in normal setting, this rifle ejects between 3-4 o clock for the 75 gr and 4-5 o clock 80.5 - 90 gr. I didn't see a significant difference between 80.5, 88, and 90 gr, especially between 88 gr & 90 gr. However, I'll pay closer attention next time I'm out with this rifle.
 
I'm about to start extensive testing with the 80.5's in the Valkyre. Had a buddy of mine give me his previous PSA 20" 1-7 barrel. Nightmare of a project already. I'll spare everyone the details. Anyway I have shot the following bullets through it so far:

70gr Nosler RDF's
75gr AMAX (older bullets)
80.5gr Bergers
85.5gr Bergers
88gr ELD

I've used Varget, IMR 8208 and CFE223 accross all bullet types and dicked around with muzzel break on/off. The 80.5's shoot the best. The 85.5's and the 88's shoot horrible through this barrel! Probably a shit barrel but don't know that for sure just yet. Heading out next weekend to do the 80.5 specific tests with a much better scope on the upper.

FWIW, I've shot the 80.5's out of reloaded Federal and Hornady and never experienced brass related problems thus far. I spent the money on a good SA gas block and JP bolt for this POS. Once I got it dialed in its been cycling pretty much flawlessly.
 
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Do those cases have large primer pockets by any chance? Before Nosler acquired SSA they were producing spc brass with small pockets, they seemed more consistant and held up to pressures better for me.
 
Interested in results

I've only shot 75 and 88 ELD, BOTH have been spot on less than 0.50 moa at 100 yards out of my 24 inch WOA AR.
 
I'm taking this personal as its pissing me off. May even result in introducing barrel harmonic tuning the way things are going!
 
From what I’m hearing, you may tune that barrel the best by removing it and throwing it in the trash can. Sometimes a barrel just wont shoot and chasing it is just the road to frustration.
 
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From what I’m hearing, you may tune that barrel the best by removing it and throwing it in the trash can. Sometimes a barrel just wont shoot and chasing it is just the road to frustration.

Good advise! I have a feeling the city land fill is going to be its next home.
 
Update

Federal called back and said they'd run compression/expansion tests later this week. However, looking at the new pic I provided, they see stretching/rings in a few cases of each batch I shot.

I also contacted CMT to see if I can get the upper inspected.
 
I've seen head/case separation before but nothing like your shoulder/body scenario. Please be real careful!
 
Maybe it’s the angle, maybe it’s my eye and possibly thinking it’s a headspace issue... but those 80.5 cases that didn’t separate look longer than the rest of the bunch.
 
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Maybe it’s the angle, maybe it’s my eye and possibly thinking it’s a headspace issue... but those 80.5 cases that didn’t separate look longer than the rest of the bunch.
That’s exactly what I thought, which is why I asked the questions that I did and posited my thoughts as to why that could be.
 
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I didn't have calipers with me and didn't think of measuring, but to the naked eye, they didn't seem to be stretched out. Or maybe they were all stretched out and only 80.5 gr separated.

Haven't heard from Federal about test results and have yet to hear from CMT. Will call CMT and see what they say.
 
Almost done with my Berger 80.5 load development. Should be able to report results next week.
 
So....

I eventually heard from Federal. Took several weeks and a few emails, but they said they tested the ammo and everything was within spec. They said I should get the firearm checked for headspacing.

Contacted CMT, the maker of the upper several times, but calls went to VM, which was full, and no replies to email.

Wasn't going to give up so I purchased a new fluted 224v 1:6.5 barrel from Faxon (sale at Dvor), a new superlative arms adjustable gas block (since I initially had cycling issues with Hornady 88gr), and go/no go gauges from Brownells.

I've built several lowers, but don't have the tools for an upper build so went to my gunsmith. When he inserted the no go gauge, it closed. So I guess Federal was right.

Good news is rifle is much lighter/better balanced and I was able to dial in the gas block to work with all ammo. No issues with head case separation either.

Bad news is, it's not as accurate as before. 80.5 gr which shot well (aside from the original issue) is now probably too light for 1:6.5 twist barrel. Also, I'm getting some vertical stringing.

Hopefully I'll get it sorted. I know others have given up on 224v, but I've got a lot of ammo left so I'll keep at it. And if I can't get it to perform like it did in the past (24" target @ 1000 yards), I might rebuild it as a 6.5 grendel rifle.
 
I've moved up to the 85.5's from the 80.5's after fixing a problem with my SA gas block binding in the hand guard. Went out last weekend and did some head-to-head testing with both bullets in two different guns. One a 1-7 twist with 20" barrel, the other (buddy's gun) with a 24" 1-6.5 twist. Accuracy, POI shifts similar.

Shot four, 5-shot groups with the 85.5's at 107 yards. Each group included three shots between 1/2 and 3/8"! The other two shots the same but just off in in a different quadrant, so that's probably just me. Pretty stoked as my 1-7 actually shot a little better than my buds high-end 24" barrel. The 80.5 shot well but with more general dispersion. All at or slightly under an inch.

Going out next weekend to re-test and confirm results. Will do some ladder testing with the 85.5's to see if I can find a sweet spot. Current load with the 85.5's is 26.4gr of CFE223 @ 2.255 COAL.
 
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