Howdy,
New here to sniper's hide, first post. I recently acquired a .224 Valkyrie upper from my father-in-law who "...couldn't get it to shoot or cycle right." The barrel is the 24" 1:7 Varmint barrel ( https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/sh...224-valkyrie-24-1-7-twist-varmint-barrel.html ) with the accompanying tube, low-pro gas block, and a WOA .224 Valkyrie bolt (bolt only). After shooting a few dozen rounds of both factory ammo and handloads, he noticed the rifle began to intermittently short-stroke , fail to extract, and we noticed some of the primers were actually punctured/pitted. At first we assumed it was a gas and/or pressure problem. After tuning loads and poking around (to no avail) I took it into a gunsmith. Today I picked it up, and he had some interesting comments...
First, he said the chamber (around the throat and shoulder) we were very gunked up/fouled. As a result, the round was chambering about 4/1000's of an inch back from where it should be. This, combined with the recoil of the round, was pushing the primers (and round) back into the firing pin, thus pitting/puncturing the primers. I was surprised at this since, in total, this barrel has less than 160 rounds through it. Next, after thoroughly cleaning the chamber and barrel, the gunsmith used a bore scope to check out the chamber and barrel. He commented that the chamber appeared very rough, unfinished, and un-polished. Overall, he felt it was an unacceptable QC job on the part of WOA. Finally, he fired 15 rounds of Federal factory ammo (I left him two boxes of 20) and noted that each one showed significant scoring/rubbing from about 3/8" from the base of the cartridge all the way up. He said this confirmed his theory of a poorly polished/rough chamber. The primers, however, were properly struck in each piece of brass, confirming to him that the cleaning procedure worked and the round was seating properly.
I wrote WOA an email tonight explaining what the gunsmith told me. We will see how they respond. I noticed on their website they do not allow customers to post reviews of products, unlike Palmetto State and some others who do allow it. This irked me a little. The only reviews I see for them are on forums, and the majority of those posts are responses to the one or two people that have them, not from the owners themselves. The sampling pool is small. I'm curious if anyone else has ever dealt with WOA's customer service? Additionally, has anyone experienced a similar problem as I described with a .224, or any other barrel from WOA? Does the gunsmith's feedback seem accurate? What follow-on questions would you ask? How often do you clean your performance caliber AR platforms vs. your battle rifle AR's? Any other overall comments/experiences with .224 Valkyrie WOA barrels. Thanks.
New here to sniper's hide, first post. I recently acquired a .224 Valkyrie upper from my father-in-law who "...couldn't get it to shoot or cycle right." The barrel is the 24" 1:7 Varmint barrel ( https://www.whiteoakarmament.com/sh...224-valkyrie-24-1-7-twist-varmint-barrel.html ) with the accompanying tube, low-pro gas block, and a WOA .224 Valkyrie bolt (bolt only). After shooting a few dozen rounds of both factory ammo and handloads, he noticed the rifle began to intermittently short-stroke , fail to extract, and we noticed some of the primers were actually punctured/pitted. At first we assumed it was a gas and/or pressure problem. After tuning loads and poking around (to no avail) I took it into a gunsmith. Today I picked it up, and he had some interesting comments...
First, he said the chamber (around the throat and shoulder) we were very gunked up/fouled. As a result, the round was chambering about 4/1000's of an inch back from where it should be. This, combined with the recoil of the round, was pushing the primers (and round) back into the firing pin, thus pitting/puncturing the primers. I was surprised at this since, in total, this barrel has less than 160 rounds through it. Next, after thoroughly cleaning the chamber and barrel, the gunsmith used a bore scope to check out the chamber and barrel. He commented that the chamber appeared very rough, unfinished, and un-polished. Overall, he felt it was an unacceptable QC job on the part of WOA. Finally, he fired 15 rounds of Federal factory ammo (I left him two boxes of 20) and noted that each one showed significant scoring/rubbing from about 3/8" from the base of the cartridge all the way up. He said this confirmed his theory of a poorly polished/rough chamber. The primers, however, were properly struck in each piece of brass, confirming to him that the cleaning procedure worked and the round was seating properly.
I wrote WOA an email tonight explaining what the gunsmith told me. We will see how they respond. I noticed on their website they do not allow customers to post reviews of products, unlike Palmetto State and some others who do allow it. This irked me a little. The only reviews I see for them are on forums, and the majority of those posts are responses to the one or two people that have them, not from the owners themselves. The sampling pool is small. I'm curious if anyone else has ever dealt with WOA's customer service? Additionally, has anyone experienced a similar problem as I described with a .224, or any other barrel from WOA? Does the gunsmith's feedback seem accurate? What follow-on questions would you ask? How often do you clean your performance caliber AR platforms vs. your battle rifle AR's? Any other overall comments/experiences with .224 Valkyrie WOA barrels. Thanks.
