224 Valkyrie from Federal

Federal is releasing a new round called the 224 Valkyrie. Will sling a 90gr pill that will stay supersonic out to 1300yds. Plus, Federal states it gives 6.5 Creedmoor performance with half the recoil. Cant wait to see real world results... Very interested in this cartridge for competitions.

Yea it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s expensive, and it doesn’t have the barrel life or energy of the 6.5’s. Good luck seeing any hit with this thing at 1300 yds.

tkd4life said:

Yea it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It’s expensive, and it doesn’t have the barrel life of 6.5 creedmoore.

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Ive been searching the web and can't find any real reviews of it other than manufacturer plugs. I did hear one say that it had better barrel life too... I'll wait for the data to start rolling, but still interesting.

I read some about the Valkyrie. It's like a 22-250 for your ar with a twist rate to launch 90gr Berger's. Should be a good all around cartridge from paper to Bambi and everything in between. With a 70gr tsx it could be a dandy hog killer too.

Yoshi said:

Ive been searching the web and can't find any real reviews of it other than manufacturer plugs. I did hear one say that it had better barrel life too... I'll wait for the data to start rolling, but still interesting.

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Thanks....interesting for sure.

Closest to a review I've found...needed the overview though as I'd not heard of it.

https://www.americanrifleman.org/ar...port-224-valkyrie-rightly-the-next-big-thing/

steves1911 said:

I read some about the Valkyrie. It's like a 22-250 for your ar with a twist rate to launch 90gr Berger's. Should be a good all around cartridge from paper to Bambi and everything in between. With a 70gr tsx it could be a dandy hog killer too.

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This thing is marketed for the ar platform, but runs into the same issues as the 6.5 Grendel. If the 6.5 Grendel was perfect there wouldn’t be the 300 blk. This will Need a new bolt and has less magazine capacity. It’s easier to get an ar10 IMO.

Here is some information on the 7mm Valkyrie that has been out for a while.
http://www.7mmvalkyrie.com/

Good luck

Jerry

steves1911 said:

I read some about the Valkyrie. It's like a 22-250 for your ar with a twist rate to launch 90gr Berger's. Should be a good all around cartridge from paper to Bambi and everything in between. With a 70gr tsx it could be a dandy hog killer too.

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Less power. Factory loadings look like max power at 90gr developing about 1480ft-lbs. that isn’t much more than a hot 5.56 round. That is out of a 24” Barrel. A 6.5 Grendel produces about 1800ft-lbs out of a 24” Barrel. The hottest factory 5.56 loadings out of a 24” Barrel can push 1400ft-lbs

6.5 Grendel is going to keep that energy advantage to VERY long range before .224 Valkyrie is going to exceed it. Yes, Valkyrie will have less drop, longer range and higher extreme range energy than 6.5 Grendel with somewhat less recoil.

At short range 6.5 Grendel is a much better hunting round. Much larger meplat. At least initially you’ve got steel cases 6.5 Grendel and not for Valkyrie. 6.5 Grendel is also gaining wider acceptance pushing down brass cases ammo prices and a wide availability of bullets for reloading. Sure, you can use shorter bullets in .224 Valkyrie, but at least the initial factory loadings in light rounds are even closer to 5.56, and much larger barrel burners. You’ve got. 77gr FMJ producing barely over 1400ft-lbs and the same with a 60gr vmax bullet. That is from a 24” Barrel. I know IMI razorcore 77gr out of a 20” Barrel will push 1350ft-lbs.

I see what they are trying to accomplish, but just like .22 Nosler I can’t help shrugging and going “meh”. If at some point prices are reasonable (probably never) it could made a great, light shooting long range target rifle. The bullets are just too small to make a good long range hunting rifle. Maybe a decent long range varmit rifle, but a .22-250 is still going to be a lot better.

Still not deer/medium game legal in states that ban .22 caliber weapons for deer and medium game, or that require quarter bore or larger. A 6.5CM has got broadly similar range. Yeah it has more recoil. So? It is somewhat less than .308, which isn’t bad at all. Especially in target rifles and semis (can suck in light hunting guns).

Round price isn’t all that bad. Barrel life is likely to be better than .224 Valkyrie. Rounds are going to hit with a lot more energy and wider meplat.

I guess I shouldn’t complain about attempted innovation, but it kind of seems like searching for a reason for existence. A .224 based on an SPC or Grendel case would have more case capacity.

Honestly even though it would take new bullets, but be curious about something based on heavy weight .204 or .17 caliber bullets. Some 40 grain .17 caliber bullets loaded to necked down .223 cases or even 6.8 SPC cases would be pretty whicked.

The .25 sharps is kind of interesting, but choosing to neck up a .223 case was a bad idea. They should have chosen a 6.8/6.5 case and necked it down for a .25/6mm bullet. A 100gr .25 bullet out of a 6.8 case would probably kick butt. Might get 2800fps or so out of it.

.300 Whisper pre-dated the Grendel, and was specifically designed as a subsonic . The supersonic performance was a pleasant after the fact surprise for J.D. Jones .

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Hummm . As I am prone to do occasionally, I mentally outline potentially interesting Wildcats . .22-250 - ish cace capacity , function thru AR-15 , twist rate suitable for heavier than varmit bullets , has been a recurring thought.

I will say I wasn't primarily thinking of 90gr bullets , or shooting into the next county. I was visualizing up to range of .223 , but with somewhat heavier bullet for more downrange energy and deeper penetration.

I was plinking steel plates a few months ago and was going back and forth between a 5.56 and a 224 Valkyrie. The Valkyrie had a noticeable difference in how hard it was hitting the steel and really not much difference in felt recoil. Hopefully it will take off, but as with most calibers like this I’m sure ammo availability will be an issue for a while

For a short range hammer, I have a .358 Yeti. Medium range I will try the soon to be SAAMI approved .277 Wolverine. I plan to look into the Valkyrie in a year or so and see how popular and pricey parts are.

balttigger said:

For a short range hammer, I have a .358 Yeti. Medium range I will try the soon to be SAAMI approved .277 Wolverine. I plan to look into the Valkyrie in a year or so and see how popular and pricey parts are.

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Yeah, Wolverine is pretty interesting to me. Finishing up my 6.5 Grendel, not sure if I need a Wolverine. I am considering it instead of something like a 6.8SPC. Almost identical performance with regular .223 bolt and magazines. Could make a nice pinned 14.5 barreled hunting rifle to complement the 18” 6.5 Grendel I am building.

Not that I have anything against new & different cals just because they're interesting . But as far as any figleaf of * need * , if you already have a 6.5Grendel , the 6.8SPC is totally redundant, but less , and Wolverine is less, but uses .223 bolts & mags .

You could have an interesting conversation about getting a Wolverine or SPC Instead of a Grendel , but if you already have a Grendel , that niche of midbore AR has already left the barn .

Biggfoot44 said:

Not that I have anything against new & different cals just because they're interesting . But as far as any figleaf of * need * , if you already have a 6.5Grendel , the 6.8SPC is totally redundant, but less , and Wolverine is less, but uses .223 bolts & mags .

You could have an interesting conversation about getting a Wolverine or SPC Instead of a Grendel , but if you already have a Grendel , that niche of midbore AR has already left the barn .

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This is true. So what you are saying is I need to be looking at something like a wild catted .375?

I'm not interested. The reason 300 Blackout is gaining popularity, and set to be the first Mainstream alternative to 5.56 is primarily because it only requires a barrel , brass is easily formed from 5.56, and it offers a lot that 5.56 doesn't, the 244 Valkyrie offers none of those. The Alexander Arms chamberings are popular because they get around the limitations of the platform by going single stack or staggered, and actually gaining a useable increase in performance, still not as simple as a barrel swap, but there really is no other way to increase case capacity significantly. 6.8 and in turn it's Wildcats won't ever become mainstream, and won't last, too much is needed to convert to them, and there just isn't enough of an increase in performance.

True mainstream acceptance will be result of significant number of peeople buying rifle factory chambered in ( whatever) .

For all the hunter bashing in tacticool circles , the phrase " ... And be able to hunt with it also " is a big factor in the interlinked ideas of mainstream acceptance, and sales revenue . So there is huge market demand for " AR-15 platform AND reasonably well suited for more or less general Bambi duties " . With more dia and more energy than .223 .

Definate demand for ONE clearcut option . Two would be questionable . But we have Three significant aspirants to the Niche , and each is just popular enough to keep the others from making the leap . ( Remington was almost able to leap straight to top , but shot themselves in the foot with a misleading ad campaign.)

The first one that wins the hearts & minds of corporate purchasing agents of mass retailers , will become THE larger than .22 AR-15 calibre.

alucard0822 said:

I'm not interested. The reason 300 Blackout is gaining popularity, and set to be the first Mainstream alternative to 5.56 is primarily because it only requires a barrel , brass is easily formed from 5.56, and it offers a lot that 5.56 doesn't, the 244 Valkyrie offers none of those.

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This. What is the magazine capacity of this round? What bolt does it use? I haven’t seen these specifics. I’ve only heard how it’s a lower recoiling 6.5 Creedmoor which I highly doubt. A 90 grain bullet isn’t going To compete with the 140 Rdf with energy at range.

tkd4life said:

This. What is the magazine capacity of this round? What bolt does it use? I haven’t seen these specifics. I’ve only heard how it’s a lower recoiling 6.5 Creedmoor which I highly doubt. A 90 grain bullet isn’t going To compete with the 140 Rdf with energy at range.

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The magazine capacity will be identical to 6.8SPC as that is the parent. It also uses a 6.8 bolt. They are saying, all you need is a bolt and barrel, but I would also get a caliber specific magazine.

balttigger said:

The magazine capacity will be identical to 6.8SPC as that is the parent. It also uses a 6.8 bolt. They are saying, all you need is a bolt and barrel, but I would also get a caliber specific magazine.

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It's basically a wildcat of an alternate caliber that is dying out, primarily due to the need for a non-standard bolt and mag components. It is the same premise as the 22 nosler, which itself was an answer to a question nobody asked, but doesn't quite have all the mistakes Nosler made. Dimentionally it has only a tiny increase in case capacity over .223, and slightly better neck/length dimention for really heavy bullets. At best it seems like it could get 100fps more out of 80+gr bullets over 223 in the same barrel. Most all testing and specs are with a 1/7 twist 24" barrel, so people looking to build a 20" or shorter upper, and expect the advertised performance are going to be dissapointed. I don't think there are enough people competing at long range with an AR15 to be able to supprt it, being that is about the only group that would put up with the downsides in order to gain a tiny velocity increase, without stepping up to an AR10 based platform. Meanwhile I'm actually seeing more and more 300BO factory rifles and parts, looks like it is here to stay. All I need is a set of dies to ensure a permanent supply of Ammo, so I'm looking into building a 2 stamp rifle soon.

My problem is saying that it will get 6.5 Creedmoor performance. Using Lapua Small Primer brass and either a 140 Rdf or 150 smk, I just don’t see how that’s possible. Sure the 90 grain stuff will compete with the lower weight stuff, but that’s not a fair comparison IMO.