First ar build 224 valkyrie long ranger

[ar10ar15man]

what are your group sizes at 1000 yards?
it is what the cartridge was advertised as.
all else can be done with a 223 with 75/80 gr bullets.

The bad reviews on the Valkyrie are from barrels with long freebore as they don't shoot factory ammo particularly well. Now if you handload you will find a load for it I'm sure. I have a Bison Armory 24" bbl and have found sub MOA groups using 80 and 88 eld-m's, 90 and 95smk's and also 77 LRX's. Distance to the lands is what makes or breaks accuracy unfortunately with this cartridge and the earlier barrels had just too much freebore to get to the lands and mag feed. I have a longer freebore barrel but have windowed my mags to run up to 2.355" oal. The 80 eld-m's sweet spot is 0.035"-0.045" jump, 88's 0.030"-0.070" jump, 90smk 0.010"-0.020" jump, 95smk 0.010" jump worked well but working on another spot between 0.040"-0.070" that has promise as well. The Barnes shot well at 0.030" jump so I didn't experiment further. H4885 worked very well for the 80 grain and lighter bullets and is very temp stable. Other powders that work well with heavier bullets are 2000-mr, cfe223, H414, and R17 unfortunately these are not temp stable. H4350 will work with the heavies as well but the velocity is lower than the other powders.

 

[ar10ar15man]

you can do 215 with any std 223...it is billed as a 1000 yard round. let us see some 800-1000 yard groups.

I don't have near the knowledge of these other guys. But I will share my experience with the 224 I've put together. After looking around and reading what I could find for information I went with Xcalibur for my barrel, 24"1-6.5 twist. I don't reload. I've shot 60NBT, 75FMJ and 88ELD's in it. Mainly used 75's for breaking in barrel. 60's and 88's both have been easily under MOA. Farthest range time was 215yds with 60's. I built it for coyotes and future long range play, that's why I played more with 60's. Accuracy has never been an issue. Gas on the other hand has been, I do run an adjustable gas block and keep playing with it. I think I've finally got some consistency and confidence. I do use JP silent capture spring system, Geissle 2 stage and Toolcraft BCG. I plan to go suppressed in the very near future, 11 months in on the wait, therefor I'm in the process of building another 224 upper for this purpose. Do the accuracy of my Xcalibur 24" I'm building an Xcalibur 18" 1-6.5 for the suppressor use. Good luck with your build Paul21.

 

[AKGuide]

what are your group sizes at 1000 yards?
it is what the cartridge was advertised as.
all else can be done with a 223 with 75/80 gr bullets.

Haven't stretched it to 1000 yards yet. I have shot steel at 518 yards on a ten inch plate with the 88 eld-m's and after getting the wind right I printed a 3" five shot group. Three of which were within 1.5" of each other. Shooting bolt guns all my life I am still getting the feel of how to drive this rifle. The trigger is a two stage timney 2lb but doesn't feel as crisp as my 2lb timney on my bolt gun.

 

[Wachsmann]

I'm just starting to look at the 224V myself. Never having an AR I going to get 2 lowers and start from there. One will be a 5.56 and the other will be the 224V. Only thing is I been seeing where a lot of you tubers have had mixed results to not very good results with the 224V. It seem the best results come from a bolt AR gun instead of an semi auto. If I was to do a bolt style gun then I would just buy another rifle and not an AR platform but I'm hoping I can get it done on an AR. Main goal will be precision reloads with the heavy's from 77 grains to the 95 grains. I suspect a 1:6.5 barrel twist will be needed for what I am wanting to do. I'll be a long ways out from getting this done but I have heard some issues with barrels chambers and bad reamers and some of the factory ammo stuff was inconsistent as well. The gun will be used for long range shooting and possible coyotes when I have a chance.

 

[John Klingenberg]

Im knee deep into the 224 right now. Its been a great performer in my AR and velocities have been right on. Throats are the problem! Dont do the standard SAAMI throat. Its waaaay to long. You have to load to 2.48 C.O.A.L. with an 88gr vld to get near the lands. Im not sure why they chose such an extreme freebore. You want a throat at about 1.04. Most are 1.22! 95 grain are the best for the standard throat and you can get to 2750 in a 24" barrel.

 

[Roger_Roger]

Just using box ammo the American Eagle 75gn cheap stuff fmj will nearly shoot 1 MOA but I always seem to get a flyer to keep me from saying I have a solid MOA 224. What box ammo works the best for you?

 

[John Klingenberg]

Just using box ammo the American Eagle 75gn cheap stuff fmj will nearly shoot 1 MOA but I always seem to get a flyer to keep me from saying I have a solid MOA 224. What box ammo works the best for you?

I dont shoot any box stuff yet. All handlosds so far. Funny you mentioned that flyer. I get one flyer in a four shot group nesrly every time. Im still waiting on my hart barrel, light palma 24" with a 6 twist. And i ordered a shorter throat. Its going to be a Savage bolt gun.

 

[AKGuide]

Working on a load using the 85.5 Berger hybrid. I will post my finding when completed. Using CFE223 as my powder knowing it's sensitive but never shoot in the summer so should be okay. Found pressure around 2840fps in my 24" Bison Armory Bbl just working on seating depth now to tighten everything up and get more data.
Reuben

 

[John Klingenberg]

I still could change my mind on the build. I have all the parts ordered but told them not to ship anything until I figure out the rest of the parts i need. Ive read mixed reviews on it as well. But more good than bad. Ive read alot of your stuff on here over the years(mudrunner2005). What caliber would you prefer running?

I wouldn't put too much into the naysayers. I jumped on the bandwagon pretty quick. I had an old Ruger mini 30 action in my scrap heap and a good 1-7 barrel. Chambered it up and it ran really good...for a mini. 1 moa. So today i received my long awaited barrel from Hart for my Savage bolt gun. It is absolutely a tackdriver! The cartridge is up to the task if your components are. It was below zero this afternoon but I had to go shoot it in the snow this afternoon.

 

[rsmithsr]

at the advertised 100 yards the ar version was suppose to do ??
I think not. it was hyped as a LONG range cartridge...talk of 1000 yards... but never a single TARGET shown.

I can shoot sub 1 moa with a 223/75 no need for a Valkyrie for that. just not at their claimed 1000 yards

Just using box ammo the American Eagle 75gn cheap stuff fmj will nearly shoot 1 MOA but I always seem to get a flyer to keep me from saying I have a solid MOA 224. What box ammo works the best for you?