New Hot-Rod .224 Valkyrie Cartridge from Federal
Seems like new cartridges are being introduced every few months, particularly for the AR15 platform. This past January, Nosler gave us the .22 Nosler, a potent cartridge with better ballistics than the “plain vanilla” .223 Remington. American Rifleman reported: “Nosler is claiming its new [.22 Nosler] cartridge … can get 300 FPS and 25% more energy out of the AR platform” compared to the .223 Rem.
New .224 Valkyrie from Federal
Now Federal has introduced a .22-Caliber Hot Rod cartridge — the .224 Valkyrie. Designed to rival the .22 Nosler while still running well in ARs, the new .224 Valkyrie offers excellent long-range performance when loaded with modern, high-BC bullets.
Federal claims its .224 Valkyrie ammo loaded with the Sierra 90 MatchKing stays supersonic all the way out to 1300 yards. Watch the video above for details. Design-wise, the .224 Valkyrie has a medium-length neck, 30° shoulder. Unofficially, we are told this new cartridge is “based on on the .30 Remington/6.8 SPC case, necked down to .22 caliber”. (Source: TheFireArmBlog). It’s similar in appearance to a 6.5 Grendel necked to .22-Caliber, but the body is longer. Case capacity has been measured at 34.5 grs H2O, about 1.3 grains less than the .22 Nosler.
Federal currently offers four types of .224 Valkyrie Ammunition: 75gr TMJ “American Eagle”, 60gr Nosler Ballistic Tip “Varmint”, 90gr SP “Fusion MSR”, and 90gr HP SMK “Premium”.
COMMENTARY — Do We Need Another .22-Caliber Cartridge?
Is the .224 Valkyrie really needed? Bolt-gunners can just shoot a 22-250 (or a 22 Dasher if you want a more efficient cartridge). But for guys who want a hot-performing .22-Caliber round that feeds and functions 100% in AR-Platform rifles, this .22 Valkyrie may make sense. Just as the .22 Nosler has found favor with some shooters, there may be a market for the .224 Valkyrie — both among varmint hunters and PRS Gas Gun Series competitors.
Conceivably some bolt-action PRS shooters might adopt the .224 Valkyrie. Why? Reduced recoil. With the 90gr SMK, the .224 Valkyrie offers ballistics similar to the 6.5 Creedmoor but with significantly less felt recoil. Check out this a chart from Federal showing comparative recoil levels (highlights added).
Even with the heavy-for-caliber 90gr SMK, the .224 Valkyrie delivers significantly less felt recoil than a 6.5 Creedmoor shooting 130gr or 140gr bullets. You get a similar trajectory and good wind-bucking ability, with less push. The reduced recoil CAN make a difference, particularly during rapid-fire strings. Since PRS is shot “on the clock”, less recoil could provide a competitive advantage.
Cheaper to Shoot? Maybe, But Consider Barrel Life…
Cost considerations might also drive some PRS shooters to the .224 Valkyrie. Quality .22-Cal bullets definitely cost less than match-grade 6.5 mm projectiles. Therefore, high-volume shooters may find the .224 Valkyrie more affordable to shoot. On the other hand, barrel life for the .224 Valkyrie will likely be shorter than with the 6.5 Creedmoor, so you may end up paying more in the long run. What you save on the cost of bullets you may have to invest in new barrels.
Similar Posts:
- Load Data for .224 Valkyrie — Optimizing the Cartridge
- Hodgdon Releases Load Data for .224 Valkyrie
- .224 Valkyrie Load Data for 52gr to 95gr Bullets from Sierra
- Valkyrie Velocity: Barrel Cut-Down Test with 60, 75, 90 grainers
- .224 Valkyrie Barrel Cut-Down Velocity Test — 4 Ammo Types
Tags: .224 Valkyrie, 22 Nosler, AR15 platform, Federal, Federal Premium, MSR15, PRS
The name is the winningest of the recent releases. On naming basis alone I want one so I can win the “look at me prize” at the range.
No mention of barrel twist? It is looking like a 1/6 to 1/7 would be the go to?
WOW COOL it’s almost like a smaller 6.5 Creedmoor!
But is it accurate. I hear nothing about how accurate it is. If its not accurate no one is going to adapt or switch from a creedmoor.
Note: Accuracy comes from how easy it is to develop a load for it. Something shooting from boxed ammo does not allow.
They should include the .22/.250 in the comparison. A cartridge with widely available brass and dies.
If the 223 WSSM did not take off i do not see why this one will.
I forgot one thing. A 223 cal cartridge is useless in PRS. The report from hits is to quiet. Will never be widely adopted in PRS.
*cough* 6mm Creedmoor *cough*
Just another way to invent the wheel but, I can’t see this going anywhere… 6.5 creedmoor
Wow! Something new!
Looks like 22 PPC or 22 BR.
But if it’s New, you can sell it.
I see a new .20 cal being made
Should make an interesting .20 cal wildcat
GG, from the looks of it, it seems to be a 22-250 but as the creedmore proved, there’s a pile of suckers with cash out there.
LS, I think thats why the comparison was left out.
.22 Nosler = .224 Valkyrie = .219 Donaldson Wasp.
Pick your favorite bolt face. I’m partial to the original version.
GG, you are not suggesting the advertising department is being selective with its comparisons?
No load data available until sometime next year I read.
This round is looong overdue.
It fits squarely into my rule of thumb for long range case design where the powder charge should be about 1/3 of the maximum available bullet weight.
FTR Shooters have envisioned such a round for 20 years here is Canada. We’ve been running 223 Rem. rifles throated for 80 Grain SMKs and Bergers set to about 2.5-2.6 inches long to maximize case capacity for many years. This round slightly out performs our hot rodded 223 Rem loads but without the need for creative hand loads and custom throats.
Good luck finding a production rifle that will mag feed such a long 223 load. The Ruger Precision Rifle is one of the few… although the throat allows for rounds up to about 2.5 OAL.
Comments above noting that other rounds can balistically outperform this are not wrong, but this round will find favor wherever local shooting laws limit the caliber for the hunt, like some states do for varmints.
It will also have very acceptable barrel life.
I can also see this 224 Val being stretched to 6mm and would perform about identical to the 6BR.
Holding about 30 grains of powder, this would not be as quick as the 6 Creed (which runs too hot in my opinion) but would have much much better barrel life and with reasonable velocity.
Now we need this same round in 6 mm but longer so it holds about 34 grains of powder. That would make for a sweet 6 MM.
Isn’t the Dasher a 6mm that holds about 34 grains of powder?
Can’t wait to see what some bolt guns in this new caliber will do.
Richard says:
November 27, 2017 at 1:30 pm
Isn’t the Dasher a 6mm that holds about 34 grains of powder?
Mike says..
Yes, but it has a rim diameter equal to 308 Winchester and that makes the round a little on the short side.
Having such a round in this in between size would be a more perfect balance between length and diameter… I think anyway.
A lot of you guys keep comparing the 224 Valkyrie to other cartridges that WILL NOT FIT THE AR 15 PLATFORM, stop comparing apples to oranges!
Ken Howell had all the bases covered with his 22 Howell, which by the way out performs the Valkyrie by a long shot. Kudos Mr Howell !
So what would make the barrel life short? 2700fps isnt fast. Would it be because of the bore diameter? All things being equal the 308 lasts 5k to 6k rounds at those speeds correct? Ive shot 22-250s my whole life and the 22Val kicks its butt! Range, energy spent on target and way cheaper to shoot if you dont reload.
Good accuracy so far w .224 V. Shot a 197-9x at 600 using fed gold medal smk 90 box ammo, very good score for me. White Oak 24″ 1:6.5 Krieger bbl on a space gun w NXS 5.5-22×56 and Geissele long mount. Shot all sub 0.5MOA with box ammo getting my zeros. Should be able to better that loading my own. Will report back with load testing when I get the Redding dies. Certainly no disadvantages to shooting 223.
Agree with Harold, many very strange comments comparing to .22/250, .22 WSSM etc. that don’t fit in an AR-15. How obvious is it,that is the reason/purpose of this cartridge?