224 Valkyrie adventure

[Former11B]

I tested two depths of 80gr ELD/H4895:

The first was my previously successful 2.29” and I tried a couple dozen at 2.275”.

It definitely prefers the longer loading...that extra jump to the lands was not appreciated by the barrel.

I’m mostly done in the testing Phase of this thing. If I get a wild hair, I will test some 70 grain Barnes TSX Bullets for hunting and I wouldn’t mind trying some 95gr SMKs just to see what happens, but I am very happy with the 80gr ELD and 90gr SMK loads

Now for the real kicker: getting into some local DMR matches with it and seeing how many rounds the barrel is good for.

I just hit 700 rounds down the tube on Saturday

[alamo5000]

I tested two depths of 80gr ELD/H4895:

The first was my previously successful 2.29” and I tried a couple dozen at 2.275”.

It definitely prefers the longer loading...that extra jump to the lands was not appreciated by the barrel.

I know it's slightly off topic (maybe) but have you tried any of the micrometer seating dies?

A long time ago I bought a second hand Forster die for my 300 BLK and just recently started to use it. The Lee one leaves a lot to be desired by comparison. I was surprised at how big of a difference there is. Now I am thinking about switching all my rifle dies to Forster.

I found a good deal on a micrometer die for 300 BLK as I figured it would be worth noting down the figures with so many different bullet lengths, ojives, and types for that caliber.

I will let you know how it turns out, but so far I have been extremely impressed by Forster and I am sure that would translate pretty good as well for your .224 Valkarie. It seems to me that it would give you exacting control of your OAL and how far off the lands you are even with different bullets.