6.5 Grendel vs 224 valkerye
- Thread starter grizzly416
- Start date
.224 bullets are relatively more cost effective and offered in greater availability and range of bullet type and weights than 6.5mm bullets.
6.5 Grendel brass is specifically made, so no need to size from other brass and fire form.
Has federal released .224 Valkyrie brass yet? Who else is making it?
6.5 Grendel brass is specifically made, so no need to size from other brass and fire form.
Has federal released .224 Valkyrie brass yet? Who else is making it?
6.8 spc magazine and bolt
6.5 Grendel is more established. There is a decent supply of factory ammo as well as reloading components available. It will work for coyotes and it is capable of doubling as a medium sized game cartridge. However there isn't much choice for a 6.5 varmint (coyote) specific projectile such as the v-max or nosler ballistic tip.
224 Valkyrie interests me more when you limit it to a coyote or varmint cartridge. There is a wider range of suitable bullets available and, since you reload, I can see the Valkyrie offering you the ability to load some awesome coyote rounds.
I've often thought about loading the Valkyrie with some lighter 50 grain v-max pills. I think you could push them very fast and end up with a decently flat shooting round that would put the standard 223 rem to shame. My only concern would be trying to push the little pills at high speed out of a Valkyrie barrel that has the standard 1in7 twist. If I only wanted to shoot 50-60 grain pills with coyotes being the main purpose I'd have my Valkyrie barrel made with an 8 or 9 twist.
If coyotes are your main purpose for building this gun I think the Valkyrie is more suitable. Also, Federal has a 60 grain v-max round that offers decent ballistics and hits much harder than a standard 223.
Only problem as of now with the Valkyrie is the availability of factory loaded ammo or factory brass. The bolts and magazines are not an issue to find.
For a long range paper puncher or for a deer gun my vote goes to the 6.5 Grendel.
For a coyote gun my vote goes to the 224 Valkyrie. I say push them fast and flat. Forget about the 90 grain paper puncher pills.
The Valkyrie may just be the round that gets me into reloading.
DaveMachine
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- That one place with a cowboy complex
Have you considered 22 Grendel?
I will eventually built a 224 Valkyrie Ar15 with either 18 or 20 to shoot the occasional PRS and to replace 5.56 SPR. 224 VKY has less bullet drop at longer range than 6.5 Grendel. Federal is behind 224 VKY so factory ammo will be around.
90 gr vs 12X gr bullet pretty much guarantees 224 VKY will have lower recoil, this means easier to spot my own hit. Lower recoil also means higher rate of fire. If I need to give less to recoil reduction and more to reducing flash/dust signature, I may be able to get away with a 3 prong suppressor instead of a brake with 224 VKY.
224 VKY may dominate the DCRA style service rifle in the future. There is everything to like with a low recoil, high ROF and flat shooting bullet that goes to 1000 yards+.
Basically it is a very hot 5.56.
90 gr vs 12X gr bullet pretty much guarantees 224 VKY will have lower recoil, this means easier to spot my own hit. Lower recoil also means higher rate of fire. If I need to give less to recoil reduction and more to reducing flash/dust signature, I may be able to get away with a 3 prong suppressor instead of a brake with 224 VKY.
224 VKY may dominate the DCRA style service rifle in the future. There is everything to like with a low recoil, high ROF and flat shooting bullet that goes to 1000 yards+.
Basically it is a very hot 5.56.
It’s opening a can of worms.
Heavier bullets is where .224 needs to be, otherwise stick to .223/5.56.
.224 Valkyrie seems to fit that bill.
Going down a different path would be stepping into 6mm - 6PPC, 6mmAR turbo, 6mm Grendel.
I would hazard a guess and say 224V won't work well with 50gr bullets, because the barrels will all be 7" or 6.5" twist. I would think if you want to hit huge speeds with 224 bullets you'll want to go 22-250 because the barrels have appropriate twist for that.
I stated in my post that the standard 7 twist wouldn't be suitable for light projectiles and that I'd have my barrel made with a slower twist.
The OP is looking for suggestions on a coyote suitable caliber for his MacDef SLR build. How do you plan on cramming a 22-250 into an ar15 type rifle and a STANAG mag? When you figure it out let me know. Until then I still think that the Valkyrie is the best cartridge for trying to achieve 22-250 like performance out of a STANAG mag based platform like the SLR.
Just because Federal designed the 224 Valkyrie for shooting 90 grain pills to 1000+ yards doesn't mean that is what we have to do with it. Besides 99% of shooters will never use it to it's fullest long range ability. I think the Valkyrie cartridge has a much boarder range of use than most people realize.
A 224 Valkyrie barrel can be built with any twist rate one thinks will suit his intended purpose. Just because the standard twist is 1in7 that doesn't mean that is what you are stuck with.
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redshooter
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Central Ontario
I'm looking forward to burning out my barrel in a few years. I thought 22 PPC would be a nice step up from .223 Rem assuming you could get good MV with 80 gr projectiles seated to mag length. Looks like my ideal .224 has been put on the market, fact that Federal is behind it is a bonus.
M855A1 has a steel tip with a copper base, and it can penetrate 3/8" mild steel out to almost 400m when it is shot out of a 14.5" M4. The TMJ or SMK are not going to have close to this kinda of penetration performance.
No one knows how 90 gr SMK or 75gr TMJ will perform terminally ballistically until someone does a gel test.
If people use 224 VKY to drive a light bullet like what it does with 22-250, barrel life is going to be an issue.
