224 Valkyrie Ballistics:
The 90 Grain Sierra Matchking BT HP rounds from Federal reach a muzzle velocity of 2,700 FPS with 1,457 LB/FT of energy. At 100 yards energy drops to 1,291 LB/FT with the velocity of 2,542.
224 Valkyrie Ballistics Charts:
This 224 Valkyrie ballistics chart shows 90 Grain Federal Premium Gold Medal Sierra MatchKing with a ballistic coefficient of .563 –
| Muzzle | 100 Yds | 200 Yds | 300 Yds | |
| Velocity (FPS) | 2700 | 2542 | 2388 | 2241 |
| Energy (FT/LB) | 1457 | 1291 | 1140 | 1003 |
| Drop (Inch) | / | +1.9 | 0 | -8.1 |
This 224 Valk ballistics chart shows 60 grain Hornady V-MAX Varmint Express rounds with a BC of .265 –
| Muzzle | 100 Yds | 200 Yds | 300 Yds | |
| Velocity (FPS) | 3300 | 2924 | 2578 | 2258 |
| Energy (FT/LB) | 1451 | 1139 | 885 | 679 |
| Drop (Inch) | / | +1.3 | 0 | -6.6 |
224 Valkyrie History and Uses:
The 224 Valkyrie rifle cartridge is a relative newcomer to the centerfire rifle cartridge world. It is a 224 caliber projectile that utilizes a bottleneck cartridge case from the 6.8 Special Purpose Cartridge.
The 224 is a true dual purpose rifle round in that it is quite capable as a varminter with the lighter weight projectiles, and is also capable of taking deer sized game with the heavier projectiles and right load.
It is a recent release in the rifle world and is generally thought of as a longer range MSR (Modern Sporting Rifle, like the AR-15) round.
It was released by Federal at the 2018 SHOT Show, and I remember hearing a bunch of buzz about it when I was there, along with a few AR-15 manufacturers announcing something for it.
The 224 Valkyrie is based on the 6.8 SPC rifle cartridge. And because it spits a projectile about the same size as the 5.56 NATO with the much bigger case capacity provided by the 6.8, it does so with ease, effectiveness, and accuracy.
In fact, the 224 is known as a longer distance cartridge that remains supersonic way past the 1,000 yard mark, though it does lose much of its energy.
224 Valkyrie Recoil:
While there are other longer distance rifle cartridges present, the 224 Valk offers the lowest perceived felt recoil out of any of them.
This low recoil along with excellent accuracy out to 1,000 yards with an AR-15 platform is one of the reasons why this cartridge will continue to see more popularity.
Conclusion:
The 224 Valkyrie is an excellent option for those of you who want the ability to hunt many different types of animal from varmint sized up to white tail deer (check your local laws because it’s not legal in all states to hunt with a .22 caliber).
It offers lower recoil, higher accuracy, and stretches the limit of long distance in this platform.
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