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224 Valkyrie ~VS~ 6.5 Grendel

Sniper338

I havent seen a valkyrie until today in person. I suppose many havent. While tuning a new Grendel rebuild today, my brass just happened to land in a pile of valkyrie brass.

I have to say Im not all that excited/impressed/curious (insert word) over the valkyrie anymore after seeing it first hand.

Id rather do a 22 Grendel if I went that route. The lapua Grendel brass is much thicker. The rim is thicker, just in every way the Grendel brass is superior and looks stronger and like it last longer.

The valkyrie is a bit longer, however the gredel is larger diameter. I dont know what the case capacity difference is, but it looks to even out.

Id venture to say blowing the grendel shoulder forward, turning it into a 22 Grinch would rival the valk ballistics claimed easily, if not surpass them.

Below is a picture, 6.5 Grendel on the sides, valk in the middle. Just in case anyone is curious as to a side by side comparison.
20190108_122536.jpg
 
I think the valk needs at least a 1:6.5 twist to really begin to shine with heavy bullets too. Maybe even a 6 twist... most people don’t have enough twist. I think they pushed it out in a hurry to compete with the creedmore, federal vs Hornady, before they really perfected it. Getting good brass is an important point too. I don’t think the valk will ever catch on like they wanted it too.
 
I have both in 24" bull barreled AR's using a bobsled, so far my Grendel has been easier to load for accuracy than the Valkyrie but I'm old and only shoot 100 yards from the bench
 
No problem at all to do up a build right now. A barrel maker friend of mine has a bunch of them sitting on his shelves right now. Just sitting there. Not going anywhere . . ..
 
All my life I thought I was smart, then opened my eyes. I don't see what there is to compare. Won't the necked Grendel hold about 3 grains more powder and it's a little shorter which helps with heavier bullets. A wildcat/cartridge does not stand by itself, it might be versatile, but it is always born in a guy's mind who is trying to provide optimum results for his intended use.
 
While it was an AR cartridge, the Grendel always struck me as being a gift to gas-gunners, but of little use to us in the UK. (Some of our straight-pull manually operated AR shooters tried it, but the old lack of primary extraction / hard pull issue appeared at anything much over starting loads so the perceived benefits over 223 Rem were much reduced or even eliminated. Conversely, I understand the Valkyrie is ideally suited to these rifles and will give a useful lift over 223 performance in the longer distance match stages in Civilian Service Rifle and similar competition.)

However, now that bolt actions are appearing in the (Grendel) chambering, especially the Howa Mini 1500 Varmint, I've got rather excited at the prospect of running this cartridge. With its ballistics, accuracy, light recoil, and reputed 8-10,000 round barrel life, these could be the ideal rifles for factory class club comps. Now all I need do is find an HB example in the UK - so far everything I've seen listed is the 22-inch light barrel sporter model.
 
Laurie said:
While it was an AR cartridge, the Grendel always struck me as being a gift to gas-gunners, but of little use to us in the UK. (Some of our straight-pull manually operated AR shooters tried it, but the old lack of primary extraction / hard pull issue appeared at anything much over starting loads so the perceived benefits over 223 Rem were much reduced or even eliminated. Conversely, I understand the Valkyrie is ideally suited to these rifles and will give a useful lift over 223 performance in the longer distance match stages in Civilian Service Rifle and similar competition.)

However, now that bolt actions are appearing in the (Grendel) chambering, especially the Howa Mini 1500 Varmint, I've got rather excited at the prospect of running this cartridge. With its ballistics, accuracy, light recoil, and reputed 8-10,000 round barrel life, these could be the ideal rifles for factory class club comps. Now all I need do is find an HB example in the UK - so far everything I've seen listed is the 22-inch light barrel sporter model.
Click to expand...

Somebody really should come out with a barrel nut system for the Howa and CZ mini Mauser actions.
 
MrMajestic said:
I struggled at first with my .264 LBC AR until I found the powder it wanted. No looking back now. I have a .22 tight neck Grendel reamer that places the 80's at 2.260" now to chamber a CZ 527 and AR.
Click to expand...
In My predator Grendel 29.2 Grains of Varget and the 123 ELD-M bullet work best, tried TAC, 335, 4198,R-15, IMR 4895,AR Comp. Would like to try H322 someday as the Varget load is only at 2400 FPS. What powder did you finally settle on in Your LBC ?
 
Steve Ladino said:
In My predator Grendel 29.2 Grains of Varget and the 123 ELD-M bullet work best, tried TAC, 335, 4198,R-15, IMR 4895,AR Comp. Would like to try H322 someday as the Varget load is only at 2400 FPS. What powder did you finally settle on in Your LBC ?
Click to expand...

I dont know if theres data on it. But try reloader 15. I worked up a load with it years ago in the grendel and Im still shooting it today. My AR settled on a slightly compressed load, but it bugholes, and thats what's it likes

My load is:
Lapua brass
123 AMAX
28.7gr RL 15
Federal match primer
2.283 OAL
 
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