Compass Lake engineering 224 Valkyrie

[B muzguy]

Seriously thinking of purchasing 224 Valkyrie upper varmint model 24 inch bartlein or Krieger wanting to shoot 90 grain smk . anybody have any information accuracy wise? Also heard it loves cfe223. Any help would be appreciated

 

[DngBat7]

I don’t know about the 224. But cle is a fantastic company. I have a 20” Kreiger with a cle chamber and it is super accurate

 

[B muzguy]

If they make a 6.5 twist get that. If they only make a 1:7 you will not be happy shooting 90 or 95 grain bullets- you will have to stay in the sub 85 grain range. The 80.5 Berger is as accurate to 300 yards as the 90, 95's are. At 300-1000 the 90+ grains are best.

It can be the most frustrating caliber to tune. Cfe-223 works good in mine, RL-15 works better for me.

Thanks I have also read somewhere that some of the 90 grain smk possibly are blowing up like 40 yd down range because of RPMs? Is that still happening I can't remember how long ago I read that I'm thinking maybe two years ago.

 

[Evan]

Gas guns seem to get away with fast twists more often that bolt guns do; plenty of people blowing the 90s up with 223 and larger calibers in bolt guns, me included with my 7 twist 22BR.

 

[B muzguy]

I haven't heard of that and it hasn't happened to me. Sounds strange because most of the loads I've seen for the 90's are in the 2500-2700max fps range.

Trust me on the twist rate though. You will see a lot of sub-par groups on youtube with 1:7 twist Valkyries shooting 90+ grain bullets. 95 SMK's with 205MAR primers & 23.8gr RL-15 get me 1/3moa out to 300 yards consistently.

Thanks

 

[B muzguy]

I looked at Compass Lake engineering website bartlein only comes in 7 twist I'm sure they make 1:6.5 but it does not show that on Compass Lake engineering website. Their Krieger builds are 1- 6.5 or 1 - 7 twist 24 in is what I was thinking they also have 26 don't know about 26 inch sure it would not hurt anything more velocity but I want a muzzle brake, that would be 28 or 29 inches

 

[bgblue1978]

I have a dtech 224 upper and you just can't make the thing shoot over 1moa. Factory ammo Hornady ammo was sub moa first time shooting it. I'm still working up a load

 

[steve123]

Many 224V shooters have gone to the 80 grainers. Lower BC but more velocity so wind drift is close to the same, usually no bullet problems.

 

[m1jeff]

Compass Lake will make you what you want. You just have to ask.

Bartlein now makes gain twists to 6.5 which are earning a reputation for excellent accuracy. Call Brady at Bartlein for more info, he’s had good success with his.

 

[searcher]

The Valkyrie was designed around the 90 grain Sierra Match King bullet - which is just what you ask. One can also make brass out of the parent cartridge - the 6.8 SPC. The 22 Nosler has the edge when shooting all BUT those heaviest bullets. I only bring this up as you mentioned varmints. Being no real selection of .224" heavy varmint bullets in the 80 to 90 grain, lots of folks end up going with a lighter bullet at higher velocity for big splat over BC - drop and wind drift. That leads to the .22 Nosler which will shoot the 80's but is more ideally suited to the 80 and less due to the throating. As it is a proprietary case - you must buy Nosler or Midway USA Dogtown or other brass formed specifically. Both calibers shoot really well. After experience with a few White Oak .22 Nosler uppers and a Valkyrie, I decided to make a bolt gun as well. Opted for a BAT Vr in a Manners stock with 1-8 TW Kriegers and throated to shoot 55 Blitz Kings. Seems there are compromises all the way. One wants the 80-90 bullets for good BC but if you shoot high-volume, those heavies get your tube too hot a great deal faster and a bit more after-shot control required for sight picture. On small squirrels - often can't tell if they were even hit using the heavies as the bullets don't open up. On big (coyote-sized), they often zip right thru. Either the Valkyrie or the 22 Nosler with the 55's will just plain impress you. The best splat comes with the 50 Varmint Grenades.