The .224 Valkyrie is the most recent result of the continuing quest to wring more power and range from the AR-15 platform than provided by the original .223 Remington 5.56mm NATO chambering. While other attempts to improve AR-15 performance (some quite valid) have been met with yawns from much of the shooting public (and firearms manufacturers), the Valkyrie was enthusiastically embraced by serious riflemen and subsequently chambered in a wide variety of AR platforms and bolt rifles. Loaded Valkyrie cartridges easily meet, or come in under the 2.26-inch overall loaded length (OAL) threshold dictated by AR-15 detachable magazines, while also delivering more energy at much greater distances. Converting an existing .223 Remington 5.56mm AR-15 to .224 Valkyrie is no more difficult than pulling some pins, swapping uppers and adopting a 6.8 SPC magazine, which is exactly how the rifle used for this testing was created.

Federal brought us this cartridge, necking the 6.8 Remington SPC case to .224 caliber and sharpening shoulders to a seemingly-ideal 30-degree angle. And since Federal Premium has 6.8 SPC military contracts running into the millions of rounds with countries like Saudi Arabia and Jordan, parent cases are ultra-abundant, making the Valkyrie a more affordable shooting option than other souped-up AR rounds. A large portion of the Valkyrie’s mass appeal is in fast rifling twist rates in the neighborhood of 1:7, allowing the use of heavy-for-caliber bullets, though standard 55-grain bullets are certainly compatible.

Improved performance looks like 75-grain bullets pushed to nearly 3,000 fps and 90-grain bullets delivered at nearly 2,500 fps, allowing projectiles with a ballistic coefficient (BC) greater than .450 to remain supersonic to ranges out to about 1,300 yards. It does this while maintaining a pleasant shooting demeanor. Note that a 1:6.5 rifling twist may be necessary to stabilize some longer 90-grain bullets, particularly at elevations closer to sea level. Loaded with 60 to 62-grain polymer-tipped or hollowpoint bullets, the Valkyrie offers a wonderful long-range/windy day varmint option, while heavier numbers make it ready for light big-game duties, including pronghorn, deer and especially wild hogs, or for banging steel way out there.

The rifle used for load testing is pretty typical in the AR era, a rifle my father built from an Anderson Manufacturing lower and replacement .224 Valkyrie upper. The 22-inch, stainless steel barrel includes a medium-contour, 1:7 twist, full-length flutes and is threaded to hold a muzzle brake or suppressor. A Luth-AR buttstock with adjustable LOP and comb height and 15-inch M-Lok forend were added. I set a Trijicon AccuPoint 2.5-12.5x 42mm scope in Precision Hardcore Gear Black Opps 30mm rings for testing.

New Starline brass and Federal Premium GM205MAR AR-Match Small Rifle primers were used throughout. These primer’s AR designation indicates a harder cup material to guard against slam fires while auto-cycling in AR platforms. Once-fired Starline brass held an average of 30.7 grains of water, filled to the rim and with a spent primer in place, compared to 31.7 and 31.1 grains average for once-fired Federal brass and nickel-plated cases resulting from once-fired factory ammunition. Ten new, unprimed Starline brass showed a weight deviation of just one grain. A Redding Premium FL Die Set was used to assemble rounds, the seating die including a micro-adjustable head that can be dialed to the nearest 1/1000 of an inch.

Due to the Valkyrie’s newer status, nearly all load data involves modern, temperature-insensitive propellants with cleaner burning properties and/or copper-erasing agents. All powders used were either ball-type or fine stick powders that meter consistency through progressive-press throwers, allowing smoother volume loading. Test bullets included one 62-grain varmint hollowpoint, the remainder chosen to take advantage of the Valkyrie’s long-range talents and weighing 75 to 90 grains with BCs ranging from .362 to .585.

Nosler’s 62-grain Varmegeddon is an explosive, flat-base varmint bullet with a .251 BC. This bullet didn’t produce the smallest groups in this test, but a handful of loads were certainly accurate enough to snipe varmints out to 300-350 yards (Federal factory loads with Nosler 60-grain Ballistic Tips produced tighter groups, a bullet with a higher BC). The best group with this bullet was created by 26 grains of Vihtavuori N-540, measuring .74-inch at 2,882 fps. A charge of 25.5 grains of Shooter’s World Match Rifle clustered .76-inch at 3,110 fps. Twenty-five grains of Alliant Power Pro Varmint and 26.5 grains of Accurate 2520 grouped less than an inch at velocities ranging from 2,756 to 2,904 fps, respectively. Of note, my initial assumption that seating bullets to fit the AR magazine with room to spare would also chamber in the Valkyrie proved wrong. The rounded ogive of this relatively short bullet required seating nearly .20-inch shorter than the maximum 2.26 inches, even an OAL only .095-inch longer than the adopted 2.065 inches failed to chamber fully and allow the rifle to fire. Extraction then became challenging.

Speer’s 75-grain BTSP Gold Dot (.411 BC) is a controlled-expansion, lead-core design holding an electromagnetically fused jacket. It minimizes damage to predator pelts and is suitable for smaller deer and hogs. The clear accuracy winner here was Western Powders Ramshot TAC, the largest group measuring only 1.02 inches (2,526 fps) and the smallest .72-inch (2,735 fps), the tightest group with this bullet. Loads of 24.5 and 25 grains of Hodgdon LeveRevolution both produced sub-1-inch groups at 2,707 and 2,804 fps. One more sub-1-inch group resulted from 26.5 grains of Hodgdon Superformance, but at a lumbering 2,372 fps. Alliant Power Pro 2000 MR proved dismal for this bullet/rifle combination, all groups measuring more than 2.50 inches. I ran into the same failure-to-chamber problem with this bullet at just 2.21 inches, 2.12 inches OAL required for this bullet to function properly in this Valkyrie chamber.

The Nosler’s 77-grain Custom Competition BTHP was included because my father – who loaned me this test rifle – scored a deal on a couple thousands of these bullets and plans to burn them up on long-range varmints. This is a proven tack-driver providing a .340 ballistic coefficient perfect for extended target shooting, but with a jacket light enough to typically expand on small varmints. This bullet also produced the smallest group of the entire test, one ragged hole measuring .39 inch across. That group resulted from 23 grains of Hodgdon’s super-versatile H-4895, 22 grains producing a .81-inch group and 24 grains a .51-inch group (the third smallest group shot in this series). This is obviously the go-to powder for this bullet, as nothing else came close. It is a temperature-stable Hodgdon Extreme Series powder and easy to find in most stores where even minimal handloading supplies are sold. Hodgdon Varget produced a .79-inch group with 23.5 grains at 2,601 fps, Hodgdon CFE-223 .92-inch and .81-inch groups with 23.5 grains at 2,598 fps and .79-inch with 25.5 grains at 2,770 fps, and Winchester StaBALL 6.5 a .66-inch group at 2,461 fps. An OAL of 2.14 inch was required for proper functioning through this AR.

Hornady’s 88-grain ELD-Match provides an impressive .545 BC for long-range velocity retention and minimized wind drift while clanging silhouettes or punching paper. Minimal expansion on smaller game would also make it an ideal pelt-shooting option. These projectiles require 1:7 twist for reliable stabilization. Hodgdon’s CFE-223 came into its own with this heavier bullet, with all loads tested grouping less than an inch, and producing a .40-inch cluster – the second-best group of this series. Twenty-two and-a-half grains printed .75-inch at 2,327 fps, 23.5 grains .40-inch at 2,427 fps and 24.5 grains .76-inch at 2,534. Two other sub-1-inch groups included 23 grains of Alliant Reloder 15 at 2,480 fps and 24.5 grains of Shooters World Precision Rifle at 2,645 fps. The only truly awful group with this bullet – 2.64 inches – was produced by 22 grains of Reloder 15 at 2,351 fps, while all others hovered near an inch. A long ogive allowed seating right at 2.26 inches, producing a tight magazine fit but allowing filling the magazine without contacting the lands while in battery.

Berger’s newer 90-grain VLD Target replaced the older 90-grain BT Target Long Range and includes a higher .527 BC, ideal for wringing maximum long-range energy and minimal wind drift from the Valkyrie cartridge. They require a 1:7 rifling twist to fully stabilize. This bullet proved a bit finicky from this test rifle, including a couple groups measuring around 2.50 inches. These resulted from 21 and 22 grains of IMR-4166 Enduron, a powder that came around with higher velocity, printing .79-inch with a near maximum load of 23 grains pushed to 2,402 fps. I’ve observed this trait with a couple other Enduron powders, accuracy improving with near-maximum to maximum loads. A load of 26 grains of Hodgdon Superformance produced a group just less than an inch, all others hovering near an inch. The best group with this bullet, .64-inch, resulted from 23 grains of Shooters World Precision Rifle at 2,447 fps. This spear-like bullet also allowed an AR maximum 2.26 OAL without tips hindering filling the magazine.

The Valkyrie is a wonderful little cartridge, proving exceedingly mild-mannered, but packing enough punch to cleanly dispatch smaller big-game animals and long-range ready by remaining supersonic with high BC bullets to 1,200-1,300 yards.