My 224 Valkyrie build / reloading progress

[AZIROC]

Mods, if this isn't allowed or you feeling should be in the "semi-auto" forum, please feel free to move. I started a post on another forum but wanted to post here since SH has also been very helpful with this round.

So I have had this rifle built for about 6 months now but because AZ summers suck and waiting on a scope, it just sat in the safe. Thankfully everything has come together and now I'll be able to dedicate some time to it and working up some loads for it. I figured since there isnt to many 224V thread, I would start this one and hopefully others can chime in or use some info from it.

The rifle specs are below;


Lower:
SEEKINS SP223 Gen 2 billet lower
-Seekin ambi bolt catch
-Battle Arms ambi selector
-Oden Works XMR extended mag release
-PSA lpk (minus trigger)
-LaRue MBT2S trigger
-MOE K2+ grip
-Anderson rifle buffer tube
-Magpul PRS stock (gen 1)
-JP SCS (gen 2) w/ heavy spring and 2 tungsten / 1 steel weights

Upper:
-POF Billet upper
-POF 14.5" M-rail
-Geissele Airborne CH
-AIM Surplus TiCN BCG
-LaRue 20" stealth 1:7 barrel w/ matching bolt
-POF Dictator gas block
-Silencer Co Trifecta Brake (for use with saker 762)
-Harris BMR-S bipod
-LaRue index clips

Scope
-Sightron SIII 10-50x60 LRMOA scope
- ADM Recon 30 moa mount

Only difference is I have ordered a HSNM trigger, just waiting for it to arrive. Dont get me wrong, the MBT is a good trigger, but for precision work I really prefer a lighter 2nd stage and i have 2 other precision ar's with HSNM triggers, so I'm use to them.

So as far as reloading goes, I really havent done much yet. I have tons of bookmarks / saved pages / screen shots / ect of all the stuff I've found out for the bullets and powers people have used and had success with. As of now I have 100 factory Hornady 88 eld rounds to use as sighting in and getting load data from. I also have about 250 once fired Hornady brass that I havent prepped yet.

The LaRue barrel is brand new and came with a matching bolt. It's 20" with a rifle length gas system. Since it is new I ran a few clean patches through it and made sure the chamber was clean. The factory 88 eld fits in / fall out of the barrel with easy. Personally, I'm a fan of the case not getting "stuck" in the chamber when its loaded in. Plus my JP 308 and 224 barrels have really tight chambers and got me use to loading them like that. I then took 1 of the once fired cases and sized it in my RCBS SB die and put a 88 eld into it. I did 10 samples of getting the Bullet length for the chamber and got between 2.31-2.35. I tried one of the once fired w/o resizing but the case would get "stuck" in the chamber and I had to use alittle force to get the case into / out of the chamber and that cause alot of way off #s (between 2.25-2.45).


Factory 88 elds rounds were 2.250" on avg. Of the 100 I got the shortest was only a few 2.249 and the longest was 2.252. I'll give Hornady credit there. I will be shooting this Monday and seeing g how they group as well as what speeds I'm getting. I'll be using a shooting chrony that I've had for years and it's pretty reliable.

I'm going to try the 88 elds first with Varget, imr 4064, xbr as those i have on hand right now. I will end up getting some 4350, R15, R16 and R17 in about a week and possible a few more types. Then it will be 80 eld, 77 smks and probably 90 or 95 smk. The goal for this round, for me, is sub moa at 100 yards as well as accurate at 1000+ yards.


I'll post more on the reloading of ammo sometime next week but for now it will be loaded on a Dillon 550B. Stage 1 will be the RCBS SB die. Stage 2 will be blank as I'll be using a Chargemaster for the powder. Stage 3 is a Forster bench rest seating die. Stage 4 will be blank right now as I wont be crimping for the time being.

 

[AZIROC]

This past Monday was range day for the 224V with factory ammo Hornady 88 ELD, Fed 90 smk and Fed 75 TMJ

I loaded up the 88 ELD's first for sighting in my scope. I first 5 shots @ 50 yards, then 5 @ 100 yards and got it pretty dang close. Next 5 were practice shots. The last 5 shots were my "for reals" as far as lets see what this rifle can do. Needless to say I wasnt disappointed.

The 1st 4 shots ended up measuring @ .287. Of course I got all excited with that 4th shot and I know I jerked the trigger for shot 5. 5 shot group ended up being .506.

Incase anyone wants the #'s... this is the 20 shots out of the gun, again a 20" rifle length 1:7 LaRue Stealth barrel.

Shots / FPS *Factory ammo states 2675fps out of a 24" barrel
1- 2572
2- 2573
3- 2582
4- 2581
5- 2581
6- 2581
7- 2582
8- 2582
9- 2593
10- 2613
11- 2602
12- 2613
13- 2597
14- 2613
15- 2611
16- 2612
17- 2624
18- 2622
19- 2625
20- 2583


next was the Federal 90 SMK's.

these 2x 5 shot groups were just shit. I wont blame the ammo 100% though. for whatever reason after shooting the above group, these 10 rounds i just sucked at life as far as shooting goes. I felt i was rushing shots, jerking the trigger, ect. 1st group measures 1.347, 2nd group 1.528

Shots / FPS *Factory ammo states 2700fps out of a 24" barrel
1- 2672
2- 2641
3- 2662
4- 2643
5- 2696
6- 2691
7- 2643
8- 2691
9- 2641
10- 2672

next is 2x 5 shot groups from the Fed 75 TMJ
I will admit, i was REALLY confused on how off they were compared to the other 2 types of ammo. 1st shot I at first thought i just yanked the crap out of it, even though it felt good. 1st group 1.174. 2nd group .714

Shots / FPS *Factory ammo states 3000fps out of a 24" barrel
1- 2912
2- 2967
3- 2943
4- 2903
5- 2933
6- 2943
7- 2933
8- 2953
9- 2912
10- 2923



The reason I didnt shoot more of the factory 88's are mostly because it was getting late as far as hitting traffic goes and i didnt want to start rushing shots. plus i figure i would keep some of the factory stuff to shoot later incase i change something or some other unforeseen reason.

Also on the plus side, 200'ish once fired Hornady brass showed up today. Now i just need my SB die to get here arrives Wednesday and i can deprime/size them as well as hopefully make some ammo up for this coming up weekend.

 

[AZIROC]

Figured I'll start doing some basic prep stuff tonight until the SB die comes in tomorrow.

Total I have 300 once fired Hornady 224V brass. While I'll prep the whole 300, I'll be only using 50 or 100 brass at a time while doing work ups. This should give me a baseline of how many reloads i can get out of this brass. From the looks of all the notes I took on different powders and their results, this first batch will prob just be 50 rounds. Going to do a small work up of Varget, (5 shots @ 23.0, 23.2, 23.4, 23.6 and 23.8). From what I see, 23.6 is going to probably be my best group. I will also probably try imr 4064.

First step was to use the universal deprimer to knock out the primers and toss them into the F.A.R.T. Since I have alittle running around I gotta do, I'll let them run the whole 3 hours.

Brass is done and they are nice and clean.

First thing first, time to deal with that damn crimp. I go back and forth on which way is better / easier. The dillon swagger or just taking a chamfer tool and knocking it out. For my bulk LC 556 I usually use the dillon but I've used the chamfer tool as well and get the same results. This time I ended up using the dillon.

Next is the primer pocket uniformer followed up with primer hole deburing. Both steps may be a "waste of time" but it's usually a one time thing so I don't mine. Just like neck turning *I say that and only match ammo I do it on. Bulk stuff I wont even clean the pockets out.

Wish I could do more case prep but I dont want to do anything till I can size it.
I remembered there was 2 things.

My Hornady O.A.L. case came in today. I did 10 tries to see what #s I got. Highest was 2.341 ( first try and bullet got stuck in barrel). I threw that # out. That being said, 7 times I got 2.325, 2 times I got 2.321, and 1 time I got 2.323.
So it looks like the LaRue 20" Stealth is at 2.325".

I also filled the Hornady case with water to see the capacity. Im sure i did something wrong because it seems alittle off, but maybe i did it right. As usual, I got 10 cases and weighed them. *side note, I will have to give credit to Hornady. during the whole brass prep part, i barely was taking any material out. Same goes to case weight, they were all within 1gr of each other. So the case empty weighed 119.2gr. Filled with water, it was at 151.2gr. difference 32.0gr.

 

[AZIROC]

Went out today around 11am. Overall it was a good day. I started off really well, then it kinda just went down hill. only there for about 3 hours, so i definitely wasnt rushing myself. I had the chrono out and was getting great #s, but around the time the chrono started acting up and giving me errors, is around the same time i went from shooting well to pulling shots or jerking the trigger. oh well, on with the pics.

First up was the warm up. what i was hoping would be 5 good practice shots. Somehow my zero straight fucking disappeared. I ended up being like 4 inches high and inch to the left /images/smilies/smiley_freak.gif/images/smilies/smiley_freak.gif/images/smilies/smiley_freak.gif/images/smilies/smiley_confused.gif/images/smilies/smiley_confused.gif/images/smilies/smiley_confused.gif so out of my "warm up" my last shot is the 1 on paper. /images/smilies/icon_smile_blackeye.gif

I started off with 23.4g of Varget set at 2.285"(0.40 off the lands), then 23.6g and finally 23.8g.

I will prob go back and do a load workup between 23.5-23.7 @ .1g each. 23.4g group was .709" and the 23.6g group was .334 (for the 4 shots) and .632 (for the 5 shot group). this 1 i 1000% know i jerked the trigger. well, maybe not jerked. i reset the 2nd stage of the HSNM and it was alittle lower than last time. more like pulled when i wasnt 100% ready.

23.4g 5 shots were
2798
2821
2803
2799
2820


23.6g 5 shots were
2745
2753
2743
2742
2752

23.8g 5 shots were
2711
2789
2792
2793
2801


next was 23.4-23.8g Varget @ book length, 2.260 (0.060 off lands).


23.4 5 shots were
2653
2643
2652
2653
2652
group size was ,556 for the 4 shot, .801 for the 5 shot (did the same as the group above, i think the trigger may be TO light).

23.6 5 shots
2673
2681
2723
2733
2713
group size = shit all around

23.8 5 shots
2703
2746
2743
2743
2737

4 shots were .397, 5 shots were .648.

next was the 88 ELD w/ H4895 @ 2.30 length (0.20 off lands)
23.8 5 shots
2852
2883
2851
2831
2821
kinda surprised as alot of people say this groups well for them, mine was right about over inch


text target is the last 88 ELD H4895 @ 2.28" @ 24.0gr.

this 1 showed real good groups at first. 3 shot group was .316, then my next 2 i thought i shot well, but they went up and left. i may retest that node.
5 shots were
2872
2852
2853
2901
2903


This is also where my chrono crapped out on me. for whatever rason it had been doing fine up to this point, then after this i kept getting ERROR. i checked everything, it has a new battery, all that, but still nothing, so no speeds after this.
also next pics are all the 80g ELD's. Top right is 24.2g @ 2.28" I actually got 1 reading of 3002 fps. then the chrono was offically done. 4 shot group was .78 and 5 shot was 1.2. I will revisit this group as i think i kept rushing the shot to see if the chrono was going to work. actually i did this for the next few strings and thats also how i knew my conentration was going away.

24.4gr H 4895. 3 shot group was .412, 4 shot was .66 and 5 shot was 1.07"

24.6g 4 shot was .667, 5 shot was 1.4"

next was 24.8 and 25.0g H4985 @ 2.28. These I was told were getting to the hot side of the range.


24.8g i had 2 blown primers right off the bat. all had flat primers and started showing some good ejector raised markings too.

25.0g I had 1 blown primer. I told myself to stop but what was weird was the other 4 shots all fine, no flat primers and just a hint of ejector swipe. very odd. (group size was .863)

next was just 5 shots of Varget @ 24.4-25.5g Varget @ 2.30 to see how they would do. I was told 25.5-26.0 os good if the rifle can do it. I got a blown primer @ 25.5 so i didnt try any of the 26.0's.


by now i felt like my concentration went to crap and my groups were telling. plus inbetween rests and fideling with the chrono, i was just kinda "done" at this point. also it started to rain at the end of this string.

24.4g R15 @ 2.30

25.0g R15 @ 2.30

and 5 shots factory 88 ELD's *these should shoot about moa and i managed to pull about 1.5 moa. /images/smilies/icon_smile_dissapprove.gif . like i said, i was done.


I will go back and make some more 5 round workups of some of these to test. Alot showed promise.


I should also add, of the 100 rounds i made, i ended up shooting 80 of them. Of those 80, 15 had worn out primers and i trashed them. This was only the 2nd firing on this brass.... those are some crappy #'s. I will admit, 7 of them are rounds that blew primers and all 7 of the 7 were out of spec when i checked.

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Congrats on a good looking/shooting build!

 

[AZIROC]

Thank you. I just lucked out in the components I got weren't part of that bad lot from a while ago.

 

[AZIROC]

I decided since I had somewhat of a bad time out last time I was going to redo some of the 80 ELD's. I also realized that whlie my max chamber / lands length for the 88s are 2.325, for the 80 ELD's, its 2.300 kinda surprising. ive been told/seen that the 80s prefer a .035-.040 jump (88s are hit and miss but atleast a .020-.040). Last test i had some 80s @ 2.300, which means they had damn near no jump. also prob explains a few blown primers.

I loaded up some new work-ups and tests. Wont be till Monday till i can test them though.

88 ELD @ 2.26"
Varget
23.4, 23.5, 23.8


88 ELD @ 2.28"
Varget
23.5, 23.6, 23.7


88 ELD @ 2.30"
Varget
23.4, 23.6, 23.8


88 ELD @ 2.30"
H4985
23.8, 23.9, 24.0


80 ELD's, again, going to try shorter, which was making a few small compressed loads. I did have to pour slow and use a powder drop. even then i threw them on my vibra-prime to help settle the powder.

80 ELD @ 2.28"
H4895
24.4, 24.5, 24.6


80 ELD @ 2.26"
H4895
24.4, 24.6, 24.8


80 ELD @ 2.26"
Varget
24.4, 24.6, 24.8


80 ELD @ 2.26"
XBR 8208
23.6, 23.8. 24.0
*ive been told 24.0 is getting pretty hot and i know XBR likes to jump in pressure. i know 24.5 is about as MAX as you want to go, so ill be loading 1 each at 24.1, 24.2, 24.3, 24.4 and 24.5 and see how those do. if pressure signs are ok ill come back and try a work-up with them.