Post by oldhippy on Feb 17, 2020 6:00:58 GMT
By Michael Gilbert, 30 yrs gunsmithing, 45 yrs reloading, 50 yrs competition.
I've been hunting varmints since I turned 12 and that was 58 years ago. I still rather go coyote or prairie dog hunting than ANY thing!
OLD DAYS:
My first centerfire rifle was a 22-250 Remington 700 BDL Varminter with a Weaver K4 scope. Factory ammo with a 45 grain hollow point bullet tops 4,000 feet per second and basically explodes on impact. I've stopped keeping track at 500 coyotes about 30 years ago. I'm confident that I've dispatched over 1,000.
I'm on my third Remington 700 Varminter in 22-250 now and still love the caliber! Instead of the heavy wooden stock, I use a MDT Chassis system. All rifles built by me have free floating barrels for the best accuracy. For bolt action rifles, I believe the MDT system is the very best!
VERY flat shooting to 300 yards
Massive hitting power
Very low recoil
Long barrel life (3,000 rounds)
Ammo readily available
CONS:
Max range about 500 yards due to low ballistic coefficient
Not really powerful enough for medium sized game
Heavy
CURRENTLY:
Recently, the 224 Valkyrie came on the scene. After reading all the hype, I decided to give this wonder-bullet a try.
I ordered a 24″ heavy fluted barrel with 1:7 twist from E Arthur Brown. I put it on an AR15 Seekins billet upper receiver and added my favorite VX6 muzzle brake. It shoots 5/8″ groups with either 75 grain or 95 grain bullets.
The capability of shooting heavy for caliber bullets gives accuracy out to 1,300 yards while still maintaining supersonic velocity. If you remain supersonic, you can still kill varmints.
Recoil with the VX6 is non-existent! I use my favorite Scope on ALL of my rifles, the Vortex Strike Eagle 4-24x50 with EBR-4 reticle. At 24X magnification, I don't lose sight of the target when I press the trigger! That is HUGE when a follow up shot is required.
PROS:
Usable range over 1,000 yards
Weighs 2 pounds less than bolt action
Semiautomatic
I don't lose sight of the target!
CONS:
Ammo not as available as 22-250 but that is improving.
SUMMARY:
I expect the 224 Valkyrie will replace my venerable 22-250 but, I'm holding that decision until I bag 10 coyotes!!! I absolutely LOVE the AR platform and currently have 7 different calibers from a 9mm Pistol Caliber Carbine up to a 6.5 Creedmoor.
Note: I discuss the use of factory ammo because many of the clients I build rifles for, do not reload. My recommendation is, use Hornady ammunition as it has proven to be more consistent, and that is key to accuracy. I handload all my own ammunition and that's how I can get less than an inch sized groups.