Thought I would share my wildcat project the   7mm Valkyrie AR







The 7VAR as i call it for short came about from my love for the 270AR that was designed and sold by Harrison at ar15performance.  

With my experience with the 270 I had the idea of putting a 7mm in the case to make a long range hunter in the ar15. i had to shorten the case to make it a bit more versatile with bullet selection. The Valkyrie will shoot from 100 grain bullets up to the 168 berger classic hunter. With the 168 berger running 2575 which is my accuracy load in the 24" barrel the H.I.T.S. score puts it in the large game catagory to 600 yards

400 yards, 500 and the final is 600 yards




The Valkyrie was also designed to run at 2.295 oal with some bullets liking to be loaded to 2.345 oal which I use a windowed magazine to accommodate those.Most sierra and speer bullets actually need to be loaded 2.27-2.29 to stay of the lands.  Nosler bullets like to run longer but they run ok at 2.295 but  you can get a little more accuracy if stretched out the same goes for the Hornady sst bullets. the nosler 150 long range accubond also works but has to be loaded at 2.35.

It is based on the 6.5x47 Lapua case with the shoulder pushed back to allow it to run in the ar15 at 2.295 oal and necked up to 7mm. Case trim length will be 1.596-1.60 and case capacity is 42.6 grains of water.

it requires neck turning and reaming because i wanted the most accuracy out of the round and i don't like necks that are .022 or more thick.

I use Pri 6.8 mags they work best just like in the 270AR because the magazines are stiffer and don't bulge when loading. they are good for 7-8 round no matter the size of the mag 10,15,25 after 8 rounds they start binding.  One of the end users is trying to design a billet windowed mag that will hold 10 rounds.

The Valkyrie has been tested in 16.5,20,21,22,24 and 26 inch barrels and across the board there is right at 25-28 fps lost per inch so any data i post for 24 and 26 inch barrels just subtract 28fps per inch for the length barrel you want to know about and it will be very close to that.

Specifications:

Cartridge overall length            2.295 inches

Case trim to length 1.596-1.6 inches

Shoulder measurement with hornady 375 adapter 1.305 on fresh cases.

Velocity's

26” actual data

120 class 3000      
130 class   3080 max
140 class 2875      
150 class   2670 not max
160 class 2660
168 Berger 2675

24” actual data

110 class 3075 not max    
120 class  3000
130 class 3000                  
140 class 2850
150 long range ab 2700    
160 class 2660
168 Berger 2625

20" Actual Data
120 sierra        2860 not max  
130 speer       2800
139 sst            2690            
145 speer        2630 not max
160 fusion        2437              
168 nosler        2416

16” Actual Data

110 TNT            2843      
120 sierra          2804
130 Speer          2800
139 sst              2700
140 nosler bt     2600


The 7VAR used the 800 series bolt/extension from AR15 Performance so it can run up to 60,000 psi.

The Valkyrie is a reloader only caliber. It is a full power hunting round that fits in the AR15. It matches some 7mm-08 factory ammo ballistics.

The case forming requires neck turning and reaming, neck thickness needs to be .014 - .012. As stated 6.5x47 lapua brass is the best brass to make the cases from. It forms the easiest, lasts the longest, is small primer and handles the pressures the best. Also there is zero loss rate when forming.

6.5 Creedmoor cases also work but the brass is softer and only lasts 2-4 firings on average. It also has a loss rate of 10% when forming from creases/folds in the neck/shoulder area. it does have the highest case capacity. Winchester 308 brass also works but you still have a 10% loss rate when forming.

There will be 2-3 guys offering brass conversion for the 7 VAR, 270AR and the 257 Bobcat. Already processed brass will also be available in a limited capacity to start.

Dies will be from Whidden gunworks with their competition micrometer seater die which is one of the best in the industry.


Barrels will be made by X-Caliber

Some of the powders that work well with the Valkyrie are:  Leverevolution,CFE 223, xbr 8208, H335,Benchmark, AA2520, TAC, AA2230 and Xterminator. Also r15 and arcomp might also work well also n530, n540  should be workable powders. imr 4166, h4895, imr 4895 will also work but velocities are down from lever and cfe but they have very good accuracy.

here are some ballistic charts

This will be one of the best mid-long range medium-large game hunting cartridge you can get into an AR15 platform.  I'm in, and excited about it.

Nice work on the pressure testing,etc.

Looking good Bruce , wished the timing had been right for a 6mm

thank you sir.

I have the 6mm lynx reamer ordered be here in a month or so if you want one or want to talk about it give me a pm or a call.

Interesting, bears more than a passing resemblance to the 280 British cartridge. I have toyed around with the idea of building a rifle in that caliber for years. Reamers exist and so do reloading dies but I do not reload so that idea has gone nowhere.

The concept is also somewhat reminiscent of that 30 AR caliber Remington was hyping awhile ago. I don't think that went anywhere though. I haven't seen a rifle in that caliber in years and I don't think I ever saw a box of ammo for it.

I've been following your thread on the 68forums.

Nice work. May have to explore this option when I get the urge for another build.

Who's ready for an Elk hunt!?

HITS scores out to 600?  Ok!

There are 3 of the founder's that are going to try for an elk with their Valkyrie.

It already has a jack rabbit from a user in south Dakota

Can't wait for more hunting reports

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_3_17/663855_Introducing_Unimag__TM___Calling_for_volunteer_tester__selection_closed__test_reports_on_going_.html

i actually was one of the testers and the 308 case wildcats don't fit in it very well at all.

Talked to him about that? Could help out with the mag.

Had a great day at the range today with D. she was shooting her 223 and i did some accuracy testing with the valkyrie's  i wanted to finalize the 110 tnt load in both guns along with the 168 ncc lever loads.  

pretty much done with the bolt gun i am going to go with 38.5 8208 under the 110tnt  and 35.3 lever under the 168 nosler custom comp.  a little deciding what i want to do on the AR

This is impressive.  Solid battle rifle energy, weight, & velocity.

Just wanna say that, as a NON-Wildcatter, I am VERY impressed at how much labor you put into this project.  In fact, all of you Wildcat guys impress the living hell out of me.



This is just some darn neat stuff!!!!

Thank you,   yes it is a lot of work but man is it a lot of fun also.

when you see the results of your work on paper it makes all the work worth it.

good day at the range today. i shot the 120 sierra ph and 140 sierra game king with benchmark. i was having some cycling issues with the 140's then remembered i had turned the gas block down when running leverevolution. i opened it back up and it cycled much better. here are the targets. the 120 and benchmark are going to be a great load. these were all shot with the AR the fusions were shot with the savage bolt gun.










yesterday i got out and tested my 168 nosler custom comp load at some distance. had the steel set up at 300 and a 5-10 mph wind from right to left. i hit them with the bobcat also then i dialed and hit the plate at 500 it hit 2 inches low and 1 inch left. then to try my luck i went for the 720 plate. i could only see the top of the plate with the beans still in the field. but i dialed for wind and yardage and hit it first try. just saw the splatter don't know ow far off or on i was but a hit on an 18x18 plate at 720 for me is a win in my book.

Just curious as I've never experimented with any loads that have a profile like this...WSM and such.  I know these types of rounds have great potential in bolt rifles, but is there any feeding issue in semi-autos due to the profile of these cartridges under rapid fire?  Asking not challenging.

very nice, but how is the bolt? is there any metal left on it? it looks like a very fat cartridge. Some talk about 6.5g bolts breaking but this cartridge looks larger than the Grendel.

The RAR bolt and extension are special.

these rounds feed fine in the ar i use pri 6.8 mags and most of the time you dont' have to do anything to them. some require slight tweeking of the feed lips.  they are very efficient cases.

I use the 800 series bolt from ar15performance and it holds up perfectly.  i have ran it at 62k testing and it is still running strong.

did some testing this weekend. trying to finalize the benchmark loads with the 140 sierra and 120 sierra. also ran some reloader 15 accuracy looks to be promising but velocities are a bit slower. pressure trace wasn't working but at 37.4 grains of r15 it was compressing quite a bit. powder was at base of neck. also shot benchmark with the 140 berger vld. i shot these loads at .010 off the lands oal was 2.41 length to ogive wase 1.777 it can be ran at 2.295 one of the end users is using this for his hunting load 140 Berger, 35.2 gr Benchmark, 2.295 OAL, CCI SR mag primers. 2715 fps avg from his 21" barrel.. It looks to be mine as well. make sure to check the es and sd numbers on the 140 berger with benchmark they are some of the best i have seen.

the weather was cool 65-73 deg. with a 15-25 mph wind from 11 oclock. i am sure it messed with the groups a little and i shot them all pretty quick.

i am going to call 36 grains of benchmark and the 120 sierra my load for now, i shot 3 groups with it yesterday and the first one was fowlers and it was .75 moa, then i shot the .695 group and the last group of the day was the 1.5 and i have no idea why it did that, i was getting a little wore down and trying to get things done. that load has shot 4 groups under .8 and one over so i am going to run with it. on the 140's i am going to run 34.4 grains of benchmark.

Brit wanting to stuff .280" British into an AR:

http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_5/1781123_.html

“Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven.”



I'm more than very interested in this round.

sometimes i think it is close lol

let me know if you have any questions.