Mods, if this isn't allowed or you feeling should be in the "semi-auto" forum, please feel free to move.  

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.

I have a 20 inch 224v Craddock barrel, I'm interest to see what combinations work out for you.  I have some 80 grain Eld-m's that are next on my list for reloading as soon as the weather breaks.  Good luck on the new build, looking forward to updates.

I have a cheap psa upper & found a good load at just a hair over 1/2 moa with the 88g ELD’s & 23g of varget.... it’s only 2,550 FPS but shoots awesome at 1k (10.6 mils) haven’t tried further but soon will 🤘🏽

I was going to do a work up with varget from 22.8-24.0.  I've seen alot of people say between that range they are getting .6 moa or less.  The fps is kinda low vs other powders  but if it stays the same out past 1k I'm good with it.

Does Larue sell the barrels and bolts separately?
ive seen people mention them but can't find it on the website.

Yes and no.  But mostly no.

If you are part of their BuildAR's list, you got to get one.  I'm not on that list.  But you can usually find them in the EE w/ matching bolt for a good price.

To be honest, I would have normally gone with JP but at the time of my build their were back ordered for ever.  Then they found out they had the bad reamer and had to redo alot of barrels which made them not get back up to speed till the new year.  I have 1 other larue 223 barrel and it shoots great so I said why not.

I was out and about today and had to return something to Cabelas.  They actually had 224V ammo in stock (all 6 boxes of it), so I grabbed a box of FGMM 90g SMK and the Fed 75 TMJ.  They had 4 boxes of the 90g fusion, but i figured IF the heavier bullets work in my rifle, ill be getting SMK's anyway to test.

Most likely that is the old style 90 grain bullet, I wouldn't get worked up good or bad about results with it.  It's lifespan is limited to what's already on shelves.  In my searching I haven't seen anywhere that the new loadings from Federal are available yet.  It shouldn't be to much longer though.

A brief description of them talking about changing the jacket thickness is listed in the first "learn more" link in the "New and Improved Matchking" box.

Federal 224V page

Thanks for the heads up on it.  I just wanted to really see how it does in general.  I will be able to go to a local reloading supply store next weekend and pick up some different bullets and powders.  Starting off with the 88s I'll be using varget, xbr, 4064 and r15.  I'll prob pick up a lb of r17, cfe223 and h4895 next weekend. I'm just debating a workup, or I should say how wide of a range, for a few powders that I've seen out there and what "works."

The hornady 80 ELD and H4895 are a popular combo. Close or at 3000 FPS with a 24" barrel. The Larue barrel I had shot OK but wasn't what I was looking for.

Yeah, if this works out and I end up getting some good groups I will probably end up going with a JP.  But for now the LaRue will do.

So today 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.

Figured I'll start doing some basic prep stuff today 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.

Nice review and shooting.  For a new barrel, I would say it has some promise.  It'll probably settle down a little with a few more rounds thru it, and match that with a good hand load and you have a keeper.  Keep us posted, I can't wait to get out to the range and see how fast I can push those 80s with a 20 inch barrel.

*small update / place holder*

SB die and case gauge came in today.   I'm gonna try and get it set up tomorrow after I swing by the reloading store and pick up some h4895 and *hopefully* some 80gr elds.

Because I'm in Phoenix, and even though I dont shoot alot in the summer, I'm going to be mostly focusing on temp stable powders.  I'd like to try cfe223 but unless I come across a lb of it for free or crazy cheap, I prib wont touch it (and other none stable powders).  I know varget is but doesnt give the speeds, I'm personally hoping xbr turns out to be something good as it has been for my match 223 77 and 80 gr stuff.

Loaded up some ammo to test out tomorrow.

88 eld / varget
23.4, 23.6 and 23.8 @ 2.26
23.4, 23.6 and 23.8 @ 2.28 (.040 off lands)

88 eld / H4895
23.8-24.6 @ 2.28

80 eld / H4895
24.0-25.0

80 eld / Vargrt
24.4-26.0

80 eld / RL15
24.2-25.0

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  so out of my "warm up" my last shot is the 1 on paper.  

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. .  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.

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.

I'm watching this thread with a lot of interest because a Valkyrie is this years project but I just wanted to say thank you for putting in the work and posting the results.

It it hasn't gone unnoticed.

Thank you.

This is really the reason for this post.  Between a few different forums and Facebook, there is ALOT of info out there.  Problem is, atleast for me, it was just TOOOO much to try and hunt down at once.  I ended up just writing down ALOT of different load work-ups and "pet loads" for different bullet types and powders.  Now I'm just going to try them.  Valkyrie Assending on Facebook is a great resource.  Ultimate Reloader and The Big Man Outdoors YouTube is are also really good info.

That being said, I dont plan on using CFE223 or M2000, which I've heard is a good powder, they just arent temp sensitive and since I'm in Phoenix, it's a must.  The biggest thing I've learned so far is the 80gr ELD's require a .035-.040 jump.   88s are alittle more forgiving and are between. 020-.040.  H4895 and Varget are the main powders.

Also wanted to comment that your data collection is much appreciated.  I'm behind the curve from you, as I'm just getting the rifle together.  I also have a couple of hundred factory 88 Match rounds, mostly for comparison and the brass.  I was hoping to run the 88's in my reloads, but the 80's have been sounding promising as well.  I'll likely try H4895, but have a decent supply of IMR-4064 and IMR-3031 that may work OK too.  Thanks for keeping us informed!

Edit.  I have some running around to do so I'll get the rest of the info up later.

I made it out today.  It was alittle warmer than normal @ 85* but it wasnt to bad.  I appologize if the targets are a pain to see/read.  I made up some extra of these LaRue targets a while ago and forgot I ran out.  All i had left were the few of these that got printed wrong and 1 other kind of target. Didnt bother me much first go around with the 88s but when I got to the 80s, it was really messing with my vision. I put the 2 orange stickers on there 2 c how I'd do and inshot much better.   I did have a decent amount of popped primers with the 88s (6-8) and only 2 with the 80s.

First up is the 88 ELD's and Varget



Top left is 23.4g @ 2.26"
2653 fps
2642 fps
2652 fps
2672 fps
2652 fps

Top Right 23.8g @ 2.26
2732
2734
2722
2722
2723

bottom left Varget @ 23.5g @ 2.285
2701
2643
2677
2694
2672

bottom right Varget 23.6g @ 2.285
2693
2692
2702
2702
2697

2nd target is still 88 ELDs and Varget

Top left is 23.7g @ 2.285
2751
2712
2712
2722
2692

top right varget 23.6g @ 2.30
2693
2703
2702
2701
2697

Bottom left varget 23.8g @ 2.30
2711
2727
-----
-----
2752

Bottom right H4895 23.8g @ 2.30
2842
2832
2822
2822
2832


Group A 88 ELD's H4896 23.9g @ 2.30
2840
2831
2831
2831
-----

Group B.  (Ignore.  Group c was suppose to me my warmup/foulers and they somehow hit at group B)

Group C 88 eld H4895 24.0 @ 2.30
2791
2792
2812
2803
2812

Now onto the 80 elds.  I'm not gonna lie...  I shot like crap on top of the double vision of the targets were throwing me off.  As you can see when I out the orange ge circle on the 1 my groups were much better.  I'll prob go back and reshoot those groups.  I told myself to just save them for later but I wanted to shoot.  Ended up wasting components imo.



Top left 80 ELD H4895 24.4g  @2.28
2985
2925
2911
2903
------

Top right H4895 24.5
2987
2952
2932
2932
2933

Bottom left H4895 24.6
2962
2942
2942
2962
2963

Bottom right H4895 24.4g  2.265
2941
2943
2939
2943
2931

Center H4895 24.6 @ 2.265
2962
2961
2962
2949
2948



Top Left H4896 24.8g @ 2.265
2962
----
2988
2993
2943

Top Right 80 ELD Varget 24.4g @ 2.265
2763
2883
2871
2763
------

Bottom left 24.6g
2902
-----
2892
2902
2891

Bottom right 24.8gr
2922
2903
2913
----
---

Center 88 eld varget 23.4 @ 2.30
(Didnt look at speeds for all 5 shots. That's my fault)

I apologize for the kinda crappy last post (atleast to me).  I have been working alot of OT lately and lucky to get 1 day off (as i did today).  I was hoping to go to the range today and redo a few groups and try a few other loads just to see (mostly 24.0 and 25.0g H4895 with the 80g elds) as well as redo the 88 varget load.  Unfortunately, today is my only day off again and between last week and this 1, i have to many other errands to do that i had to pass on going to the range.  It sucks,specially since summer is around the corner and we are already in the high 80s, who knows if next week or 2 will bring the high 90s.

I will be able to get out next Monday for sure.  I am still debating on doing a load workup of XBR.  Everything I see says it WILL work fine, but H4895 seems to be THE powder for these 80 and 88 ELDs as it has the high velocity needed.  I need to get some 77 and 80 SMK's for my  556 service rifle, so i will prob do a work up of those HOPEFULLY before summer hits, i may also try some 90 SMK's (may try the new factory federal stuff first and make sure my rifle actually likes the 90s.

I wouldn’t blame yourself too much for the factory 88’s going at 1.25-1.5moa. I don’t think the LT barrels were cut for them, or even the AE75’s. I couldn’t get sub-moa results from either. Hoping that won’t be the case with the WOA and Rainier Ultramatch, but time will tell.

Appreciate the work and effort you’re putting into this. I’ll be working up some loads this week and you’ve provided some good starting points.

yeah, seems to me the 80s are the clear winner, as much as i wanted the heavier bullets to be "better."

Over the summer ill be debating on upping the barrel to a JP or not.

Ment to add.  There is someone over on the Facebook page "Valkyrie Ascending" by the name of Mark Lensing who is getting someone to remake the "R W Hart Case Saver Swage for Small Primer Pockets"

This is pretty much a must for this round.  Out of this last 100 rounds, I had 25 that ended up with "no go" primer pockets.  So out of 200 once fired, I have around 40 that are already bad.

Went out today to shoot a few "pet" loads and see how they did.  for the most part it was good.  I was mostly playing with the bullet seating this time out.  I shot well, but i think i need up up the 2nd stage trigger pull alittle more.  A few times i pulled right through stage 1 and fired when i wasnt 100% ready, and it shows.  I also had 2 weird things happen.  1 was the pin for my hammer walked out alittle causing the hammer itself to angel sideways.  Idk when this happened, wasnt till i got home did i notice it.  The other time is when i fired a round (fired fine) and fed the next round.  THAT round it just went *click* and when i tried to extract the round, nothing.  I tried using a cleaning rod to push it out and it wasnt budging.  Let the BCG fly forward in an attempt to have the extractor get ahold of it, which it did, and round came out ok.  after inspecting it, everything looked ok and no light primer strike.  BUT after i fired that round, as u can see in the pic below, it had like a reverse punctured primer.  as of right now, idk WHAT the heck it is, but i thought it was maybe the firing pin broke off.  checked it and it was fine.  this happened around the 1/2 way mark.

first target was 88 ELD's.  just trying to fine tune a decent load.



23.4gr Varget @ 2.26 .6" group for the 4, .81 for the 5
2662
2653
2662
2662
2663

23.6gr Varget @ 2.26 5 shot 1.01"
2683
2693
2864
2662
2673

23.8gr Varget @ 2.26 the 4 shot is .55, the 5th (lower shot) i pulled right though the 1st stage, but .94"
2694
2693
2734
2732
2714

23.6gr Varget @ 2.28 the 3 shot is .42.  the other 2, no joke, i had a fly land on my nose for 1 then i sneezed on the 2nd
2653
2687
2672
2682
2687

23.7gr Varget @ 2.28 5 shot .78
2702
2691
2692
2697
2703

This group was 1 88 and the rest 80 elds.  same thing, trying to find a good pet load.  they turned out "ok" but at this point is when i think the hammer/pin thing happened as well as this is where the primer thing started.  


88ELD
24.0gr H4895 @ 2.28 1.26"
2770
2732 *blew primer*
----- *weird thing on primer*
2763
2772

80 ELD *here on out*
24.5gr h4895 @ 2.26 *sucked*
2882
2892
2902
2893
2912

24.6gr h4895 @ 2.26 1.01"
2952
2922
2927
2912
2921

24.0gr h4895 @ 2.28 .79 for the 4.  5th i pulled all the way through
2872
2852
2852
2843
2832

24.5gr h4895 @ 2.28
2897
2912
2903
2922
2897

So here is the round/primer.  sorry for the crappy pic, but it is a mount, not a divot.   I am just wondering if somehow part of the blown primer from the prior round got stuck in the bolt face and when the next round fired, that extra bit flowed into the firing pin hole and stuck itself to the primer.  *btw, none of these loads were really all the hot.  maybe pushing the upper limits, but defiantly not hot in away way.  


I am really surprised I didnt break the 3k fps mark this time out.  I will also have to go through everything and see what all the data i got is saying.  More than likely since Phoenix's summer is upon me, this will prob be 1 of the last few outings i do till October.

I’m using a 20” Rainier Arms Ultramatch Mod 2; with my loads I’m running the 80ELDs at 2.285” with 24.9gr RE15.  2.260” is too short for 80gr ELD+ I believe

Just got some H4895 to try out.

What brand of brass?

I’ve got Federal on 6th and 7th loadings, with the pockets holding.  Necks are splitting first

I uniform the pockets every time but I don’t use anything else.

And I do start skirting high pressure but when I see the signs I back down.

Hornady brass.

It seems to be real hit and miss as far as primer pockets going.

Sorry for a no real update "update"  mostly didnt want to lose the thread to achive.

Got more brass and some 80s and 88s.  Ordered 100 90 and 95 smks.

I'm on the fence about ditching the larue barrel for a JP.  If they would out the barrel on sale of i could find another 10% off coupon, I would do it.  Otherwise I may still give it 1 more "season" with the larue, but idk if my heart (trust) would be into that barrel .  I'll prob give the smks a shot through the larue and that will be my deciding factor.

For whatever it’s worth, my LaRue barreled 224 only likes 90SMK. I have shot 75, 88 and 90gr soft points. Groups were inconsistent at best.

Thanks for the heads up.

I havent give then 90 and 95 smks a shot.  I am going to get 100 of each hopefully this weekend and make some work-ups.  I REALLY want this barrel to do well, and while it does have a few good loads, its just been inconstant.  Im also sitting on about 500 88s and 80s

Have you shot the factory 90 SMK's?  well.. hopefully the NEW factory 90s gr?  i know the older stuff sucked for me and i was blowing primers.

**just realized pics arent loading.  guess im over a"limit" by photobucket and have to wait a few days.

** Update 10/28/19 **

Went out today to shoot some "proof loads" and see what this barrel had in it.  Temp was around 75* and winds were between 5-10 mph.  I also got to shoot some of the new style FGMM 90 SMKs.  For a factory bullet, it shot well.  MUCH better than the orignal FGMM stuff.  I shot 2x 5 shot groups, mostly to see how it does as well as i needed some "fouler" ammo since i cleaned the barrel since.

88 ELDs with Varget @ 2.26"

I tried from 23.4-23.8gr.  I will revisit 23.6gr.  that 5th shot was 100% me, mostly cause it was just me at the range and someone was"kind" enough to sit next to me (out of all the 40 open bays) with their 30-06.  needless to say, I wasnt ready for his shot and as my finger was on the wall of the 1st stage of the trigger, BOOM!!! i jerked the shit out of the trigger.   Go figure.   It also started off great, as you can see there is only 4 shots... thats cause the 1st round i loaded went *click* looked at it and realized i somehow forgot to put a primer in there

next is the 88 ELDs with Varget but @ 2.28"

I tried 23.5-23.9gr.  these groups looked "better"  the asshole with the 30-06 was still LOUD so i think my shooting was off.  either way the all the groups but 23.6 looked good.  So ill prob just redo this series again.

Next is the 88 ELD with H4895 @ 2.28"

i tried 24.0-24.8.  I may revist 24.2-24.4, but overall, not a good time :(

Next is the 88 ELDs with H4895 @ 23.7 and 23.8gr @ 2.30"  *last 2 bottom of page
i may have to look into some load data for this, as the 23.7 looked like shit but the 23.8 looked like it could be promising.  maybe a workup from 23.8-24.2???


Last is the 80 ELD with H4895.  This was more to see if 2.26 or 2.28 was preferred.   I will say, at this time the wind shifted and was either to my back or moving right at a constant 5-10 mph.  either way, nothing all that great imo.

On a plus side, ZERO blown primers.  ZERO malfunctions.  pretty good velocities *ill post them up tomorrow as its getting late

UPDATE 11/5/19

Went out again today to chase the last bit of 88s for a work up and i think i finally found a winner with Varget.

top 3 targets are;
88 ELDs
23.6-23.8 Varget
@ 2.260 (or more importantly, 0.065 off the lands)  Have i mentioned how sensitve these bullets are to being off the lands??!?!?!

bottom 3 and middle left are;
88 ELDs
23.3-23.6 H4895
@ 2.260 (0.060 off lands)




next is some 80s again.  i will redo the 23.1 because i know that horizontal stringing was all me.  
80 ELD
24.0-24.4 H4985
2.280 (0.045 off lands)




after looking through all my reloading data, i realized i never did a 80 ELD and Varget workup.  I know H4895 is "better" velocity wise, but it seems i cant group the 88s well with it vs all the times i tried Varget.  80s have been real hit and miss, so i think im going to order a box of 80 ELDs and try a workup with varget mext.

** update 2/18 **

I have been shooting more pistol lately but decided to take out the 224V yesterday and test a 88gr proof load. If you go back through all the posts, you will see this load has always done well.  Again, I feel the biggest thing is the distance off the lands vs anything else.

Anywho, 23.8gr Varget @ 2.26" oal (0.060-0.065 off the lands) is the load for the 88s for me.  


I loaded up 10 rounds of each charge weight and did a round Robin style with them. Unfortunately, and 100% my fault, my 1st shot with 23.8 I pulled right through the 1st stage and slapped the 2nd stage.  I'm surprised it was even that "close" to the rest of the 4 shots.

I have a 80gr load with H4895 I'm going to check,  possibly this weekend if I have time.  I'm debating on trying 73rd eld or 75gr hpbt....but I have blown through so much brass, at this point I'll be happy with an 80 and 88 pet load and call it good.

And all this shooting is with a 20" Larue 1/7 barrel?
And groups are 100yds?  200yds?

Yes, same barrel the entire time.  20" LaRue.  All at 100 yards.

I've been busy at work the last 2 weeks so I havent had a chance to even make up some 80gr stuff.  I also have to make some 77 smk for my ar service rifle and 147gr 308.  All by sun night.

Well as I thought.  the 80s didnt shoot that well.  did the same "round robin" style.  Im ok with this though as I only have a box of 80s left but i did stock up on 88s.  

I did make another 2 batches (10 rounds total) of 88s with 23.8g varget and shot the same type of small group.  

I may save these 80 elds and try them in my precision 223 wylde... will just have to single load.