Over the past couple of years, enthusiasm for long(er) range shooting has exploded. Sure, there are competitions that make it structured, but part of the reason for the boundless popularity is that it’s just fun.
Hitting a target at long range requires 50 percent skill, 50 percent science, and 43 percent pure VooDoo. Oh, and 38 percent guess work. If you’re keeping track, that adds up to 181 percent, which seems about right considering the complexity of long-range ballistics.
About a year ago, Federal Premium introduced a new long-range cartridge—the 224 Valkyrie. You can read more about the cartridge itself here. The short answer to the “what’s the big deal” question is this: It’s a great long-range performer that still fits into a standard AR-15 lower receiver configuration.
There are lots of solid long range cartridges like 6.5mm Creedmoor, but most of them require the larger (and less standardized) AR-10 chassis. So, the MSR 15 Valkyrie is truly an “AR-15” platform but with a different chamber, bolt, and magazine.
We’ll come back to those details later. For now, just know the Valkyrie will give you far less drop at long ranges and will buck the wind significantly better than standard 55-, 69-, and 77-grain .223/5.56 loads.
A Quick Tour of the MSR 15 Valkyrie
The Savage MSR 15 Valkyrie is built on a standard AR-15 lower receiver platform, so it maintains compatibility with uppers, parts, and accessories.
It took the folks at Savage a little while to get into the Modern Sporting Rifle Business, otherwise known as AR platform rifles, but when they did, they jumped in with both feet. Detractors pontificated that the market was already overcrowded, but I disagree.
No matter how many existing products are on the shelves, there’s always room for one if does things better.
Read the rest: Range365
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