A customer sent me this photo of his fine Bison Armory based rifle. The 22″ 6.8 can reach out there. The customer got the last of our Mega billet side charge upper receivers. Mega is gone and there won’t be any more of these fine upper receivers. I built all my long-range AR-15 rifles with these SBU side charge receivers, they are bulky and burly and absolutely perfect for the job.
68FanClub I don’t have any real world big game hunting experience with the 224 so I can’t say directly. Indirectly it can push a 22 caliber bullet at decent velocities, so if you can find a 70+ grain hunting bullet that is known to take deer sized game effectively at your desired distances in other calibers, then compare that with the 224 and the velocities it’s capable of. There are some companies known for good hunting bullets that make some in 224 caliber, such as Nosler, Swift, and Barnes, typically around 70 grains max. Hopefully someone will make a heavier hunting bullet soon in the 80 to 90 grain range. That would probably do the job very nicely at 500 yards.
On the other hand, our 22″ 224 barrel is pretty heavy, again not sure you’d want to lug that around. Email me at gunsmith@bisonarmory.com about barrel weight and I’ll get you some numbers and compare with our 16″ and 18″ 6.8 Recon barrels which are what I typically recommend and use personally for hunting.
I have a question concerning the .224 Valkyrie.
Some background:
I have been a 6.8 Fan from way back. Originally had a Stag 20″ 6.8 bull barreled upper 2007/08ish. Entirely too damn heavy to lug around in the woods. Went to a 16″ barreled 6.8 ARP upper. To be honest, I wasn’t impressed, but just read some of your articles about the 115 Federal junk ammo and I have shot it with the Hornady 120 SSTs and agree definitely night and day as far as repeatedly. I also have a 8″ MDWS 6.8 Pistol but it’s just a “just because why not gun”, nothing more.
My Question – Is the .224 Vk anything more than a paper puncher? I have seen a few Facebook posts of younger hunters/recoil sensitive folks killing decent sized deer with the .224 Vk. But don’t know the details. Was it real world hunting, or was it tied up in the back yard the day before opening day 🙂.
Can the 6.8 be just as accurate out to 500yds if you know your yardage and drop and still be able to knock down something when it gets there.
I guess there is no denying the more wind resistant .224 Vk.
I live and hunt in mostly wooded hilly terrain. I have actually killed more deer inside of 35yds with a bow than all of my firearms combined, but have hunted with just about every ethical gun (in my opinion) from 30.06 to head blowing off 50 cal muzzleloaders (might be a tad overkill)
Sorry for the rambling just curious if I should get a 22″ .224 Valkyrie or would I be less impressed if I most likely will never shoot at a 1000yd range and would be happier in refining my 6.8 possibly upping the barrel length, get into reloading?
Oh wait, are you talking 6.8 or 224 Valkyrie? If 6.8 then you’ll want a heavier barrel for 500 yards and up, 110 or higher. In that case I use H322 or H335. 110 Accubond or 120 SST are your friends for long range.
Reloader 17, no question, it is the optimal powder for 90 grain bullets. I use it. I recommend you run the Hornady Ballistics Calculator to get ballistics data:
https://www.hornady.com/team-hornady/ballistic-calculators/#!/
I run both the 90 SMK and 90 A-Tip. Around 2500 to 2600 from a 22″ barrel.
I am wanting to put a 22 inch bison barrel in my AR frame. 90 gr HPBT with a powder I get the most fps at the muzzle. I love reaching out and hitting ground hogs at 500 yards and up. Which powder can I get the most range out of reloading my own shells? And what is the bullet drop from 200 yards on out 100 yards at a time with that bullet??