Federal

Ever since we learned about the new 224 Valkyrie round from Federal and its alleged performance, the questions have been fast and furious. But how does this perform out of a 16 or 18-inch barrel?

Winchester’s marketing slogan was quite a bold statement, but one that was not braggadocio. When the Model 70 was introduced – way back in 1936 – it represented what I consider to be the ultimate culmination of the American bolt-action hunting rifle. It had all of the necessary appointments: a strong action – closely related to the Mauser Gewehr 98 – with a reliable extractor, capable of handling the highest of cartridge pressures, a well-fitting stock, an excellent trigger and a three-position safety which would (eventually) work perfectly with a rifle scope.

It is not often we see a caliber that actually changes the way we think about shooting. Wildcats abound, often with marginal improvement over a factory round at best. There are exceptions, though most calibers fail to catch hold. Even those backed by major players. Several new calibers have been tried in AR-15’s over the past few years, none strong enough to give the rifle new legs. Today, hopefully, that changes.

Syntech Ammunition was launched a few years back, specially designed as a high-quality training round. It keeps a lead core, but the jacket is polymer. The bullet is encased to keep any lead on steel contact from inside the gun, eliminating aerosolized lead and overall making a cleaner to shoot round. The construction also reduces splash back from steel targets.

Stag Arms is a company we know for high-quality products, especially if you are left-handed. The leader and often only choice for the devil handed, everything they make is available in either left or right pattern. Well, good news friends. They have jumped on the Valkyrie train. At SHOT 2018 we stopped by and checked out the new Stag 15 Valkryie.

SHOT Show 2018 has just under 2,000 vendors on site this year, so there’s lots of new long-range shooting gear to see. Better yet, the Range Day outing Monday before the show opens has a 1,000-yard range where some vendors provide the opportunity to try new guns, ammo, and gear. Here are some of the interesting long-range shooting products we found this year.

If you haven’t heard about the newest Federal premium round, you may be living under a rock. Released in December of 2017, the .224 Valkeryie is slowly gaining traction with long-range precision shooters. The cartridge is based on an .30 Remington/6.8 SPC case. The cartridge will work in your typical bolt-action rifle but it will also work in an AR.

Like many other successful cartridges, the .224 Valkyrie was conjured up in a shooting enthusiast’s mind. A “Wildcat” in concept, this new offering from Federal Premium was designed as a ballistic solution to solve an academic problem: how to take “America’s Rifle” to 1,000 yards and beyond. 

A lot of these guns are real charmers and would make great gifts leading into this shopping season for all types of shooters.