Hornady Ammunition has jumped all over the new 224 Valkyrie cartridge, with three new rounds added to its line. The 224 Valkyrie cartridge is a rimless, bottlenecked ,intermediate rifle cartridge that was developed by Federal Ammunition to rival the .22 Nosler, while still running well in modern sporting rifles.
It’s a 6.8 SPC case necked down to employ .224 diameter bullets. Hornady’s three new loadings include a 60-grain Varmint Express loaded with a V-Max bullet running at 3,300 f.p.s. at the muzzle (1,451 ft. lbs.), a 75-grain boattail hollow-point Black at 3,000 f.p.s. (1,499 ft. lbs.) and an 88-grain ELD Match at a muzzle velocity of 2,675 f.p.s. (1,398 ft. lbs.). With a 200-yard sight-in, they hit 42.6 inches, 41.7 inches and 47.4 inches low, respectively, at 500 yards. All three loads rival the iconic 6.5 Grendel for drop at 1,000 yards, and the Valkyrie actually extends usable drop to 1,300 yards compared to the Grendel’s 1,200 yards. It should be noted, however, that the Grendel still has a significant energy advantage at extreme range due to its significantly heavier bullet.
The comparison between the two rounds really comes down to how hard they hit at extreme range—a non-starter for target shooter, but a significant consideration for long-range hunters. Retail pricing on the three Hornady 224 Valkyrie loads was not available at press time. Contact Hornady Manufacturing; Tel.: (800) 338-3220; Web: www.hornady.com