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Introducing the 7MM Valkyrie AR

81K views 271 replies 33 participants last post by  earlytom  
#1 · (Edited)
http://www.7mmvalkyrie.com
The 7mm Valkyrie AR is a wildcat hunting round being developed for the AR15. It is based on the 6.5x47 Lapua case with the shoulder pushed back to allow it to run in the ar15 at 2.295 oal and necked up to 7mm. Case trim length will be 1.596-1.60 and case capacity should be in the 42-43.5 grains of water.

It is designed around the 140 class of bullets which should be pushed to 2700-2800 fps from a 24" barrel. Most 150 and 160 class will also be able to run in it with the 160 sierras being able to run at 2.25 oal so they will work perfectly in 300 black out mags. Estimates are for 2600 fps from the 160's. 120 class bullets should be in the 2900-3000 range and the 110's in the 3000-3100 range
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The 7VAR With the 2.295 oal PRI 6.8 magazines work best allowing 7 rounds in a 10 round mag. The larger mags don't allow much more capacity because the magazine starts to swell.


The Valkyrie is a reloader only caliber for now. The case forming requires neck turning and reaming, neck thickness needs to be .012 - .0135. As stated 6.5x47 lapua brass is the best brass to make the cases from. It forms the easiest, lasts the longest, is small primer and handles the pressures the best. Also there is zero loss rate when forming.


6.5 creedmoor cases also work but the brass is softer and only lasts 2-4 firings on average. It also has a loss rate of 10% when forming from creases/folds in the neck/shoulder area. It does have the highest case capacity. Winchester 308 brass also works but you still have a 10% loss rate when forming. Any 308 based case can be used but case capacity suffers, work to make them increases so that is why they are not on the recommend list.


There will be 3 guys offering brass conversion for the 7 VAR, 270AR and the 257 Bobcat. Already processed brass will also be available in a limited capacity to start.

You can join in on the talks with us on our facebook group page https://www.facebook.com/groups/7mmVar/


Dies will be from Whidden gunworks with their competition micrometer seater die which is one of the best in the industry.

Some of the powders expected to work well with the Valkyrie are: CFE 223, Leverevolution, xbr 8208, H335, AA2520, Tac, Xterminator. Also r15 and arcomp might also work well also n530,n540 and n550 should be workable powders.

We are taking the community development route with this round. We have 15 founders and 10 of those are testers ready to test barrels from 16.5" to 26". Reamers will be due mid march with testing starting with a savage bolt gun 26" barrel. Then 5-8 weeks later the ar barrels should be done and come online for testing. Eisenach Arms is in on the development and will have a limited edition upper receiver with the Valkyrie logo.



7 mm Valkyrie tenetive time line

Jan 8th ordered reamers

March 10th Reamers due

March 15th Chamber first test barrel - 26" savage will also make 2 dillon trim dies and 3 forming dies before sending reamers to whidden.

March 16-19 Order dies -- payments for dies are due by april 1st 5-8 weeks to get dies from the 1st -- they make custom dies first 2 weeks of month.

April 3rd Tester's barrel payments due - tester barrel order date - (sooner if we can) or any founder that wants their barrel.

May 13th Dies will be done soon.

May 15th Tester barrels should be arriving soon

June 1st All testers should have barrels and we should be in full test mode.

June 15 - July 1 if all testing is good order rest of founder's group barrels - barrel payments due for final group.

August 1st will start taking orders for first group buy, will only be open for 2 weeks. want to place order by aug 15 so barrels can be in hands for hunting season.


Comparing the Valkyrie case to the 270AR case. I opted to push the shoulder back a little further so we could run all 140 class bullets at 2.295 and most 150 and 160 class bullets. It just gave more room to play. first is the 140 nosler bt next is the 120 nosler bt, then the 270ar case, 139sst all of them at 2.295. on the far right is a 270ar case just necked up and a 139sst seated. it has to be seated at 2.35 to keep the ogive out of the case.





I will be using the pressure trace system to collect pressure data during testing.




Here is estimated data, it should be close I used information gained with the 270AR and the 257 Bobcat to hopefully come up with some close estimations.












 
#250 ·
Hunting news out of the Valkyrie camp. First blood was drawn, This big pig was taken lastnight
It was taken by Jim Learmonth his words "1st Valkyrie kill. 300+ lb boar. 1 headshot, DRT, zero steps. 140 Berger VLD. 163 yds, ATN XSIGHT Night Vision, Surefire Super Tac IR illumination. Booyah!"
Congrats to jim he has taken first blood with the Valkyrie I am a proud papa to see his creation take first blood.

his rifle is a 21"





 
#258 ·
Thanks guys, it was a rather devastating exit wound on this one. Like Bruce said it was rather close so still lots of speed on the hit but also this was a quartering away hit at a pretty sharp angle. I think this contributed some to the massive hole, the exit in the hide was actually oblong in shape and about 50cent piece size but the internal damage had skidded the rib cage at exit and I think that made the bullet come apart at the last min, hence the shredded look to the tissue. I myself though am very happy with the results, dumped him right on the spot. With a nice buck I'll risk a little meat for a DRT to ease my nerves lol.
 
#259 ·
here are specs in the chamber for another bullet, this is measured in the savage. it is the hollow point 140 sierra game king i am going to use it in my n530 test today.
Sierra 140 hpbt gk #1912 BC 0.386
bullet oal 1.181
bullet lto 0.687
distance to lands lto 1.844
distance to lands oal 2.342
load to lto 1.797
load to oal 2.295
load to distance off lands 0.047

after looking for N530 for a year or more i finally found some so i did a big test with bullets from 110 to 150 to see how it might work.

it looks to be a good powder i started a little high on some of the charges and pierced a primer with the 120 sierra ph.

accuracy looks like it could be there and there was some secondary pressure spikes with the 110 tnt so it needs a retest to verify because velocity was very good with the 110's




 
#260 ·
Check out this weeks blog post. one of the end users Keith Barker has come up with a procedure to make brass from 308 nato brass that has pretty much zero loss

http://www.7mmvalkyrie.com/blog

From Keith Barker Detailed example of my process of making 7VAR brass from 7.62 NATOuseing a .260 Rem die to pre-form the case before forming to 7VAR.
Edited: Nov.1st 2015
Please note that you still have to be careful and do not put too much lube on the area to be formed and keep your die clean.

Also, don't forget... In the end you still have to deal with the crimped primer pockets. Swage or ream the primer pocket to uniform and take out the crimp.
 
#263 ·
I should note I was simply doing some ladder tests as well as multiple cleanings throughout the ~25 rounds I fired yesterday. I was only loading 3 at a time (twice) so I'm not sure how many rounds the Asc's can hold. After adjusting he has block 3 clicks they were locking the bolt back properly.

Yes it will be suppressed. That is the Crux brake suppressor mount. Hope to have the can next month.
 
#265 ·
So, I had hoped to find my 7mm Val brass after a move... no joy... However, I did find some 6GT brass... Can I use the 6GT brass to make 7mm Val brass? How would I do the conversion? Can I just run it through the Valkyrie sizing die and trim? Do I need to bump the neck up to 6.5mm first? Is there someone willing to make brass for a fee??
 
#268 ·
Don't know how i missed this. 6.8 spc was a launching pad for me to the 7 VAR which I purchased about 10 mos ago (20" SPR fluted). 6GT works fantastic. It is necked up to 7mm (I use 6.5mm in-between, for 2-stages; but 3 stages may be recommended to be gentler on the neck) then annealed, then sized with the 7VAR die...then a decent chunk of neck cut off (some use harbor freight mini chop saw i think, but I do manual arm workout). My fresh cases vs once-fired loads have been very consistently similar to each other in speed and accuracy. Also, the 2 brass types commonly available (Alpha Munitions and GA Precision/Hornady) shoot very similar with the same load, but Alpha is known to last longer. My rifle has been very accurate...when doing load developelment ladders, I rarely see something beyond 2 or 2.5 MOA when out of a node, and of course sub moa when things are right. It is neat to have a rifle to accommodate 110gr to 168gr, though I haven't explored anywhere near that entire range.
Image

I know my rifle looks funny, cuz California.
If you contact Bruce Finnegan (Mad Dog Weapon Systems) he will be very responsive in helping you get set up, has been my experience. Also, there is the forum, modern sporting rifle evolution/mdws forum chitchat or some such...not extremely active but has a lot of information.
 
#271 ·
I've shot the rifle embarrassingly little (I'm a tech industry wage slave family dude). I bought it for deer hunting (just like my 6.8), so focused on solid coppers. Took it on 3x weekend hunts between August and October 2023 and didn't fire a single shot (California hunting scene, ugh). So, no data on game performance. Perhaps this year will be the year....

From range time:
Breaking in, I shot HDY 120gr VMAX comfortably up around 2800 fps.
Next, all kinds of solid coppers:
130gr Absolute Hammer: 2750 fps
119gr Absolute Hammer: 2850 fps
140gr Barnes TSX: 2650 fps (this is what I chose for deer load)
120gr Barnes TTSX: 2800 fps

So, not a lot of data. The cartridge is known to like Leverevolution for a wide range of bullets (perhaps even designed around this powder if that's possible), and I found out for myself that Power Pro Varmint also works pretty well.

If you visit the 7VAR website(s) (I believe linked throughout this thread), powder/projectile data is plentiful from the early days of the wildcat's debut. I'm looking forward to many years of playing with different loads with this rifle, especially considering the abysmal rate I'm able to shoot it at.
 
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