LAS VEGAS -- Savage officials say the new MSR 15 Long Range rifle in .224 Valkyrie will outrange any comparable .223 rifle by 400 yards.
Federal Premium introduced the new .224 Valkyrie in mid-December and Savage quickly adapted its MSR 15 shoot the high-performance round.
Patrick Kelley, a long-range shooter and consultant for Savage, told Military.com here at SHOT Show 2018 that there no comparison between factory loads of .223 and the new .224.
"If you are handloading ... you can make the .223 do lots of cool things, but you can't buy factory ammo in .223 and factory ammo in Valkyrie and compare the two because there is no comparison," Kelly describing how factory .223 is effective to between 600 and 800 meters.
"The .223 ends its job at about 800 if you are a good shooter. But you are not going to go to 1,000 yards without specialty hand-loads that a master hand-loader knows how to do."
The MSR 15 Long Range rifle in .224 "allows the brand new guy to go to the store, buy a rifle, buy ammo and be competitive out to 1,000 and beyond," Kelley said.
Federal's .224 Valkyrie comes in a 60, 75 and 90-grain bullets.
Despite the increased performance, the .224 feels like shooting the .223, Kelley said.
"The recoil impulse is virtually identical," Kelley said.
The MSR 15 long-range model features a Magpul PRS stock, free-floating handguard, a 22-inch barrel, Savage's rifle-length-plus gas system and a new adjustable muzzle break.
-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
