“.224”

The .224 Valkyrie has been lighting up the long-range varmint and predator scene for almost a year now, and the new MSR-15 Long Range rifle is designed specifically to further the cartridge’s potential capabilities.

Assistant Editor Connor McKibbin recently had the opportunity to join Federal Premium, Savage Arms and Bushnell in Texas to test Federal’s new .224 Valkyrie cartridge—the world’s first cartridge to remain supersonic at 1300 yards, designed specifically for AR-15s.

Sierra Ammunition has announced the new Prairie Enemy Varmint and redator family of hunting cartridges.

Nosler has introduced Varmageddon, its new line of varmint bullets and ammunition for 2012.

Federal Premium has announced the addition of three loads to its American Eagle rifle line of ammunition.

Bushnell has increased its offering of AR Optics, with two new riflescopes for 2020.

Here’s a look at the top 10 varmint and predator loads available right now. Thanks to widespread availability and quality manufacturing, many of these loads are fairly inexpensive yet highly reliable.

Hodgdon has announced the release of its 2019 Hodgdon Annual Manual, which contains data for Hodgdon, IMR and Winchester smokeless propellants in more than 5,000 loads with updates for 17 rifle and pistol cartridges.

I read somewhere that today’s premium bullets represent the greatest advance in big game hunting technology since the widespread use of the optical sight, and I agree 100 percent. Many of the myths that we face today are the product of outdated truth.