Considering a 20 caliber...
- Thread starter long40shot
- Start date
I like the 39BK just fine, but I'm not of the budget for them in 500+ round quantities shooting at PD's. Sierra has been too proud of their product the last few years. Never had a 20 barrel wouldn't shoot the vmax as well or better and can still buy them relatively cheap. For those of you with a larger budget more power to you, but I certainly can't justify 25-35 cent per round bullets coupled with 25-50 cent or more per round barrel wear calibers. A 3 groove 20P is good for 5000+ rounds for me unless I get greedy.
Like what I saw for the 20-222 so will be looking at it hard. I have a Cooper single shot Model 21 in .17 Mk 5 so the bolt should work. Anyone know what premium barrel makers make .20 barrels, probably need a 3 land, Liilja probably. Others? How do I determine the most barrel I can put on the existing action? I am much more informed for big stuff.
hogpatrol
Silver $$ Contributor
PacNor, Lilja, but don't overlook the Muller sold by bugholes.com.
Stick with a Pacnor 3 Groove
20 Practical- no question.
The only difference between the 20 Practical and the 20 "tactical" is that the "tactical" requires needlessly moving the shoulder for absolutely no reason or performance gain and saddles you with the infinitely stupid "tactical" moniker. If you value black webbing and straps above all else proceed with the "tactical".
20 Practical is a great round. Easy to form and amazingly accurate.
Built one a few years ago, awesome off the bench- a little boring actually- then took it to WY for pds.
The 39gr BKs were absolute murder on the dogs. Was missing at first from holding too far over or into the wind- its a laser.
Awesome amount of components, load data and results from the 20 Practical.
The only difference between the 20 Practical and the 20 "tactical" is that the "tactical" requires needlessly moving the shoulder for absolutely no reason or performance gain and saddles you with the infinitely stupid "tactical" moniker. If you value black webbing and straps above all else proceed with the "tactical".
20 Practical is a great round. Easy to form and amazingly accurate.
Built one a few years ago, awesome off the bench- a little boring actually- then took it to WY for pds.
The 39gr BKs were absolute murder on the dogs. Was missing at first from holding too far over or into the wind- its a laser.
Awesome amount of components, load data and results from the 20 Practical.
.20 VarTarg is amazing. I have two now. When the barrels give up on my .223s, at least one or more of them will come back as a .20 Practical. Easy choice.
A good point was make about the 39 grain Sierra bullets. They are expensive. Almost twice the cost of 32 grain Hornady Z-max bullets and I've not notice any accuracy advantages.
A good point was make about the 39 grain Sierra bullets. They are expensive. Almost twice the cost of 32 grain Hornady Z-max bullets and I've not notice any accuracy advantages.
I must say I liked the 20 practical so much that I have 2 of them ...One is a 3 groove 28 inch PacNor and
the other is a 26 inch Criterion barrel. Both are very accurate. Getting 3860 fps. with the PacNor and just under
3680 fps. on the other. Go at least 11 twist...I use 40 v-max in both. Love the performance in the rat fields at
any range. I have made many shots over 500 yards. I think I'll always own at least one 20 Practical. I really like
the fact that ya can use .223 brass which is easy to get.
the other is a 26 inch Criterion barrel. Both are very accurate. Getting 3860 fps. with the PacNor and just under
3680 fps. on the other. Go at least 11 twist...I use 40 v-max in both. Love the performance in the rat fields at
any range. I have made many shots over 500 yards. I think I'll always own at least one 20 Practical. I really like
the fact that ya can use .223 brass which is easy to get.
Jdne5b
Gold $$ Contributor
They had a $30 off sale in Feb. I put a 11tw on order for not much more than a stainless 12tw green mountain. Looking forward to getting this 20 Practical together.
100% spot-on
20 Practical gets my vote. We have built 4 of them off the Savage 12 FV's using the Schilen select match grade barrels. Brass is very easy to work and very plentiful. In fact the guys at the range yesterday were putting their brass in the through away bucket so I got about another 100 Lake City brass for nothing. Accuracy is very good and they pound Pdogs. We found the 32 Grain VMax in the 12 twist barrels to work best for us.
long40shot
Gold $$ Contributor
20 practical sounds great. Once i finish off my current barrel, I'll probably start rounding up parts. I would need a new bolt. The rifle is currently a 243. Get a PTG bolt?
Also need a 223 mag setup if not a single shot. That's one of the benefits of the 20P, 100% feeding/extraction from std 223 bolt and mag setup.
The PTG bolt heads are excellent and not much more than a factory Savage. That would be a good choice and the .20 Practical is an outstanding choice. I have a parts-bin project .20 Practical on a Stevens 200 action that shoots stupid small and a 22" AR bull upper that's not far behind the bolt gun in terms of accuracy.
I'd really like to see one in the 45-47g range. Sort of like the 22 cal 53 vmax version for 20 cals. Haven't tried the 45g spitzer soft points but hear they work pretty good.
TAJ45
Silver $$ Contributor
I too would like something in that range. Iirc, those 45s are pretty pudgy. I'd like'm sleeked up a bit for the 350+ yd shots.
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