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20 Practical pet loads

I am starting with 200 new, never fired pieces of Lake City brass. Everything has been necked down and trimmed and ready for first loading

My 20P AR does not dent brass. Goes right from the catcher to deprime die and then to the final bushing full length sizing die. Shoot it first. You may not have a dent issue.
 
My 20P AR does not dent brass. Goes right from the catcher to deprime die and then to the final bushing full length sizing die. Shoot it first. You may not have a dent issue.
I test fired 2 rounds over the weekend and the side of the case mouth is flattened pretty good. I'll post a pic when I get off work if I remember.
 
Cover the brass defector with the fuzzy half of Velcro, adjust gas block to throw to 3-4 o'clock. And I was not happy with the 39 gr Sierra on coyote, great pd bullet. I'm going to try a neck turning mandrel to round out a 20p brass, since I have several single stage presses and will not have to change dies. Berger bullets, but I will give BIB 40's a try sometime.
 
Cover the brass defector with the fuzzy half of Velcro, adjust gas block to throw to 3-4 o'clock. And I was not happy with the 39 gr Sierra on coyote, great pd bullet. I'm going to try a neck turning mandrel to round out a 20p brass, since I have several single stage presses and will not have to change dies. Berger bullets, but I will give BIB 40's a try sometime.
What do you mean by adjusting the gas block to throw 3-4 o'clock?
 
Don't underestimate a good charge of CFE 223, accurate load can be found and it is clean burning in the AR's.
 
What do you mean by adjusting the gas block to throw 3-4 o'clock?
If your brass landing out in front(1-2 o'clock) you are probably over gassing the bolt. This can excessively ding case mouths, hot or fast ejections may strike the port edge instead of the brass defector. Also over gassing may effect recoil and adversely affect accuracy. I think this issue is more prevalent when we drop caliber and bullet weight(increasing velocity) from 556 performance standards. Adjustable gas blocks allow "tuning" the gas system.
 
If your brass landing out in front(1-2 o'clock) you are probably over gassing the bolt. This can excessively ding case mouths, hot or fast ejections may strike the port edge instead of the brass defector. Also over gassing may effect recoil and adversely affect accuracy. I think this issue is more prevalent when we drop caliber and bullet weight(increasing velocity) from 556 performance standards. Adjustable gas blocks allow "tuning" the gas system.
I'll keep an eye and see where it's landing once I start doing load development. But if i recall correctly, the 2 test round I fired landed in the 3-4 o'clock area on grass as I intentionally shot where they would land on soft surface to observe any dings and such.
 
The Superlative Arms gas block works well for fine tuning the gas system. When it is 'right' felt recoil quiets down as well. You also get far less residual gas venting from the bolt carrier. Worth the extra money for me.
 
Contacted Redding today and they are sending my the part I need at no cost. Amazing customer service and will continue to use their products.
Hi new to forum and this thread.
The decapping rod (Redding probably already told you) should be a .204 Ruger Type S decapping rod. a suggestion to help avoid trouble (this I encountered), 1 ) the decapping rod, screw it all the way up (to shorten it). Otherwise the rod will bend and deform. 2) bushings, currently using .233 & .226. I ordered a few more sizes (because I can't leave anything good alone :D ).
 
About to start the process of building my first AR and I have decided to go with a 20 Practical. I am trying to decide what bullet I want to run so I can choose an optimal twist rate. I'm debating between the 35 berger, 40 berger, 40 vmax, 39 SBK. This will be a coyote rifle 99% of the time, and almost always in calling setups. I have some H4198 and IMR8208XBR on hand I plan to start with.

Rifle will be Rock River and Aeroprecision based. Planning to run a 24" barrel. Unsure on mfg yet.

So my questions are...

What is everyone's experiences with the bullets listed above? What are your pet loads? Velocities? Twist rates? Who makes a good AR barrel in 20 cal?
There is no such thing as a pet load. Every barrel is different. Do what every other good hand loader does, find out what your barrel likes. That is what hand loading is all about. You can draw satisfaction when you get it shooting.
 
There is no such thing as a pet load. Every barrel is different. Do what every other good hand loader does, find out what your barrel likes. That is what hand loading is all about. You can draw satisfaction when you get it shooting.
You don't say? I'm not here looking to copy people's loads. Just gathering as much data as possible to get a general idea as to where to expect certain powder/bullet combinations to shoot well and good starting points so I'm not wasting my time and components. This isn't my first go around. Thanks though, chief.
 
Go with the 1-11" twist. For coyotes - Use the Bergers. The 40-VMax and Sierra 39 Blitz king rule on squirrels or coyote head shots. The lighter bullets work fine but tend to be far more temperamental in our guns and the added wind drift - plus you would not want to use the 32's and such on the coyotes ideally anyway, given a choice. You will find that a 24" to 26" barrel is better than the stubbies, and nothing wrong with once-fired Lake City. When I get a new barrel, I run pieces of the 1x fired through a short-based die, then the necking-down procedure then expend necks for neck turner, turn necks, resize for a final time. You will also probably find (if you opt to try it) that the faster-burning powders offer the best accuracy and acceptable velocity. the Accurate LT-32 and H4198 may be the best two and maybe H-322 now and then. That has proven to be true on 6 different barrels I have loaded for, with 8 different powders samplings tried in all of them. I like the Hart Barrels.
 
Go with the 1-11" twist. For coyotes - Use the Bergers. The 40-VMax and Sierra 39 Blitz king rule on squirrels or coyote head shots. The lighter bullets work fine but tend to be far more temperamental in our guns and the added wind drift - plus you would not want to use the 32's and such on the coyotes ideally anyway, given a choice. You will find that a 24" to 26" barrel is better than the stubbies, and nothing wrong with once-fired Lake City. When I get a new barrel, I run pieces of the 1x fired through a short-based die, then the necking-down procedure then expend necks for neck turner, turn necks, resize for a final time. You will also probably find (if you opt to try it) that the faster-burning powders offer the best accuracy and acceptable velocity. the Accurate LT-32 and H4198 may be the best two and maybe H-322 now and then. That has proven to be true on 6 different barrels I have loaded for, with 8 different powders samplings tried in all of them. I like the Hart Barrels.
What was your H4198 load?
 

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