20 Practical reloading??

[Pyscodog]

I'm having a 20 Practical built. I have watched video's and ask questions on other sights but thought I would ask here too. What do I need to buy to reload for the 20P? I have brass, but I need dies. I been told a Redding FL bushing die with bushings for a 223 and a 204 decapping rod. I'm asking because I only want to buy once and not have to chase after more stuff.

 

[redrockranger]

Info sounds correct. Go to home page here and read the 20cal section. In there somewhere is a story of the 20 Practical developement. I sure enjoy my 20Practical.

 

[GrocMax]

232-234 and a 225 bushing for most brass, a 2-step neck sizing seems to work better, check/trim after initial forming the necking down makes the case grow longer, the only minus about the 20P is case length gain over forming and the first couple firings.

 

[charlesasmith]

I was not aware that neck sizing my IMI brass down would result in small donut. OAL did not change. When seating 39 gr Sierra Blitz King .0020 below jam I was into the donut. Apparently a zero freefore and the 39 g long shank bullet created a problem. Peirced two primers and got a still bolt lift on loads that were not near maximum according to QuickLoad.

Now have to inside neck ream the fired cases. Will attempt to turn the base of the neck into the shoulder to eliminate the problem with unfired sized cases.

Note - my jam is a bullet inserted into a unprimed case with a vertical slot cut in the neck and then "loaded" resulting in the bullet being pushed into the case.

Chuck

 

[P72]

Some time ago during the last or possibly ongoing great component shortage fueled by fear I went to the .20 Practical and acquired lots of once fired .223 brass mostly of RWS and Remington manufacture.

My steps are:

Small base resize using .223 small base FL size die - this closely restores the original dimensions of brass possibly previously fired in sloppy oversize chambers.

Neck down using a Redding FL .223 bushing die having a .226 bushing. The decap pin has been removed and I did not bother to try and find a .20 expander plug that would fit the Redding bushing die. I ground down the .223 expander plug to allow the decap pin for subsequent loadings.

Decap and expand necks out using a .20 caliber expander plug and decap pin in an ordinary RCBS .223 FL die. This expands the neck making the inside of the neck sort of uniform.

Outside turn the necks about .002 inches smaller than the chamber neck - this will barely clean up the necks. Neck turning will cut off the outside of the "donut" near the shoulder. Bullets pushed into fired case should have a slip fit.

Trim to length.

Subsequent reloads only require FL sizing using the .226 bushing in the Redding FL die.

I use IMR 8208 and H CFE .223 powder and only one bullet - the 40 grain VMax. The bullet is seated so the junction of the shank and boat tail is just above the "donut". The .226 bushing is inserted into the die label side up so the minimum radius removes as much as the donut as possible. The bushing is installed to allow some movement for it to be self centering.

Bullets are seated using the generic .2-0 caliber Hornady seater die.

If I had a 5 gal bucket of .204 Ruger brass I would not mess with the .20P. Performance in the field is identical. Accuracy is great for both - dime size groups @ 100 and lots of small dead rodents up to 400.

Both my .204R and .20P rifles have 1-11 twists and are heavy enough to allow hit spotting. 6.5-20 scopes are used on both.

 

[Pyscodog]

Well my rifles finished and my brass is prepped and ready to load. Data for the 20P is pretty much non existent. I'm told use 20 Tact data but its only good for 32 grain pills in the Hornady books and 33-36 on their data site. I have 32 V-Max,35 Bergers, 39 BlitzKings and 40 grain Noslers. Any load data you care to share for any of the above bullets? Barrel is an X-Caliber with a 10 twist. Thanks!!

Rifle-Remington 600 Mohawk, 22" X-Caliber barrel w/10 twist

 

[chuckshooter]

I shoot 24.5 gr of AA2015 cci 400---- 40vmax --annealed and neck trimed, 222 bushing 204 or 20vartarg decapping rod----on a xr100 action -- using only fg brass that I had on hand-- some with crimped primers slipped onto the mix and I folded the decapping rods over. (opps) --redding replaced but had to wait for shipping..

 

[itchyTF]

My load in an AR platform is 24.7 of N133 with 32gr Blitzkings.

 

[TrappernGa]

My load for my .20 P is 22 grs. of H4198, with a Berger 35 grain bullet to a 2.20 oal. The round is scary accurate.

 

[IA_shooter]

I have multiple loads for my TWO 20 Practical rifles, but 25.2-25.4 gr of H322 or 25.5 to 25.8 gr of IMR 8208XBR has been the sweet spot for the 32gr bullets I use (32gr V-Max and 32gr Varmageddons) and 24.2-24.4 gr of H322 for 39gr Sierra BK's.

A few 5 shot 200 yard groups I shot just a couple of evenings ago just messing around at my buddy's range. Notice the top left hole is a tad bigger on the first pic, that was 2 rounds in the same hole basically. I almost did it on the other group as well. I have shot 5 shot groups @ 200 yards in good shooting conditions that I could cover with a nickel or sometimes even a dime.

 

[Fast14riot]

I'm hoping after 4 years the OP got it figured out

 

[IA_shooter]

I'm hoping after 4 years the OP got it figured out

I am sure he did but others looking for this information that do searches find the updated posts very helpful.

 

[DogBuster]

sumbody say 20 PT......

been shootin one since 2007........

this is only at 100 yds....5 shots.....but......

safe in my Pac-Nor tube.......

 

[Doug30racer]

450 primers to help with the piercing issue. Benchmark and 8208 are the powders to use

 

[Justin B]

Benchmark is your friend

 

[7887mm08]

I use a redding full length bushing die. I do not use the expander ball.
Using new rem brass, i size with a .233 bushing then with a .225 bushing, rem 7 1/2 Br primers
32 gr sierra blitzking behind 26.2 grains of 8208. Savage model ll with a criterion barrel.
Shoots tiny groups!

 

[IA_shooter]

I use a redding full length bushing die. I do not use the expander ball.
Using new rem brass, i size with a .233 bushing then with a .225 bushing, rem 7 1/2 Br primers
32 gr sierra blitzking behind 26.2 grains of 8208. Savage model ll with a criterion barrel.
Shoots tiny groups!

Same process here more or less. I size once fired processed LC brass with .233, then .225 but I use a 20 cal expander in the die to get pretty consistent .002 neck tension on my rounds. I use CCI BR4 primers. I am still load testing for my new 20 Practical I just got last week from a guy over on Long Range Hunting, which is a model 12 action with a 26" light varmint Criterion barrel that had less than 300 rounds through it supposedly, that I put in a Savage VLP/DBM laminated stock I had. I think it will be a seriously good shooter for me. Here's today's best results using some IMR 8208 XBR with some Sierra 39gr Blitzkings. The 4 shots after adjusting my scope was one of the smallest 200 yard groups I've ever shot. The 3 shot group @ 100 was pretty darned good with that load too!

 

[redrockranger]

At the top of the home page is the 20 cal section. There is a dedicated article on the 20 practical. Everything you need.
I personally like H-4198 and 40gr Nosler next the Sierra 39 gr. Pac Nor 11 tw barrel.