20 Cal Question

[warrbuk]

Maybe a 20 practical AI Aka 20 sploder or 20 BR. If you are going to invest in a new caliber, might as well make it worth it by giving it more horsepower.

After a couple years playing with a 204 ruger, i decided it just isn't worth the hassle or lack of industry support to shoot the 20s or 17s for that matter. Its just easier to have 1 size brush, 1 cleaning rod, 1 bullet puller collet, 1 3way trimmer head, way better choice of components etc.

The big capacity cases are to much of a good thing. I usually run my centerfire squeak rifles (all are .224 variants) at a low node and If I need velocity I grab a bigger one. I have sold the .478 BF guns

I like the 20 vartarg, 20 P, and if there was an easy 20-222 where I just change the bushing in my 222 dies I could go for that too. 20 P brass is the easiest tho.

Temping to put my toe in the water with a prefit deal with the nut from @urbanrifleman

 

[Tommie]

The big capacity cases are to much of a good thing.

That’s kinda of an over-generalization. Depends upon what they’re used for. Anything bigger than a 17 HMR might be overkill for squeeks. When distances start reaching much past 400 yards and/or targets are beefier than ground squirrels, the larger capacity cases come into their own.

 

[urbanrifleman]

The big capacity cases are to much of a good thing. I usually run my centerfire squeak rifles (all are .224 variants) at a low node and If I need velocity I grab a bigger one. I have sold the .478 BF guns

I like the 20 vartarg, 20 P, and if there was an easy 20-222 where I just change the bushing in my 222 dies I could go for that too. 20 P brass is the easiest tho.

Temping to put my toe in the water with a prefit deal with the nut from @urbanrifleman

One of my customers said the Sploder is the most fun you can have with 28 grains of powder on the planet.

 

[jds holler]

The big capacity cases are to much of a good thing. I usually run my centerfire squeak rifles (all are .224 variants) at a low node and If I need velocity I grab a bigger one. I have sold the .478 BF guns

I like the 20 vartarg, 20 P, and if there was an easy 20-222 where I just change the bushing in my 222 dies I could go for that too. 20 P brass is the easiest tho.

Temping to put my toe in the water with a prefit deal with the nut from @urbanrifleman

My 20 cal is a 20-222 -- for no good reason other than I had a bunch of good 222 brass, and the barrel company I used
had a peachy reamer print that I liked the looks of.
If I was doing it again, I'd just get a nut barrel in 20 practical from Urban Rifleman, and call it good. $350ish and a month or so sounds great compared to anywhere else.

I don't jack my loads up to max, and prolly wouldn't with a Practical either. My shooting is mostly 300 yds and less. Beyond that, my squirrels are getting too small, and the wind is too strong. Some of you REAL riflemen might feel differently.

 

[RabbitSlayer]

The big capacity cases are to much of a good thing. I usually run my centerfire squeak rifles (all are .224 variants) at a low node and If I need velocity I grab a bigger one. I have sold the .478 BF guns

I like the 20 vartarg, 20 P, and if there was an easy 20-222 where I just change the bushing in my 222 dies I could go for that too. 20 P brass is the easiest tho.

Temping to put my toe in the water with a prefit deal with the nut from @urbanrifleman

Could go smaller too. The vartarg is different. My point was 204 ruger etc overlap the performance and usefulness of 223 or 223 AI so much. Something larger or smaller makes the additional effort and dismal component selection worth it. Most stuff had been back on the shelves for more than a year, but not .20 cal. Think I waited something like 3.5 or 4 years for the 39 gr BK to be back in stock. Vmax were the only thing available for years.

 

[L.Sherm]

Think I waited something like 3.5 or 4 years for the 39 gr BK to be back in stock. Vmax were the only thing available for years.

You would be surprised how well the 34gr V- nightmares shoot ive shot many thousand of them and still have plenty from when they were half what they are now.
There about half the cost of the 39 BK and back in the day were even cheaper than that.
If your dead set on a 39 get some 39TNT speers there phenomenal in my 20PPCAI for about half the price of 39BK.
I dont shoot 30.00 a 100 bullets in a rat patch waaaay to expensive for my taste can easily get 150.00 into bullets on a good day

 

[Jrjones]

I’ve shot 204r since 2005. I have a cpl semi customs in 20-222 now and it’s all I shoot. I wld never be w out a good 20 cal. You cld throw a few hundred fps blanket window over any of them at this point! Is there a bad one? Idk but I doubt it. If I wanted to shoot 50-55’s I’d use a 223/22-250 whatever. I don’t want to tho. Normal ranges are completely covered w a good 20cal. I shoot 32’s @ 3850 w a 26” kreiger w 20.5 grs h4198 and couldn’t miss a crow w a steady rest unless it wasn’t even in the scope when you shot! How much easier cld it get ? 39gr sierra BK trumps em all for varmints imo. The best coyote bullet we ever had was the 45gr hornady so. I had 3 did 204’s in 20 years that wld shoot that better than 40gr vmax. It wld blow a nickle hole through a coyote. Just pick any 20 cal and have simple easy fun. 60$ lb a powder 20 grains goes a long ways. Just keep it simple. Have fun

 

[Jrjones]

not changing nothing. No way no way

 

[searcher]

Has anyone shot copper (Non-Toxic) from a 20P or similar?
Barnes shows a 26 grain in 20 cal



I am using the Barnes Varmint grenade in a 221 FB, 222, 223 AR-15. all 12 twist and they shoot OK, not nearly as good as 40 or 50 grain V-max.

Nosler 32 Lead-free Ballistic tips shoot very well in my 20P A/R's. I run 1-12" Hart tubes 26". And you can run them fast, without blowups like you can with the VG. My most accurate load is using surplus mil powder but Accurate LT32 is only slightly less accurate. I get under 1/3 MOA off the bench when the wind isn't pushing me. I have tried the 26 grain VG in a number of my .20 rifles and they just didn't like anything I could come up with enough to keep shooting it. The 50 VG is another story entirely when shot in my .223's - very accurate with the right powder (IMR8208XBR and TAC, depending on the rifle). If you want to try the Nosler 32's, I'd start right off with LT32, which also shoots the best groups out of my rifles with leaded ammo like the 32's, 39's and 40's. That way you will have a powder very likely to shoot your other stuff if your tube doesn't like the Nosler. The Nosler 32 is more accurate and less "squirrely" than the 26, as well.

 

[JSH]

Shot a bucket full of 223 on prairie dogs this year, because I had neglected loading any 204 ammo. Did burn up a lot of odds and ends.
204 initially impressed me enough I built a 20BR strictly for Berger 55’s. A lot of work yeah, and I was warned about barrel life. I am completely happy with it and the “enablers” here are a great source of info. Made the project fairly easy.
Thanks to all that helped, several in this thread;-).
I then built a 20 on the 221 case. Hind sight and I was told just go to 20-222, shoulda,woulda,coulda comes to mind.

 

[lgwatson]

I dont have any 20's so I am reachinng out to those that play in that world.

There is a 20 P for sale on another website, Nice set up, except it was built to shoot 55's and has a 8.5 twist barrel.

apparently those bullets are very limited, a little web searching has 40 grain bullets at 3750-2850 FPS and a quick calculation shows bullet RPM well over 300,000.

Is this rifle going to likely blow up 40 grain varmint bullets?

Thanks
Mark

I shoot the Berger 55s in my 9twist 20 Practical. One hole groups and deadly on prairie dogs. My shooting is mostly at 3400 plus altitude.

 

[searcher]

Shot a bucket full of 223 on prairie dogs this year, because I had neglected loading any 204 ammo. Did burn up a lot of odds and ends.
204 initially impressed me enough I built a 20BR strictly for Berger 55’s. A lot of work yeah, and I was warned about barrel life. I am completely happy with it and the “enablers” here are a great source of info. Made the project fairly easy.
Thanks to all that helped, several in this thread;-).
I then built a 20 on the 221 case. Hind sight and I was told just go to 20-222, shoulda,woulda,coulda comes to mind.

If you built the 20-222, would it be to gain over what your .204 does? If so, what would you expect in improvement? Given the .222 brass is often tougher to find and more expensive as a rule, is there much better performance with the .222 version? I've seen guys doing this, but I haven't seen much statistical data. What have you seen or heard?

 

[Woollybugger]

a 20 practical and LC brass is the easy button

 

[806guns]

I really love my 20 grendel. Enough extra fps to make you smile. 55gr at 3500 fps with 8208

 

[itchyTF]

I really love my 20 grendel. Enough extra fps to make you smile. 55gr at 3500 fps with 82028

82028 - new powder?

 

[Woollybugger]

I’ve shot 204r since 2005. I have a cpl semi customs in 20-222 now and it’s all I shoot. I wld never be w out a good 20 cal. You cld throw a few hundred fps blanket window over any of them at this point! Is there a bad one? Idk but I doubt it. If I wanted to shoot 50-55’s I’d use a 223/22-250 whatever. I don’t want to tho. Normal ranges are completely covered w a good 20cal. I shoot 32’s @ 3850 w a 26” kreiger w 20.5 grs h4198 and couldn’t miss a crow w a steady rest unless it wasn’t even in the scope when you shot! How much easier cld it get ? 39gr sierra BK trumps em all for varmints imo. The best coyote bullet we ever had was the 45gr hornady so. I had 3 did 204’s in 20 years that wld shoot that better than 40gr vmax. It wld blow a nickle hole through a coyote. Just pick any 20 cal and have simple easy fun. 60$ lb a powder 20 grains goes a long ways. Just keep it simple. Have fun

The 40gr BIB is money too

 

[JSH]

If you built the 20-222, would it be to gain over what your .204 does? If so, what would you expect in improvement? Given the .222 brass is often tougher to find and more expensive as a rule, is there much better performance with the .222 version? I've seen guys doing this, but I haven't seen much statistical data. What have you seen or heard?

20-222 would be a bit easier than the 20-221 variations.
Over the 204, nope.
The 222 has some magic, only took me 40 years to find this out. Maybe the long neck?

I got PO’d at the time, as 221 brass was $1 a piece and 222 brass was no where to be found. As much as I wanted/needed, I bought some dies and formed ALL of it. Bought a tidy amount of virgin starline brass.
My 221 brass I even necked to 17.
Whew, had to neck turn all of the 221 cases. That was the biggest chore.
Rigged up an extra trimmer set up like a lathe. Took a lot of the work out.

The way I run my rifles.
20VT is zeroed to my liking. To much hold over switch to the 204.
Same goes for the 17FB, switch to 17 Remington.
223 and then to 22BR.

 

[Jrjones]

If you built the 20-222, would it be to gain over what your .204 does? If so, what would you expect in improvement? Given the .222 brass is often tougher to find and more expensive as a rule, is there much better performance with the .222 version? I've seen guys doing this, but I haven't seen much statistical data. What have you seen or heard?

hey searcher these are my findings and my opinions. I built a 20-222, I have 2 of em. I shot 204 ruger since 2005. Love it. But. I wanted to tinker. And for a while it was tough to find 204 stuff. Maybe not now, anyways, I put a 26” krieger 11tw on a 788 action. Had a reamer made w short to none freebore. I have Never had a hard time finding 222 brass and I had many hundred new we super (blue white bag)on hand. A simple neck down w bushing dies and a measly 20.5 grs h4198 and I shoot 32’s @ 3850 w dam near one hole accuracy. I have not shot my 204 since. I have had excellent accuracy w 32gr vmax and sierra. I feel the 204r is at its best w the 39gr sierra bk. My factory ruger is a mile to the lands btw wld not shoot 40gr vmax. New rifles might. I’m happy w my 2 rifles and I don’t think I cld do it any easier. I wld not knock any 20 cal wildcat on 222/223 based brass I just don’t see how any of them cld not be wonderful joys. And you cld probably throw a cpl hundred fps blanket difference over all of em one way or another. Little ones for 32’s big ones for 40’s. The 45gr hornady sp was the best coyote bullet we ever had and shot w 12tw. Sierra blitzkings are the most explosive. I say pick one and have fun. That’s all I did. Easily