20 cal ruminations

[TAJ45]

It has had to have been done by now...running a VT reamer in long or a 20 Tac short...or...Bobcat sideways?? Yes, I'm aware of the Turbo. My mind is awhirl....per Hedley LaMar... Gotta be one of the funniest movies ever...made fun of EVERYONE.
Back on topic. Anyone done anything a bit different w the "standard" 20s? 20-222 AI w a longer neck?

 

[Ramblerman]

That's Hedley!! Hahaha. Possibly the best movie, ever

I got a 20 Tactical reamer if you wanna borrow to experiment.

 

[NorCalMikie]

The only problem with going long or short on anything is DIES!! Long dies on a short case and you start peeling brass off the body. (been there, done that)
Tried a 20 VT "short" and had that issue.
Found the 22 TCM, necked it down to 20, had custom reamer cut and dies made. It's a matter of how much $$$ you want to spend.
And more than likely, someone somewhere has already done it.

 

[TAJ45]

Ramblerman, that is right nice of you and appreciated. Thank you for the offer. My good bud and smith has one of those, VT and Bobcat and 223AI.
Yes, DIE$.....pay to play.
My end game is a squirrel trip to end all squirrel trips. 3 days drive, one way. Gotta make it count.

 

[B23]

It may be the boring choice but why not make life simple for yourself and go straigh 20-221, 20-222, or 20-223 AKA 20 Practical. I'm not particularly old, yet, but I find the older I get, the less I want anything that requires forming brass. I'm all for the idea of spending less time in the reloading room and more time shooting so I'll take a boring straight neckdown cartridge over anything that requires forming. I've got more AI'd cartridges than I care to admit and with the exception of my 224 Terminator where I buy formed brass from the gunsmith that made it, I don't really care if I ever have another "improved" cartridge again.

 

[STS]

I have a 20 that is based off a .204 Ruger reamer. I headspace it .105 short and use Lapua .223 brass necked down to 20. It's been a good performer.

 

[17VLD]

I enjoy shooting my BAT 20 Duster which has a 40 degree shoulder and uses .222 brass.It is very similar to the 20Bobcat,just a little shorter neck.
Greg Tannel has the reamer and made me Newlon dies,so it’s pretty simple to make brass for it.Like the others here as I get older I like to keep things simple and easy.Sometimes I think a 222 based 30 degree 20 caliber wildcat would be awful nice too,but really a 20 Tactical or 20 Practical would serves your needs a lot easier.A few of the guys on Saubiers have messed with the 17 and 20 caliber Javelina improved,which is a beautiful looking case and very efficient too.Anytime I get the itch to work on forming brass I just remind myself to go down in the basement and put the final touches on my 17Javelina brass so I can shoot that beautiful CooperVE.
Matt

 

[rickiesrevenge]

20 javelina improved gets my vote!

 

[TAJ45]

Yes, just how much of a labor of love does it take to become "work".

 

[TravisC]

I just finished building my .20/224valk. Mostly due to the fact I had bushing dies and 1k Valkyrie brass. Krieger 11 twist barrel and . 04 freebore to shoot the 40s. With benchmark, I'm showing no pressure signs at 3800fps, tho to see what it's capable of, I did hit 3900fps. This is a fun project and I wouldn't have to sell all my Valkyrie components and brass is available lots of places. Sure, there are cheaper brass options, but I also had the Valkyrie bolt head for my TL3 bighorn already so the reamer was my only expense.

 

[Scooby-93]

I just finished building my .20/224valk. Mostly due to the fact I had bushing dies and 1k Valkyrie brass. Krieger 11 twist barrel and . 04 freebore to shoot the 40s. With benchmark, I'm showing no pressure signs at 3800fps, tho to see what it's capable of, I did hit 3900fps. This is a fun project and I wouldn't have to sell all my Valkyrie components and brass is available lots of places. Sure, there are cheaper brass options, but I also had the Valkyrie bolt head for my TL3 bighorn already so the reamer was my only expense.

how many grains of benchmark?

out if interest I tried 31gr in my 20-250 26” barrel for 3940fps no pressure but casefill was way to low.

this was with 39sbk

 

[JSH]

Someone needs to come up with one of the smaller cases that likes something other than 4198 the best.
My 17 Fireball and 22BR both have such excellent results I put up with the powder that reminds me more of the lead from mechanical pencils.

 

[B23]

Nosler has a 20 Nosler, similar to their 22 Nosler but with the shoulder pushed forward about 90 thou so it would require different brass, that they've had on the books for a few years now but have yet to release it. Seems weird, but Nosler even has load data for the 20 Nosler but they don't actually make or sell a 20 Nosler, at least not yet.

Their 20 Nosler, if they ever produce it, should make for a great 20 cal it has a fair bit more case capacity than the 204 Ruger and still uses a small bolt face. Should be well suited for the 40 grainers.

 

[TravisC]

how many grains of benchmark?

out if interest I tried 31gr in my 20-250 26” barrel for 3940fps no pressure but casefill was way to low.

this was with 39sbk

I'm running 25.8 grains of benchmark and hitting 3865fps average today.

 

[TAJ45]

I'm running 25.8 grains of benchmark and hitting 3865fps average today.

In a 20-250? That is a monster difference in pwdr wgt.
Or are you referencing your Valk?

 

[7315br]

TAJ45, if you are talking the GS trip to end all...think about the 20 Mink?? I've tried about all of them out here in "Sage Rat" land. Barrel heat is a big problem for me. The 20 Mink has low barrel heat, long barrel life (8-10K rds), cleaning about every 300 rds, and very little barrel jump. Hard to beat for 200-250yd shots with over 300 yds possible with good conditions. The 20JI is excellent like Aaron said if you are going out further to say 500 yds. It is super efficient in my opinion.

 

[TAJ45]

I tried looking up the Javelina some months back but there was so little info on it. My wildcat cartridge books don't have it either. I'll be searching again to reacquaint myself. Parent case is ??

 

[7315br]

Ray H knows more about the 20JI than anyone I know. It's a 222 case shorten .160" and blown-out to a 40 degree shoulder. On about one grain more powder than the 20VT it will produce at least 200 fps faster. Mine runs 3960 fps with the 32 gr V-Max. It will run over 4K if ya want!

 

[TAJ45]

Would that be Ray H the Monroe?

 

[thekriebles]

Would that be Ray H the Monroe?

Ray is on the Saubier.com forum; great guy always willing to share info.