20 caliber walking vamint rifle build suggestions
- Thread starter fredjake
- Start date
rcw3
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20 Practical is a very easy and accurate 20 cal and it works extremely well and accurately out of AR-15's too. It is also a very economical cartridge to make, work with and shoot. Take a look here http://www.6mmar.com/20_Practical.html
While I generally love Lapua brass, personally I am not entirely sold on using unturned Lapua brass for the small diameter 20 cal bullets because it generally has thicker neck metal which I don't feel is necessarily conducive to obtaining the easiest best accuracy and consistency with small diameter bullets. In my work with the 20 Practical, I found that some of the domestic .223 Rem brass (that generally loads out around .003" smaller in neck diameter) seemed to more easily yield up consistent and accurate results. I have not done broad based scientific type testing so these are just my impressions, and that being said, we have built some 20 Tac's that were real accurate using the Lapua 20 Tac brass. With heavier neck metal it seems I have to be a lot more on top of things (i.e. like having light but consistent bullet neck tension, etc.) to get and keep the best accuracy and consistency.
Robert
While I generally love Lapua brass, personally I am not entirely sold on using unturned Lapua brass for the small diameter 20 cal bullets because it generally has thicker neck metal which I don't feel is necessarily conducive to obtaining the easiest best accuracy and consistency with small diameter bullets. In my work with the 20 Practical, I found that some of the domestic .223 Rem brass (that generally loads out around .003" smaller in neck diameter) seemed to more easily yield up consistent and accurate results. I have not done broad based scientific type testing so these are just my impressions, and that being said, we have built some 20 Tac's that were real accurate using the Lapua 20 Tac brass. With heavier neck metal it seems I have to be a lot more on top of things (i.e. like having light but consistent bullet neck tension, etc.) to get and keep the best accuracy and consistency.
Robert
Several years ago, I bought a Rem 700 SSF CDL in 17 Fireball, pulled the OEM stainless fluted bbl, sent it to Bartlein so they could copy the contour for a .20 cal bbl, then chambered it for the 20 VarTarg & put the bbl'd action back in the pretty little CDL stock. I replaced the X-Mark Pro trigger with a Rifle Basix, and used a silver anodized EGW one-piece scope rail to mount a Nikon 6-24x50 Monarch. It's a nice looking rifle, and plenty light enough to carry. Since this action was designed to be used with 221-length rounds, it works quite well with the VarTarg.
Only downside as far as I'm concerned is that Rem factory 221 FB brass isn't the most consistent, but there are ways around that issue.
Only downside as far as I'm concerned is that Rem factory 221 FB brass isn't the most consistent, but there are ways around that issue.
SongdogHunter
Gold $$ Contributor
consider the 20- 222 for the longer neck of the 222 brass. It will run 32 grain bullets right close to 4K FPS.
My personal favorite is the 20 PPC.
SDH
My personal favorite is the 20 PPC.
SDH
If you want to see your shots hit and then watch the acrobatics afterwards , there is only one , the 20 Vartarg . Everything else has too much recoil in a light rifle to view the "air show" . The 20 Vartarg comes very close in velocity to the 204 , 20 TAC , and the PD's don't know the diff !!
my first rifle was a 20VT. It's a fine cartridge, except that rem 221 brass is not fun if you are used to lapua. Ive been shooting a 20 Tac for years, also have a 20 duster which is a modified 20-222. There is positively no question in my mind that for a walk around varminter, a 20-222 is the way to go. First and most importantly, you can get 222 lapua new and there is plenty of high quality 222 brass out there. You can load it down to 20VT speed and performance w 32g bullets. You can load it up to 20 tac performance w 32g bullets. You should have no problem operating between 3650 and 3900 fps with a 32 grain bullet. Recoil at 3650 is identical to a 20 VT. You can shoot 40 g much more effectively with the extra case capacity than if you had a VT were you to find that a heavier bullet shot better in your barrel. The sizing process for fireforming is the same, take the parent brass, neck it down to 20 cal and shoot. The formed rounds both change very little from the parent case. 20-222 gets you the availability of MUCH better brass, the choice to get more speed out of the case, the ability to shoot heavier bullets faster. You just need a standard 222 bushing die. Pac nor sells barrels chambered in 20-222, you dont need to buy a reamer. You can ALSO make a 20-222 feed super easy from any gun that can take a 222 magazine. The VT shoulder changes from 221 and its trickier to make feed from a repeater (doable of course). Anyway, I cant see half of a single advantage to a 20vt over a 20-222. 221 brass is the real sour point, why mess with that at all when you can load for identical performance in a different chambering with lapua brass.
Look seriously at 20-222 if you are considering a 20VT, you wont be sorry.
This all of course assumes you hand load, which you would need to do for both.
Look seriously at 20-222 if you are considering a 20VT, you wont be sorry.
This all of course assumes you hand load, which you would need to do for both.
I'd select the Rem Model Seven platform with a 20" barrel for a "walking around" varmint rifle.
Unless you are absolutely committed to a .20 caliber, the Model Seven is avaliable as a factory offering in the 223. With 50 grain Nosler BT or Hornady V max's, it makes a terrific walking around varmint rifle. Mine shoots in the .5 to .7 moa range with tuned reloads. I've used it for years hunting groundhogs and it's a shear joy to carry.
The Tikka Lite T3 is also a fine light weight rifle. I believe they offer it in a 204 Ruger. Their 223 in this model is only available in the US in an 8" twist - there is considerable debate about the accuracy of this twist rate with lighter bullets. I'm not sure who is correct. I have one in 243 and it's an excellent shooting rifle and easy to carry but not as light as the Model 7 Rem. You might want to consider the 22 250 in this Model - the flatter trajectory would be desirable for longer shots.
Unless you are absolutely committed to a .20 caliber, the Model Seven is avaliable as a factory offering in the 223. With 50 grain Nosler BT or Hornady V max's, it makes a terrific walking around varmint rifle. Mine shoots in the .5 to .7 moa range with tuned reloads. I've used it for years hunting groundhogs and it's a shear joy to carry.
The Tikka Lite T3 is also a fine light weight rifle. I believe they offer it in a 204 Ruger. Their 223 in this model is only available in the US in an 8" twist - there is considerable debate about the accuracy of this twist rate with lighter bullets. I'm not sure who is correct. I have one in 243 and it's an excellent shooting rifle and easy to carry but not as light as the Model 7 Rem. You might want to consider the 22 250 in this Model - the flatter trajectory would be desirable for longer shots.
Save your money on a custom build. Get a CZ 527 204 Ruger and you will have a 1/2" MOA rifle right out of the box. Best yet, you'll have a 6 lb walking varmint rifle that won't break the bank. It will dispatch any critter up to and including coyotes and will reach out there. It's a flat shooter right out to 300 yds and doesn't that cover about 90% of varminting needs?
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