20 practical barrel length

[pacificman]

Well I have not been on in awhile but I finally am ready to get my Pac-Nor 20 practical barrel built. This will be for prairie rats at distance all for fun of course. ;D My question is should I order 26 inch or 28 inch barrel? I will be shooting 39 or 40 grainers through this one only. Even a few feet per second more would be alright with me as this will be a rifle shot from the bench only. I am liking the idea of longer at first then when throat wears ...set back and re-chamber. What do you guys think? ??? I ordered a 26 inch tube for my 20V/T when just about every one said 24 is as big as you want. I am very happy with the 20V/T performance with 26 inch barrel and would not change a thing if done over again! Lots of knowledge here that is always appreciated!!!

 

[searcher]

I did mine at 26", plus a brake. did it in a Krieger Varmatch contour (just as bit heavier than a Remington Varmint contour) using a Hart tube. Now that Hart chambers in .20 Practical, I will just have them chamber the next one. Mind you, I shot off a rest and will never carry my rifle around in the field. Some of the best powders such as Accurate LT32, IMR 4198, etc. are pretty fast and not likely to get much benefit in anything longer than 26" as far as velocity - or at least I would not think so.

 

[rcw3]

With 24" of barrel, the 20 Practical moves the projectiles plenty fast. The burn rate of the powders that work very well with the 20 Practical have a pressure curve that peaks and drops off well within 24" of barrel. IMO 26" to 28" or more barrel is of no real value. FWIW - I have built up and test fired 50+ 20 practical rifles, but whether that means I know anything about the 20 Practical is not for me to boast about nor should that stand in your way of doing what you think is ideal for you.

 

[pacificman]

I appreciate you guys experience! I'm thinking 26 inch then when time to set back there would still be plenty. From lots of reading and advise from guys like yourselves who actually own and shoot the 20 practical I'm thinking 26 would be where my thoughts are. Something else I just now thought about...I'd have to get a longer cleaning rod if I was to go much more than 26 inch... ;D Thanks for the advice on the powder also. I shoot H4198 in the 20V/T but also have some RL10X that I use in my 204. Sounds like many powders will work well in the 20 Practical. 39 grain sierras shoot the best in my 204...I'm hoping that the 40 grain v-max will work in the 20 Practical. Twist will be 1-11 for sure.

 

[GrocMax]

You can easily get over 4000 with 32's and 3750-3800 with 39-40's at 24" with a wide variety of powders.

 

[DogBuster]

When I order a P-N varmint tube......I do 28"

same price as the 26"....plenty of meat left even for two

rechamberings...mine are table guns...so weight is no issue

Also usually a Savage large shank tube...so you end up with an

8# barrel...no taper/straight cylinder.....20 PT...yes....11T/3G

 

[marchboom]

Several posters have said that they wanted a 26-28" barrel so they could rechamber it when necessary (when the accuracy drops off, I assume).

You might get a new chamber but wouldn't there be wear on the bore that would affect accuracy? Or is the 20 Practical easy on bores?

 

[searcher]

I got 6,500 on the first barrel which was a Hart. It will still do under 1 m.o.a. but when used to 1/4 with the newer tubes, good time to swap out. If I were shooting coyotes or larger vermin than the larger ground squirrels and smaller "sage rats" that are my prey, I'd surely leave that tube on for what I'm sure would be a long while. I run fast powders, yet the damage to the throat was further into the tube than I would have thought it would be more like it was shot with slower stuff. Borescope showed it going a good 3 to 4 inches. Setting the tube back would surely have got me another couple of thousand - but this barrel is on an A/R which complicates the setback a bit because of the gas port. I'll order another Hart - and in the same 26" profile. H4198 and Lt32 were best in mine - would have liked to have found a slower powder that shot decent - but to no avail on this one.

 

[MrMajestic]

I have a 8.5tw 28" PacNor barrel chambered in .20-.223AI. It does 3975 fps with the 39 gr. Sierra BK while fireforming with H4895. I add a grain after FF'ng and get 4147 fps. IMHO it's worth dealing with the length for those velocities. Remember this is an improved but the ff'ng load/velocities should be in your ballpark.

 

[IA_shooter]

I have a 8.5tw 28" PacNor barrel chambered in .20-.223AI. It does 3975 fps with the 39 gr. Sierra BK while fireforming with H4895. I add a grain after FF'ng and get 4147 fps. IMHO it's worth dealing with the length for those velocities. Remember this is an improved but the ff'ng load/velocities should be in your ballpark.

My gunsmith has a 20-223AI reamer and I was thinking about going that direction with my 20 caliber. I currently run a 20" BHW 20 Practical barrel and wanted a longer barrel next year and I like the idea of an ackley improved version of the 20 Practical. The velocities you're getting sure sounds tempting to go that route. 8)

I was really leaning towards a 9 or 10 twist though to be able to handle the 32gr bullets as well as the 39's, what's your thoughts on that? ???

 

[MrMajestic]

My 8.5tw stabilizes the 55's at 3640 fps.

 

[IA_shooter]

My 8.5tw stabilizes the 55's at 3640 fps.

Nice. My 223AI hits just over 3600 fps shooting 53gr V-Maxs (I like the higher BC of the 53's) with H4895 though so that's why I'm leaning towards a sightly slower twist in my 20 cal to get over the 4000 fps mark with the 20 cal bullets.

 

[GrocMax]

I was really leaning towards a 9 or 10 twist though to be able to handle the 32gr bullets as well as the 39's, what's your thoughts on that? ???

11 twist will fully stabilize 40's in the low/mid 3000FPS range, people report a 12 sometimes doesn't.

 

[pacificman]

marchboom wrote...You might get a new chamber but wouldn't there be wear on the bore that would affect accuracy? Or is the 20 Practical easy on bores?

In my experience the throat wears out while the rest of the bore is fine. When you try to seat a bullet in a worn out chamber and the bullet falls about an inch or more in the bore before hitting lands it's time to re-chamber. ;D
I have also learned that when pushing bullets over 4000fps. you will be re-chambering a lot sooner than you might want but there is nothing like pushing a bullet at those speeds with great accuracy and hitting a prairie rat at almost any distance with amazing results. It's one of those extremely fun things that is hard to describe! ;D

 

[IA_shooter]

but there is nothing like pushing a bullet at those speeds with great accuracy and hitting a prairie rat at almost any distance with amazing results. It's one of those extremely fun things that is hard to describe! ;D

Exactly! ;D

 

[searcher]

One consideration of the Ackley version is whether one can get the accuracy they want while fireforming. Maybe others could add some insight from their experience. I say this as if wanting to use it to shoot a high volume of critters on one trip or outing (like 500 or 1,000 or more), that is a lot of fireforming. I guess that is why so many people end up "settling" with the straight .20 Practical. Accurate on the first firing. I do envy that speed though, and think about the Ackly for coyotes.

 

[GrocMax]

Speed does come with an extra price (barrel wear, brass, fireforming etc.), as they say how fast ya wanna go?