20 VarTag, advice needed

[mefizto]

Hi Evan,

thank you for the suggestion.

What you, snert, and while ago B23 (in a private conversation), suggested makes a lot of sense for me as a neophyte. I looked at the dies, and they are affordable.

However, I have a .221 Fireball action with a magazine, and I am not sure whether it would feed the longer cases.

Kindest regards,

M

 

[Gabe22BR]

Gonna throw my opinion at it-

I used Starline 222 brass to fourm my last batch of 20VT brass- I like the thicker rim for priming & extraction over the Lapua- holds up equally as well, so far…
Thing about “made from” LC 223 brass- ya don’t know exactly/ who over swagged the primer pocket.. only takes 1 firing, you’ll find it..

It’s a pretty simple case design, easy to load for, dies are available, +. You got the action for it !!

With that out of the way- I improved it to AI shoulder for less trimming, more powder capacity, more efficient cartridge. I used a 1-11 twist barrel, so I stick to the 32gr bullets…
My other barrel is a 1-8” twist, & it’ll handle all the bullets out there currently..

 

[snert]

Leave it to us guys here to help you spend your money and to offer all kinds of ideas to muddy the water!

Hearing that Starline has brass and the dies are available, to me, in this market volitility, I would do the 20/222 and never look back. My next SV barrel is going to be a 6x45 because brass is available and bullets are common. 5 years ago it was a different market and oddball stuff was easier to find.

 

[7315br]

snert: "Leave it to us guys here to help you spend your money and to offer all kinds of ideas to muddy the water!"

snert, you are on the money in my opinion! If you are un-happy with your .20VT, just have your friend in MI set the barrel back and re-chamber it to a .20/222. Not hard to do.

As for the OP, he's asked these same questions a couple of years ago and got pretty much the same answers from myself and others. True (now)...dies, and brass is harder to find...but not impossible. I just recently bought a Redding .20VT FL type "s" bushing die on ebay, new for $60. Didn't need it...just wanted a spare.
I've gone to LC brass, but I've built .20VT brass from Remington .221 Fireball, Lapua .223, WW .222, and even WW .204 Ruger. It takes some work, but I enjoy doing it. Turning necks is no big deal in my opinion.

As far as me, I've tried about every .20 cal wildcat one can think of (at least 10 different ones). I started with the .20VT, and if I could only have one that would be it. If I could have two, I'd keep the .20 Mink and .20JI...but I'm primarily a Sage Rat shooter. Barrel heat is a concern for me, bbl life, muzzle jump, bbl cleaning (in a "hot" GS field).

Picture from WW .204 Ruger brass to .20 VT.

Just my $.02 worth.

 

[Gabe22BR]

Do any of y’all use Danzac coated bullets ??
….Just curious…

 

[snert]

Just had a nice conversation with the OP.

After hearing that he is just getting into CF powder burners, shoots offhand, has a 700 LSFV in 221 and plans to just shoot varmints, I backed away from the 20/222 idea and told him if it were me I would rebarrel to 20VT using the barrel he has, buy prepped LC 20 VT brass from several guys here that sell it on the for sale section, get Redding dies and sally forth.
But before i told him that he had decided to go with a 20/222!

He is considering just keeping his 700 as is and buying another action and building a 20/222. I helped him spec out Redding dies to set that up, and directed him to start a thread asking where to get a reamer for such, using starline 222 brass (no turn) and with a Freebore that would allow 40 grain bullets at least.

We shall see where he goes with it. It was pleasant to help.

And in the end, advice is like preference...blonde or brunette or redhead, it is all in what ya want.

 

[Evan]

Truth be told, I prefer the 20VT to the 20-222. I like to push things as small as possible (thus my 20VT shooting the 55gn bergers at 600yds).

But given the concern most have for availability of components, etc. a 20-222 makes sense if you’re starting with a blank slate and want a medium size 20.