204 or 20 practical

[Chad280]

Im thinking of rebarreling my 223 to either a 204 or the 20 practical.

I like the idea of the practical due to I can just neck down all my 223 brass. If anyone has some first hand experience on either I would appreciate some information.

 

[DogBuster]

20PT..like you said you already have brass/dies....you'll need a 223 bushing neck die...couple bushings...

226-228 (or so) H4895 or Benchmark in mine...40 V's....great cartridge...yes I 'had' three 204's also

 

[L.Sherm]

+1^^^^ i run L.C brass in mine and just use a Redding 223 bushing die set it's about as easy as necking down a widcat gets and then just shoot. Alot cheaper components and the prac. will stay right with the 204

 

[Catfish]

The 204 has just a bit more capacity and you don`t have to form brass. At one time I had both a 17 Rem. and a 17-223, there was so little difference between the 2 you could not tell in the field. Same with the 204 and the 20 practical. Factory chambers are far easier to sell when your done playing with it too. Go with a 204 with a tight neck chamber, at least a no turn tight necked chamber.

 

[L.Sherm]

There is no forming with a 20 Prac. only necking down

 

[nmjwolf]

Another vote for 20 practical....

If you already have 223 makes perfect sense to go with the 20 "practical". I have one and accuracy is very good.

 

[5spd]

20P as you have all the goods for loading it except the die set up.
Very simple, neck down, load up & go shooting.
Ive built 3 of them so far.

 

[Phil]

Endless amount of brass in stock for the .20 Practical, including Lapua...........

 

[charlesasmith]

I have a 20P with zero free bore. Ran into a problem when seating the Sierra 39 gr 0.020 off of jam. Had developed a donut when necking down. Will have to inside neck ream the ones already necked down. Will try turning the neck into the shoulder junction to see if the donut will be eliminated. Any other suggestions?

 

[IA_shooter]

Deciding to try a 20 Prac was a great decision for me a couple years ago. I have a heavier barreled 20" BHW barrel on a Savage 10 action which shoots amazing and after the initial neck down of a bunch of LC brass, it's simple to reload for. It's a varmint's worst nightmare.

 

[RockyMtnMan]

Im thinking of rebarreling my 223 to either a 204 or the 20 practical.

I like the idea of the practical due to I can just neck down all my 223 brass. If anyone has some first hand experience on either I would appreciate some information.

If you already have a good supply of 223 brass, the obvious choice is the 20 Practical. Though it is a little slower than the 204 Ruger, it is still plenty fast and you won't notice the difference on varmints.

 

[Smalltruck]

Another 20 practical vote here. Don't use too heavy of a barrel, I did and wish I would have went lighter.

 

[Motoman006]

20 practical

 

[mattri]

Built a 20P a couple of years ago. Forming cases is a snap, very easy to load for, found an extremely accurate load using H4895 and 39gr Sierras right off the bat. Out to 400 yards it is an absolute laser. Took it to WY for pds and it was almost boring.

 

[P72]

Some time ago I re-barreled a .17 Rem to a .20 Practical. I bought lots of once fired RWS .223 brass, CCI 450 primers, IMR 8208 powder, a Redding .223 small base die, a Redding FL bushing die, a .226 bushing, a Hornady .20 seater die and 40 grain VMax bullets. The small base die eliminates sticking upon chambering rounds, apparently some of these pieces of brass were fired in a sloppy chambers. I turned the necks just enough so they cleaned up. Bullets are seated so the shank of the bullet is just above the junction of neck and shoulder. My rifle has a 1-11 twist and I would recommend that twist. I can't tell differences between the .20 Practical and .204 Ruger except for $ spent for brass.

This just gotta be the best rodent rifle in the world - buckets of once fired brass are used to make large volumes of ammo to shoot lots of prairie dogs, gophers, and rock chucks out to 400 yards. Barrel life is great also - still shoots good after 3 years.