.20vartarg alternative

[sav12lrpv]

I've been shooting a .20ppc and there's a lot to like, but barrel wear is a concern, and I've started thinking of something that burns less powder. The .20vartarg might be interesting, but I'm wondering if there's an alternative that would use the ppc case (readily available Lapua brass). Is there such a thing as a shorter version of the ppc that might use 17-20gr. of powder and drive 40gr bullets in the mid 3000fps range? I bet somebody has done it and I just don't know about it. Sombody might suggest a .20/.222, but there's just something about those short fat little ppc's with that little primer hole. I should mention that,ultimately, it's accuracy that matters.

 

[LHSmith]

How about a 20 cal. version of the 220 Beggs? It's a .220 Russian with a radiused shoulder to eliminate case stretch that is common with the basic .220 Russian. Not shorter, but case volume is less since it's not blown out like the PPC. I believe there is more info in the Bulletin on this site on the .220 Beggs.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Or you could just build that Vartarg and use 222 Rem Lapua brass to form your cases. I'm a VT fan, miserly on powder, almost zero barrel heat, in fact I've shot 100 rnds straight at squirrels w/o cleaning, accuracy was still excellent.

With burning only 18~grs of powder, accuracy in the bughole catagory, what's not to like?

 

[NorCalMikie]

Or, you could build you own wildcat round. Take a PPC die, have it cut off to the length you're thinking about with the case size for the amount of powder you're after, form your own brass and see what you can come up with? Only about 1000 steps to get to where you want to be.
I'am working on something like that now. A "short" version of the 20 VT. 14 grains of powder to the shoulder neck junction. Shooting bug holes with start up loads. 8)
May not be as fast as you want but if all the bullets are going in the same hole?..... You'll never know till you try. ;D

 

[NorCalMikie]

So, what you're after has already been done. It's the "20 Pup".
220 Lapua brass shortened to 1.380". Less powder = less recoil and it's still deadly accurate.
Not a slam thing but not as bad as it could be.
Or, push the shoulder back till you get the case you want.

 

[RJinTexas]

I don't believe accuracy gets any better then the 20VT, in fact my HV Pacnor barreled Savage Target Action which sits in a Savage F Class stock will shoot 40gr Vmax's into smaller groups then any of my 3000.00 plus 6mm Benchrest rifles. I've never owned a rifle that's more accurate. It's absolutely the most enjoyable rifle that I've ever shot in the p-dog towns and as Rich stated no barrel heating. I'd shoot it in the group portion of our club VFS matches but they won't allow me too. They said nothing smaller the 22 cal, I even said I take the handycapping difference is bullet dia asking that my groups be measured the same as the 22 caliber shooters but they still said no 20 caliber firearms were allowed. I along with several of our club members use 30br's for the score portion but use our 6ppc's for the group portion.

RJ

 

[sav12lrpv]

Thanks to all for the advice. I've got a couple questions regarding brass forming. I'll continue the conversation off line with a couple of you.

 

[Bowman44]

Hard not to like the Vartarg, it is one of the most efficient center fire cartridges out there. T.S.

 

[Joe O]

Thanks to all for the advice. I've got a couple questions regarding brass forming. I'll continue the conversation off line with a couple of you.

when I was thinking about aa 20cal cartridge in the capacity range of the 20VT,I decided on a 20 Ackley Bee,for a G2 Contender.Case holds 16.5gr of AA1680C,performs well with 32gr bullets(haven't tried any others),Barrel barely gets warm after 20 shots.Velocity 3500+.The 20VT is what I would go to In one of my 204r .A shortened 20PPC should work fine for you.set back a barrel,clean up the chamber for a shortened case,and have a die cut down to match.