223AI necked down to 20

[Northman]

Has anybody done this? The 223AI is really nice looking cartridge, and necking it down to 20 would achive more speed.. Hmm.. thinking hard.

 

[Forum Boss]

You're pretty much talking about a Tactical 20, give or take a few degrees on the shoulder. Lapua is supposed to be making Tac20 brass now, but whether it can be obtained in Europe is another story.

Check our 20CAL page for more info:

http://www.6mmbr.com/20Caliber.html

And yes the Tac20 is a good cartridge, but maybe not any better than a Ruger .204. It has the advantage of starting with .223 brass, which you can find everywhere.

 

[Northman]

Thanks for the reply.. I thought you got some more grains of powder in the AI version, meaning fireforming to blow out the taper in the cartridge. While in the 20Tac you only run it through a FL die..

The new 20Tac brass, Im not sure if there is market for it in Europe, but Im sure we can order it from Dakota...

 

[Forum Boss]

A 20/223 AI with a 40-degree shoulder may have very slightly more capacity than a Tac20, but not much. Probably not worth the modification because it would require custom dies. I think with a careful choice of powders and seating depths, you could achieve equivalent performance from a Tac 20, within 30 fps or so.

 

[Fireball]

Here's an even easier solution, the .20 Practical. Same performance as the .20 Tactical and no new dies or fire forming required.

http://www.customriflesandcartridges.com/20Practical.htm

 

[Forum Boss]

Fireball,

Thanks for a great tip. The "Practical" makes sense to me.

FYI though, I think on the page to which you linked the photo of the cartridges is mislabled. The Practical has a 23deg shoulder while the Tactical has a 30deg shoulder, so the cases should be reversed in the photo.

 

[Northman]

Hmm.. looks nice.

Since I have gotten an intrest in these small bullets. Do you know of anybody making very high bc bullets for the 20? Right now you have a BC in the .3, but do you think we will see higher bc bullets any time soon?

 

[Fireball]

Actually the photo is correctly labled but I think he hasn't fireformed the .20 Tactical yet. Note the pushed back shoulder and slightly longer neck of the .20 Tactical. The .20 Practical looks exactly like the cartridge labeled. It has slightly more capacity than the .20 Tactical because the shoulder isn't pushed back. If Kevin had fireformed the .20 Tactical in the photo I think the 30 degree shoulder would be noticeable.

 

[RickB]

I have to agree with the observation that the cartridges were mislabeled because the narrative said to buy a Redding .223 FL Bushing sizer. That makes the .20 Practical just like the 6x45 in that they use the .223 case without modification other than the neck diameter. Eliminating fire forming can't be all bad.

 

[Northman]

So..wich route should one go? Tac20, or 20 Practical?

Given both can use laupa brass,dont know cost of dakota brass yet), but with the practical you could use any kind of 223 brass in just one turn, and just a bit more capacity.

Now wich one in more inherently accurate..and barrel life should be 5000++..

 

[Fireball]

The image is definitely labled correctly. The .20 Practical is on the left. The .20 Tactical is on the right. Note the longer neck of the .20 Tactical.

As the owner of the first .20 Practical rifle,a rebarreled Tikka M595 stainless sporter) I can attest to its accuracy. I can highly recommend contacting Kevin Weaver about the .20 Practical. He does great work at a reasonable price and has a good turn around time.

 

[kory]

So..wich route should one go? Tac20, or 20 Practical?

Given both can use laupa brass,dont know cost of dakota brass yet), but with the practical you could use any kind of 223 brass in just one turn, and just a bit more capacity.

Now wich one in more inherently accurate..and barrel life should be 5000++..

Northman,

This is one of the few times I'm going to disagree with Fireball. I would go with the Tactical-20 because it will soon become a standardized SAAMI cartridge. I doubt the Practical-20 will ever reach that status. This means in the future you will be able to buy ammo off of the shelf, have higher resale value, and be able to sell the rifle easier if you choose. Also, the longer neck on the tac-20 can only make it more accurate than the other, but it is hard to quantify.

I do agree with Fireball, that the Practical-2o is easier to load and one less step.

Regards,
Kory

 

[Fireball]

Kory makes some very good points. I think many would be better served with either the .204 Ruger or the .20 Tactical if indeed it becomes a SAAMI standard cartridge. So Kory, we have yet to disagree!