Neck turning for 20 Practical....

[ratbuster]

I have been told the 20 Practical was designed as "no turn" wildcat but I am thinking it would be worth the effort to do a minimal neck cleanup to help equalize neck tension to get more accuracy. The 20 Practical case is formed with a bushing die and the bevel leaves a slight bulge at the neck/shoulder junction. If that bulge is cut away from neck turning then a weak spot is created which can lead to neck separations.

Does it make sense to full length resize with a standard 223 non-bushing die and then turn the case before necking it down to 20 cal? Without turning, the neck of a loaded round with my LC brass measures close to .230; the 20 practical has a .233 neck ID chamber.

 

['Freak]

Could be that ‘no neck turn 20 Practical’ wasn’t designed around LC brass having a neck wall thickness of ~ .013”, and so ~ .0015” clearance on either side of a ~ .230” OD loaded neck in a .233” ID chamber neck. Any areas of neck wall actually thicker than .013” will be borderline too little neck wall to chamber wall clearance, so yep, I figger it logical to neck turn, at least cleaning up the necks to a maximum thickness of .0125”. From my recliner, that figgers into a loaded neck OD of ~ .229” with ~ .002” on each side, or ~ .004” total neck wall to chamber neck wall clearance.

You’ve got to size down the full length of the neck before turning the neck. If you don’t have a .20 caliber die that’ll do so but you do have a .223 Remington die that will, go for it and then turn the necks before necking them down into a .20” caliber. Thinkin’ turning ‘em at .22” beforehand will have it reach that little bit of the .22” OD neck’s length that once necked down to .20” OD, it’ll become neck/shoulder junction or a portion of the shoulder, anyways.

 

[Greyfox]

I have 4 chambers in 204, a 20 Vartarg, 20-223A!, .204 Ruger and a 20 Practical. I have also owned a 20 Tac. I just tell you this to let you know whereof I speak. Don't make this complicated. Just put the proper bushing in the die and neck it down. If you choose to go to the trouble to turn the necks it is very unlikely you will see any difference on paper and you certainly won't see any difference on fur. You may even lose a little depending on how good you are at turning necks. What you will most certainly gain is more space for the necks to expand on firing, meaning you will work the brass more on every shot and will wear out your brass much more quickly. The 20 Practical is a very simple round and great for colony varmints. Just neck them down, load and go shooting. Don't make this a chore. It's supposed to be fun and turning necks isn't all that much fun.

Rick

 

[hogpatrol]

I have 4 chambers in 204, a 20 Vartarg, 20-223A!, .204 Ruger and a 20 Practical. I have also owned a 20 Tac. I just tell you this to let you know whereof I speak. Don't make this complicated. Just put the proper bushing in the die and neck it down. If you choose to go to the trouble to turn the necks it is very unlikely you will see any difference on paper and you certainly won't see any difference on fur. You may even lose a little depending on how good you are at turning necks. What you will most certainly gain is more space for the necks to expand on firing, meaning you will work the brass more on every shot and will wear out your brass much more quickly. The 20 Practical is a very simple round and great for colony varmints. Just neck them down, load and go shooting. Don't make this a chore. It's supposed to be fun and turning necks isn't all that much fun.

Rick

I have three .20 Ps and agree with Rick. Don't over-engineer this cartridge. It's called "practical" for a reason. Two step neckdown, load and shoot.

 

['Freak]

Excellent, I was figgerin’ on a ‘from the recliner’ calculator based response to bring out folk having actual ‘Practical’ experience to provide factual answers to the OP’s inquiry, before disappearing to page two.

I’m shooting ready-made 204 Ruger brass in a couple generously proportioned factory chambers, already with a precious plenty neck to chamber wall clearance precluding any necessity of turning these necks, other than in gaining practical experience for stuff yet to come.

 

[Chuckr]

I'm looking to rent or purchase a 20 practical reamer, hopefully there's an easier way than waiting 5 months for a new one

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

None of my LC loaded ammo is over .228 most 0.227? No crimp, necks bushing sized. Shooting thru a AR, no chambering issues or neck bulges. Fired necks .231. Not turning hunting ammo ever.