. . . nothing new under the sun" - what goes around, comes around . . . 20 Cals rediscovered!

[RGRobinett]

Perusing some OLD (1973) magazines and digests, the 1973 GUN DIGEST featured an article (page 162) titled, The Little Twenty - a wildcatter's wildcat, authored by G. O. Ashley (a name I do not recall), with the tag-line, "What will a 20-caliber do that a 222 or the increasingly popular 17 won't? Nothing really, but you can get in on the ground floor development now - the field is wide open." As time has proven, the latter comment is incorrect, however, the article, if you can find it, is worth a read - if it's been done in the last 20 years, it was done LONG before . . .

The author, who made his own bullets, tested/used bullets from 28gr up to 53gr, at MV of 3737fps, as quantified by his Oehler chronograph. According to Mr. Ashley, the Germans, Swiss and Mexicans were early 20 caliber developers/experimenters, who, largely used .205" groove diameter. Mexican General Mondragon is noted to have used various case capacities and bullet weights, including a case with, "almost no neck, with shoulders even more abruptly angled to the case neck than Gibbs or
ICL". "Here, "in the States" cases from 22 Hornet, up to 250 Savage were shaped and reshaped by more readily recognizable monikers, such as Bob Forker & Fred Huntington. For 20 Cal freaks, it's a good read. RG

 

[Tommie]

I have that same article. Those guys were breaking new ground at the time. Where first the .20 caliber experimenters missed the boat was in bullet weight. Generally they were using .20 caliber bullets in the 42-48 grain range. Obviously (now) that’s too heavy for optimal varmint performance in a .222 case.

While being a huge .17 caliber fan, there is no denying that the .20 cals outperform the .17’s in every parameter except for recoil.

 

[yotehater]

in every parameter except for recoil.

and velocity. The biggest parameter.

 

[Tommie]

and velocity. The biggest parameter.

Muzzle velocity - totally agree. Downrange, say 300+ yards, is where I’ve experienced the retained velocity superiority of the .20 caliber. I fought for the .17’s for decades and still shoot a few but B.C. for B.C. the twenties can generally be run faster and there lies the big advantage. Just my experience and certainly not trying to start a fight.

 

[RegionRat]

I have always been reluctant to add cartridges to the stable. I was avoiding the need to store more tooling, brass, bullets, etc. etc. Then as the years went by, I had daughters who just didn't like the recoil of .30-06 so along came other rifle cartridges. I still went very very slowly as I added new cartridges.

Fast forward most of a lifetime. I regret not turning on to 204 Ruger much sooner. I had been handed rifles on occasion to dispatch coyotes on a few occasions and was very impressed with the 204. Why I took so long to turn on to it was a mistake on my part. I still kick myself for not adding it, and the 17 HMR to the stable sooner.

 

[rcol317]

For sure the 20 cal has added many fun hours of shooting for most shooter that have given her a try. Seem still to be reluctance to accept the performance of today’s bullets and the BC we enjoy. Still read many guys swear by the 50 gr 22 cal but out to 350-400 yards the little 20 is my favorite shooting dogs. My 20 SCC seems to be the favorite but the 20 VT is right behind. I also like the 20-223 AI . It does appear the little 20 may be fading as another flash in the pan but for me I still like what she does. No recoil and watch each shot is fun to shoot.

 

[searcher]

I'm continually amazed at the performance of my .20 Practical when shooting 39 Blitz Kings. Missing a small squirrel inside 200 yards is dismissed as "an act of god". Routinely knocking them down several in a row at 400+ is just routine. And out of an A/R. Wow!

 

[jackson1]

We are a band of brothers. We are the people born with the bad gene that demands that forces us to the best we can be. Offset that with the run of the mill handloader that never gets much beyond the standard offerings of the major suppliers. Most of the fellows I regularly shoot with fall into that category and are always wondering why mine eventually far outshoots theirs. These guys believe I must have been blessed with some obscene shooting talent, not at all true. I just study and work harder at it. As sub caliber shooters (17, 19, and 20) and handloaders we are at the mercy of the manufacturers both large and small. Take the 204 Ruger which has been popular for a number of years. Does it have staying power? That is yet to be determined. If it does not succeed, what does that mean for bullets for others shooting wildcat cartridges. Have watched the 19 die and the lack of premium 17 bullets decline. Have watched major bullet makers drop my favorite bullet several times. Is the 20 also on that path? Have enough good 17 bullets to outlast my current barrel and am considering the move to a 20. At least swapping barrels is not difficult. Few years ago, was shooting next to a fellow attempting to get his 06 to hit a paper plate. I was shooting tiny groups with my 17. He came over to me and told me; his guide said 17's can't buck the wind. You can't argue with logic like that.

 

[High Noon]

Actually the twenty calibers or 5mm go back a long time. I researched it many years ago and they had actually been around for almost a century!

When I was introduced to the twenties over 25 years ago they were almost extinct with only one part time barrel maker and a couple part time bullet makers. At that time I had fell in love with the “Sensational Seventeens” and was writing articles on them with my long range woodchuck and varmint shooing success. I soon started making precision 17 caliber high B.C. boat-tail bullets just for my own use to extend my seventeen shooting range even further.

At that time the twenty caliber bullets lacked extreme accuracy because the bullets were actually made from reformed 22 jackets and the B.C. was not near where I thought it could be. It’s a long story but after a lot of thought I decided to jump into the twenty calibers. And I mean I jumped! I ordered one of the very first Nesika Bay benchrest actions, finish reamers for the 20 VarTarg ( btw..the very first cartridge I designed) and the 20 VarTarg Turbo based on the 222 Remington. I ordered numerous 20 caliber barrels and everything in between. This was over a $7000 investment and at that time I had a hefty mortgage and a family! That may not seem like a lot of money today but back then it was a lot of money to an average guy trust me.

Once I had all the parts and pieces I shipped it all to one of the best precision gunsmiths on the planet by the name of Ken Kleinendorst. Ken got the barrels installed and helped on the very first dies for these cartridges. As I always say everything in my life seems like a long story and launching the twenties is one of the longest. In my early twenty caliber tests I would see some glimmer of hope but knew in my heart we were not where we needed the twenties to be. I felt a real test would be the Super Shoot. So I had the 20 VarTarg Turbo shooting pretty decent and took it to the big dance. I was never a great benchrest shooter but not terrible either but I soon knew with the horrible conditions I was in way over my head. It was hot, dusty and in the end ...well let’s just say that’s about where I ended up. I came home and sat on my deck sipping a glass of wine or was it several and I was trying to decide to carry on with the twenties or just toss the barrels and reamers in the garbage can. I’m serious. As I sat there I slowly came to the conclusion we needed better quality and higher B. C. bullets. I keep thinking of my fantastic 30 grain Gold seventeen caliber bullets and thought if we could just scale those up to twenty caliber bullets in the 40 grain range and we might be off to the races. So I started calling Walt Berger and Steve Hornady for new high BC bullets made on new twenty caliber jackets. It was a long tough sell to these guys and for good reason as there were almost no twenty caliber shooters back then but finally I convinced them I would work very hard to make the “twenty” market like I was doing in the seventeens.

To keep my promise to them and I started writing articles on the twenties and paying for ads on my new 20 VarTarg and 20 VarTarg Turbo cartridges . Interesting enough the more success I was having and writing about them my articles started being rejected. As a young guy I couldn’t understand how magazines and advertising worked and the editors were no fools and needed ads from the major bullet companies that didn’t make twenty caliber products . So one day I decided to resign from the magazine I was writing for and also on the board of and decided to start my own magazine. Remember this was 1997 and the internet wasn’t “there” yet and I had to create a voice to launch the twenties! So when my wife Linda came home I told her I had resigned and took my magazine stock to launch “Small Caliber News” needless to say she dropped her briefcase! She’s a VP of Marketing for a very successful company and fully understood the magnitude of this venture which without her it wouldn’t have been successful! Well another long story but “Small Caliber News” launched the terrific twenties and we were off the launch pad full steam ahead. Small Caliber News was the small caliber voice for over a decade and launched not only the twenties but many other small caliber products as well!

Over the years I went on to design quite a few other twenty caliber cartridges from the 20 Squirrel, 20 Ackley Hornet, 20 Ackley Bee, 20 VarTarg, 20 VarTarg Turbo, 20 Tactical, 20 Terminator ( based on the 222 Remington Mag case...long before the 204 Ruger! ) and 20 Titan ( 20 Grendel ) to name a few. I worked closely with Walt Berger on bringing out the 35, 40, 50 and super long range high BC 55 grain! In fact my close friend legendary precision tool and die maker Bob Siminson who made all my bullet making dies and equipment actually designed the fabulous 55 grain bullet. Another long story .....have I said that before... but he sent me all the 55 grain prototype bullets and I spent an entire summer of my life testing them with different barrels and cartridges. I actually missed the entire woodchuck hunting season doing the tests. Then I paid a professional ballistic lab to run the complete ballistics. Once I had all my work done I contacted Walt Berger with everything and asked him if he would consider making them. Eventually he did and this design has done very well on long range varmints out to 1000 yards and Tim Gardner of Douglas Barrels who actually deserves a lot of credit on the prototype barrels has had some outstanding success shooting 1000 yard benchrest with them!

We are now on our 5th edition of the “Terrific Twenties” available through The Woodchuck Den. BTW...the very first edition was published in May of 2002! It’s been a very long twenty caliber journey for me and there are many to thank. More later ...

Todd A. Kindler
The Woodchuck Den Inc. 330.897.0614
www.woodchuckden.com

 

[Tommie]

Todd,
We owe you a big debt of gratitude. Your revival of the 20 caliber has transformed the varminting world. Thank you.

 

[457ciSBC]

Todd,
We owe you a big debt of gratitude. Your revival of the 20 caliber has transformed the varminting world. Thank you.

x100,I got introduced to the sub calibers by Todd Kindler and Dick Saunders. I can’t imagine the void I would had in my shooting or reloading experience if I had not found my way to Todd.

 

[457ciSBC]

More .20’s

 

[20VarTarg]

Todd, it was great meeting you today and just talking about what most of us here love. I'm a young buck, when you started your venture I was around 12 years old. I had my 22LR and that was all I thought I would ever need. As I grew up I bought many many rifles of all calibers. I'd shoot them for a while and down the road they would go. It wasn't until I was 33 or 34 years old when I bought my Cooper Model 38 chambered in 20 VarTarg. I knew absolutely nothing about the cartridge at the time. I bought it solely because I wanted a Cooper. Now a little over 2 years later I own several 20 caliber rifles and more 17's then I can remember. Without your dedication over the years, could the 20's have vanished for good???? I guess we will never know. I do know one thing, since I got into wildcat's, 20's and 17's in particular, not a single one has went down the road!!!!!! You deserve all the credit in the world for making the 20's as popular as they are today. I feel that every reloader and rifle shooter should own at least one 20 caliber rifle. By far the 20 VarTarg is my favorite rifle in my safe. Thank you for spending so much time and $$$$$ to get the 20's off the ground. Now we just need everyone to get a 20 cal so bullet makers continue making bullets for all of us!

 

[457ciSBC]

The 20 cal world could really use a large benchrest capable round to go commercial like the 20 BR or 20 Grendel, or 20 PPC using faster twist barrels for heavy bullets and then I think the options of the 20 cal world will really be opened up. Production of heavy bullets has been falling off really hard, yet barrel production for 20 cals with fast twists has been taken up by more and more barrel companies. Doesn’t make any sense.

How about the .20 Valkyrie and a 55 or 57 grain VLD

 

[Terry]

No need for a big case, you can get plenty of velocity from the 20 BR. 3650 with 55gr. Berger's is a great place to be.

 

[redrockranger]

A search can verify what i'm about to say. G. R. Douglas the barrel maker was doing 20 cal rifles the 1950's.

 

[Tommie]

How about the .20 Valkyrie and a 55 or 57 grain VLD

My poodle shooting buddy just finished a .20 Valk build. Memorial Day weekend will be its maiden voyage.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

My poodle shooting buddy just finished a .20 Valk build. Memorial Day weekend will be its maiden voyage.

I was looking at that case for wildcatting but the oddball rim size deterred me. Didn’t want to modify a bolt face that would only work on SPC rim sizes.

 

[457ciSBC]

My poodle shooting buddy just finished a .20 Valk build. Memorial Day weekend will be its maiden voyage.

Cool, years back I was speaking with Don Unmissig about ordering some bullets and mentioned that I had been toying with necking down the 6.8 spc and pushing the shoulder back at .100, 125 and .150 increments and he said that he had a customer that was doing the same thing and was shooting some remarkable groups. I always believed it was possibly Roy Winnet (20PDK). Later once the PDK series came about, I hit Roy up a couple of times about dies, brass, reamer and then just lost interest. When the 224 Valkyrie came out the first thing I noticed was that it’s basically a -.100 short 224 SPC. Thus, I had to get some brass and neck it down. I might just order a SPC Rem 700 bolt from PTG, which would be full circle for me.

I really do like the visual footprint of 20 Valkyrie, about the same powder capacity as a 20 PPC. I should do a volume comparison of the 20 Beggs, 20 PPC, 20 valkyrie, 20 ARC, 20 Grendel and 20 BR.

 

[457ciSBC]

I was looking at that case for wildcatting but the oddball rim size deterred me. Didn’t want to modify a bolt face that would only work on SPC rim sizes.

That is kind of a deal breaker, I have the option pulling the PTG bolt from my 6.8 rifle if I don’t want order another bolt.