Which .20 Caliber Cartridge for Varmint & Target Shooting

[Justin B]

my vote is for a 20 Practical 1-10 twist. Easy & cheap low recoil with a fair amount of carnage.

What makes the 20VT so efficient???

 

[pacificman]

What you need is a 20VT AND a 20 Practical. . I use 32 grain bullets in my 20VT and 40 grain in my Practical.
You should just go ahead and plan on both calibers now ...because whichever one you choose I can just about guarantee
you will be building another!. Nothing quite like the 20 calibers as you get accuracy and speed together!

 

[Rick in Oregon]

Lot's of great feedback!! I don't think there is a bad choice in the group, but the 20VT seems to really stand out. What are some good barrel twist and bullet combos that will get the most out of the cartridge?

Mark, if you go with an 11-twist, you'll be able to shoot the 40's well if you so choose. I have a 204 11-twist that thrives on any bullet from 32gr to 40gr. But in my 20VT, I only shoot the 32 grainers, as then the bullet stays in the 'right' velocity range for nice flat trajectories and plenty of rat-smackage aerobatics. But the 39/40gr bullets will give you a bit more range over the 32's, and hold up in the wind a bit better. Do know that a .20 cal 12-twist barrel is marginal for stabilization of 40gr bullets. You'll find info on this all over the gun-net.

My 11-twist 3-groove came from Pac-Nor, but the rock chucks below all fell to Nosler 32gr BT's out of my Cooper 20VT. The 20VT seems to have been made for the 32gr bullets.

 

[chuckshooter]

Holy bat$hit, 2,000 rounds in a weekend? Now, THAT was a good weekend! And I agree, 400 rounds in a day with the VT would be about all the barrel could handle. I run about 300 rnds/day through mine, hence my comment. It appears you have a more 'target rich environment' than I do.....nice!

The rats must really be up early in force in your area....we're still waiting here, but a few are starting to frolic about.....tick-tock.....

our guy at the ranch we go to said, they didn't go down. I wasn't sure I believed him until we started shooting. they were the size of small pdogs. . It was a three day shoot. friday thru 2 pm sunday. three of us for a total of 5000 rounds. It is a record for all of us. now I have to clean 7 guns. as the old saying goes. " I would rather be lucky than good" I think we got lucky with the timing and weather.

 

[Hoodoo]

What you need is a 20VT AND a 20 Practical. . I use 32 grain bullets in my 20VT and 40 grain in my Practical.
You should just go ahead and plan on both calibers now ...because whichever one you choose I can just about guarantee
you will be building another!. Nothing quite like the 20 calibers as you get accuracy and speed together!

This ^^

Just get both and never look back. Like everyone else has said, if you want to shoot lighter 32 grain bullets, go with the VT. If you want to shoot 39/40 grain bullets, go with the Practical.

 

[Mark W]

I certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility of ending up with multiple 20s. I have four 22s and four 6mms in addition to several 30s.

This one will be based on a Savage action because I already have everything but the barrel. I would like to do a build on a CZ 527 in the future.

 

[SS427]

Question.... could the 20 vt or any of these little 20's be a caliber that you could shoot all day in the PD field.... a one rifle caliber?

I have 3 center fire rifles in rotation plus either a 17 HMR or a 4th center fire when I sage rat hunt. Where I hunt I would grow impatient with just one rifle and end up over heating the barrel for sure. Maybe if I had a blind fold to wear while waiting for the barrel to cool...so many visible targets are hard to resist.

 

[chuckshooter]

I certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility of ending up with multiple 20s. I have four 22s and four 6mms in addition to several 30s.

This one will be based on a Savage action because I already have everything but the barrel. I would like to do a build on a CZ 527 in the future.

ejecting the vartarg can sometimes be an issue depending on the action. on my rem 40x 20vt with a standard bolt/ejector, it will not eject. so I gave up and let the case fall into the receiver. I just reach in and pull out by hand. my cooper, of course works fine. even on one of my savages in 20p it's inconsistent. going from 223 to 20p was just enough to not work all the time. case comes out part way, hits the side of the receiver and falls off of the extractor before it can be ejected. I don't own a CZ, but I here really goods thing about them and think they are better suited for the smaller cases. I have 3 of the vartargs and 5 of the 20p/t's and think either is a great choice.

 

[Mark W]

ejecting the vartarg can sometimes be an issue depending on the action. on my rem 40x 20vt with a standard bolt/ejector, it will not eject. so I gave up and let the case fall into the receiver. I just reach in and pull out by hand. my cooper, of course works fine. even on one of my savages in 20p it's inconsistent. going from 223 to 20p was just enough to not work all the time. case comes out part way, hits the side of the receiver and falls off of the extractor before it can be ejected. I don't own a CZ, but I here really goods thing about them and think they are better suited for the smaller cases. I have 3 of the vartargs and 5 of the 20p/t's and think either is a great choice.

Good info! I’m going to single feed this Savage build and probably won’t even run an ejector. I find it easier to just reach in swipe the fired brass out than to chase the brass down. Sometimes it can be a pain ejecting a loaded round if there’s not enough room to get your finger in front of the bullet.

 

[SS427]

Very Nice Rifle Indeed !! - What action are you using ? - I was thinking about a 20 VT on one of the small BAT model "S" actions, But am looking for some input. - (I like single-shot actions but would consider a repeater) Tnx - Ron

A BAT SV 20 VT in a hunter benchrest stock with a 10-50X Sightron scope. Right bolt, left port, no eject - don't have to dig through grass to find brass. My current favorite rifle and caliber.

 

[daniel brothers]

Mark W.... I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about you starting this thread, because I'm getting hooked pretty bad just reading this stuff...LOL.

I have a custom 22-250AI that was built around the 55 bergers for reaching way out there for coyotes... and of course the 204 R calibers for 39-40 gr bullets rifles.... but now I'd love to have one of these 20 VT super shooters.... thanks Mark....I think.... LOL.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

A BAT SV 20 VT in a hunter benchrest stock with a 10-50X Sightron scope. Right bolt, left port, no eject - don't have to dig through grass to find brass. My current favorite rifle and caliber.
View attachment 1035166

Now That Is an awesome Rifle Indeed !! And in a Great Caliber !!

Thank You For Posting This. - I'm catching the 20 cal. "Bug" & I like the VT. - With Lapua Brass, I'm betting one of these shoots extremely well and that a barrel will last a very long time if properly taken care of.

All The Best !! - Ron -

 

[SS427]

The picture actually shows an 8-32x Sightron scope. Last year it upgraded to the 10-50x and this year it wears a Nightforce Competition scope. Below is a load development target.

I had a local gunsmith chamber the barrel, and as you can see it shows considerable promise. 32 gr Zmax and 39 gr Blitzking all show the same accuracy.

 

[Mark W]

Mark W.... I'm not sure if I'm happy or sad about you starting this thread, because I'm getting hooked pretty bad just reading this stuff...LOL.

I have a custom 22-250AI that was built around the 55 bergers for reaching way out there for coyotes... and of course the 204 R calibers for 39-40 gr bullets rifles.... but now I'd love to have one of these 20 VT super shooters.... thanks Mark....I think.... LOL.

I'm glad I could do my part!!

 

[Rick in Oregon]

SS427: Now that rifle shoots as good as it looks! Nice!

That rig is almost too nice to shoot rats with.......almost.

 

[th82457]

20 VT - Only if you want .22lr recoil, accuracy, minimal barrel wear and heat and a big smile every time you splat a prairie dog ! I have a maple stocked CZ 527 sporter that has a Douglas premium #2 barrel at 22.5" on it. It feeds great from factory magazine and shoots ridiculously small & consistent groups with RL7 & either 32 V-Max or Nosler 32 gr. pills. I do like my 204 for heavier bullets and larger game - but it does not bring the enjoyment of the VT.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

9 outa 10 in the .2 or smaller range !! - She's a keeper for sure !!
Again, Very Nice. & Some Good Shooting as well.

Thank You Again

 

[Woodchk]

I’m getting ready to cobble together another Savage project and trying to decided on a caliber. I will be single feeding a model 12 action in a HS Precision stock. The plan is to use a 24” Shilen barrel in bull contour from NSS.

My bases are well covered on .22 and 6mm cartridges so I’m thinking about doing a .20 caliber. It will mostly be used for informal target shooting from 100 to 300 yards (that is the ranges that are readily available to me) with a trip to two a year to prairie dog land.

I don’t care about the availability of factory ammo and won’t consider the 204R for this build. I just want to do something different.

The cartridges that I’m most interested in are 20 Practical, 20 VT, and 20 PPC. I’ve also been reading some good things about the 20-222.

Other than being accurate, I’m wanting low recoil to see hits and low heat build up to facilitate long strings of fire without overheating.

Any thoughts or ideas appreciated!

Have custom xp100 in .20VT for woodchks my favorite .

 

[ratbuster]

I'm with most the others on this thread. 20 VT and 20P are at the top of the list for high volume varmint shooting. The 20VT should have nearly double the barrel life of a 20P and is just a peach to shoot. While 221 Lapua brass is about 60 cents each it's so durable your per shot brass cost is just a few pennies.

 

[Sniper338]

Very Nice Rifle Indeed !! - What action are you using ? - I was thinking about a 20 VT on one of the small BAT model "S" actions, But am looking for some input. - (I like single-shot actions but would consider a repeater)

Tnx - Ron

its a borden BR action