20 cal

[stephentri]

If building a new 20 cal which of the 20 cal would you go 204, 20 br ,20 tac what are the + - points between them.

[Big Al]

What weight of bullets do you want to shoot, over what distances and at what?

 

Do you reload?

 

There is a fairly good summary here

[stephentri]

Yes I reload ,not sure yet 32gr to 40gr or might go a faster twist for 55gr need to do more reserch before I make a decisson any info I get will be a good help.

[gunner]

Caliber wise 20s there all pretty awsome , the BR which allycidon BigAI and others shoot is a very capable long range varmint round , but dont discount the others , a couple you havnt mentioned .20 practical and the utterly tact driving .20 PPC. If i were building another 20 it would be the PPC . Bullets- In my eyes the 32 are ok but 39/40 grainers are better . The trajectory is nigh on the same . Btw i shoot an 20 practical and ok its a full custom job but boy it drops almost everything out to 400 yards . Although i dont shoot foxes at that range with it ! Iv got 6mm for that . A decent action to build on would be a good start , m590/595 T3 tikka / sako / even a remmy should do well . With a decent quality barrel fitted by a recommended or great rifle smith , or are you going custom action ??? If so theres some good choices , id personnely look at an Uk made action ! Whatever it ends up being , do your studieing/home work , ask more specific questions if needed ! Lots want to help .

lol , ( iv just read IF building ? ) hopefully you are ! I think the 204 is the only factory 20 ? Remember tho burger 55s should shoot well in a good rifle but on foxy or even crows? Id be careful if its mainly a foxy gun With the 55s , the 40s will do well enough , but i cant recommend a 20 cal highly enough for crow magpie bashing , the explosive bullets ( 39 sbks i use ) kill with authority with hardly any richochet when used in safe areas . The high FPS together with frangible bullet makes perfect sence to me ! The 20s are definitely here to stay - Not like the hmr !

[Big Al]

Ive got a 20BR and a 20Tac, both are great rifles.

 

If I was to build another to replace them both it would be a 20 Practical with a 9 twist barrel. The Practical brass is easily formed and from .223 and you have the option of using the great Lapua cases. A 9 twist will give you the option of using the 55 Bergers and also 39/40gr bullets so makes for a very flexible package. Both of my 20's shoot both the 55gr Bergers and 39 SBK's into very respectable groups.

 

However, if the right rifle comes along at the right price then I could certainly recommend the 20BR or 20Tac.

[visiter1]

what twist would you use for 32 gr to 39 in the 20 prac? also what speed are you getting?

 

thanks lads

[gunner]

Iv never used a 32 only 39 sierra , thru a krieger 9 twist .

With 23.3 of N133

3652 FPS average , it could do about 3725-3750 but i dont like hot loads. Grey squirrels are tough little bast@ds - until they meet the blitzking out to 280 odd so far , in the sweed of course

[Big Al]

what twist would you use for 32 gr to 39 in the 20 prac? also what speed are you getting?

 

thanks lads

 

If the maximum bullet weight is up to 40gr and your concerned about speed then an 11 twist is all you need to stabilise, speed will depend on barrel length. I would say 3800 tops with a 26" barrel and 39r bullets, you should see 4000 with 32's. In practical hunting terms though maximum speed doesn't make that much difference, anything over 3500 makes the 20cal with 40gr bullets a good round, 32's will give you 300fps more.

[gbal]

Just to add to Al's info on Mvs etc-in field use the effects of velocity increases/decreases of 150-200 fps are quite small.

I don't have wildcat reliable data(I suspect almost no one does!!) but let's see how the 204 Ruger does-other cartridges will be near enough pro rata: all data 200 zero,10mph wind,drop/drift

 

Hornady 32gVmax BC .210 @ 4225fps :200y 0/4.1 3137fps 300y 4.1/9.8 2683 400 13.1/18.1 2272

 

Hornady 40g vmax BC.275 @3900 0/3.3 3103 4.3/7.8 2755 13.2/14.7 2433

 

 

Fed4030 32gNosler BT BC.207 @4030 0/4.4 2970 4.7/10.6 2520 14.9/20.2 2120

 

 

OK:the two Hornady loads show that initial velocity is giving way to superior BC even at 200y....

and the two 32 g loads load shows just how much around 200fps contributes....not much,subject to the BC effect too....

 

Taken together,the heavier higher BC bullet wins out,though it's pretty even steven to 250y (more energy in the heavier,of course).

 

It's also clear that in wind,much beyond 300y is not going to be very high first shot hit % on small targets,without exceptional wind reading...though that's a fairly general reality for small calibre cartridges....

 

gbal

[justin credible]

I've not used the 32's but with 39's 23.8gr of n133 gives the most accurate group with 3750fps.

25.2gr is slightly less accurate but gives 3980fps, this is from a 26inch11twist barrel.

[pork chop]

wouldn't think there's much too choose between the smaller cases .Br would be nice and its flat shooting but will have its down side as in barrel life if run hot (to me that's the whole point of the Br) and possibility of feeding issues ,going to give one a try one day myself though.i have a 204 and rate it highly,i reckon the availability of quality brass would be your deciding factor

[visiter1]

thanks lads always great help here

[JDBenelliM1]

Out of interest, would anyone post a picture of .204 / 20 prac / 20 tac / 20br round against a .308 or similar 'standard' round?

 

Would be interesting to see case differences between them.

[gbal]

Out of interest, would anyone post a picture of .204 / 20 prac / 20 tac / 20br round against a .308 or similar 'standard' round?

 

Would be interesting to see case differences between them.

 

 

Go to Accurate shooter: 20 caliber cartridge guide.

 

There's a photo of the main 20 cal cartridges,the 20Tac is virtually a necked 223;there isn't a 308w,but you can imagine-or google-

 

the 223/308 comparison.

 

gbal

[Alycidon]

My 20BR has a 1 in 9 twist, it shoots 39s - 50s all into .3 or below. Building another today the I would build a lighter weight with a 1 in 11 twist for the 39gr SBK, that could be build on 222/223/PPC or BR case.

 

When my 6PPC is shot out I am minded to re tube it to either 20 or maybe a 22PPC, that is a lightish carry rifle. My 20BR is a heavy long reach tool.

 

A

[muzzzzz]

I have been shooting a .20 TAC for about 3 years now. Mine is a 24 inch 1 in 9 barrel. (chosen to allow use of most bullet weights) If I were doing it again I would decide exactly which bullet I wanted to use before barreling the rifle. From what i have read and the calculations I have done my personal opinion is that the TAC case doesn't have the capacity to push anything heavier than a 39 grain bullet up to the velocities required to make use of the increased BC.

 

I have to admit that I have only used 32 and 39 grain bullets in mine and to be honest I have found that out to about 400 yards the superior velocity you can get out of the 32 grain bullets outweighs the BC advantage afforded by the 39/40 grain bullets. It is quite exposed and windy where i shoot and I have found that even running the 39 grain SBKs accuracy is seriously affected by wind.

 

I have a load with N133 which pushes the 39 grain SBK at just over 3800 fps. Now this is a hot load and if the weather warms up above about 10 degrees C i get some pressure signs. I am not going to be shooting many more of this load once i have used the loaded rounds I have but it is devastating on foxes. Ok It is a fast accurate load but it is on the edge and I don't like being that close to the edge.

I am currently working on a load for a .32 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip which has nearly topped 4200 fps, with no signs of pressure, this velocity difference makes a decent difference.

 

I have consistently found that my velocities are coming in much lower for any given charge weight than in the manuals. I have been able to work my loads back up, i suspect due to the long throat of my rifle (incidentally, jump doesn't seem to be a problem) I think some velocity is robbed by the relatively fast twist barrel (most tested are 12 or 11 twist)

 

If (when) I re-barrel this rifle I will probably get a 1 in 11 twist barrel with a view to shooting only the 32 and 39 grain bullets. If I wanted to shoot the 55 grain bergers I would be looking at a .20 BR or, if you like buying barrels, a .20-250 as they will likely give you more scope for getting the velocity up to where you need it to make the BC work for you, without running into case capacity or pressure issues.

 

My honest opinion is that the .20 TAC/Prac/ .204 ruger are real world consistent 350 yard cartridges. Yes they are effective further but weather conditions start to really hurt you.

 

I think if I wanted a really dedicated small cal long range rifle I would be looking at a fast twist long barreled .22-250, possibly AI variant for case life.

 

On a side note I have only tried Ramshot Xterminator, VV N133 and RL-10X. There is little to choose between the N133 and 10 X but 10 x seems to give me the edge in velocity with the 32s.

 

It have been an immensely fun rifle and has taught me a huge amount about reloading. Whatever you choose I dont suppose you will regret it but I would seriously think about what you want most from the rifle and research based on that!

 

regards.