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Go for a 20 practical...

Uses 223 brass necked down to .204, no fireforming & really easy 

basically you use a 223 bushing die with a 204 button & a bushing .. Still use a 223 seating die.

its very economical to run... I use 25 gr XBR 8208 with 39gr Sierra Bliztkings- 3450 fps, hardly any recoil, less white out than a 223 & gives the same stopping power as I use to get when I shot 53gr vmax ( 223 ) at 3150 fps , 

but has the advantage of being flatter & better in the wind.

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I'd have to say 204 Ruger as I love mine with a drone on top,and shooting 39grn sbk. Just got in from foxing and wacked another 4 tonight ?.one at 257yds, and all stone dead again,the 39grn blitz king certainly hits hard ?. if I'm using the lamp i shoot my 22-250 but it doesn't get used much since I've had the 204. and now I quite fancy having the 22-250 rebarelled in 20br, one day!!.

So go 204 ruger, flat and fast,no recoil and hits hard for a nice light bullet.

 

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Of the smaller 20 cal cases the practical is the best of the three.

As explained above, you can use good quality lapua 223 brass, and simply neck it down. The practical will run happily on a shorter barrel than the .204 Ruger too [ which is overbored ]

It you want a complete "balls out nutter" then The Br trumps them all.

I build a lot of 20 calibres and have a real soft spot for them.

 

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Hi baldie, yep I love a bit of overbore... 22-250 ,17rem and 204,and i love them all,been shooting them all many years now and haven't had a rebarrell yet!! (Admittedly a user of moly and HBN)So does "overbore" really matter for us vermin shooters ,if I decide to have a "balls out nutter" maybe one day I'll be in touch. Anyway being a riflesmith you should be in favour of overbore?

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On August 31, 2018 at 11:50 PM, treetop said:

Go for a 20 practical...

Uses 223 brass necked down to .204, no fireforming & really easy 

basically you use a 223 bushing die with a 204 button & a bushing .. Still use a 223 seating die.

its very economical to run... I use 25 gr XBR 8208 with 39gr Sierra Bliztkings- 3450 fps, hardly any recoil, less white out than a 223 & gives the same stopping power as I use to get when I shot 53gr vmax ( 223 ) at 3150 fps , 

but has the advantage of being flatter & better in the wind.

Would agree as i use one , my original load was 23.3 N133 like 8thou off was faily hot 3652fps so iv now slowed it a little because in summer it was showing pressure signs . That load zeroed @200 was dropping 4--1/2" @ 300 yrds. I haven't cronoed the new load but its now dropping 5--1/2" and pressure fine . 20 bullets seem to be more explosive then say a 50g .224 and in my opinion is safer / less risk of richochay . Many plus reasons to have a 20 practical . I nearly went for a 20 br but from what iv read some slow them to 3500 3600 because accuracy is better there . But your choice sir . They are great for corvid control , then again so would a 17 rem ...

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I've had a 204 and loved it, now got a 22br and love that even more !

If i was going down the 20cal route i think next time i'd go for a 20 Vartarg.....gives near 204 levels of speed but with 17grains of powder.

Regards, Rob.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a 20BR,  first one the Birmingham proof house had ever seen and probably only the second or third in the UK when built around 2003/4 time.

1 in 9 Bartlien  27 inch, throated for the 50gr Berger ( now discontinued)  I use those and 39 SBKs.  The latter dont quite match the Bergers accuracy wise ( these have agged low .3s in 100BR comps at Bisley) they take foxes cleanly out almost 300 yards with ease.   I zero 1/2 inch high at 100 yards which puts me dead on at 170 yards.    While we have been up to 33gr N150 testing prior to proof our working load is 29.0 with the 39s and a shade more than that under the 50s.   Gives 3500, its a 14 lb rifle so very smooth, no mod but get to see the impacts.   Overall 97% first shot kill ratio on foxes out to 298 yards,  my eyes are no longer good enough to provide positive night time target confirmation beyond that.  Its a dedicated truck or ambush gun, far to heavy for an old bloke like me to be carrying far but for foxes its my go to gun.

Today for what I do the 39SBK works well everywhere except rape stubbles where you have lots of thick remote stalks,   ( i carry some Berger 50s on one end of the butt shell holder for this)  so a good 204 or 20 Tac or 20 Prac would be just as good a choice as a working rifle,  dont go chasing Mega velocity though as barrel life is quite short.  1500 rounds and the accuracy will start to drop off.  If you are not going beyond about 250 yards then the 20VT would also be a good choice if you can find Fireball brass to form the cases from.  

A friend who also posts here has a 22BR,  frankly that is just as good sub 300 yards but has a longer barrel life.  Over 300 yards then the lower drops/drifts of the 50 gr Berger in 20 cal make it easier to shoot accurately than 55 SBKs in the 22BR.

 

A

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