204 Ruger vs 20 Tac and doner actions

[silpig]

Hi. I'm in the market for a 20 cal, it'll be mainly used for foxing and general critter bashing. I think I'll probably go down the route of buying a doner action/gun, in either .222 or .223, and then re-barreling it, as I have a couple of friends in the trade. I'm just wondering though; what the main differences between the cartridges are - is it just that 204 is available in factory form, the 20 tac is a little more efficent (though possibly a bit slower) and as they derrive from different cases, does one feed better in a certain magazine, or would a .222 and .223 magazine be exactly the same anyway??? Thanks for looking!

[TonyH]

Hi. I'm in the market for a 20 cal, it'll be mainly used for foxing and general critter bashing. I think I'll probably go down the route of buying a doner action/gun, in either .222 or .223, and then re-barreling it, as I have a couple of friends in the trade. I'm just wondering though; what the main differences between the cartridges are - is it just that 204 is available in factory form, the 20 tac is a little more efficent (though possibly a bit slower) and as they derrive from different cases, does one feed better in a certain magazine, or would a .222 and .223 magazine be exactly the same anyway??? Thanks for looking!

 

I advise some research, and a very useful guide to the principal 20-cal variants is this page at 6mmBR.com. Always good stuff there - I consult it daily - and I used their info during my own process of deciding exactly which 20-cal to go for. For me it came down to 20 Practical or 20 Tac, and I chose the latter because of its slightly steeper shoulder + longer neck, and I could buy Lapua/Dakota cases ready to load without faffing around over case forming. This round is technically not quite as fast as .204R but there's little in it; and rather than buy cases you can always form your own 20Tac brass from whatever .223 brass you want, if you don't mind that.

Good luck! Tony

[triggersqueezer]

i will have a tikka t3 .204 with a border barrel 1 in 11 twist ,varmint barrel , for sale in a few weeks.pm me if it sounds interesting.

[Alycidon]

BSA make some nice actions of you can find one, might be a cheaper cost than the usual Sako/Tikka/Remmy route although the inlet for the stock may be tricky.

 

 

A

[silpig]

Action sorted! Found a Tikka M595 in .222 that has done next to nothing! My FAC has gone back for .222 to be added and my 204 slot changed to 20 Tac.

[Guest richness]

Congrats on the action mate

I often wonder what's the matter with 204r? I know people were annoyed initially that brass was expensive/hard to find but surely now you can simply use the superlative Nosler or Norma brass in 204r now and there's no problem? Why all this about tacs and practicals and forming and messing on? What are their advantages over 204Ruger?

Excuse the ranting tones and jumping on your thread.... Just wondering out loud mate

[Guest richness]

222 -always fancied one.

20cals very impressive in the wind sub 500y. (surprisingly so) but it's all relatiave isn't it Great varminting cal but obviously there are many others that will do the job

All good fun