New .20 bullets

[20Tac]

For .20 calibre users there are a couple of new bullets:

 

Speer 39gr TNT

 

http://www.speer-bullets.com/ballistics/detail.aspx?id=247

 

and Nosler 32gr 'fragmenting copper core' BT

 

http://www.nosler.com/btlfshowroom.html

[TonyH]

Thanks for this heads-up. Very interesting - that Nosler 32gr sounds perfect, and yet another reason for re-barrelling my .223 some day. I wonder how its BC is likely to compare with that of the SBK in same weight...

[Alycidon]

Thanks for this heads-up. Very interesting - that Nosler 32gr sounds perfect, and yet another reason for re-barrelling my .223 some day. I wonder how its BC is likely to compare with that of the SBK in same weight...

 

 

Tony, one of these new non lead bullets is pretty long and needs a 1 in 9 twist, normally a lead bullet of these weights is 1 in 11 or 12 in 20 cal. Not sure if its this one of a lead free VMax, dont have time to check at present.

 

 

Rebarrelling a .223 to a TAC 20 is a good idea in my book.

 

A

[moses]

Tony, one of these new non lead bullets is pretty long and needs a 1 in 9 twist, normally a lead bullet of these weights is 1 in 11 or 12 in 20 cal. Not sure if its this one of a lead free VMax, dont have time to check at present.

 

These aren't lead free;

 

http://www.nosler.com/ctshowroom.htm

[TonyH]

Tony, one of these new non lead bullets is pretty long and needs a 1 in 9 twist, normally a lead bullet of these weights is 1 in 11 or 12 in 20 cal. Not sure if its this one of a lead free VMax, dont have time to check at present.

 

 

Rebarrelling a .223 to a TAC 20 is a good idea in my book.

 

A

Interesting, thanks - I hadn't considered twist. Don't know which lead-free bullet a faster twist might suit. Moses points to the Nosler "CT" bullets which I hadn't heard of: there's a 32gr 20-cal bullet with a stated BC of .110, remarkably low, but in the "lead free" section of Nosler's site the 35gr .224 BT is given a BC of .20 or so. I understood that in general, 20-cal bullets had BCs significantly better than their .224 equivalents, so I'd have expected the 32gr 20-cal listed above it to have a similar BC at least, i.e. around .20!

These BCs - for the lead-free v CT 20-cal 32gr bullets - seem oddly disparate. Or maybe I'm complicating things, or just being stupid...

TonyH

[20Tac]

Interesting, thanks - I hadn't considered twist. Don't know which lead-free bullet a faster twist might suit. Moses points to the Nosler "CT" bullets which I hadn't heard of: there's a 32gr 20-cal bullet with a stated BC of .110, remarkably low, but in the "lead free" section of Nosler's site the 35gr .224 BT is given a BC of .20 or so. I understood that in general, 20-cal bullets had BCs significantly better than their .224 equivalents, so I'd have expected the 32gr 20-cal listed above it to have a similar BC at least, i.e. around .20!

These BCs - for the lead-free v CT 20-cal 32gr bullets - seem oddly disparate. Or maybe I'm complicating things, or just being stupid...

TonyH

 

That's a misprint - they've just written the BC and SD the wrong way round - should be .206 and .110. The CT 32gr bullet is identical to the normal lead 32gr Nosler BT, apart from the coating/colour.

[TonyH]

That's a misprint - they've just written the BC and SD the wrong way round - should be .206 and .110. The CT 32gr bullet is identical to the normal lead 32gr Nosler BT, apart from the coating/colour.

IOW yes, I was being stupid... Thanks for spotting that. Dunno why Nosler should offer the same bullet in different colours though. A BC of .2+ is damn good for a 32gr bullet, confirms my interest in converting my .223 to 20Tac or 20Prac. Trouble is, when I asked around last year re re-barrelling I got quoted anything from £500 upwards for work that might cost half that in the USA or other countries, a sum close to what I paid originally for my Win Featherweight and MacMillan stock combined. Damn shame. And there would be the expense of new dies, Redding S Comp for preference...

[Alycidon]

A decent barrel was about £250 from the states a couple of years ago, now you have export licences etc as well to pay for. Add to that skilled labour, consumables ( a reamer does not last for ever) and some profit and you can see where £500+ comes from.

 

Under 300 yards there is not a huge amount of difference between 223 and Tac20/Prac20, use BigGameInfo or other similar site and have a look at the ballistics, 20 does however drop and drift slightly less given the same weight of bullet. Over 300 then the 20 is superior.

 

A