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I'm getting mine back from the smith this weekend finally. I'm planning to try H322 with 32VMAX and 35Bergers first. Anyone else here have some sage advice on this round?
Last edited by bbassi; 08/19/16. Reason: can't type
They say everything happens for a reason.
For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
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I'm burning 26.2 gr 8208 with 32 varmmegdon and 24 gr 8208 with 39 Speer tnt
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Campfire Kahuna
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bbassi,
I'm guessing you mean H322 or H335, not H332?
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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woops. yes, H322. Fat fingers. 
They say everything happens for a reason.
For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
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Campfire Kahuna
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It was an interesting typo! They're usually don't send such mixed signals.
I've fooled with the .204 Ruger more than the .20, but they're very close. You might want to try some 40-grain plastic-tips too, as they perform a little better at longer ranges. The Berger 35 is a very accurate bullet, and shoots the smallest groups at 100 yards in my .204. But the difference is small, and plastic-tipped 40's are more accurate at varmint-shooting ranges because they drift less in the wind.
There are a bunch of powders of that same general burn-rate, and while 322 is pretty small-grained, you may also find that spherical powders flow through the small neck more easily, making loading big batches of ammo easier.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Mine works fine on a diet of H 322, when available a good supply of Hornady 24 grain NTXs are fun, as they can really cook.
I've also done reduced loads with mine that will rival the 17 Hornet speeds with the accompanying lack of recoil.
Like the 223, it is versatile with some of the lighter bullets available in the caliber range.
Like the loads I gave Ingwe for his bunny loads, 12.5 grains of IMR 4198 with a 32 grain V Max, makes even a better bunny load.
The 20 Practical is a fun rifle to have in the tool box for small varmint shooting. I shoot a lot of ammo at 22 Hornets speeds, and enjoy the job they do.
I built mine as a walking varminter with a 20 inch barrel. It was cheaper than buying a 17 Hornet by a long shot.
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I put this one together for coyotes and fox. I like the 25gr Bergers in my 17 Remington because I almost never get an exit on 10lb fox. I also went 20/20 on coyotes with that bulet, although I did have a couple that made it 100yds or so. I'm going to play with 32 and 40 gr bullets as well but I'm pretty sold on the Bergers despite the cost difference.
They say everything happens for a reason.
For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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A Doe walks out of the woods today and says, that is the last time I'm going to do that for Two Bucks.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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H4895...or Benchmark in mine......
moly 40 gr V max......
T R U M P W O N !
U L T R A M A G A !
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Given what "luck" I've had with the 204 R, I would guess that TAC is a good candidate for both the Prac and Tac versions. Both H-4895 and TAC came up nicely under all weights from 32 to 40, and TAC "wins" with me because it pours so well in that scrawny little neck.
I want to do a Tactical someday and TAC is certainly on the "try this first" list.
Up hills slow,
Down hills fast
Tonnage first and
Safety last.
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Campfire Ranger
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Bbassi: Just curious why you chose to go to the 20 Practical instead of going with the 204 Ruger?
Wishing you the best of luck with your Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
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Bbassi: Just curious why you chose to go to the 20 Practical instead of going with the 204 Ruger?
Wishing you the best of luck with your Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy One pass of a .223 case in a sizing die, presto, .20 Practical. No witching, no fancy nonsense, just load and shoot. Cheap .223 cases vs. factory .204s.
You can roll a turd in peanuts, dip it in chocolate, and it still ain't no damn Baby Ruth.
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Bbassi: Just curious why you chose to go to the 20 Practical instead of going with the 204 Ruger?
Wishing you the best of luck with your Rifle.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy Free brass and no magazine issues.
They say everything happens for a reason.
For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
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Campfire Kahuna
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I recently posted elsewhere on the Campfire that if starting all over again with a .20, I'd go with the .20 Practical due to the cheap and abundant .223 brass. But already have close to 2500 pieces of .204 brass, gathered when it was cheap and abundant, back when the .204 was new.
However, haven't heard about "magazine issues" with the .204, and have owned and shot the hell out of four .204's of three different makes. What are the magazine issues?
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Bbassi & Mule Deer: I have 7 (seven) Varmint Rifles in caliber 204 Ruger and have as yet not had an inkling of any "magazine issues"!
And while we are on the subject of "costs" (free brass) how much shooting do you have to do with the "cheap" 223 brass to recoup your costs having a Rifle re-barreled/re-chambered to 20 Practical?
I have had MANY custom Rifles built and Rifles re-chambered over the past 5 decades. But to tell the truth that little undertaking has gotten so very expensive that I do not partake of it anymore!
Again, I wish you both the best of luck with the 20 Practical but I will stick with the ultra accurate "factory Rifles" available today and enjoy the enhanced performance of the 204 Ruger cartridge along the way.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
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Cheap brass was the main reason. Besides, who doesn't want to try something different once in a while? To be honest my only real experience with the 204 was loading for a buddies MVP. The gun was stupid accurate, but to get the best out of it I needed to load long which caused issues with the factory and aftermarket Pmags he had. It wasn't a huge issue but it pushed me towards the 20P.
VG, the reason I need to have a smith do the rebarrel is I'm a lefty and the only LH 20 cal factory gun I'm aware of is a Savage model 10 in 204R. Nothing wrong with them IMO, but I wanted to give the RAR a try, so If I was going to have a barrel fitted anyway I figured why not go with something different.
They say everything happens for a reason.
For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
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Campfire Kahuna
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VarmintGuy,
If you'll reread my post a little more carefully, perhaps you'll recognize that I am NOT building a .20 Practical. Thought I made that plain, especially after mentioning having a bunch of .204 brass on hand.
But I'm pretty much with you on building more custom rifles. As a matter of fact didn't even have my present .204 (a Remington 700) rebarreled after the factory barrel got toasted. Instead I bought a new "take-off" 700 .204 barrel (that somebody else apparently removed so they could build a custom rifle) the Campfire Classfieds, and screwed it on myself. The headspace was within specs, and it shoots great. Total price was all of $80....
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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Campfire Ranger
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Mule Deer:
If, you'll re-read MY post a little more carefully, when and if you were to "start all over again with a 20 Practical" how could you make up the re-barreling/re-chambering costs by going with the 20 Practical?
223 brass is available and is cheap but its NOT that cheap!
And my 204 Ruger brass (various brands) apparently has a very LONG life to it as some of it I have been shooting since 2,004!
And when it can be found its not that expensive.
Thats my point and my point of inquiry.
AND... I am more than familiar with costs of Riflesmithing these days as I know several Riflesmiths and Hunt varmints with a couple of them.
It would take one heck of a lot of shooting with ones low cost 223 brass -turned 20 Tactical - to make up for the significant costs of gunsmithing/barrels/reamer rentals etc, these days.
Again that's my point and I have NOT been swayed from that contention!
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
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Campfire 'Bwana
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I built my 20 Practical, for the same reasons as stated above.. with tons of 223 brass... It was just the Practical thing to do... maybe that is where they got the Practical in 20 Practical from? Ya think??? 
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Campfire Kahuna
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VarmintGuy,
The every first website I checked had brand-new major-factory .223 brass on sale for $50/250. The cheapest .204 brass on the same site cost $50/100, which is pretty typical these days.
An E.R. Shaw .20-caliber costs $150, and I have had excellent luck with Shaw barrels--which are available in Remington 700 factory contours. I know several gunsmiths in this area who would fit and chamber it to any common bolt action for $150, for a total cost of $300.
Did a little research on dies and found they can be had for as little as $50, though getting exactly what I'd want would run more like $100. In other words, not much different than .204 dies. So let's call that a wash.
So the basic cost for rebarreling to .20 Practical would be around $300. At a difference of 30 cents per case, a shooter would break even by buying 1000 pieces of .223 brass for the price I found so easily. The break-even point could come even sooner, of course, by purchasing once-fired .223 brass, which is commonly available and usually priced around 10-12 cents per case.
After the break-even point, of course, the .20 Practical shooter would be saving even more money.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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So I got out to shoot this today. It shot so well it's almost disappointing, but dam it's a fun gun to shoot. I've got about 50 rounds through it and have 2 bullets (32Vmax and 35 Bergers) shooting sub dime size groups with the H322. Heck It has not thrown a group larger than an inch yet! I need to figure out why my chrono isn't reading right because I really would like to know what these are doing speed wise. 
They say everything happens for a reason.
For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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T R U M P W O N !
U L T R A M A G A !
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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any powder that works in the 204 will do the same in 20 Practical
A Doe walks out of the woods today and says, that is the last time I'm going to do that for Two Bucks.
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VarmintGuy,
The every first website I checked had brand-new major-factory .223 brass on sale for $50/250. The cheapest .204 brass on the same site cost $50/100, which is pretty typical these days.
An E.R. Shaw .20-caliber costs $150, and I have had excellent luck with Shaw barrels--which are available in Remington 700 factory contours. I know several gunsmiths in this area who would fit and chamber it to any common bolt action for $150, for a total cost of $300.
Did a little research on dies and found they can be had for as little as $50, though getting exactly what I'd want would run more like $100. In other words, not much different than .204 dies. So let's call that a wash.
So the basic cost for rebarreling to .20 Practical would be around $300. At a difference of 30 cents per case, a shooter would break even by buying 1000 pieces of .223 brass for the price I found so easily. The break-even point could come even sooner, of course, by purchasing once-fired .223 brass, which is commonly available and usually priced around 10-12 cents per case.
After the break-even point, of course, the .20 Practical shooter would be saving even more money.
A "friend of a friend" works at the local reformatory, and gets us all the .223 brass we want, for free. All we have to do is to rework the primer pockets and trim the stuff (eccchhhh!) and we have all the brass we want. It's not match-grade, but it works, and the price is right.
You can roll a turd in peanuts, dip it in chocolate, and it still ain't no damn Baby Ruth.
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Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
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Yep, "sweat equity" works for brass too!
I got a bunch of once-fired .17 Hornet brass a couple of years ago that turned out to have the "short" primer pockets found in some of the early cases. (Always wondered where the short primers came from to use in those cases?) The price was so good it was well worth the time spent power-uniforming the pockets.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
John Steinbeck
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![[Linked Image]](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b340/bbassi/DSCN2219_zpsereivznh.jpg) ![[Linked Image]](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b340/bbassi/DSCN2221_zpsqjqivw7v.jpg) 100yd, then 200yd group off the bags. All in less than 5 minutes. Not a doubt in my mind the flyer was me. Factory trigger, non-bedded. 35gr Berger over 24gr of H322. I'm very happy at this point.
They say everything happens for a reason.
For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
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Campfire Tracker
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Did a little research on dies and found they can be had for as little as $50, though getting exactly what I'd want would run more like $100.
I'd be very interested to know what die set I could get for the 20 Prac for $50, if you don't mind sharing. Dies are the one thing that turn me away from this cartridge, since I don't already use a .223 Redding bushing die, and don't intend to buy one. Are there other cheaper options now?
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Most guys that shoot the 20PT also shoot a 223...
so you're part way there already...
Redding 223 bushing die w/.227 bushing...
Forster BR seater for a 204R...already had one from former 204R
Hornady match 223 FL sizer.....prep & neck brass to 20.......
go shoot p/dogs....coyotes...G/hogs........
T R U M P W O N !
U L T R A M A G A !
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Did a little research on dies and found they can be had for as little as $50, though getting exactly what I'd want would run more like $100.
I'd be very interested to know what die set I could get for the 20 Prac for $50, if you don't mind sharing. Dies are the one thing that turn me away from this cartridge, since I don't already use a .223 Redding bushing die, and don't intend to buy one. Are there other cheaper options now? I got my Redding type S from fleet farm for $25. Got a 204 also for the same price. Bushings ain't cheap though.
They say everything happens for a reason.
For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
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Campfire Tracker
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Most guys that shoot the 20PT also shoot a 223...
so you're part way there already...
Redding 223 bushing die w/.227 bushing...
Forster BR seater for a 204R...already had one from former 204R
Hornady match 223 FL sizer.....prep & neck brass to 20.......
go shoot p/dogs....coyotes...G/hogs........
Thanks but you must not have read my post all the way through. I do shoot 223, but don't have a Redding bushing die for it and don't intend to buy one.
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Paging MD - I really would like to know about other die options you found.
Can a shortened .204 Ruger die work, or is the shoulder diameter wrong?
Tikkanut, are you saying above to use the Hornady match 223 FL sizer just for the body, or is that also a bushing type that can neck down to .20 cal?
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Campfire 'Bwana
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Back from cross country travels..
I form cases for my 20 Practical the following way.
Deprime with RCBS decapping die.
F/L size the case with an RCBS Small base 223 die with the spindle out of it.
Start neck sizing with a 204 die
Finish sizing the neck with a Hornady 20 Cal Universal Sizing Die ( $20)
Then camfer, and then seat bullet with one of my 223 seating dies.
After shooting, neck size with the Hornady Universal Neck Sizer.... and bump shoulder back when needed with the 223 Small Base die ( when needed) or a regular 223 F/L die with the spindle removed.....
Had all of them shooting a 223... bought the Hornady for $20 on line, and also already had a 204 die set from shooting a 204...
so total additional cost was only $20 for me...
"Minus the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the Country" Marion Barry, Mayor of Wash DC
“Owning guns is not a right. If it were a right, it would be in the Constitution.” ~Alexandria Ocasio Cortez
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