Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 20 practical

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?

I'm burning 26.2 gr 8208 with 32 varmmegdon and 24 gr 8208 with 39 Speer tnt

bbassi,

I'm guessing you mean H322 or H335, not H332?

woops. yes, H322. Fat fingers.

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.

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.

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.

H4895...or Benchmark in mine......

moly 40 gr V max......

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.

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.

Free brass and no magazine issues.

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?

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

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.

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....

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

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???

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.