Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles 20 Prac+BlueDot=Poor mans Vartarg?

I've got a bunch of Blue Dot and a hankering to whack some P-dogs this summer.

Anybody used Blue Dot in the 20 Practical?

Poor mans Vartarg without the case prep?

Guess that is a fair assessment....

I've loaded a couple hundred for this varmint season...

12,5 grs with a 32 gr V Max.....

not losing sight picture during recoil, so can see my hits...

Speed?

Run my Practical with a full case of IMR 8208..Benchmark or H4895 w/40 V's

I had a bowl of Golden Grahams for breakfast.

I don't live in California..............................

13 gr Blue Dot had the 32 Zmax whistling 3,300 fps into tiny groups.

I had a .223 Tikka SL I sold a few years ago that I had worked up a Blue Dot load for.

50 gr Zmax with 13 gr Blue Dot.

10 shots just for BSA


I sold the Tikka but had 4-500 rounds sitting here. Ran em through the sizer and FF'ing in a .223AI Shaen built for me. Only 2,700 fps but dang if it aint stacking them too.

Fwiw, full house Vartarg loads are sending 32's at 3,750 fps with 19 or so gr of powder.

Hig , you are going to blow your face off with those loads..... just kidding.... in true campfire fashion I have no experience with a 204 practical.... but Blue Dot and 55gr Nosler in my 243 is da bomb...
So I am an expert....

I run my .243 with a full case of Reloder 26.

With the component shortages, I sure would think Blue Dot loads would be a much hotter topic.

I hear you can use small pistol primers instead of small rifle too.

exact reason I developed and worked up loads using Blue Dot, SR 4759, Unique, Steel and a few other powders that give a lot of shooting per pound of powder...

current load right now with a lot of 40 gr v Maxes using Blue Dot, with an 11 gr Charge is running at 2850 to 2900 fps MV...

for 50 to 150 yds, its just fine for sage rats... good for further out also.... but why go further out when there are plenty within 150 or less...put the cross hairs on it and they explode 1/millionth of a second later... 1 pound of powder delivers 635 rounds..... 2 lbs is almost 1300 rounds...

regular 223 loads, are pretty much over kill in realty.... burning less powder per round, stretches out barrel life dramatically...

IIRC from last season... 32 gr V Maxes out of my 20 Practical ( bolt action Ruger) with 12.5 grains of Blue Dot were running in the 3250 to 3300 fps range..

will head out tomorrow to try my luck again....

Don't know much about the .20 Practical, never heard of it until now. I do know a thing or two about Blue Dot. Thanks Seafire!

5 shot groups

My 243 is an 1/8 twist and most of it's diet is 105gr with a case full of RL26... great minds think alike... but being the loony I am and having several thousand Nosler 55 shot boolits I had to make a pest load.
Double duty save money kinda thing...

DD

as you know now all it is is a 223 necked down to 20 caliber

Built my first barrel in 2007

Dies......Forster BR seater in 204R

Redding 223 bushing dies FL or neck.....bushings in .227"...228" .230"

40 V max come out at 3900+

Fuggin P/dogs hate 'em

prairie dogs don't hate them....

after they get wacked with one.... there is NO Thought in their heads...because they are DEAD....

got to blow up between 50 and 60 of them today over in Klamath County... slow day... pups still aren't out yet...

Seafire,

I'd like to take a moment to point out something that I've had to tell customers a whole bunch through the years.

"I can only kill them once."

Men seem to understand this concept.

Women? Well, they kinda don't like you pointing that out....

I had a chance to buy an 8lb jug of Blue Dot a year or so ago and didn’t, it was pretty cheap too. I had a pound that I’d never used but have since started using in cast bullet rifle loads with small pistol primers because I have a lot of them. I’ve grown to like it but can’t find it now and really kick myself for not getting it when I could. I ended up buying 8lb of 4227, which is working ok but a little harder to light than the Blue Dot.

I bought 5 lbs of Blue Dot 4-5 years ago.

Kinda feeling clairvoyant.

YMMV.

Anybody else find it funny that everyones three shot groups aint schidt to BSA, but post a hummer of a 10 shot group and all is silent?

LOL.