Home Forums Reloading Varmint Rifles Any 20 Practical Shooters out there?

Having a barrel done on a Ruger Action... looking to do just a 20 inch one or so... heavy magnum contour...walking varminter.

take advantage of all of this 223 brass I am loaded with...

just want an alternative to the 223, in case components are had to get, like 22 cal bullets were, there are plenty of 20 cal bullets available the entire time...

and 204 brass is hard to get and varying quality...and I am loaded with Range Brass in 223...

anyone else have one? and favorite loads?

I am thinking mine is going to thrive on 24 gr NTXs, 26 grain HP Barnes and 32 grain V Maxes and Ballistic Tip/Varmaggedon bullets...fueled by conserving powders like Blue Dot, SR 4759, etc...

Closest I'd come would be the Tactical-20 (as labeled by Todd Kindler). I have it in a Cooper model 21 Classic. My go to load is a 40 gr. V-max over 24.5 gr. of RL-10X.
I've about 500 pieces of Lapua brass headstamped Dakota Tac 20.
Being a low volume shooter that don't hot-rod, that may last a lifetime.

Best,

GWB

Been shootin' mine 5-6 yrs now...12T Pac Nor barrel started out life as a 204 Ruger..got bored with that after 2500 rds..and had it rechambered to 20 Practical..barrel finished out just short of 26"..40 gr V max is main diet...along with H4895 for fuel...runs between 3900-3975 fps..Benchmark is 2nd powder choice..barrel now easily has +6K rds out..using 'M' series large shank Savage s/shot action...SSS trigger..Choate Varminter..Vortex 4-16 PST for glass...brass is easy with Lapua..LC...WCC or Win 223 brass...dies are Redding bushing 223 neck & a Forster BR 204 Ruger seater...my other 20's are a 20 Vartarg & soon to be 20/222 both on rechambered P-N tubes...the 20/222 was a 20BR 9 twist for 2 summers...just didn't do much that the 20 Practical couldn't..only burn 5 more grains of powder..

20 tactical like Geedubya. They are basically the same as the 20 practical. My go to load is 24.6gr of RL-10x with a 39gr Sierra Blitzking. Rifle is a tack driver and a ton of fun in the prairie dog towns.

I Also have a 20 vartarg which is another gem. Great caliber. The 20's are easy to load for, they just like to shoot well.

May have to try the 39 grainer.

I know my 20 Vartarg dotes on the 32 gr. Sierra Blitzer's





Best,

GWB

The Tactical is a little different in shape, where as the practical has the same shoulder as the 223, so it just needs to be neck sized down....

a body die for the 223, and the seating die for the 223 is really all I need, which I already have....

I had considered the 20 Vartag and the Vartag Turbo... but since I can load the Practical with the same charges and get pretty close to the same performances, I just figured it would be a more "Practical" way to go....

hey, that's where they got that name from...

Hi Seafire, a little off this subject, but I really enjoyed meeting you and the other guys at Famous Daves in Mesa Arizona on 11/16. Sorry it took a while to say hi, but I have been in Las Vegas for a family reunion. Next time I am up in Oregon, which is often, I'll see if we can get together for lunch or something.

Best Regards, Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!!

Jerry

Seems like the 223 would still be the most "practical" of all--just stock up on bullets when the prices straighten out.

thanks Jerry, the feeling is mutual...

and don't hesitate to give me a PM and let me know you are coming thru...

I have a good stock of 32 grain Varmaggedon tipped bullets and a fair stock of 24 grain NTXs....

and even tho I haven't seen it listed on their data, or anywhere else... Speer makes a 20 caliber TNT in 39 grain... tried a couple of boxes of those out in my 204 barrel....

two big thumbs up on accuracy on those also...

they mess up crows like a prairie dog that was hit by a 220 Swift...

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

I shoot mine with 40 gr vmax ove data 68 in my sako l461

The .20 practical makes as much sense as any wildcat as I have ever considered. I have stayed away from wildcats as a rule but Im really thinking of taking a .223 Winchester sporter varmint that does not shoot as well as I like and doing this practical. very best

I built my 20 Practical on the AR Platform using a Left Hand Stag Stripped Receiver and used a White Oak PacNor 22 inch Fluted Barrel. My load is the Sierra 39 gr BK and H4895. I use Redding 223 Bushing Dies for my loading . I neck the 223 down in two steps so not to over work the brass by going from 224 to 20 with just one past . I like the 20 Practical .

My 20P is built on a savage action CBI 11 twist 24" prefIt barrel shoots great
Easy to load for as others have said type S bushing die with a 230 bushing gets it done for me. AA2520 or Varget and 39gr blitz kings

What bullet seating dies are you guys using?

I use the 223 Redding Bushing Dies with 20 cal bushing's and a Redding 204 Ruger decaping rod and exspander ball

DakotaDeer: I am a big time AND long time fan of the 223 Remington cartridge. I have owned dozens of Rifles and pistols in that caliber and still do, BUT... the 223 is significantly outperformed by and lacks attributes that several 20 caliber centerfire cartridges have in spades!
My favorite 20 caliber is the 204 Ruger and I am here on this thread trying to find a reason to go with a custom 20 centerfire - I haven't seen anything as yet to convince me to forsake any of my factory 204's and go through the time, trouble and expense of a custom built 20 Practical or a 20 Tactical.
If you haven't tried a 20 centerfire in the Varmint fields then I highly recommend you do so - my 204's perform head and shoulders above any of my 223's with a variety of bullets.
Knowing what I now know and if I were starting out in Varminting today I would not even consider a 223 - all of my all around Varmint Rifles would be in 204 Ruger caliber!
If you haven't tried a 20 caliber centerfire I hope you do so soon.
Yes, I also am getting tired of ALL Varmint caliber components being in short supply (for the last year+ now).
Better times are ahead - I hope.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Forster 204 Ruger........

Lee 223 seater die works fine for me...

I was cruising through a local gun shop a few years ago and found a used Remington M700 VTR in 204 Ruger. In my opinion the VTR is a marketing puke�s abortion and the previous owner of this rifle had even cut off the end of the barrel to eliminate the ports. This made it a 19 �� barrel so this rifle had to become a project. I already had a Kimber in 204 Ruger that far exceeded my expectations of speed and accuracy, so I decided to build a 20 Practical. I had read up on both the Tactical and Practical and decided to keep it simple. I bought a Pac-nor Stainless barrel and took it to my favorite gunsmith and told him I wanted it chambered in a 20 Practical plus I gave him a few rounds I had made up.

When I came to pick up the rifle the gunsmith said that for some reason my rounds did not fit the chamber, but he made some up and they test fired fine. It was then I found out that I now had a 20 Tactical. He said that he never heard of a 20 Practical and figured I did not know what I was talking about.

I bought a set of 20 Tactical dies from Hornady and resized all 1000 rounds of brass I had ready to load in 20 Practical. I ended up with a load of 26.5 grains of TAC getting about 3900 fps with a 50-grain V-Max. I could get more velocity with TAC or CFE 223, but 3900 is fast enough for me. My stock Kimber 204 Ruger runs 3900-4000 fps with 50-grainers so this project was really more of an exercise than a need.

In my opinion after sizing the brass the first time there is no difference between the 20 Tactical and the 20 Practical.