Battle of the 20s

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brybenn

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southern ontario
With more and more municipalities reducing the calibers that can be used for hunting and general plinking i thought i might get ahead of the game and get an idea roughed out for one

Obvious choices are
204 ruger
20 practical
20 tactical
20 vartarg
20 benchrest
Im sure im missing many more

So what is the memberships collective views of the 20s? Which ones stand out? Which ones arent worth the time and effort of forming? And lastly over all performance on non edible birds rodents and general varmints?
 
I have a 204 Ruger in a Rem Model 7. It's a cool little gun. Just working on load development at the moment. Kind of neat to watch the target hits through the scope.
 
I used to have access to hunt on a horse training ranch where they appreciated quieter rounds. They were over run with gophers, crows and magpies. It was heaven on earth. The largest caliber I used on there was the 17Hornet.

But in the .20cal world I really wanted to rebarrel a cz527 to .20Garin. It would’ve been perfect on that horse ranch. It’s a .30carbine necked down. The proprietor has whole systems set up.

.20hornet would be wicked fun too.

Wish I had more small Varmint shooting available to me currently.
 
I live in Essex County and shoot a 204, 222, 22-250, and a 243 with no issues - I just load hot with varmint bullets that fragment easily.

I love my .204 Ruger in a CZ 527 Varmint. I bedded it last winter and am yet to shoot it since. Its extremely accurate with hand loads and a joy to shoot.
 
I have 3 20 Cal’s. The 204 is geared to offer great performance in a factory rifle with over the counter ammo available most everywhere. My 20 tac is fun. Hand load only with either formed 223 brass or Dakota/lapua options. The latest and greatest build is a 20-250ai. Still forming brass to 22-250ai then will swap pipes and get it running. Hoping to get a 39 blitzking up around 4400 or so FPS. Be hold on fur to close to 400 yards.
 
i shoot 20 practical and love it!! forming is a breeze and brass is easy to find. what i find over a standard 204 is when handloading it is easier to find a load it likes. most 204's are twisted for the lighter 32 gr bullets which to some is no problem but for a long range gopher slayer i wanted heavier bullets so i was able to get a twist more suitable and it shoots both 32 and 40 amazingly.
as for performance on small furry critters i will just leave you this photo of a richardsons ground squirrel (gopher) meeting a 40 gr vmax.
 
tbdtp said:
I have 3 20 Cal’s. The 204 is geared to offer great performance in a factory rifle with over the counter ammo available most everywhere. My 20 tac is fun. Hand load only with either formed 223 brass or Dakota/lapua options. The latest and greatest build is a 20-250ai. Still forming brass to 22-250ai then will swap pipes and get it running. Hoping to get a 39 blitzking up around 4400 or so FPS. Be hold on fur to close to 400 yards.
Click to expand...

you are probably asking a bit much out of those 39bk if you are aiming for 4400fps. from what i have read most varmint style bullets begin to come apart in the air about 42-4300 which is still stupid fast.
 
brybenn said:
With more and more municipalities reducing the calibers that can be used for hunting and general plinking i thought i might get ahead of the game and get an idea roughed out for one

Obvious choices are
204 ruger
20 practical
20 tactical
20 vartarg
20 benchrest
Im sure im missing many more

So what is the memberships collective views of the 20s? Which ones stand out? Which ones arent worth the time and effort of forming? And lastly over all performance on non edible birds rodents and general varmints?
Click to expand...

204 Ruger, 20 Practical, and 20 VarTarg would be where I would lean.

Performance on varmints? Absolutely explosive. Like you have never seen before. Once you get your loading down pat, you will wonder why you never had a .20 cal before. It's that good.
 
Yotarunner said:
you are probably asking a bit much out of those 39bk if you are aiming for 4400fps. from what i have read most varmint style bullets begin to come apart in the air about 42-4300 which is still stupid fast.
Click to expand...

Hope they will survive. Only used an 11 twist benchmark so I should be able to keep the rpm down. I have found that seams to be harder on varmint bullets that you are trying to push to warp speeds than the actual velocity.
 
tbdtp said:
I have 3 20 Cal’s. The 204 is geared to offer great performance in a factory rifle with over the counter ammo available most everywhere. My 20 tac is fun. Hand load only with either formed 223 brass or Dakota/lapua options. The latest and greatest build is a 20-250ai. Still forming brass to 22-250ai then will swap pipes and get it running. Hoping to get a 39 blitzking up around 4400 or so FPS. Be hold on fur to close to 400 yards.
Click to expand...

That sounds awesome. I have a .378 bolt face action but im curious about this for another project as i have a 250 savage in the works as well
 
Yotarunner said:
i shoot 20 practical and love it!! forming is a breeze and brass is easy to find. what i find over a standard 204 is when handloading it is easier to find a load it likes. most 204's are twisted for the lighter 32 gr bullets which to some is no problem but for a long range gopher slayer i wanted heavier bullets so i was able to get a twist more suitable and it shoots both 32 and 40 amazingly.
as for performance on small furry critters i will just leave you this photo of a richardsons ground squirrel (gopher) meeting a 40 gr vmax.
Click to expand...

Very good pro for a rebarrel. Awesome pic to
 
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