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    20 Vartarg or Practical

    I recently sold some guns and with the exception of a defensive .223 AR15, I am severely lacking in the small caliber centerfire department. Seeking to remedy this, I recently ordered a Rem 700 action and plan to try a remage build. Primary use will be target shooting out to 500 and some varmints. I've never had a super velocity caliber so the .20's seem like they would fit the bill. I have pretty much narrowed it down to either the Vartarg or Practical with either a .222 or .223AI in distant third and here are my thoughts.

    20 Vartarg: Proven accuracy and efficiency. I will need to buy a reamer since the barrel manufactures are still using the archaic original design. Doesn't do well in a repeater but wouldn't be my first single shot.

    20 Practical: Accuracy results are proving good. Barrel heat and wear will be higher than the Vartarg. No reamer issues. Better choice when using 39-40gr bullets which will probably be my bullet of choice for longer distances. Better feeding and magazine friendly. Possibility of confusing brass with 223.

    222 or 223AI: Inferior ballistics but superior bullet selection with well rounded construction choices.

    Opinions? Paging Cajun Blake.

    #2
    Any reason you are skipping over the .204 ruger?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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      #3
      Originally posted by westtexducks View Post
      Any reason you are skipping over the .204 ruger?


      Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
      From a handloaders standpoint there isn't any high quality brass available for the .204 Ruger. As far as factory rifles, too slow of a twist rate and too much free bore.

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        #4
        Out of the two I would go with the practical due to ease of making brass and plethora of it. Just make sure you do not try to feed it a .223 round.

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          #5
          Just seeing this post as l'll reply back later since driving

          IMO, VarTarg all day long

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            #6
            Originally posted by WhiplashTX View Post
            222 or 223AI: Inferior ballistics but superior bullet selection with well rounded construction choices.
            I think the Vartag would be a great choice and seems to be a lot of fun.

            If you're wanting to take advantage of the long heavy 22 bullets, you may want to think about a 22-250AI. I have one that is a blast to shoot and is doing really well with 70-80 grain pills from a 22 inch barrel.

            Here's a before and after fire forming and a 25 shot group while fire forming Lapua brass with 69 SMK's.
            Attached Files

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              #7
              The 20 VarTarg is amazingly efficient, and you can shoot 32 gr to 40 gr pills.

              Lapua 221 Fireball brass (pic below) totally changed the game and made the VT easy to reload.
              Run the 221 brass through a 20VT FL die to re-size the neck, and you're basically done.
              I barely trim .001" off the necks to clean them up.

              18 grs powder, under a 32 gr bullet yields 3750 - 3800 fps
              39/40 gr bullets can be pushed accurately at 3500 - 3600 fps
              Berger 35's are the perfect balance.

              FYI - the 20VT uses approx. 7 grs less powder than the 20 Tactical/Practical and is only 200 fps slower (3800 vs. 4000 fps).
              From my experience, 3750 fps seems to be the "accuracy node" for most 17's and 20's.

              Several of my friends have killed groundhogs, rock chucks, and marmots at 450 yds.
              I would have zero problems shooting a coyote at 350 yds.

              Feel free to PM me as I'll help you with any questions you have.
              Also PM Andrew since he built a 20VT and is very pleased http://discussions.texasbowhunter.co...hlight=vartarg



              http://www.accurateshooter.com/cartr...des/20caliber/

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