Up until the introduction of the first factory 204 caliber cartridge, the Ruger 204, the 20 caliber was mostly utilized by a handful of varmint hunters who were not afraid to experiment with wildcat cartridges and develop new loads. Over the years, through the hard work of Todd Kindler of the Woodchuck’s Den, 20 caliber (and 17 caliber) has become quite popular with a wide selection of barrels, bullets, reloading dies, and accessories.

One of the big advantages that the 20 caliber has over its bigger brothers is the fact that there is virtually no recoil. You can shoot and actually "see the show" – the rifle doesn’t move enough during recoil for you to loose your target in the scope. This enables you to quickly asses the results and perform a follow up shot, if need be.

One other this that may seem somewhat non-intuitive is that, for example, not only does a Ruger 204 shoots flatter than a 223 Remington, but it also bucks the wind better because of the faster velocity and smaller profile.

There are many 20 caliber wildcats and only one production cartridge. This guide is going to focus only on the following cartridges: 204 Ruger, 20 Tactical, 20 PPC, 20 BR, and 20 VarTarg.

[ cartridge line up picture here ]

By far, the most popular 20 caliber bullets are the Hornady and Sierra, and Berger.

[ bullet line up picture here ]

Other 20 caliber bullet manufacturers:

When selecting bullets, the general rule of thumb is "let the rifle decide which bullet is likes." Every rifle, powder, primer combination may prefer to shoot one brand of bullet more accurately than another. As you change bullet weight, you may find that you need to change the brand to maintain accuracy. For example, as stated earlier, some rifles will shoot a Hornady 32 grain V-MAX very well, but they won’t shoot the 40 grain V-MAX. However, the same rifle may like the Sierra 39 grain BlitzKing.

The Hornady V-MAX bullets and the Sierra BlitzKing tend to be equally explosive and fragment very well. So the choice become merely which one shoots better in your rifle. Although we have heard no complaint about the Berger bullets no being explosive enough, polymer tip bullets (Hornady and Sierra) tend to be more explosive than the Berger, but maybe not quite as accurate. The Berger flat base bullets (30 and 35 grain) tend to fragment more than the boat tale (40 and 50 grain). Boat tail bullet have less bearing surface area than flat base bullets of the same weight. This would mean that you can expect more velocity from a Berger 40 grain LTB than the Hornady 40 grain V-MAX or the Sierra 39 grain BliktzKing.

Choosing the correct bullet weight will depend on the environmental condition and the size of prey. Lighter bullets shoot flatter and faster thus giving you longer range, however, they tend to drift more with wind than the heavier bullets. Likewise, heavier bullets drift less and have a bigger knockdown power, but you won’t get the same kind of range from them. Most reloader develop two loads: one with a fast lightweight bullet for long range on calm days, and a slower but heavier bullet for windy days or larger varmints.

The following tables are external ballistics information (bullet drop and bullet drift) out to 500 yards with a range of useful velocities for the Hornady, Sierra, and Berger bullets features on this page. All ballistic data calculate with Sierra Bullets Infinity Software Version 5.1 using manufacturer’s published ballistic coefficient values.

Common parameters for all tables:

Most barrel manufacturers produce 20 caliber barrels, in fact, it is somewhat unusual to find a barrel maker that does not produce 204 caliber barrels. With regards to twist rate, there isn’t that many choices. Right now, it seems that only 9", 10", 11", and 12" twists are being manufactured. But the 9" and 11" twist are not made by all of the barrel makers. The 12" twist is the most popular and works very well with bullets up 40 grains. Some 12" twist seem to shoot 40 grains accurately, but it is at the edge of the stability envelope. Others have found that when the 40 grain bullets will not stabilize, the Sierra 39 grain BlitzKing bullets stabilize quite well in the 12" twist. For any bullet heavier than 40 grains, the 11" or 10" twist is recommended.

Many people ask, "Why the 20 caliber? What advantages does it have over the traditional varmint caliber, the 22?"

Here are some of the advantages of the 20 caliber over others:

Introduced is 2004 by Hornady and Ruger, the 204 Ruger is the only 20 caliber cartridge in production and supposedly the fastest factory cartridge in any caliber (using 32 grain bullets). The 204 Ruger is based on the 222 Remington Magnum case neck down to 20 caliber. As of this writing, Hornady, Remington, and Winchester produce brass for this caliber. Because this cartridge is in large scale production, it is the most popular of all of the 20 caliber cartridges listed in this guide, even though it is the newest of them all.

[ a picture five different 204 ruger rounds with different bullets goes here ]

Click here for the Sierra 204 Ruger load map.

The 20 Tactical was invented by Todd Kindler long before the 204 Ruger and is based on the 223 Remington case necked down to 20 caliber. The shoulders are also slightly modified to 30 degree. Although is has a smaller case capacity than the 204 Ruger (about 3 grains), it is very close in performance and easy to load and is exceptionally accurate. Currently, Cooper Firrearms of Montana and Dakota Arms offer factory chambering in the 20 Tactical.

Being that the parent case is the 223 Remington, there is a huge selection of high quality brass available, only limited by your budget. Some precision shooters like to start with Lapua brass. The author has had excellent results using IMI brass.

Forming 20 Tactical brass is generally a two step process. You start with a 223 Remington brass that has been full length sized. Then run the brass through a 20 Tactical forming die, and finally run it through a 20 Tactical Full Length die. Case lubrication/wax should be used very sparingly just on the neck and the body. Too much lube will result in wrinkled shoulders. Although the wrinkles will blow out once the case is fired, they make the cartridge looks somewhat unattractive. The author has had great results using Redding dies and with Hornady Unique Case Lube, while others prefer Imperial Sizing Die Wax. The Hornady Unique Case Lube is a little thinner, so it tend to be more forgiving if too much is used.

Some reloaders, like the author, will anneal the brass as the final step. Although not necessary, it tends to help the fire forming process and extends the life of the brass a bit.

At the time of this writing, there have been reports that Lapua will be producing 20-Tactical brass by the Fall of 2005. When and if this does take place, then forming 20-Tactical will be much easier: no need for an extra step using the form die, and most likely no need to fire form. Or at least fire forming will not change the case geometry to an extent that two loads, a fire forming and regular load, will no longer be necessary.

The 20 PPC is the smaller brother of the 22 PPC and the 6mm PPC, both which are based on the 220 Russian case. Initially, the 20 PPC was being used exclusively by varmint shooters looking for a very high speed, flat shooting, accurate cartridge, but it has started to get the attention of Benchrest Competition shooters, specially are higher quality 20 caliber bullets are becoming readily available.

The 20PPC is formed by using a 22PPC die with a 20 Caliber bushing. Bushing size depends on your neck diameter and if you are neck turning. For varmint shooting, neck turing does not buy you anything. But for competitive shooting, neck turning will give you a slight edge.

Once the brass has been necked down, then the brass must be shot to fire form. Bob Smith has a 20 PPC rifle based on a Bat action and a Lilja rifle. He is achieving excellent (sub .200 MOA) accuracy even with his fire forming loads.

The 20 BR is probably the fastest 20 caliber cartridge in wide usage. There are some faster (20-250 and 20-220 Swift), but only a handful of experimenters have tried them. As the name implies, it is based on the 6mm Norma case, necked down to 20 caliber. Most reloaders form the case by using the 22 BR die, but with a smaller bushing. The 20 BR is another super fast and accurate cartridge that is become very popular with varmint hunters.

At first, when looking at the specs, it may appear that the 20 BR is an overbore cartridge, but real life testing has proven otherwise. WarrenB (Fireball), an avid 20BR shooter, states "I really love my .20BR. I have put around 500 rounds through it and my buddy's bore scope shows no real wear yet at the throat. The nice thing about the .20BR is that it is so easy to push a 40gr. bullet at 4000 FPS with mild pressures. The recoil from the .20BR is mild with a heavy rifle using a good bench-type stock. I think the sweet spot for the .20BR is as a heavy, shoot from the bench, prairie dog rifle shooting 39 or 40 gr. bullets easily at 4000 FPS on a hot day with no pressure worries. It is obviously very accurate as well. In terms of case forming it is as easy … just buy 6BR brass and neck them down. I am using my existing 6mm and .22 BR dies to do everything. Only a new bushing was required."