Post by GLSHOOTER on Jun 9, 2013 11:09:58 GMT -8
Many months ago when I discovered BHW I noticed they were offering the 20 Practical chambering. I had a talk with Carl and mentioned my interest in the 20 bores. He had asked me to wring out the 20 LBC for him and give him my opinion on it. Of course we all know how life marches on so the 20 LBC showed up after Ritch put it together and I learned a whole bunch about necking down and neck turning. I knew how to do it but this one was a challenge. I did my evaluation and another project showed up, and another and another!! I finally got my order in and in due time the barrel showed up in St. George. I had prepositioned an upper, a BTE GB and a Young FF tube with Ritch before so it was GTG. This is what I ended up with. Don't worry about the one in the back as that is a different story I'll share at a later date.
Lock closely and you might notice the one in the front is odd. Left handed don't cha' know!!! It is using a BHW LH Railed Upper. Something about those just really get my juices flowing. Until you have shot a railed upper you won't believe how smooth an AR can run. It almost feels like the gun short strokes but it shucks 'em and loads 'em as smooth as a babies butt covered in J&J baby powder.
The 20 Practical is merely a necked down 223/556 case. NO shoulders are moved back or forward and the shoulder angle is not changed from the original. I am using a 223 Redding Type S FL die that uses bushings to make up the cases. I spray lube them and drop the in the feeder on the 650 and ten minutes later I have 100 new 20 Practical cases ready to go.
Loading is straight forward just like a 223 so there were no mysteries there. I have been shooting a 20 Tactical for about five years now and this is much easier to make up as to case forming. The god thing is I can move the Tactical data to the Practical cases as the Practical has more volume so it will decrease pressures in same same loads.
I selected the 35 Berger FB Varmint for my projectile as this will be for PD's in a few weeks and for powder the Benchmark mix got the nod. Remington 7 1/2 primers provided the spark. Ritch and a few others have used this combinations and since I was late to the dance I gloomed on to their data for an Easy Peasy approach and rapid load development.
Since it is a wildcat one has to proceed with caution and each is a law unto themselves. Also I was shooting at between 85 and 105 that day so heat is a factor on ANY of my loading data no matter what the cartridge. My chronograph was in for a tune up so I have to go with Ritch's' speeds as approximate.
I used my target lower with the Geissele High Speed Trigger. Glass was a 6.5X20 Vortex Viper. Mirage was absolutely horrible so the groups were a tad more than I expect I will see in the future. Only one group over an inch and it was still sub-MOA.
These targets while not as small as many gave me a peek at what I have on my hands. The more I shot the better I felt about the rifle. At the end of the session is was like I was putting on a nice pair of old familiar gloves, The feeling is nice as that builds confidence when I am making a long shot. The PD's will wish I had less bonding on this one in three weeks!! Thirty two rounds on paper here. Three more were used for sight in. I loaded most short but loaded one five shot string to see how pressures would go. I found zero wipes and swipes with no ejector/extractor markings. The primers at all levels still handed rounded edges. No primer flow was noted. The load could be bumped a few tenths and I will try that down the road but for now the bottom set tell s me what I want to know. You be the judge.
More will be posted as I get more data and I can't wait to tell how the Red Mist worked.
Greg
Lock closely and you might notice the one in the front is odd. Left handed don't cha' know!!! It is using a BHW LH Railed Upper. Something about those just really get my juices flowing. Until you have shot a railed upper you won't believe how smooth an AR can run. It almost feels like the gun short strokes but it shucks 'em and loads 'em as smooth as a babies butt covered in J&J baby powder.
The 20 Practical is merely a necked down 223/556 case. NO shoulders are moved back or forward and the shoulder angle is not changed from the original. I am using a 223 Redding Type S FL die that uses bushings to make up the cases. I spray lube them and drop the in the feeder on the 650 and ten minutes later I have 100 new 20 Practical cases ready to go.
Loading is straight forward just like a 223 so there were no mysteries there. I have been shooting a 20 Tactical for about five years now and this is much easier to make up as to case forming. The god thing is I can move the Tactical data to the Practical cases as the Practical has more volume so it will decrease pressures in same same loads.
I selected the 35 Berger FB Varmint for my projectile as this will be for PD's in a few weeks and for powder the Benchmark mix got the nod. Remington 7 1/2 primers provided the spark. Ritch and a few others have used this combinations and since I was late to the dance I gloomed on to their data for an Easy Peasy approach and rapid load development.
Since it is a wildcat one has to proceed with caution and each is a law unto themselves. Also I was shooting at between 85 and 105 that day so heat is a factor on ANY of my loading data no matter what the cartridge. My chronograph was in for a tune up so I have to go with Ritch's' speeds as approximate.
I used my target lower with the Geissele High Speed Trigger. Glass was a 6.5X20 Vortex Viper. Mirage was absolutely horrible so the groups were a tad more than I expect I will see in the future. Only one group over an inch and it was still sub-MOA.
These targets while not as small as many gave me a peek at what I have on my hands. The more I shot the better I felt about the rifle. At the end of the session is was like I was putting on a nice pair of old familiar gloves, The feeling is nice as that builds confidence when I am making a long shot. The PD's will wish I had less bonding on this one in three weeks!! Thirty two rounds on paper here. Three more were used for sight in. I loaded most short but loaded one five shot string to see how pressures would go. I found zero wipes and swipes with no ejector/extractor markings. The primers at all levels still handed rounded edges. No primer flow was noted. The load could be bumped a few tenths and I will try that down the road but for now the bottom set tell s me what I want to know. You be the judge.
More will be posted as I get more data and I can't wait to tell how the Red Mist worked.
Greg