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Post by moorej7 on Oct 20, 2011 9:45:02 GMT -8
My AR-15 needs a barrel and I'm looking at the 20 cal barrels offered by BHW. I have a daughter that shoots with me a lot and I would like to get something that's very low recoil but can still be used up to about 300 yards.
Is there a noticeable difference in recoil between the 204/20 practical and the 223 rounds? I understand there's a lot of factors that come into play, but all things being equal is it worth going to a 20 cal to reduce recoil?
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Post by GLSHOOTER on Oct 20, 2011 12:14:50 GMT -8
My AR-15 needs a barrel and I'm looking at the 20 cal barrels offered by BHW. I have a daughter that shoots with me a lot and I would like to get something that's very low recoil but can still be used up to about 300 yards. Is there a noticeable difference in recoil between the 204/20 practical and the 223 rounds? I understand there's a lot of factors that come into play, but all things being equal is it worth going to a 20 cal to reduce recoil? First off welcome to the BHW Forum. Lots of good stuff here. I shoot a 20 Tactical on an AR while the thinking man's version would be the PRACTICAL type. Recoil is not tremendously less in the 20 caliber vs the 223 as a 40 grain 20 cal bullet vs a 40 grain 223 bullet feels the same but you normally will exceed the 223 velocities with the 20 and will actually see a SLIGHT, unnoticeable in reality, increase in recoil. Most of the 20's tend to the heavy or bull barrel builds and this cuts down on all the rocking and rolling so you don't actually experience it. If I were not a handloader I would stay away from the 20's as the gains are negligible, IMHO. I built mine because I wanted to go past 300 yards with a flat trajectory. The 223's will work way out there too but I needed the flatness due to the unknown distances that I am faced with on the AZ PD's I shoot at. A 204 Ruger variant would be the way to go if you want a ready to run 20 but , as I said, a thinking reloader would go with the 20 PRACTICAL. The 20 LBC that several of us are working with shows a lot of performance but be sure it is a 24" barrel. It is a labor intensive case and , in reality, not one for a novice loader to tackle. We are loading in pretty unknown waters and using a bit more judgment and logic than if we were able to go to any of half a dozen published reloading manuals. Greg |
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Post by moorej7 on Oct 20, 2011 15:31:24 GMT -8
Thanks for the reply GLSHOOTER.
The 20 lbc does look very interesting, but it's probably not something I'm comfortable with tackling at this point.
I'm about 90% sure it's going to be the 20 practical. I plan on developing 2 loads for it. One 32 and one 40 or something close. I need to do my homework and find a twist rate that will handle both well.
I read over all the articles on 6mmbr.com already, but would love to hear anyone else's recommendations or experiences.
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Post by GLSHOOTER on Oct 20, 2011 15:47:24 GMT -8
Thanks for the reply GLSHOOTER. The 20 lbc does look very interesting, but it's probably not something I'm comfortable with tackling at this point. I'm about 90% sure it's going to be the 20 practical. I plan on developing 2 loads for it. One 32 and one 40 or something close. I need to do my homework and find a twist rate that will handle both well. I read over all the articles on 6mmbr.com already, but would love to hear anyone else's recommendations or experiences. All you need is a 1:10 for twist rate. It will handle bullets of that weight and may also take care of the 45 grainers that Berger is making. I have not shot the 45 in the LBC yet but I THINK it might work. For dies just go buy a set of 223 Redding Type S Full Length Bushing dies. You don't need the competition seater unless you want to go first cabin. The 223 seater will work fine for you. I am using a 20 caliber seater from Hornady with the micrometer adjusting upgrade. By putting the 20 caliber bushings in there you can make the 20 Practical cases and also have the choice of loading 223 with them. You definitely want the FL dies for an AR. I have been DANZAC coating my 204 Ruger and 20 Tactical bullets myself and I think that has cut down on fouling in my 3 204 Rugers and the 20 Tactical. I have shot only naked bullets in the 20 LBC and after firing 200+ rounds through my BHW barrel without cleaning found that one dose of GUNSLICK Foaming Cleaner took all the coper out. There was only a TRACE of copper fouling in this barrel. It was shot HARD and is without a doubt the smoothest one I own and I do own some GOOD barrels!! ;D I think that DANZAC is not needed in the BHW barrel but I may try them down the road just for kicks once I wring this one out. Jump on if you have anymore questions. Lots of guys here make my experience look limited but then I've only been reloading since 1975. Greg |
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