20 CAL barrels

[kenbro]

If you went with a 19 cal; Larry Blackmon(Amongst others) would make you a die to reduce 20 cal. bullets to 19 for around $100. So, no need to worry about bullet availability.
Ken.

[moorepower]

My vote would be a .204. I have a Shilen 1-10 twist, throated so that a factory 40 grain is .010 off the lands. It's nice to be able to run factory ammo, if you desire. It's also nice to buy multiple brands and weights of bullets, without having to resize. I also have a .20 Practical, but if I did not have a ton of LC brass, I would not have done it, as nice as it is. 20VT sounds fun, but I am still going .221 as soon as my piggy bank gets full for a redo.

[varmntr]

Thanks to all for options, suggestions, advice, direction, guidance, experiences, etc...etc.....

As a newbie with but a couple of rifles and no reload experience I now know why this (rifles&reloads) activity leads us to many platforms and options! There are just a lot of great options for similar shooting needs and many different needs as well.
Seems I will be expanding my arsenal and experiences over time to include both the 20 and a 19, and try my hand at reloading to get a combination that is ME. I have enjoyed factory ammo and will continue to do so, but I am intrigued by the options of putting together a package (or two-- or more) of caliber, bullet, load that makes me smile.

Thanks again and please keep your suggestions coming and I will update you'all as I go.... I must now start looking for another 527 so I can have even more fun.....

Don

[HillbillySniper]

I have had alot of 20 caliber barrels and by far the very best 20s ive had are Hart!!! Hart Rifle Barrels makes an Excellent Product.

[cmatera]

I have .19 Calhoon, a .19 Badger and a .204 Ruger. If I were doing a varmint gun, it would be a .20 VarTarg, but because I have so many varmint guns I'd go with a .20-.222. Excellent brass available, decent bullet selection, a little less velocity (and blast) than a .204 Ruger, more knockdown power on bigger varmints (coyotes) than the VarTarg.

[Swift220]

Does anyone, anyone, make a better barrel than Bartlein???

JD---

[Chuck Miller]

I have Shilen, Pacnor, Hart, XCaliber, MTC, Rock Creek, and Douglas. All perform well, only one I wouldn't buy again is Douglas. That has more to do with them not standing behind a unchambered 17 cal blank.

Krieger and Brux would have their hands in the air.

[NeilA.]

I can't understand the 'limited bullet availability" argument for the .19 Badger?
.32gr double hp what more does one need!

Anyway, I've shot probably near 10k .19 Badgers (CZ 527) over the years and will continue to enjoy the cartridge. Both Benchmark and Pac nor make great barrels in 19. Calhoon can build and tune.

[Grey_Wolf]

I have two rifles chambered 20 Extreme and love 'em.

The heavy barrel is a Bob Jury barrel (from Red Deer Alberta) 25" with the Remington varmint contour. I have this thing shooting sub moa at 400 yards with the 55 grain Bergers. I ordered it with an 8 twist. It has a Nikon Monarch 5 5-25x50 and a Trigger Tech trigger. Can't say enough about this gun it is just plain fun to shoot.

The other is an 18.5" Benchmark 10 twist I believe. It doesn't shoot the 55's but has really shown good results with the 40 grain Remington (rebranded V-Max I believe). I am surprised at what it can do with such a short barrel, just shy of 3200 fps with the 40's and moa at 400 yards. It was intended as a 100 yards yote gun for my wife built on a Savage Axis youth model. It needed to be very light as she was losing strength but wanted something to shoot yotes that came in the yard when she had foals on the ground in spring. I lost her a year and a half ago. With the plastic stock it was good (accurately) for about 150 yards. I changed the stock out and put a Boyd's thumbhole on and it became a shooter - not as tight as the Remington but hitting the 4" gong at 400 consistently.

Most of my wildcats are on Bob Jury barrels the one exception being the Benchmark. Always been good shooters for me. The 20 Extreme is another cartridge to throw into the mix as well. I know the fellow that designed it got beat up on here but none the less he has a good design. Bickering about which is better aside - any time spent at the range or gopher patch is time well spent and these small bores are so much fun to shoot why get caught up in bashing each other over our choice of fun gun? Extreme, Practical, Tactical, Calhoon, Badger, whatever.... go shoot

[moorepower]

Originally Posted by Swift220

Does anyone, anyone, make a better barrel than Bartlein???

JD---

One will never know without shooting others. There are many barrels out there that providing you have a great one, will outshoot the others. A hummer can have any name stamped on it, possibly even Green Mountain.