.20P Questions

D

dbshelton

New member
Several years ago I bought a .20Practical barrel and assembled an AR15 upper. Also bought dies, and reloading components, etc. I never followed through but now that I am retired, I have a little more available time. I only reloaded 44Mag ammo over 40 years ago.
I am not sure where to start and am open to suggestions. Try to read everything I can find but still not comfortable. I guess what I need is someone to guide me.
 
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What dies? 20P or 223 bushing dies? Select a few bullets and see what shoots. Shouod be able to size down 223 brass, but do your best to ensure its same headstamp. You'd be surprised what mixed brass does to your groups (and pressure). I ran 32gr, 40gr Nosler and 40gr Bergers over H335 or RL10X. Have the load data at home i can share if it helps

What additional info is needed?
 
I think they are Bushing dies. Have lots of Lake City brass and Nosler 32g Varmageddon bullets. The powders I have are Accurate 2200, Reloader 7, Reloader 15, Unique, H4227, Power Pistol so I guess none of these powders are compatible.
 
RL 7 may work. To be safe, start 15-20% below max of rl10 data, and work your way up. Im have no experience with the other powders you mentioned. But, there is a slew of 20P load data online.

If using bushing dies, seat a few bullets in sized, empty cases, measure neck diameter, and use a bushing .002-.003" smaller to obtain proper neck tension.

Im by no means an expert reloaded, but this is what I did for my 20P
 
You kind of getting into advanced reloading without completing reloading 101.

Most decent reloading manuals will have a tutorial on reloading bottle neck cartridges. You need to understand this especially how a bottle neck cartridge fits your rifles chamber. With your 44 mag there were none of these concerns, headspace was controlled by the rim, now you have no rim so headspace is controlled by where you set the shoulder. Not enough set back on the shoulder and the bolt won't lock, too much set back and the case will separated when fired a couple of times.

I'm not an AR guru but do own a 20P AR but don't use it much as I hate losing brass that I've worked to make, I do have a couple 20P's in boltactions.

How I make 20P brass.

1. All once fired 223 brass goes through a 223 small base die.

2. I outside chamfer the case mouth quite a bit

3. I then run the brass through my bushing die with a 225 bushing, I do have a 227 bushing also.

4. Trim, chamfer and load.

5. After the first firing you can set the headspace for your specific rifle, measure the shoulder on you fired case and set your die up to set it back enough for the bolt to close reliably, .002-.003 should work.

On my AR I swapped out the 20P upper for a 223. For predator hunting I can't see a whole lot of advantage in a 20P over a 223 with pelt prices what they are.
 
When I put my 20p AR together, I just used some clearance 223R dies I had on hand. RCBS FL set to size case body, Redding 223 neck bushing die for the neck sizing. Two steps of bushings first time from fired range brass. Size in the FL die(gutted) than a .232 bushing and a .225 should get you loadable brass. IF you have not reloaded before, you will need more help/mentoring as it isn't as straight forward as a SAAMI round. PM me for more in-depth information.
 
I usually use Graf and Sons, Midway. grafs has a fixed rate shipping and midway has free over $100. I compare prices,.. powder Valley can be good also.
 
Dry media, corn cob or walnut cleaner/car wax. Would take a LARGE amount of pins and would be hard on the softer brass. And could damage the bowl.
 
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Dug out all of my reloading equipment, manuals, books, and components. I have pretty much everything I could need. I guess it's time to read over the books and freshen up on my skills to get started. Wish me luck.
 
It's really a light bullet for cartridge 223rem powder choice.
Benchmark
H322
H335
Imr 8208(favorite of mine)
Tac
X- term( another good one)
And many others that most stores/shops have on hand.
 
I load 223 using H335 with 40 grain VMAX and it does very good. Do yourself a favor and get either H332 or H335 they meter well, I can get either locally hopefully you can find some.
As far as a reloading class I wanted to start one and had some folks interested. My attorneys head almost exploded when I ran the idea past him! I don't even give full recipes online, like above, no grains listed however I list estimated FPS so everyone can figure it out by referring to the loading manual.
 
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