GOOD NEWS! Berger .20 cal 55gr Bullet

[Rick in Oregon]

It was bound to happen, and from all the requests from long range shooters, Berger is now making a Long Range (not VLD) bullet in .20 caliber in 55 grain weight.

This will be THE bullet for real long range work with a custom 8 or 9 twist .204 barrel! This combination should actually be effective at 1,000 yards in the proper rifle. A 9 twist will be marginal, and Berger is recommending an 8 twist.

Here's a pic of the new offering:



The published BC will be .381 for velocities from 3800 - 1500 fps, and very easily beats every other available .204" bullet available right now. Gads, now I need to build yet another 204 rifle, this one with a real fast twist. (Last one was an 11 twist......)

The bullet is in stock, but you'll have to order direct from Berger, at least for now. If you call them, they'll give you loading info, as they're still working on it, and it's not on their website yet.

This bullet would be primo in a 20 Dasher or 20 Pup, and will be the supreme bullet of choice in the .204 Ruger for long range work in an 8 twist barrel.

Whoo-hoo, finally!

[Va varminter]

Ballisticly how will it differ from the .223? And where can we get load data?

[Rick in Oregon]

VA Varm: A standard .223 Rem would not hold a candle to a properly barreled 204 Ruger shooting this bullet. As mentioned, this combination will be suitable to 1,000 yards, about double what you could ever expect out of a .223.

This combination would shoot much flatter than a 220 Swift, 223 Ackley, 22-250, etc., and have a much higher BC than any .224" bullet except maybe for the true .224" VLD's that also require a very fast twist barrel. I'd take the .204R with this bullet in an 8 twist barrel any day over the .224's.

[acloco]

200 fps faster than my 223 AI shooting 55 gr VMax with a ton more BC. Yep, this will turn the world upside down.

[KIM204]

Rick, So your order for a new barrel go's in Monday ???

[xr10065669]

That is awesome news about the new bullets! I only wish that i had a barrel capable of shooting them!! I know when buying custom barrels it is a lot of preference for each person, but can somebody tell me which barrel to buy? I know there was a previous thread on this, but I dont have a lot of experience with swapping out barrels. I will be changing the factory barrel on my Savage LRPV to a custom barrel in a 1 in 8 twist, so I can shoot those 55 grain bullets!

[Bayou City Boy]

I've been hand swaging 20 caliber bullets for over 12 years and have played with a lot of different weights of bullets including 50-55 grain bullets. In a cartridge case the size of the 204 Ruger and Tactical 20, I have found that the better bullet BC is pretty much negated by the significant loss in velocity in a fast twist barrel. So you really don't gain much other than a larger, heavier bullet hitting a target with a little more energy at top speeds than you get with lighter 20 caliber bullets.

In cases of those sizes it will not turn them into a 1000 yard effective shooter nor will it turn the world upside down. Where you will see a significant benefit and improvement will be in larger cases such as the 20-250 (20 Wolfer) and the 20-250AI (20 Super Wolfer) and other similar sized wild cats that can provide sufficient velocity to make a real difference.

-BCB

[Hawkeye Joe]

I'm curious to see what velocities the .204 Ruger can produce with this bullet. 3800 FPS would be nice But may require the use of a welding helmet .

[Va varminter]

It just seems to me that a bullet that long will significantly reduce the powder capacity of the 204. It may be very accurate, but not near the speeds we are use to from the 04. Of course I am no expert, and could be way off base.

[Rick in Oregon]

If anyone plans to use this bullet in a fast twist barrel, note what BCB said, as it's true. We would never see 3,800 fps using this bullet, but consider that match shooters are using high BC/heavy and long .224", 6mm and 6.5mm bullets from cases such as the .243W and smaller ones at velocities around 2,800 - 3,200 fps at extended ranges with very good results. You don't need blistering speed to give favorable results at 800 to 1,000 yards to produce good results at the target.

Know also that if you did build a rifle for this bullet or others like it soon to follow, you'd need to throat it much differently than what Ruger/Hornady/SAMMI decided to do with the original 204 Ruger; have a cartridge overall length the same as the .223 Remingon to work through existing magazines and the AR platform....dumb as I see it, as it robbed much potential from the cartridge (and some powder space) in doing so, but they wanted marketing ability and with bullets of light for caliber weight such as the 32 grainers, got over 4,000 fps by doing so. That sold alot of rifles. (And the reason I shoot two of my 204's single shot in order to load the bullet very long to kiss the rifling...)

This bullet WILL NOT work in any factory 204 Ruger!

With a properly throated rifle that would allow the bullet to be seated to the base of the neck, this would make for a dandy long range setup using a case from the 222 Remington case family and head size. Forget the speeds you're use to in the 204 Ruger, you just ain't gonna get it with this bullet, but what you would get, would be a very good long range caliber in the 222 case family, buck the wind very well with the high BC bullet, and deliver more energy at distant targets that would be normally be completely safe from a standard 204 Ruger shooting the 39, 40, or 45gr bullets.

There are many other cases suitable for a .204" caliber bullet, not just the 204 Ruger, and I'm sure many will chamber these for this new bullet for long range applications.

There are always trade-offs for good gains, and in ballistics, never more true.

[Ray P]

Rick & BCB you both said it very well. there are better cases for the 55 grn 20 cal. Inside of 500 yards I don't think you can beat the 204 Ruger w/ good 11-12 twist and 39grn Sierras! Just my .02. I replaced a 22-250 with my first 204 and I haven't looked back or been sorry. Now I own three. One other point, unless your printing on targets at a longer range that little 55/20cal is not going to kick up much dust on a dog mound at 700 to 1K.
Later
Ray P

[chip-don]

this is good news the factory says it will have a avg bc of 381 from 2800fps to 1500fps with a 204 we will have to see how long it will stay in that range but we now have more choices to work with
the factory requires a five box order do they all have to be the same bullet? if so and someone orders some I would like a box or two//

[Bayou City Boy]

Once again if anyone missed it:

That bullet is not designed to be shot in a factory 204 Ruger rifle. It will give you poor velocity and the bullet itself will not stabilize - accuracy will be terrible...

The bullet is designed for larger cased 20 caliber cartridges - all wildcats presently - with fast twist barrels that are throated properly for the cartridge case and action design.

You will be very disappointed if you buy up a bunch of them and try to make them work in a factory 204 Ruger rifle.

-BCB

[kenbrofox]

Excuse the stupid question, is there any point going to 55G x 20 cal? Would anyone like to predict when somebody will adopt the 20-250 and factoryize it? KB. KB.

[Rick in Oregon]

Ken: No stupid questions, there are only stupid answers, and I'll try not to fall into that catagory.

The advantage by going with a 55g .204" bullet is to gain the much higher ballistic coificient it offers. This gives less wind deflection, hits harder (more energy), and has less drop over extended range than conventional weight bullets.

It's been noted that there are better cartridge case choices for this bullet weight than the .204 Ruger, but consider that the 204R is based on the 222 Rem Mag case, and in that caliber it easily handles the 55 grain .224" bullet. To use it in a 204 Ruger, a custom fast twist, properly throated barrel would be required.

There are many shooting the 20-250 with good results, and this 55gr bullet would shine in that case with the proper twist barrel over extended ranges, as that case (and others) offers more powder capacity to gain the needed velocity a 55gr bullet would require.. With all the excellent .204 caliber bullets now available, it is our mutual hope that one of the factories (Hornady/Ruger) may wake up and ligitimize the 20-250 as a factory round in the coming years. We'll see.......