20 cal PCP may be needed

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Tomygun1

Member
Dec 28, 2020
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OR, United States
Hello all,

So here’s the question, I want to build a 20cal PCP rifle after owning modern PCP rifles in the other cals, and all the others from the distant past, and I’m wondering if someone else has already tried this and can contribute their knowledge. History has shown an advantage in this obscure cal and I get it as to why it is not offered commercially, nor are match quality projectiles. Without going into detail there must be others out there that have also wondered why this excellent cal has not been developed and would like to hear what you think.

Does a quality bbl. manufacturing co offer a 20cal bbl that is adaptable to modern PCP actions? And what experience do any shooters out there have with trying to use a 20cal?

I don’t expect many responses but respect all opinions.

Many thanks,

Tomygun

Tom


 
Tom, as with enthusiasts in any endeavor, we sometimes look for reasons to make the next purchase, or take on the next project. IMO, here is the hard truth, there is no good reason. But, it's a hobby, so pursue your interest. Like most air gun shooters, I've never owned a .20 caliber, so I can tell you nothing from experience, but I'll offer my perspective. In some shooting disciplines, whether shooting through small kill holes, or shooting at a worst-edge scoring target, there is an advantage in a smaller diameter pellet, so the .177 seems to fit that need nicely, especially considering the wide choice of pellets. In a hunting scenario, a larger caliber may be an advantage, and the .22, with its pellet availability works very well. So, IMO there is no "need" for the .20, although one could probably rationalize it with some ballistic statistics if you look deeply enough, I really don't know. If you consider all the metallic cartridges available, there is no need for 95% of them, yet you will find zealots for most of them, guess it's just human nature. With two CF rifles, say a .223 and a 30/06, one can kill any animal on the continent with two very available cartridges without the need to hand load your ammo. But hunters and rifle enthusiasts will have panic attacks at the very thought of owning only two rifles. If you want to build a .20 PCP, then I think you need no greater reason. Have fun. 

Ed
 
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30800D54-6016-4DC2-9805-3F50F34ED616.1638882771.jpeg
I have had multiple 20cal over the years and all have been great. A couple of years ago I had a Steyr LG110 changed to a 20 and have been very happy with the results. If you noticed the national Hunter Field Target champ was shooting a 20 and probably second place was a 20 also as they listed there pellet at 13.7gr.
 
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//www.w3.org/2000/svg%22%20viewBox=%220%200%20210%20140%22%3E%3C/svg%3EI have had multiple 20cal over the years and all have been great. A couple of years ago I had a Steyr LG110 changed to a 20 and have been very happy with the results. If you noticed the national Hunter Field Target champ was shooting a 20 and probably second place was a 20 also as they listed there pellet at 13.7gr.
Click to expand...

Very nice tool there!
 
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Hello all,

So here’s the question, I want to build a 20cal PCP rifle after owning modern PCP rifles in the other cals, and all the others from the distant past, and I’m wondering if someone else has already tried this and can contribute their knowledge. History has shown an advantage in this obscure cal and I get it as to why it is not offered commercially, nor are match quality projectiles. Without going into detail there must be others out there that have also wondered why this excellent cal has not been developed and would like to hear what you think.

Does a quality bbl. manufacturing co offer a 20cal bbl that is adaptable to modern PCP actions? And what experience do any shooters out there have with trying to use a 20cal?

I don’t expect many responses but respect all opinions.

Many thanks,

Tomygun

Tom

Click to expand...

Talk to Motorhead about the benefits of a .20 caliber PCP. He is a Machinist who has won many National target competitions with his heavily modified RAW .20 TM 1000.

On the other hand, elh0102 has a very good point too....
 
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Yes indeed .... Have been competing in Field Target now @ 9 years the last 6 years exclusively with .20 caliber !!! 

Why ? ... far less wind drift, higher BC ( .040/.044 ) at 800 fps speed has been typical. Downside with slower speed being shot to a > 20fpe in .177 is a loopier trajectory requiring greater skill in range estimation and doping correction. Figure that out and the .20 cal simply excels !!!



Use the caliber for general shooting / pesting etc it is excellent given correct speed and weight choices which is admittedly very limited.



In recent years have retrofitted MANY PCP rifles for personal use or for customers & friends. Some off the top of my head are :

RAW TM & HM rifles

USFT rifles

THOMAS rifles

DAYSTATE rifles

TAIPAN Vet rifles

JSAR rifles

STEYR rifles

QB 79 rifles

All of these excluding the DAYSTATE have bee set up under 20 fpe for target / lower power usages. The Daystate which is a personal rifle was converted from a .177 cal to .20 being the AIRWOLF model which has a Heliboard in it. Produces from @ 8fpe on low to @ 40 fpe on high. Pellets such as H&N FTT at 11.4 grains & JSB 13.7 work well under 880 fps, then the JSB Heavy 15.9 best suited at higher power setting and giving @ equal speeds unless leaned on for max power being high 900's.



.20 caliber for the fumble finger folks is so much easier to handle than .177 ... tho said so close to .22 cal why bother. This is realistic imo !!!

I compete in FT ... and will continue to shooting .20 caliber. The rest as stated by Sprial Groove is in the history books of the AAFTA and speaks volumes to the capability of this bastard caliber. Yes #1 & 2 "Hunter PCP" in this years WINDY National championships were shot with .20's ! High match score yup a .20 cal



Scott S
 
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Motorhead (Scott) has competed in 2 AAFTA national championships shooting his .20 Cal RAW both times. He not only won the Hunter Class Championship but shot the high overall match score both times (I guess that makes him THE National Champ :) ) . He also won the AAFTA Hunter Class Grand Prix championship both years as well. Scott is an incredible shot so not all the credit goes to the .20 cal, but if you ask him he will be the first to tell you he doesn't see anything but a .20 cal in his AAFTA competition future. I have been shooting .20 for as long as Scott and feel the same way.

One complaint I hear about the .20 is the lack of pellet selection and I guess if you were looking for an all around hunting caliber this would be true. I have never felt the JSB 13.7 pellet was ever a disadvantage for the field target game and any light duty work out to 80-90 yds. The addition of the 15.9gn pellet extends the range and power of the caliber even more. 

Jim (now) in Amherst
 
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I like the caliber. I recently bought a Leshiy2 in .20 that is a tackdriver out to 40ish yards. 

Also have a Beeman Wolfpup .20, one of the 15 that were imported back in the day and it's never disappointed me.

Those are the only factory made guns that I have. I tried to get a HW110 from overseas, but that was about the time the British sellers were stopping sending to here due to regs or some such.

Before I got those, I converted a 2240 to a .20. It is a neat little gun to play with. I put a hipac on it so I can jump between CO2 and HPA. Almost have as much money into it as I do my 1377, and it still ain't finished lol.

It will be a long time before the caliber catches back on again for manufacturers to start building new guns here. By that time though, people's interests will have changed again to the next latest and greatest and it will fade back into obscurity until the next cycle.

Almost all the PCPs on the market can be rebarreled for .20. Then it's a matter of tuning for the projectile. Hard part is if it's magazine fed. Then you would probably have to make your own.
 
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.20 cal.is a great cal,...people that do not know about it have no experience with it.

LW makes .20 barrels , shouldn't be too hard to get.

I am of the opinion that the .20 is the most naturally accurate cal.

So when people say various ammo is hard to find in .20,yes,but then most of it works .

This comes up at least every 6 months....and the .20 cal.lovers ,even though far and in between, praise the "round".
 
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