Is .20 Dead?

I've three .177 HW springers. 7 fpe, 11 fpe, and 14 fpe...they are all accurate and deadly at closer ranges but...I find them to be very wind sensitive. All it takes is a slight puff of breeze to blow the pellet around. All three are pushing a .177 pellet to about 800 fps...which is a wonderfully flat trajectory and makes for an accurate and not very hold sensitive experience which is nice.

But the .20 caliber has me thinking...at 16 fpe I could push a .20 pellet to 800 fps for a similar experience just with a lot more retained energy and a higher BC.

Logic is trying to tell me that maybe .177 springers shine the brightest up to about 12-13 fpe at which point maybe .20 is a bit more efficient at transferring energy from a compressed spring to a pellet.

I don't think I'm interested in .22 as I'm fairly certain the loopy trajectory would be detrimental...not to mention the increased hold sensitivity.

I'm currently running my HW97K at 14 fpe in .177 and while it's wonderfully accurate by the time the 9 grain pellet gets to 40 meters it's lost a ton of energy and is incredibly vulnerable to wind.

It seems like maybe a .20 at 16 fpe would have a very similar shot cycle while transferring more energy and still being accurate and flat.

Fyi-I'm running the FTT 8.64 grain in my HW97K at around 860 fps...which is just over 14 fpe. When I shoot 10.34 grain JSB's they are only going about 780 fps which is under 14 fpe.

A .20 shooting 11.42 FTT at 800 fps is doing just over 16 fpe....that is significantly more energy with roughly the same shot cycle...seems like maybe the .177 shines with 8-10 grain pellets at around 13 fpe. Am I missing something here? What can you .20 aficionado's fill in for me from your experience?
 
I've three .177 HW springers. 7 fpe, 11 fpe, and 14 fpe...they are all accurate and deadly at closer ranges but...I find them to be very wind sensitive. All it takes is a slight puff of breeze to blow the pellet around. All three are pushing a .177 pellet to about 800 fps...which is a wonderfully flat trajectory and makes for an accurate and not very hold sensitive experience which is nice.

But the .20 caliber has me thinking...at 16 fpe I could push a .20 pellet to 800 fps for a similar experience just with a lot more retained energy and a higher BC.

Logic is trying to tell me that maybe .177 springers shine the brightest up to about 12-13 fpe at which point maybe .20 is a bit more efficient at transferring energy from a compressed spring to a pellet.

I don't think I'm interested in .22 as I'm fairly certain the loopy trajectory would be detrimental...not to mention the increased hold sensitivity.

I'm currently running my HW97K at 14 fpe in .177 and while it's wonderfully accurate by the time the 9 grain pellet gets to 40 meters it's lost a ton of energy and is incredibly vulnerable to wind.

It seems like maybe a .20 at 16 fpe would have a very similar shot cycle while transferring more energy and still being accurate and flat.

Fyi-I'm running the FTT 8.64 grain in my HW97K at around 860 fps...which is just over 14 fpe. When I shoot 10.34 grain JSB's they are only going about 780 fps which is under 14 fpe.

A .20 shooting 11.42 FTT at 800 fps is doing just over 16 fpe....that is significantly more energy with roughly the same shot cycle...seems like maybe the .177 shines with 8-10 grain pellets at around 13 fpe. Am I missing something here? What can you .20 aficionado's fill in for me from your experience?
It seems like there is an ideal pellet weight/design for each caliber that offers the best balance of BC, efficiency, and accuracy. For .177 it seems to be the 8 grain, .20 13 grain, and .22 18 grain.

I'm thinking it would be nice to have an 11 fpe .177 springer and a 16 fpe .20 springer as a nice 1-2 punch for different applications.
 
Back in the 80s I would read the articles in the Beeman catalog and Robert was a big proponent of 20 cal. Decades later, I bought the German spring rifles I wanted as a kid. I kind of regret selling my Beeman R9 in .20 cal. it has smashed plenty of pigeons before I got into PCPs. Now, I only have a R7 in .20 cal left in my collection. Photo of the leftover .20 caliber pellets I have in my closet.

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I haven’t seen a box of login penetrators in decades .
 
Just adding a post to include a photo of these nice, shiny, 20 caliber pellets. If they are collectors items, I am glad I have them. If not, that is okay too.

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The yellow box Sheridan's are collectible to many. Not sure they're worth some of the starting bid or asking prices some are asking, but search Ebay and you'll see what I mean.
The Benjamins have only been recently discontinued and for many, the few offerings from H&N and JSB shoot much better. Probably played a small part in why Crosman discontinued them since most .20 shooters lean heavily to those H&N and JSB offerings.
 
Just adding a post to include a photo of these nice, shiny, 20 caliber pellets. If they are collectors items, I am glad I have them. If not, that is okay too.

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I still have a few of those same Benjamin and Sheridan pellets left. I recently found some JSB Heavy 15.89 on Amazon.
 
I have some stock in .20 cal. They should last a while only have the 2 pistols and a couple of rifles.

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Just got my first .20 cal scoped up and sighted in and love it, the big hole is 15 shots @ 50yds awsome accuracy from such a small platform, the rifle over all is only like 20”. For me the .20 cal isn’t dead and just a new beginning for me, going to stock up on pellets before they are non existent

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Excellent little rifle 👍🏻

I haven't seen one of these for ages - mine was .177 a few years ago.

Proper solid little bit of kit - I should never have sold mine.
 
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