Is the 20 caliber dead?

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You may be closer to the truth than you know. I love the 20 and own several. BUT, when you look at all the new guns being launched in the industry, none of them have included a 20 cal in their offerings. Makes you wonder!
Also, anytime you want to order a 20 from the big retailers, they are always special order. They are not in stock. Hard to ignore those signs.
Thx
Dan
 
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HW is still making them. I think the schedule calls for 2 guns to be made every Monday with a crescent moon, as long as it isn't raining, over sixty degrees, or an odd numbered date. Hence the very long lead time. AoA just received a few last week. Picked this up early September.

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Not dead but low on the totem pole for making either guns or pellets with both .177 and .22 being more popular. From emails traded with both H&N and JSB, they have no plans to stop making the few pellets they do, they just shove them to the bottom of the list to make the more popular, faster selling stuff first.
 
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I have a 20 caliber R9, had a 20 caliber Rx1 and had a 20 caliber barrel on my R1 for a while. I think 20 caliber is a great caliber for mid power springers. The benefits between between 20 and 22 are slim. The larger 22 bore is more efficient so the same spring gun will make more energy with 22 than 20.

The additional efficiency means that the velocities aren't much different between 20 and 22. Conceptually the 20 is a great in between caliber. In reality it's not really that much flatter than 22. As someone else mentioned earlier 20 is probably best for mid power springers. My 20 caliber R9 is a great combination. It makes about 16 fpe while another member here has the same rifle, kit, piston seal combination and it makes 17 fpe in 22. The velocities are pretty similar. My R1 makes 18 fpe in 20 and 19 in 22. Again the velocities are pretty similar.

You'll get higher velocities with the lighter 20 caliber FTTs but you can do the same with lightweight 22 pellets.

IMO the 20 caliber isn't worth additional costs and headaches for the hobbyist who only wants one or two rifles. Twenty is pretty cool if you're a novelty collector.

My R1 will probably never wear its 20 caliber barrel again. My R9 will keep its original 20 caliber barrel because it's some sort of special edition. That and it shoots very nicely at a pound more energy than my comparable built 177 Hw95. Now that 177 Hw95 is noticeably flatter than basically the same gun in 20 or 22. It's approximately 190fps faster. That makes a noticeable difference. The 20 or 30 fps difference between 20 and 22 isn't.
 
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I'm not a novelty collector and most who want one aren't either. We bought them to shoot them and shoot them we do. The differences between them, .22 and any numbers involved doesn't really matter to any of us...lol.
In your case, you don't seem to have much luck with the caliber to begin with. A good lot of members here also belong to GTA, Bayman, and have read all the threads that got written on them, but let's see how good my memory is...lol.
-The RX1 ended up having an unfixable breech block or compression tube issue and you parted it out.
-The R1 started life as a pristine .177 that you spent a year and a lot of money trying to make the .20 you thought it should be then gave up when it didn't turn into the powerhouse you thought it should be, spent more to make it a .22.
-You were going to try with your 95 but quit on that one after something to do with a barrel from TW Chambers. I remember that one because I bought the 6 tins of JSB .20 pellets you got to shoot in it for when you got it converted.
-The P1 you have started life as a .20 and got converted to .177.
The R9 Special Edition was considered one because of that Blue Laminate stock, the words Special Edition were done in gold and there's a medallion on the bottom of the grip. Not many were made that way (less than 150 I think) and why the name, but at least you left it the way it came.
 
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dv8eod said:
@SteveP-52 you forgot he wanted to refinish that stock.
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I did refinish the stock. If you guys are going to pick me apart don't forget to point out that it took several failed tries by myself and $200 wasted on a furniture refinishing shop first. I eventually wound up doing it myself. It came out pretty nicely. I'm not going to to address any of the other personal attacks. Apparently I draw angst from some people when I have never said anything bad about them.

Keeping this about the OP I will say that the term novelty collector was a poor choice of words. I should have said that 20 caliber is a fine choice for an airgun enthusiast with multiple guns.

OK you can throw the eggs now.

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No eggs thrown or personal attacks made, at least by me, but you always seem to try making it sound that way...lol.
All I said was you don't seem to have much luck with .20 caliber and I based that off the guns you've owned in the caliber and written about, fairly extensively in some cases, about all of them on GTA. I've read most of them, many have and many tried to help, and the first thought that always came to mind for me was "d@mn, the guy really has no luck with anything in .20".
Maybe read what I typed again?? There was no attack in any of it, just simple facts you yourself have personally typed about guns you've owned and the not so great luck you've had with them.
 
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SteveP-52 said:
No eggs thrown or personal attacks made, at least by me, but you always seem to try making it sound that way...lol.
All I said was you don't seem to have much luck with .20 caliber and I based that off the guns you've owned in the caliber and written about, fairly extensively in some cases, about all of them on GTA. I've read most of them, many have and many tried to help, and the first thought that always came to mind for me was "d@mn, the guy really has no luck with anything in .20".
Maybe read what I typed again?? There was no attack in any of it, just simple facts you yourself have personally typed about guns you've owned and the not so great luck you've had with them.
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Steve I read your post several times. Your stating "simple facts" (only some were correct) was craftily done in a way that discredits my person more than my luck with 20 caliber.

My luck with 20 caliber guns and barrels has nothing to do with my position on the caliber. I have plenty of valid technical information about the caliber as a whole. My history of "luck" with the caliber isn't valid to the thread and was unnecessary to list. Yet it was.

You and a couple others here and at GTA have taken upon themselves to troll me at every chance they get. Best I can tell the root of the trolling has to do with their allegiance to Jim Maccari and my former promotion of Vortek products. I have a hunch that some others on the other forum resent me because they don't like sharing their spotlight.

Honestly we're all grown men here and to nit pick people at every opportunity is pretty immature. Outside of that I have never said anything disparaging to any of my Trolls.

Let's try to be adults and keep the threads on topic.
 
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45srbest said:
I hope it’s not dead. My R9 in .20 is one of my favorites! Don’t appreciate the lack of choice in pellets. I’m always checking the few sites I know, but doesn’t really change.
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Dead, no. Dying, no. Niche, yes, since we all know both .177 and .22 sell better and cheaper. H&N and JSB are both smart enough to know that while not heavily made anymore, guns are still made in .20, right along with all the ones still out there.
Anyone's guess how many, but anything Sheridan between both rifles and pistols. HW still makes occasional batches. I haven't looked to see if Daystate still is. I think Air Force still makes at least one in .20 and shooters are fairly regularly building custom rifles in .20, so while making of pellets may be slow, neither company will stop knowing they have plenty of buyers for the few they still make.
 
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.20 is awesome. From what I gather, it's always been niche.

I've got a decent personal stash of both weights of JSB but often check availability anyway. They're often out of stock, and also show expected in-stock dates. I've backordered a couple times in the past few years and always eventually get them. Which tells me they're still being made, and folks other than myself are still buying them. Hopefully people continuing to buy them means JSB will continue to make them. I'd to be able to feed my .20 Veteran forever.
 
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I recently purchased a HW95 Luxus in .20 caliber from AoA and had them install a Vortek kit. After a few tins of pellets I am very happy with this caliber choice. It is one of my most accurate springers. Very light cocking effort and a subdued shot cycle. I stocked up on .20 pellets. I think everyone needs a Twenty in their arsenal.
 
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