Today reader RidgeRunner, gives us his opinion of why the .20 caliber pellet exists. If you’d like to write a guest post for this blog, please email me at blogger@blogger.com.
Take it away, RidgeRunner.
Why .20 caliber?
By RidgeRunner
This report covers:
- Why .20 caliber?
- What happened
- But why .20?
- Remember the velocity wars?
- Quality
- Cost
- My selection
- Summary
Why .20 caliber?
Perhaps the real question should be, why not? Why not? Once upon a time, it was a pretty popular caliber with airgunners. There was even an airgun company that was devoted to that caliber. [Editor—That would be the Beeman company when Robert Beeman owned it.] So, what happened?
What happened?
Basically, it was the velocity wars. Newbies wanted more and more velocity. Because bullets from powder burners were screaming along at several times the speed of sound, those who did not know any better thought pellets from airguns should be also. There are a couple of problems with that. When using air as a propellant, you can only go so fast. This thing called physics keeps raising its ugly little head.
Now, do not be scared. I am not going to launch into all of those formulas and such which can cause heads to explode. Just take my word for it. Despite what the marketeers try to tell you, you are only going to get a pellet going so fast and no more when you push it with air.
Another problem is the pellet shape. The diabolo shape is great for stability and accuracy at short ranges, but the skirt causes a rapid loss in velocity. In recent times there has been much talk about shooting bullets (slugs), but they are still not quite there and they often require a different twist rate than standard airguns.
But why .20?
Way back when, the .20 was quite popular. At short ranges, the .177 was and is still king in the short range accuracy department. Much research and quality control has gone into the .177 to insure it stays that way.
One of the problems with .177, though, is mass. At longer ranges this caliber is more affected by crosswinds and because of the lack of mass, it runs out of steam and just falls to the ground.
Nowadays the .22 is quite popular, but at one time it was not. The quality of pellets that were available after WWII was not that great. The mass of the .22 meant that it would carry further than the .177, but could you hit what you were shooting at? It also was much larger in diameter and made a bigger wound channel, but you still had the problem of hitting your quarry.
Along came the .20. It was larger and had more mass than the .177 which meant it could endure higher crosswinds and retain more energy at longer ranges, but it used less lead than the .22. It was also faster than the .22 in a given airgun. The wound channel it created was almost as large as the .22 as well. It seemed like the .20 was the answer to the dream. Well, not quite.
Remember the velocity wars?
Remember the velocity wars? When AirForce Airguns launched the Condor it sent .22 pellets screaming along at incredible speeds—for an airgun that is. The .22 was going every bit as fast as the .20. It also made a slightly larger wound channel when it got there.
Quality
Something else that doomed the .20 was quality. And I’m not talking about the quality of the .20-caliber pellets. Though .20-caliber pellets did improve over the years, so did .22-caliber pellets. Some .22 pellets and airguns have improved in quality to the point that you can actually hit what you are shooting at a considerable distance away.
Cost
Another thing that doomed the .20 was cost. Except for the use of less material to make the .20, the cost of making any pellet is about the same. When you factor in a much lower demand for that caliber, for some airgun ammunition manufacturers it is just not worth the costs involved.
Here in the USA there is not that great a demand for airguns chambered in that caliber. As we do not have the power restrictions that many in this world have, we are more inclined to go with .22-caliber or even larger. We like bigger! Yeah!
Many in this world are limited by how much power they can have. The .20 makes more sense to them as it does make for a larger wound channel than the .177 and usually carries farther with more accuracy and power.
My selection
My older assortment of pellets.
I have an AirForce Ultimate Condor chambered in .20. Thanks to a couple of friends on this blog I have quite a selection of pellets in this caliber. Above I have some of the oldies that used to be available in the marketplace. They are the Beeman Perfect Round, the Hy-Score Pointed, the Beeman Pointed, the RWS Hobby, the RWS Super Hollow-Point, the Sheridan pellet and the Benjamin pellet.
Below are some of what is available these days. From left to right they are the JSB Exact, the JSB Heavy, the H&N Field Target Trophy and the H&N Baracuda. Not too bad a selection really.
These are several of the .20-caliber pellets that can be bought today. They are named in the paragraph above.
Summary
There is an upside to all of this. With the lower demand for this caliber, most of the pellets still made are of top-shelf quality. Most manufacturers do not bother with the weird gobbledygook designs for .20 as they do not sell that much anyway.
Do I see this caliber becoming popular again? Probably not. Some knowing folks may get serious with this caliber, but with the rise in power, accuracy and quality of the other calibers, the .20 will very likely follow behind the other calibers that have gone before it.
I am seriously looking at an AirForce or lefty HW30 in .20 as my next airgun.
Ohio, on their outlet store pages, Airforce has Condor .20s for under $400, apparently in the different colors. I recommend the $50 Ring-loc kit to better tune for that caliber, as the stock valve is bigger than .20!
Mike
OP,
A lefty HW30 will likely cost you more than Mike is saying a .20 Condor will cost. Do not get me wrong, I am crazy about the HW30S that lives here at RRHFWA and wishes I could afford one of those new HW30N air rifles, but if you have a way to fill the Condor, it is a much better deal. You can also change the caliber fairly easily if you want.
RR,
The best part of .20 caliber is that there are really only three pellets to test!!!!
And all are pretty good!
At first, I was not sure if it was a harder hitting .177, or a flatter shooting .22?
Now I do not care. It can be used as a backyard varmint eliminator. And at 13+ grains, not far off many .22 caliber pellets.
-Yogi
Yogi,
Actually, there are four. All are top shelf though.
More often than not, you do pay a premium for a .20 sproinger and not many stock one these days. You have to order it and wait for it to come in. I would really like to get that HW30N, but golly gee whiz that thing is expensive.
For me, a .20 sproinger makes much more sense than a .22 or larger. It is faster than the larger pellets with a flatter trejectory and harder hitting than the .177.
RidgeRunner,
Thanks for a good briefing on the .20 cal. There are some over on the other side of the pond theorizing that the .20 might get further interest of they are forced to go fully lead free. A pellet in that caliber would still have the weight of a .177 with a not to much increase in diameter allowing it to (hopefully) duplicate the ballistics of their current .177 lead pellets.
Siraniko
PS Tom’s intro “Today reader RidgeRunner, gives us bis (his) opinion of why the .20 caliber pellet exists.”
Siraniko,
Fixed. Thanks,
BB
Siraniko,
I like the caliber myself. It is a real shame it is not as popular for most folks (in the USA) as the .22. As you pointed out, it is almost as heavy with a flatter trajectory. With the .177 being the “official” caliber in so many airgun events and with such a “go big or stay at home” attitude being so prevalent here in the USA, I am surprised to find the .20 still being made.
Thankfully, the Europeans still seem to have a place for it. Will it be around in the future? I for one hope so.
BB,
What about all those Sheridans out there? I thought that company built nothing but .20s. I thought Robert Beeman sold other calibers also.
RR,
All Sheridan rifles were and are .20 caliber. Robert Beeman sold all calibers. Twenty was just his favorite.
BB
RR, I thought the same, it’s worth mentioning that this very popular old-line airgun used the .20. I have a Blue and a Silver Streak, both are great old guns and shoot the JSB pretty well. I’d make a wild guess that Sheridans represent a big percentage of .20 caliber pellet consumption in the USA. These days, I probably shoot my Sheridans more than any others.
JerryC,
I have never owned a Sheridan or a Benjamin multi-pump air rifle for that matter. I do have a collection of old Benjamin air pistols and a Crosman 101 that I am rebuilding.
The AF Condor is the first .20 I have owned. I have yet to give it a good run with all of the pellets I have, but I think it will do quite well. I imagine I will have some accuracy issues with the older stuff, but when I get to the newer stuff I expect it to be top shelf accurate. We shall see.
Physics can not only rear its ugly little head, at times it can get downright physical, RR. Good article. Please don’t give FM any more ideas on acquisitions, such as an HW30N in .20…just won that Marauder RG pointed to on Gunbroker. Now to pay for it, but believe it was won at a fair price. In a way, surprised FM was the winner; there was a little bit of brisk bidding that went on for that auction.
FM,
Good find. I myself would have recommended a Marauder for you. Maybe you should think of a .20 barrel for your HW90?
Thanks for the endorsement – that’s gonna be it for now. It will need to be scoped with a decent optic eventually. Opinions from the experienced experts are always welcome. FM will also do his due diligence researching the subject right here on this blog.
RR, stop driving your friend here into the Swamp of Enablement Temptation with those barrel-change suggestions! 🙂
FM
For the HW 90 I would start with a Dampa mount. The scope is coming second! A Hawke Vantage worked well for me. Try to get an AO IR with the etched reticle.
That comes from a NON expert but temporary owner of two. A 4.5 and a 5.5.
FM,
The barrel assembly would be much cheaper than an entire air rifle and would be easy to change back.
Congrats! Did you bid on the wooden stock, too?
Decided to hold off until after the rifle gets here, in order to absorb the initial impact on the old wallet. Worst case scenario, it will carry on with the synthetic/plastic stock for a while or even possibly forever depending on FM’s remaining shelf-life. 😉 Do have to scope the Marauder so holding on to the cash for that as well.
FM,
You will likely find that syn stock is on the same quality level as the one on the Max brothers. It should do you quite fine. The only good thing about the wood stock is you can shape it to fit you.
Yep, it’ll work for FM and as stated before, optics first.
RR,
Nice article.
I see a lot of rationalizing for the existence of the .20 caliber; that it is flatter shooting than .22 and harder hitting and more stable in cross winds than .177, and whatnot.
The simple reason is that Sheridan invented a proprietary caliber so they could sell air rifles and corner the market for the ammo they used.
It could be argued that that move was to ensure quality control in an era of generally poorly manufactured pellets and not just about generating repeat business, but I’m not convinced.
If .20 bucks the wind better than .177, but is nearly as flat shooting, why didn’t it come to dominate field target shooting?
The performance of .20 cal can be approximated by using heavy .177 pellets, or light .22 pellets anyway.
I don’t see much future for the caliber. 20 years from now there’ll probably be at best one company making a single batch of .20 cal pellets per year for the diehards, similar to the way CCI makes a batch of .22 Long for the one Inuit tribe that still uses it for hunting.
Anyway, that’s just my tuppence worth. I’ve never tried .20 cal for myself. Maybe if I had, I would be singing its praises too.
Bob Ryan,
Many of your points are ones that i understood about the .20 caliber as well.
I’m not so certain about the External Ballistics advantage that is mostly anecdotally derived.
I do know why FT doesn’t shoot it and that has to do with the larger diameter disadvantage getting through the restrictors on the targets. The wind bucking is not really an External Ballistic problem when compared to the diameter disadvantage.
I could add a formula but out of respect for our RidgeRunner our Guest Blogger i’ll avoid that to keep heads from EXPLODING ;^)
shootski
shootski,
I do appreciate your not giving us any formulas as my head would likely be the one to explode first.
RidgeRunner,
Airgun life really only begins at and beyond .308 caliber in my opinion ;^)
Enjoyed the read: BRAVO ZULU
shootski
So my airgun life just started. A, budget friendly Snowpeak M25 in 7.62 landed here yesterday. Only initial shots taken in the backyard, showing 90+ fpe! It certainly can’t be compared to your powerhouses but it’s just a start like you said.
Bill,
I Hope your M25 is accurate for you.
They seem to be capable of even more energy but of course at the expense of shot count.
90+ FPE is nothing to sneeze at! It will bring down most medium sized game with proper shot placement.
I look forward to hearing about your travels in the land of the Big Bore :^)
shootski
shootski
Will do Captain
Bill,
Congratulations on your acquisition of an M25.
They look to be a very nice rifle and a cost effective route into big bore airguning.
Does yours have the polymer stock, or wood stock? How is the shot count? What pellets/slugs have you started with? Snowpeak’s own brand pellets are very cheap. Would be interesting to know if they shoot well with the M25.
shootski,
I recently traded off my .357 HM1000X and recently acquired this .20 Condor and a .22 BSA R10 SE. It is true that I traded the HM1000X for a .457 Texan LSS. I also have an 8mm CO2 rifle I have yet to try out.
If you just cannot live unless you are at .308 and above, you are more than welcome to send me those two ASP-20s you have. 😉
RidgeRunner,
There is airgun LIFE before .308.
Here is the BUT: But you haven’t really LIVED until you have experienced the BIG BORE KICK!
sending the SIGs anywhere…LOL!
Something, something, something, … Cold Dead Hands!
shootski
I always thought we have the 20 cal. because Sheridan knew you would have to buy your ammo from them. When I got my Sheridan in 1968 it was Sheridan ammo or nothing. I still have a full tin of Sheridan ammo from those days. I also have a two boxes of Beeman Silver Jets in 20 cal. Those shoot very well in the Sheridans, I have two of those. One is scoped.
Mike
A .20 cal looks like a good compromise if you only have one airgun. I would prefer the benefits of having both a .177 and .22.
Just ordered another collectable replica. I don’t expect it to be available for long. An airsoft spinoff converted to shoot BBs between 480 and 520 fps on CO2. (Great expectations there) A Russian Semiauto SVD Dragunov Sniper Rifle. Has a replica scope and mount available. I may even get it this year if it remains available and is in stock. These types come and go fast.
Bob M,
Were you SHAKEN and not stirred this evening?
shootski
Shootski,
Tax time. I always wait till the last day to pay them. Never get a refund. Why give them more money than they need and lose the interest it could make all year. Just the minimum to avoid fines. Crunching numbers.
Bob M,
I agree completely!
Especially since the Congress has seen fit to take a bigger and bigger portion of my Retired Pay and Social Security to move to the General Fund so they can waste it on all their pet PORK!
IF those INCOME TAXES went back into the Navy/DOD personnel budget and the Social Security Trust (NONEXISTENT ENTITY) I might not be as angry about it… especially since the Federal Income Tax was originally intended to only pay for our World War 1 debts. I think those were completed before World War 2….
I need more funds in my projectile account!
Sounds like you were likely correct about the NYC helicopter crash! I always read the final NTSB reports. https://www.ntsb.gov/Pages/AviationQueryv2.aspx
shootski
RidgeRunner,
Very nice write up, thank you!
As for me, I just hope they keep on making .20-caliber pellets so I can keep the old Sheridan going.
The JSB diabolo pellets she likes are 13.73 grains…right in the weight class of most .22 pellets. 😉
Blessings to you,
dave
P.S. As far as hunting airguns go, I think the old Sheridan C-model still has a lot going for it:
a 14 fpe rifle that only weighs 5 pounds, one you can wrap your hand around
and carry through the woods all day, had a lot of merit for me as a teenage squirrel hunter.
With the JSB ammo, she is accurate for head shots on small game out to 30 yards.
Even today, she makes for a pretty neat package. 🙂
Dave,
Wow, that C-model is a beauty!
Gotta love the light weight, full length furniture, sleek lines and peep sight – she’s schweet.
Dave,
Actually, that is pretty light for a .22. It has been my experience that most .22 pellets are a lot heavier.
Some have stated that Sheridan invented the .20. That may be so. I suspect that it was popular over in Europe before Sheridan tried to introduce it to the USA market. Without things like the internet, Amazon and the like, it would have been almost impossible to even know of the .20 from anyone but Sheridan.
According to BB, Robert Beeman was very fond of the .20. He imported a bunch of European airguns to this side of the pond. The sad part is this particular caliber never really caught on over here. Finding a source for this caliber over here would have been difficult at best.
I think that most Americans also have it in their minds that bigger is better. Not necessarily.
RR,
The .20 caliber was created by Sheridan. They claimed they wanted a .22 but no pellet was good enough for their Supergrade’s accuracy.
BB
BB,
That is a good thing to know.
It has been my experience that pellets in the mid-range of their weights are more accurate than those that are lighter or heavier. Wild guess on my part, but the length, diameter, weight distribution, twist rate, et cetera have more to do with it than many give credit to these variables.
Do I know what I am talking about? Probably not, but hey, this is what I have noticed from on top of my hill.
BB did say it was my opinion. 😉
RidgeRunner,
“Do I know what I am talking about?”
More than most ;^)
shootski