Why is the .20 popular for those in the know?

[boscoebrea]

Because it is accurate and for some reason air guns love it.
Some people will tell you the pellet selection is hard to come by.
From what I see the .20 is less pellet picky than the other calibers; thus you do not need a wide range of pellet choices.
Yep, that is the beauty of the .20, non-fussy.
OK, choices are a great thing, make mine a .20

 

[bdzjlz]

Inherently accurate. I have never had a .20 that wouldn't shoot very well.

 

[WoodWelder]

My HW45 is .20 and it works very well.

 

[Spartan]

I have a 20 and I like it. I do believe that it provides advantages in some situations when there are power limitations.

However, for both airguns and PBs, the often used term "inherently accurate" when being assigned to a specific caliber is a complete falsehood. A specific bore diameter, by itself, cannot/does not/will not make any projectile more accurate than any other bore diameter, by itself.

There are many things that need to come together to make a gun and its projectile accurate. The bore diameter by itself is among the most arbitrary of that long list.

 

[boscoebrea]

Like blondes, have more fun? That is the point when things come together and some things come together better than other things.
You should have gotten the HW97 in.20, truth be told my 97 is also a .22.no problem and I like it,I got a great deal on it,if not I would have gotten it in .20.
You do not need many choices if your gun shoots most pellets accurately.
Gosh, I am not trying to be a salesman, or am I ? Choice is a great thing

 

[Airgun Al]

I had a Sheridan in .20 many years ago.
I recall it being ok, buy not super accurate by any means.
Ive come to the conclusion that .177 has a purpose, and .22 has a purpose, and .20 is just something in the middle.
Perhaps I should pick up another .20, and try again?!?!
Choice is a great thing!

 

[SteveP-52]

I have a Silver Streak. Shoots Benji Domes ok, shoots FTT's and JSB much better. Also have 9 other rifles in the caliber and while a couple have yet to be shot for groups to see what happens, this was from my R9 at 20 yards. Minor tweak to the scope and a little more focus on my part will tighten them up but all 4 shoot very well:

My R7 .20 with just the FTT's (top) and JSB's (bottom) plus shooting lefty (I'm a righty) and one armed after shoulder surgery and my right was useless at the time. All 4 can be covered with a dime

 

[marflow 777]

.20 good, bad or indifferent doesn't really matter, it is the manufactures that set the table and no one is putting .20 on it
and the fact that PA has 4 pellet choices is a concern for any .20 owner
i have .20 barrels for my P1 and HW45 and they shoot very well and the lightest .20 is as heavy as the lightest .22
two companies making pellets and my concern is when there are none

 

[Franklink]

Ahh. It's almost comforting. Like the sun rising every morning. Or the sky being blue. Or the coming of the seasons. Or new AGN members mad that they can't buy or sell in the classifieds.

Or every .20 caliber discussion on an airgun forum including multiple comments about the lack of variation in .20 pellets or what happens if they're no longer made.

My 0.02......keep enjoying your .177s and your .22s, and I'll keep whacking critters and giving people a run for their money in field target competitions with my .20s.

In the five years that I've had .20 airguns, there has not been a single instance of NOT being able to get JSB .20s in either weight from at least one online supplier. Seems I might have had a backorder from PA for a bit, but it was fulfilled within a couple weeks, and I wasn't out b/c...planning ahead. And that was before I knew Treniers sellers em too. As far as pellets go, the .20/13.73 and the .20/15.89 from JSB are as good as it gets.

More recently NSA and ZAN have jumped in the .20 arena, making slugs. I haven't tried the ZANs, but the .20/18.9gr NSA are phenomenal. Shot this 10 shot group tonight @ 100 yards. Ten shots in a row. Yep, nine under an MOA coin, 10th just barely outside.

And if you missed this, some 170+ yard .20 action.

170+ yards with .20/18.9grain NSA

https://www.airgunnation.com/threads/brk-ghost-review.1274213/page-42#post-1642652 Finally had a chance to revisit the 170+ slugs-on-paper shooting experiment. Moved the cardboard up the fence a bit, shot from my porch instead of my 2nd story window....distance shook out to a lasered 171...

www.airgunnation.com

And I used the JSB .20/15.89 to place "in the money" at EBR s Extreme Field Target event this last October.

So "why is .20 popular for those in the know?" Well, I'm not sure that I'm "in the know" but I have personally seen and benefited from the JSB .20 pellets having the best BC of anything in their weight class, and not by a small amount in the case of the 15.89.

Wanna win? Shoot a .20/13.73 in regular field target @ 805fps.

Wanna kill prairie dog and under sized pests at way further distances than 30-32fpe seems like it should be able to do? Shoot a JSB .20/15.89 @ 915ish or a NSA .20/18.9 @ 870-880ish.

Wanna enjoy precision and accuracy without burning through a bunch of HPA, and still be in true airgun fpe ranges? Get a .20 PCP.

Why .20? Cuz it's better (higher BC) than the same weight pellet in .177 or .22.

Simple as that.

 

[Airgun Al]

Excuse me while I go listen to my 45rpm album collection....

 

[Franklink]

Excuse me while I go listen to my 45rpm album collection....

I'm not into the audiophile thing, but I believe the argument is that the 45rpms "sound better." That's an opinion.

The .20 being better is a ballistic fact. Apples to apples, the .20/13.73 has a higher BC than the nearest weight.177 or .22. Same goes for the .20.15.89.

The difference in BC is smaller with the .177s than the .22s. Most of the comparisons have been just shy of 20fpe ("regular" field target). Or at 30ish fpe in the case if the .20/15.89 and the .22/15.89. But the .20 BC is higher in both cases (vs .177 or .22).

I'm not trying to make an argument that everyone needs or wants a .20 PCP. Just answering the question about why those of us that care about competitive edges or just simply like to hit what we're aiming at easier (without holding off as much for wind) like the .20.

The fanboy attitude and support for the .20 that its serious users possess is very much a "if ya know you know" thing.

 

[Motorhead]

Been at competitive FT now for @ 13 years starting out as many are recommended to do, shooting .177 using JSB/ AA 10.3's or the 13.4 weights.
I shot well but could never muster & average much more than low/mid 70% kill rate with a couple times about 80% being not enough to win at big matches.

A Good friend had a Daystate MK3 in .20 he had tried using in FT, but shot count was too low w/o refilling during a match & as such it sat unused in his safe.
Talked him out of it for a decent price and went about a full retune adding a regulator while doing hammer weight work etc .... Once done it would do @ 70 shots on a fill shooting JSB 13.73 pellets >20 fpe. In club matches screwing around it showed great accuracy and really seemed to do better in the wind over the .177 guns i had been fooling with previous.
1st big match was the Nevada State GP in 2016 ... Big environment, Winds, uphill shots etc ... The Lowly .20 SHINED !!!! and the match was won with a hunter class first place finish.
A year earlier a RAW TM-1000 was purchased in .177 and the two rifles were shot back & forth for nearly 2 seasons .... After the Nevada win a decision was made to re-barrel the RAW in .20 cal and have NEVER looked back !!! In that time sense then amassed 5 more State championships, 2 National Championships, 2 National GP championships all done shooting .20 caliber in the TM-1000 RAW !!! yea I'm sold
In those successful years past the .20 cal has been instrumental. This in very large part due to the outstanding accuracy & high BC of the JSB Exact .20 caliber being shot in a PCP.

Yes the trajectory is loopier than a .177, tho close to the 13.4 monster. The BC however I've found at 800fpe velocity runs at .044 on average in my rifle/s
The .177's can't even come close to that !!!!

My humble success story of the .20 caliber in competition.

Scott S

 

[1900colt]

Airgun Revisions has been making some pretty sweet custom 20 cal guns lately.

I'm really wanting to aquire one of them

 

[bucketboy]

Wanna win? Shoot a .20/13.73 in regular field target @ 805fps.

Wanna kill prairie dog and under sized pests at way further distances than 30-32fpe seems like it should be able to do? Shoot a JSB .20/15.89 @ 915ish or a NSA .20/18.9 @ 870-880ish.

Wanna enjoy precision and accuracy without burning through a bunch of HPA, and still be in true airgun fpe ranges? Get a .20 PCP.

Why .20? Cuz it's better (higher BC) than the same weight pellet in .177 or .22.

Simple as that.

^^^^ all of this^^^^ although we don’t have prairie dogs in the uk my .20 has accounted for over 1000 rabbits and 10,000 pigeons

Bb

 

[orangeokie]

When one has a .177 or .22 or .25 or .30 in just about every type of fine rifle imaginable there is no logical reason not to procure at least one .20 in a special unregulated non-electronic rifle, with the Harper patent valve and traditional chrome bolt action with fine walnut and steel like the Daystate Huntsman Regal. Matches up hand in glove with my Cooper .204 Ruger Prairie Dog getter.

 

[PumaCarl]

Robert Beeman was a huge proponent of the diameter and thought it was the best ballistically in airguns, back when I started reading and learning about "good" airguns in the late '70s. I don't know or remember if he was just talking about in his, and Theoben's, new (at the time) gas ram guns, or others as well. I do know that in the years since, there has always been a group of people in the know, about how good it is, that have kept it going. It's puzzling that it never gained more traction. With forums like this one, and the internet, maybe now is its time to rise.

 

[abslayer]

Why is the .20 popular for those in the know?​

Because at this point it is very hard to fine one and .20 pellets just about imposable to fine
Every one always want what they can not get myself included

 

[maxtrouble]

My problem with .20 caliber is I only have two rifles chambered for it. My 97k is 14 fpe so H&N FTT's. My 95 is 18 fpe so H&N Baracuda 's. I keep thinking about re-chambering my Regal for .20, would be a great upgrade for my first PCP.

I have a couple of ammo boxes filled up with H&N .20's so no worries on ammo. I have a couple of tins of JSB's just in case.

Twenty caliber seems to ignore the wind with some kind of BC sorcery. Winds today are 15 mph out of the west and I am hitting quarter sized spinners and soup cans with ease. I left my .177's at home today.

 

[Treefrog]

I only wish that there were more rifles available in .20. It's an excellent choice.

J~

 

[Sawney Bean]

Robert Beeman was a huge proponent of the diameter and thought it was the best ballistically in airguns, back when I started reading and learning about "good" airguns in the late '70s. I don't know or remember if he was just talking about in his, and Theoben's, new (at the time) gas ram guns, or others as well. I do know that in the years since, there has always been a group of people in the know, about how good it is, that have kept it going. It's puzzling that it never gained more traction. With forums like this one, and the internet, maybe now is its time to rise.

I think that at the time that RB was promoting the .20 it did occupy a sweet spot in between the .177 and the .22. It was an era when virtually all of the high end guns were spring or gas ram powered and the power levels of those were a few foot pounds less than they are today. In the 12-24 fpe range it probably is the best all around caliber.