Is the .20 caliber turning a corner?

I noticed that h&n is making the barracuda in .20 again. Maybe the .29 isn't as dead as many believed. J have two in .20. One a talon SS and an RWS 48. Both hard hitters.

Good news is the 20 caliber pellets are gonna likely have excellent QC consistency for a long time since they aren't the normal 177 and 22 that tend to get bad lots from over using those other caliber dies.

With more and more people learning about and paying attention to ballistics charts, data, etc. the .20 seems to be garnering a bit more attention than in the past.

The BC of the standard Exact and Exact Heavy in .20 from JSB surpass any JSB pellet in .177 and all but the Jumbo Monster and Beast in .22.

I just bought a new to me 20 HW97 and I love it. Although I'm new to airguns, the more I read and learned it just seemed that 20 was the perfect size/weight/speed for most things.

I sure hope so. I have 3 .20 cal guns and I love them.

Lol .... shooting the .20 for years and actually liked being the odd man out, especially in the ranks of FT shooters.

I have a Beeman R1 (San Rafael) in .20 Cal, and this rifle is my oldest sons favorite for hunting, he uses the JSB Exact Heavy (15.89 gr) pellets for hunting rabbits, so far this winter he is a whopping 15 for 15 in jack rabbits taken at distances between 25 and 30 yards. 

Earlier this year I started to worry the .20 would become a thing of the past, but still hold out hope that the renewed interest furthers the expansion of pellet offerings as there are so few to choose from and I cannot find them in any local sporting goods are other commercial retailers they must be purchased on line, which also holds true for .25 caliber ammo even though you can buy a .25 caliber air rifle at some of the local sporting goods store - just no pellets.

I love my R-9 in .20,had it for years,remember back when the brown box Crossmans were the IN pellet,. great cal.

I didnt need to know thay AoA is offering the HW50 in .20 lol. 

Good news is the 20 caliber pellets are gonna likely have excellent QC consistency for a long time since they aren't the normal 177 and 22 that tend to get bad lots from over using those other caliber dies.

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All of these Barracudas that I got recently in .20 have frigging lead NIPPLE tips 

Be nice if it was and maybe even get one company or even 2 to consider bringing a new one to market. 

I have 8 and a small stash of everything made in .20 to feed them including those Baracudas, but mine are older ones and so far I haven't seen those nipples on any.

Unless some company decides to come out with a new one, when money permits, I'm going to see about adding an R1 to the collection.

Good news is the 20 caliber pellets are gonna likely have excellent QC consistency for a long time since they aren't the normal 177 and 22 that tend to get bad lots from over using those other caliber dies.

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All of these Barracudas that I got recently in .20 have frigging lead NIPPLE tips 

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Maybe they were just too cold...

HAHA Odoyle, good one.

RE- H&N pellets. I bought a tin of the H&N FTT for my new .20. If I load them with the gun pointing up they just fall out of the chamber. I called the person I bought it from and, long story short, it turns out his were older pellets and they all measured 5.1+ head size. My new ones measure 4.9. After digging around I found on Straight Shooters Supply website a chart that gives all kind of specs for lots of pellets. It also shows the head size for those pellets at 4.9.

Interesting.

If it helps any, here's 7 of the 8 choices still made in .20. The 8th are the Daystate Sovereign 13.73's which are the same pellets as the JSB's but more expensive. The yellow labeled Rangemasters are the same thing as the H&N FTT's. While X'd out, I actually have 10 tins of those Spitzkugel pellets bought when AoA was selling off the last of their stock and when the CS rep asked if I wanted a whole sleeve, I said why not...lol

You can also keep your eyes open in the Classifieds, Fleabay, Gunbroker (I have) maybe for guys selling the no longer made Crosman's. They don't show up often and usually only when someone is getting away from .20 cal and selling off what they have.

The Benjaman's are also not one I'd recommend trying. Only gun I have that shoots them ok is my Silver Streak and even that one shoots the H&N and JSB better.

Hello mtmGhost,

The nipples are a phenomenon that can occur with all Baracuda pellets. The tools have a small relief hole exactly in the middle of the head, the lead is sometime pressed into it. This has no influence on the precision (we test every lot after production).

We used to make many more varieties of .20 pellets, but the demand decreased over the years. Nowadays we offer only the Baracuda and the Field Target Trophy in this caliber.

I think that especially for the sub-FAC power level in the UK, .20 is a good compromise.

Best regards

Jörg

H&N Sport

HAHA Odoyle, good one.

RE- H&N pellets. I bought a tin of the H&N FTT for my new .20. If I load them with the gun pointing up they just fall out of the chamber. I called the person I bought it from and, long story short, it turns out his were older pellets and they all measured 5.1+ head size. My new ones measure 4.9. After digging around I found on Straight Shooters Supply website a chart that gives all kind of specs for lots of pellets. It also shows the head size for those pellets at 4.9.

Interesting.

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Try and flare the skirts a little with a pen or large phono Jack they may surprise you.

Is the .20 turning a corner? 

For me, being intrigued with it started with an RX2 purchase about two years ago. Being a gas ram springer, it was a little tough to shoot, but I could tell there was less horizontal drift than I was used to in shooting .177, and even less horizontal drift than the relatively light .22s (13.43 and 14.35) and comparable fpe. 

It was enough that I ordered a JSAR Raptor in .20, and it shot extremely well. Last summer I shot a FT match with my normal sub 20fpe 177 and then shot through again with the .20 Raptor and was again impressed with the. 20s resistance to wind deflection. 

I've now got a .20 Veteran and was actually just revisiting the idea of using the 15.89gr JSB for these long range Extreme FT events we're having in AZ. That list of BCs that JSB collected in their wind tunnel that was floating around a few months ago showed the .20 15.89gr with nearly as good of a BC as the .22 25.39gr Monster RDs. 

Lots of interest in the caliber from this airgunner. 

Yeah, I tried flaring the skirts, but it seemed not worth the trouble. I just hold the gun down when I load-less work. I've got some JSB's ordered now.

I see Jorg from H&N replied above. It'd be nice to get official word on the sizing.

Not unheard of for HW barrels to be a little oversized at times and might be the case with yours. I have an HW95 that way. Shoots the H&N FTT 5.53 head size pellets ok but they're a bit loose. Tried the 5.54 head size pellets to find I got a nice snug fit and better accuracy. Unfortunately, the .20's don't come in the assorted head sizes the .22 versions do.