20 TAC and 204 velocities…what are you getting?

[20 Falcon]

Just acquired another 20 Tactical and shot several different loads with 39 Blitzkings and 40 V-Max yesterday utilizing Benchmark and IMR8208. Both shot well, with the edge going to 8208. Seems this rifle has a node between 25.5 and 26 grains. Velocity went from 3,830 fps average at 25.5 to 3,900 at 26.0 grains. Encountered no difficult bolt lift, primer cratering, or ejector marks with either load. Going to dial in my load between these 2 charges and play with seating depth.
My go-to load with recent 204 Ruger build is 27.3 grains of 8208 for about 3,825 fps, which is listed as max for several sources I looked up. I saw a post on another forum where a guy is running 4,050 fps out of a 20 TAC. Thoughts?

So bearing in mind each rifle is different and loads need to be worked up safely for each rifle, the question is…what velocities are you all safely achieving with 20 TAC and 204 Ruger 39-40 grain loads? If a 20 TAC is capable of safely achieving 3,900 fps, which is higher velocity than any posted 204 Ruger load in a reloading manual, what should one expect to safely achieve out of the slightly larger 204 case?

 

[TheCZKid]

I'm getting about 3750-3800 from my 20 Practical with 40 grain Vmax or BT bullets and 25 grains of 8208 powder.

 

[17VLD]

My 20AR which was Greg Tannels idea falls in between the 20 Tac and 204R. The rifle was built when 13 twist barrels were all you could get and may be slightly faster than some 12s and the better 11 twist rifles out there. Early on I tested and proofed my loads with X-Terminator,N540 and later 10x. I settled on 3950fps with the 40 Berger as it was very accurate and killed coyotes very well. In my testing I went way above 4000fps and had some splashes on coyotes and brass was toast very soon. I learned quickly that trying to get every last foot second out of that rifle was not necessary or needed, I was able to shoot and kill that coyote when he stopped out yonder to see what the idiot with the rifle was doing. It seems when the bullet slowed down a bit it did a better job. I've never had 204s till fairly recently and like them a lot, but strangely enough I cant seem to reach those speeds that I did with the smaller case. Perhaps it was the stout IMI brass or my 13 twist barrel. Im sure the hybrid powder Hornady uses helps their 204 to a degree as well.Falcon yours is a very good question and deserves an answer from someone with more knowledge than I.
I think you are very close to where you ought to be. I do know reloading manuals are even more conservative than they used to be.
Matt