19 or 20 cal ?

20 May 2002, 14:47

<Barry Thomas>

19 or 20 cal ?

Thinking of getting something different for varmints(coyote,bobcat& fox). Which caliber to go with,19 I know only 1 manufacturer and a few more for the 20. I don't want to get stuck with something that might get discontinued.

20 May 2002, 15:24

GeorgeS

Get a .17; at least Hornady won't go out of business or drop the .17 bullets from its line.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

20 May 2002, 15:26

<stanmyers>

Barry, let me give my uptake on your question. I too was concerned about the possibility of selecting the wrong cartridge. I choose the 19-223 because I felt James Calhoon was more dedicated to the success of his rounds and than the proponents of the 20 cal. An example of this is that Hornaday has announced they will no longer be making 33 grain bullets but will be offering 36 grain only. Whatï¿½s Hornaday going to do if they donï¿½t sell 36ï¿½s? Granted there are some specialty 20 cal bullet makers out there, but at what price?. There is no question that Todd Kindler is an avid supporter of the 20 but he is at the mercy of the mfgï¿½rs.

James Calhoon offers 27,32,36,30 & 44 grain bullets by far a larger selection than what is available for the .204. And, the cost of the 19ï¿½s is less than 20ï¿½s. Dies for the 19 are cheaper than 20ï¿½s and other cleaning equipment that James offers is less expensive than 20 suppliers.

There are more barrel mfgï¿½rs for the 20 and that is a plus. My PacNor is smooooooth. No copper and cleans up very easy.

One other thing to remember with the 19-223, my Cooper weighs 9 #ï¿½s 12 oz and I loose sight picture with it. Recoil is nominal and report is very similar to 223.

Hope Iï¿½ve helped some.

Stan

20 May 2002, 16:16

Mike-OR

I have been interssted in the .19 Calhoon and am saving up for it. I know that Calhoon and Cooper Arms both make rifles in the .19 calibers. I imagine a few gunsmiths around the country also would fix you up with one. The basic Cooper is $100.00 or more than the CZ Calhoon offers and $200.00 more than the Ruger. I shoot my Hornet as a single shot so having a repeater doesn't concern me. Stan is right on about the bullet selection in .19 caliber. The reason I like the .19 Calhoon is because my use will be 90% ground squirrels and 10% Coyotes. The .19 Calhoon is inexpensive to load like a Hornet and I also like the lack of muzzle blast when you are shooting over 100 rounds a day at sage rats.

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24 May 2002, 14:15

DannoBoone

quote:
Originally posted by stanmyers:

One other thing to remember with the 19-223, my Cooper weighs 9 #ï¿½s 12 oz and I loose sight picture with it. Recoil is nominal and report is very similar to 223.
Hope Iï¿½ve helped some.
Stan

Stan, did you mean to write "I loose sight
picture with it."? My Tactical 20 is
practically a twin sister to the 19/223 and
am able to keep the scope on target, even
with a real zipper load. (Using a scoped
Encore with a heavy Shilen barrel from Virgin
Valley, it weighs in at 10 1/4 pounds.)

However, if foresight had been perfect 20/20,
I would have gone with the 19/223 for the
reasons you have mentioned. Stories I heard
about more mfg's tooling up for more 20 cal
bullets just didn't materialize.

By the way, James Calhoon DOES make a 20 cal
bullet for the 5mm Remington (custom center-
fires). He just doesn't sell them himself!!