Hey there tbeasley1, Happy New Year.



My rifle started life as a Remington Varmint Synthetic .223. They had bored the chamber .002 off axis with the bore, the result was it would shoot well cold then open groups as it warmed. Having made the aquaintence of Todd Kindler myself during the purchase of a .17 MachIV I decided his Tactical .20 would be just the ticket, one of the best firearm decisions I've ever made.



My rifle is as follows:Varmint Synthetic Rem pillar bedded. Kepplinger single set trigger, breaks at 2lbs un-set, about 3oz. set. The barrel is Pac-Nors 26 inch Super Match 3 groove.( I absolutely love the 3 groove, Pac-Nor first contracted to make them for the US Army Marksmanship Unit in .30 cal. when they saw how well they worked they started producing them for the public. The lands and grooves are thicker so they last longer and don't wear as fast, there are a lot less edges so they clean like a dream. That's what they told me and that's my experience.)

Pac-Nor did the chambering and barreling and the work was excellent. They used Todds original reamer design with a .233 neck so it's reasonably tight but doesn,t need turning. I use IMI brass mostly and the necks mic .2285 over a seated 33 grain V-Max. They were fast and I thought the price excellent. They lapped the lugs and trued the bolt face, they are GREAT FOLKS!



One discovery I made upon return of the rifle. I broke it in well, then started load development, fireform loads were extremely accurate but at very low velocitys(3,950) the firing pin was punching little firing pin size holes in the primer, just like a little cookie cutter (it's called blanking the primer). After a web search I got my answer on the great "Saubier.com" small caliber site. Here's the deal: Remingtons have an oversized firing pin hole, these hyper-velocity sub calibers have an entirely different pressure spike than the same case in larger caliber. The fix?--Send the bolt to Greg Tannel of Gre-Tan rifles in Kersey Colo. to have the firing pin hole bushed to .0625 and turn firing pin to .060. result?--works like a dream---cost?---$40.00. Greg is a tremendous machinist and also a contributer to "Small Caliber News" "FANTASTIC WORK" I also had him install a Sako extractor on the bolt. Greg would be a great guy to have build the whole rifle the quality impeccable, my local gun smith spent 20 minutes admiring the work he did on this bolt, truly impressive. Check out his site. "Gre'-Tan rifles"



That's about it, my rifle has a 6X20 Leupold and a Harris-S bi-pod. My operating load is - 24.2 grain of H4198 in an IMI case lit up with a Rem 7 1/2 BR primer pushing a 33 grain V- Max at 4,250ish. I hate to really talk groups because the imagination factor on web sites would make it appear every rifle in the northern hemisphere shoots honest .25 inch groups, but this one truly does, and a huge bonus is you see every hit and boy do they hit in a hurry!



One word of cation, my experience is that loads in sub calibers make things happen a lot faster than normal, so the old addage "start low and work up slow" was never more serious! Also, don't over form .223 cases while forming, the Tact.20 pushes the shoulder back and blows em out for more capacity, and if you over form you'll get excessive head space. Should be a crush fit in the chamber. Sorry this is so long, 3ft of snow outside 4 cups of coffee and I'm waiting for the Rose Bowl to start, what better than talking small calibers. Good luck in your quest, this is a truly rewarding caliber, and if someone starts telling you of all it's problems ask em what kind of .20 they were shooting, if the say they don't have one "IGNORE EM!!!" By the way if your thinking AR check out "Tromix" Lead Delivery Systems web site, or visit em at "Saubier.com"

tbeasly1, I just went to the "Saubier.com" site and coincedently Tony Rumore of "Tromix had just posted a picture of a 5 shot group out of a AR Tactical .20. If you want to spend a few nights laying awake figuring how to get a new rifle check it out.

well believe it or not "mountdoug." I am turning gears towards the old faithful bolt-action. I too, have a Rem 700 .223 in the VS model. I have shot good groups with it using Benchmark,Varget,and 10x. the faster powders like N133 and H322 shot like crap. Best group shot at 100yds was at a local gun range and 4-shot measured in .192, 5th shot enlarged it to .398. The last shot, my fault,"I'll never know?" Anyhow..... what twist rate are you using in the Tac. 20 1-12? and the barrel contour? I'm thinking of using the 1-12 twist, varminter contour(sendero) Rem.700 action along with the basic stock and trigger of wich I have brought down to 13oz. I'm going to check out that Kepplinger Single Set Trigger u have. I hope u don't get aggrevated that I'm coping your rifle for the most part. Just waiting fot the funds to rebuild after the Christmas rush.

Hey tbeasley1. My rifle has the 1 in 12, the 1 in 13 is a little faster with light bullets I'm told but precludes using the 40's and up. Hornady has a 40 grainer coming in the V-Max and it should be a dandy, the 1 in 12 will handle it as well as the lighter bullets. My contour is the same as the Remington factory and is fluted. That Kepplinger is a great trigger and there are definitely more of em in my future, Brownells has em. If you do use the Remington (my favorite platform to build on) don't forget to get the bolt bushed, you'll love it I'm sure.