Making 20 Tac Brass

The 20 Tactical was developed by Todd Kindler of the Woodchuck Den as a long range varmint cartridge. The fact that the case is derived from the .223 Rem is what attracted me to this cartridge. The 20 Tac design utilizes a 30 degree shoulder and somewhat less body taper than the .223. Empty .223 brass is probably as common as empty 22 long rifle and modifying this case to 20 Tac couldn't be easier.

I started by acquiring a set of 20 Tactical dies to begin the process of necking down 223 cases to .204. I found 2 brands available, Hornady New Dimension and Redding. I chose the Hornady because the sizer button on the full length sizing die is an elliptical design that appears to be easier on the neck of the brass when it's withdrawn from the case. I find these neck sizing buttons to be the genesis of lot of neck alignment problems. When this button is retracted from the case neck, if the inside of the neck is not clean and well lubed, the neck can be distorted because it is not supported at all when the button is pulled back through.

The photo above shows some sized cases with an unsized .223 case front and center.


I began by applying lube to a neck brush and lubing the inside of the case necks being careful not to get any lube on the outside of the neck or shoulder as this will cause lube dents on the shoulder of the case. I also applied a smear of lube on the bottom 3rd of the case body. The lube I use is a wire pulling lube that is available in most home supply stores. It is an inexpensive($5/qt.), paraffin based lube that drys to a white powder which is easily removed.


I worked in 100 case batches. After the cases had been deprimed and necked down, I uniformed the primer pockets using a Possum Hollow primer pocket uniformer tool. The next step was to clean the cases to like new condition. For this, I use a ultrasonic cleaner with a solution made using the "clean and shiny" recipe found in an article at 6mmBR.com. Following the directions in this article I ended up with brass that was immaculately clean.  I then tumbled the brass.  Now the brass was ready for the next step in the process which is to anneal the case necks.

                                                        Clean cases ready to be annealed.

Most handloaders view annealing as a "black art". While I agree the notion of annealing sometimes expensive brass can be intimidating, the benefits of annealing are almost instantly apparent in accuracy and case life.
Annealing the case necks is a necessary step in forming new cases as it will help the case fireform completely on the first firing in your chamber. Periodic annealing thereafter should be a part of your brass management regime to keep the necks of your brass from work hardening during the firing/sizing cycle and to insure that your brass maintains a consistent neck tension on the bullet.


As stated earlier, I begin the process with sized, clean, brass. The method I use is an electric screwdriver and a 10mm deep walled socket for 223 size cases and a 12mm deep walled socket for .473" size cases. The sockets are used as a heat sink to keep the heat from migrating to the web of the brass case. I adjust the flame of my propane torch to produce a 1" inner blue cone and spin my cases about 1/4" away from this inner blue cone. I am careful to orient the brass slightly upward and towards the flame focusing only on the neck of the case. After spinning the case for approx. 8 sec. the color of the neck will begin to exhibit a very dull red glow. This is an indication that the case has been annealed. At this point, I just invert the end of the screwdriver to drop the case in an old coffee can and the process starts again with another case. While this process sounds tedious, it goes surprisingly fast and the benefits are immeasurable.

                                                         Annealed cases, ready to load.

Now the cases are ready for load work up and final fireforming.  After fireforming the loads will begin to show their full potential.