I've got some varget and benchmark lying around. Anyone tried these two?

quote:

Originally posted by molar1:
What is the difference between a lee collet die, standard neck sizing die, and bushing type neck sizing die? More importantly, will there be a discernible difference in accuracy between ammo produced with a bushing or collet die and standard die when shot out of a standard production rifle?

The Lee collet will make ammo more concentric than ammo produced with standard dies with tiny necks and expander balls in the same step.

Lee collet dies will make ammo less concentric than standard dies with necks .002" smaller than the loaded ammo and the expander ball removed.

If the Lee collet dies produce ammo that is good enough so that the limit to your accuracy is a problem other than the ammo, then you may feel an urge to erroneously opine that Lee collets are as good as any dies.

quote:

Originally posted by molar1:
I've got some varget and benchmark lying around. Anyone tried these two?

Yes. I never found a use for Varget that something else wouldn't do better. Someone from Hodgdon recommended it to me as a replacement for IMR 4064, but I did not find it to be as good. But many other shooters love it, so I must have missed something.

Benchmark is a very different story. It has given me excellent results in .223 with light bullets (40 to 52 grain ones). It and Winchester 748 are the best powders I found for light bullets in the .223 (and the Nosler manual agrees with me on that). Benchmark also works well in other small-capacity cases.

There are many fine medium burning rate powders out there, Varget is one of the best. At one time Varget was nicknamed "Camp Perry Powder" because so many competitors were using it in their heavy bullet 223 loads.
I've had great luck with it in 308 Winchester, 9,3x62, 375 H&H and 223. I like it because it's temp insensitive and very consistant. It's worth trying out in anything that needs a medium burning powder....................DJ