Bonanza dies

cam1936

cam1936

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
57   0   1
Location
Central Alberta
Recently bought a big box of random reloading equipment and inside was a "Benchrest" FL die set in 7mm-08 by Bonanza.

Don't know what makes them benchreat as they appear like any other die set. No micrometer bullet seater.

Never heard of Bonanza. Another die set in the box had the receipt from 1982 so I assume they were bought around then. Are these quality dies?

If anyone is heading to the Easter gun show Friday I have this die set as well as a 7mm08 neck die and a bunch of R-P brass for sale or trade for .308 Win components (need a neck sizer!)
 
I have 2 sets of Bonanza BR dies - .223 and .308. Love them. They didn't come with micrometer dies. They hold their adjustments very well. Mines are from the late '70's.

They were bought out by Forster.
 
They - Bonanza - were the forerunner of today's Forster dies. They have always been know to be very concentric and produce concentric ammunition.
 
cam, If you take a look at the seating die you will see that they are not like every other die set
but in fact have a sleeve that rides inside the die body, the only other die that has this feature
is the Redding Bench Rest Bullet Seater, the micrometer on top has nothing to do with the
precision of the loaded round but merely a way of repeating a setting quickly.
That sleeve and how it controls the case is what makes it more accurate than a regular seater.
As others have found out they do indeed load more accurate ammunition.
BB
 
Those arent the only two that use a sleeve to hold the brass and lead inline well seating. Hornady customs dies and Whidden dies and Rcbs compition do also im sure there are a few Im missing also.
 
You are right mudpro, Whidden does make dies that hold the case while seating the bullet but
Hornady & RCBS dies are not the same they hold only the neck and do not function the same way or
provide the same level of precision as the others, thanks for the heads up.
BB
 
Ya that makes sence with the hornady and the rcbs since then seem to just float and arent under any spring tension. For the price its hard to beat Forester dies.

Cheers
Frank
 
Buddy has a set in .308 Norma Mag.
They are effortless.
Need to swipe them from him.
Chit, I just had a spare set of RCBS.........duh
 
cam1936 said:
Recently bought a big box of random reloading equipment and inside was a "Benchrest" FL die set in 7mm-08 by Bonanza.

Don't know what makes them benchreat as they appear like any other die set. No micrometer bullet seater.

Never heard of Bonanza. Another die set in the box had the receipt from 1982 so I assume they were bought around then. Are these quality dies?

If anyone is heading to the Easter gun show Friday I have this die set as well as a 7mm08 neck die and a bunch of R-P brass for sale or trade for .308 Win components (need a neck sizer!)
Click to expand...

You were a very lucky fellow. I have two sets of Bonanza bench rest dies. One is in 308Win with a small base sizing die and the other is for 6.5x55. They truly are match quality. I look for them regularly at gun shows for the cartridges I shoot the most and need the accuracy from.
 
cam1936 said:
Recently bought a big box of random reloading equipment and inside was a "Benchrest" FL die set in 7mm-08 by Bonanza.

Don't know what makes them benchreat as they appear like any other die set. No micrometer bullet seater.

Never heard of Bonanza. Another die set in the box had the receipt from 1982 so I assume they were bought around then. Are these quality dies?

If anyone is heading to the Easter gun show Friday I have this die set as well as a 7mm08 neck die and a bunch of R-P brass for sale or trade for .308 Win components (need a neck sizer!)
Click to expand...

Just did a search đź‘€ and this old thread popped up.
You still have these? đź«Ł
 
cam1936 said:
Recently bought a big box of random reloading equipment and inside was a "Benchrest" FL die set in 7mm-08 by Bonanza.

Don't know what makes them benchreat as they appear like any other die set. No micrometer bullet seater.

Never heard of Bonanza. Another die set in the box had the receipt from 1982 so I assume they were bought around then. Are these quality dies?

If anyone is heading to the Easter gun show Friday I have this die set as well as a 7mm08 neck die and a bunch of R-P brass for sale or trade for .308 Win components (need a neck sizer!)
Click to expand...

Forster.

They're as good as your basic RCBS or Hornady dies. The "benchrest" thing is just marketing, kind of like "tactical" these days.

edit - oops - just realized this post is 10 years old.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom