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Old September 30, 2011, 09:18 AM   #1
icedog88
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Dillon Square B

I am pontificating on getting started reloading. I just bought a .44 and the ammo is pricey. Also own a bunch of other caliber weapons as well but those prices don't make me squirm as much. A friend of mine told me to look into the Dillon Square B for a good complete kit. He also said I can buy dies for the other calibers fairly cheap later if I wanted. I am looking for some opinions on this reloading press and an average price I should be paying for it. I trust the members of this forum as a source for info more than people who want to make money off me. Any input will be greatly appreciated.
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Old September 30, 2011, 10:07 AM   #2
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A caliber conversion plus tool head runs ~$130. The SDB is a great press, but the arm leverage is borderline for resizing unlubed 44 mag. It will do it, but my shoulder gets tired.
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Old September 30, 2011, 10:12 AM   #3
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If you are going to reload just one caliber, The square deal B may suit your needs. The drawback to this machine is that it uses Dillon dies [B]only.[B] It is designed to load straight wall pistol cartridges. For multiple calipers, you would be better off looking at Dillon's RL550B. It uses standard size dies, that don't limit your needs and allow you to reload rifle calibers as well.
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Old September 30, 2011, 10:15 AM   #4
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If I'm not mistaken, the Dillon SDB uses proprietary dies. If you get into this, they won't work in other presses.

I'm a Dillon fanboy, but I wouldn't buy a SDB b/c of this. You may have better luck choosing red or green rather than blue for economic entry-level reloading.
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Old September 30, 2011, 10:29 AM   #5
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Its a great press. Produces ammo quick and easy. Somewhat painful to change calibers - I try to put it off until I really need that ammo.
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Old September 30, 2011, 10:45 AM   #6
Habaz72
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You'll get many suggestions for equipment but I really like bulk of advice I was given about getting a manual first and reading it twice. I have also read a lot of advice about not getting started on a progressive press, too many things that could go wrong at once and the new reloader may not know enough to even know a small step was missed.

How much ammo do you need in a week and how much free time do you have to turn out ammo? That would help you determine what sort of press to get. Also.. check out the sticky about getting into the hobby.
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Old September 30, 2011, 10:51 AM   #7
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Really no interest in reloading rifle calibers, just pistol. I don't mind using proprietary dies either as this reloader, according to my friend is all I should need. Calibers I have are .45, .44, .357/.38, .38 super, 9mm, .380. All straight cases. If I read correctly, the dies for the calibers are between 10-20 dollars? I saw one DSB listed at $357 IIRC. I was under the impression that the press on Dillon's site, and if I wanted, the individual dies, were the only thing I would need to puchase. Was that wishful thinking? I am looking for ease of operation and set up more than anything. Thanks for being patient with my inexperience.
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Old September 30, 2011, 10:57 AM   #8
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The SDB will handle the list of handgun cartridges you provided. THe cost of a conversion kit ( dies, shellplate, expander funnel, locator pins) is $83.95, and another toolhead assembly is $30.95. The additional toolhead allows you to leave the die settings intact for faster caliber changes.
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Old September 30, 2011, 11:01 AM   #9
icedog88
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Checked the sticky out, thanks. It was helpful but you can't ask a sticky specific questions. I shoot sporadically. But some days when I make it out to shoot, I can easily go through 100-200 rnds in 2-4 calibers. Others, maybe only 50 rnds. That might be twice a month, or 1 every other month. Depends on how much I work. Usually just go in the woods during the summer and not so much in the winter. I like to stock up ammo for summer when me and the boys get out alot more. Extra ammo as well for the guys who can't afford more than a few boxes. Keeps us all out together longer.
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Old September 30, 2011, 11:13 AM   #10
Habaz72
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The book "ABC's of Reloading" is a very good book to get started with.

I have a Lee Hand Press which is pretty slow but I'm in no hurry, only reloading .45 acp and only shoot about once a month using 100 rnds.. I also have a .22lr pistol to get the bulk of my practice on. There are single stage and turret presses to consider as well. You can shop for a kit or price out the items you want and compare to the kit plus the odds and ends you may want to have.

A single stage press does one step to one case at a time with a single pull of the lever. This lets you learn what happens at each step. From what I've read, one can produce around 100 completed rounds per hour of use on this type of press.

A turret will do each step of the process to one cartridge, each step happening with each pull of the lever. Some turrets can produce 200 or so rounds per hour but can also function as a single stage press by disabling the index system. It seems to be the best of both worlds.

The progressives work on multiple rounds at once, each pull of the lever is doing a different step to each round in the system, a complete round comes out one end and a new piece of brass is fed into the starting end. But the operator should keep an eye on everything at once.
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Old September 30, 2011, 11:15 AM   #11
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Based on your self-described shooting volume ... I would recommend an RCBS or Hornady LNL single-stage press kit. It will do everything you need it to for a lot less.
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Old September 30, 2011, 01:43 PM   #12
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For more than one cartridge I would not even consider the SB press. The 550 will be much less expensive to expand to other cartridges.
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Old September 30, 2011, 02:02 PM   #13
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Nothing wrong with the Square Deal B press - its progressive and it auto indexes. It uses proprietary dies / not industry standard dies. Volume off the press is pretty good. It will not allow installation of a "powder check die" or a case feeder. Priced at $ 371.

550 press - is progressive / but manually indexes. It uses standard dies / does not allow for installation of powder check die..has a case feeder option. Priced at $430

Dillon 650 press - allows for powder check die, case feeder, uses std dies...and is a hybrid of both the SDB and the 550 / an equivalent loader is the Hornady LNL. 650 is priced at $557 ...

but the options you pick -- like a strong mount will affect price too...but my point is -- price from SDB to 650 is less than $ 200 ....and over the lifetime of the press its insignificant / so pick the press you need and want long term not short term.

All presses need conversion kits - to change calibers ( the shellplates that hold the cases are different sizes, the powder funnels are different ( to bell the case), the locator buttons are different....and you need dies for each caliber you want to load. Many of us - have a tool head setup with dies, another powder measure setup - and stored for every caliber we reload.

personally, I reload in volumes of a case of bullets at a time ( so about 3,500 rds of 9mm or about 70 boxes - and then I store it / box and stack it up for use) ...when I get down to 8 or 10 boxes, I go back and reload that caliber again...

All of the big name companies make good equipment these days ..they're just different .../ primer mechanisms are different, powder measures are different, some have case feeders, some have "powder check dies" and many don't ...you have to decide what's important. In a new press today - I'd never pick a manually indexing press ...or one that would not allow installation of a "powder check - or powder cop die" ....just too risky on handgun ammo if you get a squib or an overcharged case...and they eliminate that...and my piece of mind is worth it ( and my hands and eyes / and my grandkids ...) ....
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Old September 30, 2011, 07:30 PM   #14
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I would not start out new to reloading with a progressive whether it be auto or manual index. Too many things going on at once for something bad to happen where you might end up dis-enchanted with reloading.

I would recommend a single stage, or a turret press that you can still do one step at a time for learning on.

Many have started with single stages and then gotten progressives. It is handy to keep a single stage press for doing specialty tasks.

In any case, you can always sell the single stage or turret press after getting the progressive to recover some money.

You can also keep an eye on classified ads to save money buying used equipment.
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Old October 1, 2011, 05:25 AM   #15
icedog88
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ordered the ABC's of Reloading so I could familiarize myself with some of the terms being used. Progressive press sounds like a liberal propaganda machine. Anyway, thanks for putting up with my questions and hopefully sometime soon I will up to my elbows in the basement in ammo! I was a machinist for about 6 yrs and miss getting my hands dirty. Damn office job!
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Old October 1, 2011, 06:43 AM   #16
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I load three calibres on a Square Deal which I have owned prior to the B mods. Dillon paid for that too.great company. I only have one toolhead mainly because I'm a cheap charlie. I like mine.
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Old October 1, 2011, 07:16 AM   #17
JACK308
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That was my first press- good press for the money.
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Old October 1, 2011, 07:31 AM   #18
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If you want to be up to your elbows in ammo the XL650 is the machine for you. 1100 rounds / hour is possible, 700 rounds / hour taking your sweet time. I recommend however, that you purchase a single stage press and learn to load on it. I wouldn’t be without a SS press even with my 650 right next to it, so a SS will always have a place on your bench.
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Old October 2, 2011, 07:54 AM   #19
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I have had two of them for over 25 years, my brother and I split the $130 price tag they had back then. I even rigged up a casefeed for one of them. From reading your posts an sd will do everything that you want for sure. I don't use mine much these days as I have bullet and case fed 6&1050's but they are handy to take to the range and work up loads.
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Old October 2, 2011, 08:02 AM   #20
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Many of the the low volume rounds I load are made on a turret press. All of your dies are ready to go in an instant and no conversion kit required but not as fast (unless you calculate in time converting a machine to load 50 and then back to original).

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Old October 2, 2011, 08:09 AM   #21
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550B or nothing
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Old October 2, 2011, 11:09 PM   #22
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If you are going to load more than one caliber, get a 550!! As a machinist you will get along with any of them. You can use a 550 as a turret press while you learn.

If you buy a Dillon, buy their dies. Even though they are carbide use a little lube on 44's.

I haven't used the other brands of progressive's but I have owned and used all of Dillon's presses.

I have some spare parts and conversions for the 650 if anyone is interested.
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Old October 3, 2011, 03:35 AM   #23
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dog, 10/3/11

Over the past six years I have cranked out over 80,000 rounds of pistol ammo on my SDB. First I wanted it for only .45 and 9mm. Then I expanded to .357 mag and 38 special. Then unfortunately I started reloading 270 Winchester and 30-06 rifle rounds and had to buy a single stage RCBS press. Over the years most of us will start out with one press and eventually add more calibers. If I had it to do over again I would start out with a Dillon 550 or 650 press so I could load all my ammo on one press. Even worse is that lately I've gotten into slug shooting with a shotgun and had to buy a MEC shotgun press (but in this case neither the 550 or 650 would have helped).

Of note is that around the 30,000-40,000 reload point I've cracked the reloading lever which seems mostly due to the extra load from the larger .45 cases. I'm on my third lever so I think the 550/650 may be a bit more robust.
As is usual with Dillon they shipped me new ones with no charge.

best wishes- oldandslow
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Old October 6, 2011, 11:12 PM   #24
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Another vote for the 550B. This is a very versatile press and easy to set up.

Changing calibers isn't as fast as a turret press, but is easier than some of the more advanced progressives.

The same is true for the cost of caliber conversions -- somewhere between a turret and a full progressive.

I started out with .45 ACP. A few years later, I added .30-06, then .44 Mag and .243. It has handled all of this without fuss.

I realized that it was just dumb luck that I picked a 550B, as I certainly wasn't aware of its capabilities at the time.
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Old October 7, 2011, 08:27 PM   #25
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I have 2 SDB's, one for .45 and one for 9mm. They are both great presses and well worth the investment. The dies have never been a problem and the press comes with them complete. On the other ones you have to add the cost of dies to the price of the press.

Those who insist you get a 550B instead of a SDB don't know all the facts. I have loaded on a friend's 550 and wouldn't have one. It is too easy to double charge a case with the manual index. The SDB is automatic indexing. Changing calibers on a SDB takes all of 10 minutes if I really take my time, which I don't. I have a seperate set of dies and tool head for .45 ACP and .45 LC. You take off the powder measure, remove 4 screws and swap out the dies and tool head complete. Replace the 4 screws, put the powder measure back on and you are in business. It's that easy. The SDB is a very under rated machine by most folks unless you have actually owned or used one.
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