Dillon Square Deal

[bddc2012]

I am familiar with Dillon products as I have used a RL 450 for over 20+ years.
Can anyone provide feedback as to the Dillon Square Deal I am thinking of purchasing 1 for an addition to my reloading bench??
Thank You

 

[jonbearman]

The square deal only does pistol and 30 carbine loads.The smarter thing would be to get an rl 550b and it does everything up to 45-70.

 

[ar10ar15man]

depends on your needs.
low intial cost if loading a lot of a single round.
but cost add up quick as it uses dillon dies only.
i know guys with several..one in each pistol caliber they shoot a lot of, and do the rest on single stage or 550/650.
so a specific press ok, but as a universal press...like the man said fo with a 550.
i am biased i sold dillons for over 15 yrs and run two 550's

 

[kelbro]

SDB is great for high volume pistol. Solid, reliable, and a no BS warranty if you do ever need a repair ( mine has not in 15 yrs).

 

[trentalan34]

The SD is great for pistol. I reload 9mm and 45 on mine. As stated above, it only uses Dillon dies. It is a very simple and user-friendly machine. I do wish I had gotten the 550 though.

 

[wrangler5]

I have 2, one for 9mm and one for 38 Special, the two high volume loads I shoot (IDPA and USPSA, usually every month.) I previously used a Lee Loadmaster for ~20 years for almost all calibers, rifle and pistol, and while I appreciate the speed of refilling the Lee primer system, and found the case feeder to be very useful even if not perfectly reliable (I ended up adopting the push-the-case-feeder-slide while placing a bullet with the other hand, which always ended up with a case fully seated in the shell plate) I get a lot more satisfaction out of using the Dillon. The Loadmaster is actually a slight bit faster over an hour or so, even when it has a hiccup that makes me to stop and pay attention to some little issue. But the Dillons just keep cranking away, only buzzing at me when the primers or powder get low.

I know the 450/550 advocates say you get used to manually advancing the shellplate before every pull on the lever. But I just feel better knowing that with my Square Deal, the charged case has ALWAYS moved on to the next stage before the powder measure is reset - especially when I'm putting anything but Trail Boss in a 38 Special case. (You can't overcharge with Trail Boss - the best powder charge is usually just shy of the base of the seated bullet.)

After a thousand 9mm rounds (or whatever) you'll appreciate the short throw of the SDB lever as compared to a press that can size a 375H&H. If you set up your space with empty cases on the right and bullets on the left, inserting a case and placing the bullet become simultaneous actions. And while the press is small, I do NOT find it cramped for these operations. YMMV, of course.

If I win the lottery I might consider switching everything to a Dillon 650, where I would get a case feeder plus full progressive operation plus an extra station for a powder check. But I would NEED to win the lottery before I could afford to duplicate the 8 fully populated (i.e., w/powder measure) tool heads I have for the Loadmaster. So until then I'm quite happy with my Square Deals for the high volume stuff, and either the Loadmaster or a single stage for low volume or high precision (i.e., individually thrown powder charge) loads.

 

[bddc2012]

Thanks for the help guys.