I am shooting BE pistol and my Rockchucker does a great but SLOW job. Does the Dillon SDB come setup well enough for me to start loading or will I have to go through a lengthy process to get started. The advertisement in their catalog says the SDB is ready to go, or should I go to a 550 or 650 instead. From what I understand, the SDB only loads handgun cartridges, so if I wanted to get into high volume rifle handloading I would have to get the 550 or better press. It is unlikely I will need to load rifle cartridges at this rate.

Jim

Yes, the SDB is pistol only (due to length of ram travel and clearance). It also uses non-standard dies, usable only on that press and available (I think) only from Dillon. It is a decent press once set up, but I've heard it is a booger to change to another cartridge, requiring much tweaking and fiddling.

It's a good product for the one-cartridge handgun loader, but if you have even the remotest chance of ever loading anything other than that, get the 550. The 550 can be upgraded to full progressive (into a 650) but until you really learn the progressive press and its oddities, the semi-progressive 550 is much safer.

Much more versatility with the 550 and it uses industry standard 7/8 x 14 dies so you are not dependant on Dillon only. Would suggest you take Rocky's advice and consider the 550. Just my dos centavos.

Thanks guys.

Jim

I own both machines. My SDB is dedicated to .45 ACP because that is my volume round. I've never even considered trying to set up another cartridge on that press. The only adjustments I wound up making after receiving it were to the case mouth flare, seating depth, and crimp. The latter two always need adjustment to match your particular bullet choice, but the flare thing is personal preference.

The 550B does all my other handgun rounds these days. It can do rifle, too, but I find that since my rifle reloading is oriented mainly toward accuracy, I usually do intermediate operations on rifle cases that would interrupt progressive flow. For that reason I have preferred to use the Forster Co-ax press for rifle. I may start running my offhand and rapid phase match loads on the 550B, though. Dillon now has a powder measure adapter for the 550B, so if I want to put my Redding BR-30 on it for precise ball powder metering, I can (it has to be operated manually as an additional step, but that's not a big deal). I also can get a fully automatic adapter from JDS for the Quick Measure for better stick powder metering. I don't need quite as much precision from those offhand and rapid loads as I do for the 600 yard slow fire loads, but have not cared for how the Dillon powder measure handles the particular rifle powders I use. With those adapters, though, I could do a season's worth of 200 and 300 yard loads at one sitting on the 550B. Even though the Forster press is used by more match winners than any other, I will also be interested to see how much real performance difference I can measure between rounds coming off the two different presses?

I own both machines. My SDB is dedicated to .45 ACP because that is my volume round. I've never even considered trying to set up another cartridge on that press. The only adjustments I wound up making after receiving it were to the case mouth flare, seating depth, and crimp. The latter two always need adjustment to match your particular bullet choice, but the flare thing is personal preference.



So, with the SDB, which I will only use for .45 ACP, it will be ready to go out of the box and should take care of my BE loading?

Jim

If you only plan on loading the one caliber the Square Deal will work fine but if you want to load more calibers go with the 550. I have owned a 550 for more than 15 years now & I love it. I load pistol calibers from 9mm to 480 Ruger, rifle from 223 to 30-06 Ackley Imp & have very little trouble with it. The problems I have had were handled by Dillon for no charge whatsoever. Either way you go you know Dillon will stand behind it.

THE ICEMAN

"the SDB, which I will only use for .45 ACP, it will be ready to go out of the box and should take care of my BE loading?

Yep.
Pete

So, with the SDB, which I will only use for .45 ACP, it will be ready to go out of the box and should take care of my BE loading?

Jim

Mine came set up for hardball, I think (too long ago to remember), but I called Dillon a couple minutes ago and the salesman said he thought they were setup for H&G 68 form 200 LSWC bullets these days. Either way, it comes with two seating stems, one for RN that is round inside and one for SWC that has a flat nose inside. Just look inside the stem that comes spare with the press, and the other one is the one that is installed and set up. You will want to adjust the seating depth for your particular bullet brand and gun anyway.

The powder measure comes not adjusted for anything in particular, so you will need a scale to adjust it for your powder charge. If you don't own a scale and are not going to fiddle with your charge much once you establish it, and especially if .45 ACP is all you will reload, I would recommend you just get the inexpensive Lee powder scale. It is slow to settle, but that only matters to people who weigh every charge. It works more than well-enough to set up and periodically check a powder measure charge you don't plan to change often.

I will get the SDB for its ease of use and setting up. If I get into high volume rifle, which is very unlikely, I will go to another Dillon, right now my Rockchucker is doing fine on my 3 rifle cartridges. It seems like the BE shooters I talked to have more than one Dillon press.

Now, what else is NEEDED, with the SDB? What about the footprint of the press with and without the stand? I would like to get everything on one order without breaking the bank.

Thanks again guys.

Jim

I own both machines. My SDB is dedicated to .45 ACP because that is my volume round. I've never even considered trying to set up another cartridge on that press. The only adjustments I wound up making after receiving it were to the case mouth flare, seating depth, and crimp. The latter two always need adjustment to match your particular bullet choice, but the flare thing is personal preference.

The 550B does all my other handgun rounds these days. It can do rifle, too, but I find that since my rifle reloading is oriented mainly toward accuracy, I usually do intermediate operations on rifle cases that would interrupt progressive flow. For that reason I have preferred to use the Forster Co-ax press for rifle. I may start running my offhand and rapid phase match loads on the 550B, though. Dillon now has a powder measure adapter for the 550B, so if I want to put my Redding BR-30 on it for precise ball powder metering, I can (it has to be operated manually as an additional step, but that's not a big deal). I also can get a fully automatic adapter from JDS for the Quick Measure for better stick powder metering. I don't need quite as much precision from those offhand and rapid loads as I do for the 600 yard slow fire loads, but have not cared for how the Dillon powder measure handles the particular rifle powders I use. With those adapters, though, I could do a season's worth of 200 and 300 yard loads at one sitting on the 550B. Even though the Forster press is used by more match winners than any other, I will also be interested to see how much real performance difference I can measure between rounds coming off the two different presses?

Not sure about performance difference but bullet run-out is measurably better on the co-ax as compared to the 550 - at least on rifle ammo.

Mod70,

The Co-ax press floats the dies to let them self-align. That can improve rifle groups by up to a couple of moa or so, but in .45 ACP you won't generally see it. Also, if you use a sliding sleeve self-aligning seater die for rifle, like the Redding or Forster competition seater dies, you get nearly perfect bullet alignment regardless of the press you are using. Where the Co-ax may still have some advantage even when you have a competition seating die would be in die alignment for sizing and withdrawing of the sized case over the expander ball. It theoretically should mitigate any tendency for the neck to be forced off-axis with the rest of the case. Since I have the Co-ax press, too, I want to do that experiment with it and the Dillon and see what I can detect?


Jim,

One minor shortcoming of the Dillon is that the neck expander in the powder measure's drop tube/op-rod makes a conventional bell-shaped flare. I prefer the Lyman M type expander profile that makes a small step to start the bullet straight in, so I used my lathe to make my own tube for the powder measure with that profile. I didn't have a tool post grinder when I did that, and would probably just modify the Dillon tube if I were doing it today. If you use an H&G 68 profile bullet that matches the profile in the Dillon seater, it will self-align and the flare type won't matter. If you use one with a nose that is either much wider or narrower than the seater, though, it can tip some. I cured the tipping issue without altering the tube for a friend's 1050 by turning a new seating die plug for him that matched his particular bullet's nose better.

You can tell a tipped bullet in a finished .45 ACP round because you see its base profile mirrored on one side of the case more than the other. I would set such rounds aside for practice and double-check how they group off sandbags compared to your more squarely seated rounds? If you have a regular problem with it, try both bevel base and square base bullet designs to see if your machine prefers one over the other? The bevel base usually self-aligns more easily. If you practice seating out so the bullet headspaces in the throat of the barrel rather than the case mouth, you will get better accuracy, regardless of tipping.

It takes a little getting used to the fact having a progressive press means you are doing small scale manufacturing for personal use. That means more post-manufacturing QC inspection, since you don't handle the rounds at each stage of the process and therefore have fewer opportunities to spot errors before the rounds are complete.

As to other things you might need, I like the big aluminum Dillon primer flipper trays. I find the Dillon universal adjustment wrench handy, so I would get one. The press comes with one primer pickup tube. I like to have 10 so I can pre-fill them with a whole box of 1000 primers at one sitting, then I don't have to interrupt a long loading session to refill them. The plastic lips on those tubes wear out anyway, so having a collection of them spreads the wear out. I prefer Dillon's 7" Acro bins for collecting finished ammo, as compared to the 5" one that comes with the machine. If you get on a tear, the shorter bin will fill faster and let finished rounds bounce off and over the end of the bin more easily. The 7" bins fits without modification, and Dillon sells them separately. I like having a couple so I don't need to stop when one gets full. I also got and like the optional dust cover.

The Square Deal pictured on the web site has the optional (at least, it was when I got mine) bullet tray and their stand pictured. Whether you need these items depends on your loading habits and how tall your bench is? I never bothered with the bullet tray and just have an open cigar box of bullets to the left of the press when I use it. I built my bench frame 40" tall and added a good grade 3/4" plywood on top plus 1/8" of replaceable Masonite screwed in place as a work surface with another 1/8" of mild steel plate to reinforce the mounting holes in the wood. That totals almost 41" from floor to bench top, and is the right height for me to load standing up, so I don't want to add the height of the Dillon stand to that. The only thing I would do differently today is use white board instead of Masonite as my bench surface so I could write temporary load notes to myself on it with erasable markers, and also to see small items better.

The SD mechanism itself is basically a 6" square, the back of which is flush with the front edge of the loading bench. A 3 1/4" tongue with holes for three mounting bolts sticks out the back of the square. The handle sticks out in front of the front edge of the square about three inches when it is up, and 11 inches when it straight out in front. In other words, 9" total protrusion to the handle from the front edge of my bench with the handle up and 17" with it horizontal. Add the depth of the Acro bin to the right and the bullet tray to the left, if you get one. My friend's 1050 has the bullet tray, and it seems to me it is about a 5" square.

I find my SD does not like CCI primers. Their cups are a little harder than the Federal or Winchester I use. I get a number of high primers using CCI, but not problems with the other two brands once I learned the feel of seating them. That's the only other detail that jumps out at me for the moment.

I own Both the SDb & the 550, The sdb is set up for rounds with large primers, !0mm 44 spec , 44 mag, 45 acp and 45 colt. the 550 is set up for small primers including 38 spec and 357 mag 454casul, and 223, For most BR rifle rounds I use a rock chucker. If you purchase seperate toolheads for each caliber in the sdb it takes only minutes to change from one to the other.