About to inherit an old Dillon Square Deal

[Harrod]

My Dad has an only (25+yrs) Dillon square deal press that he used to reload 44mag on several years ago and I'm about to revive it from his storage. My question is I want to reload 45acp only (for now...) can I just get the die set from Dillon and be good to go or do I need to buy some type of conversion kit?

Since its been so long since Dad has shot handgun or even reloaded he can't remember. The manual is long gone to but I can DL a new one for free from Dillon directly.

Thanks for any input.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

To change calibers you will need the following:
SDB caliber conversion kit-contains the shellplate, dies, powder funnel, bullet seating stem(s) and locator buttons for one caliber.

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/25237/catid/1/Dillon_Square_Deal___039_B__039_

 

[Zeke/PA]

http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/content/p/9/pid/25237/catid/1/Dillon_Square_Deal___039_B__039_

Also, you can give Dillon a call.
They are very helpful there.

 

[Lost Sheep]

Also, you can give Dillon a call.
They are very helpful there.

I don't own a Dillon, but all reports I have ever heard suggest (actually, a lot more than just suggest) that Dillon will do everything it takes to make your press perfect, even rebuild it or send missing parts.

It might help if you have an inventory of all the press parts when you call them or pictures of anything you cannot name or describe. If you have the press in front of you when you call, so much the better.

Congratulations on a fine press. When are you going to get a 44 Magnum, to justify having the 44 Mag dies?

Lost Sheep

p.s. Standard-threaded dies from other manufacturers or standard-threaded dies from Dillon do not fit the Square Deal.

p.p.s. There may be upgrade pieces for your Dad's press available.

 

[jmorris]

I have loaded on both of mine for longer than that and back when the just used the two coil springs the power measure, the were smoother. However, the up graded them to the "b" specs and I would just send it in and let them go ahead and do it. It will make it much less likely to throw a double and have a sound machine to start your reloading. In the past they have only charged shipping to them

 

[dgod]

I sold mi DL SD, (for a reasonable fee) the loader to me. Good Luck, I loved mine, am still kicking myself for selling...

 

[Harrod]

I never thought about the old Square deal not being the same as the new Square deal B, or new dies being incompatible with old parts! I know from reading their site that they have like the work with folks and help out the best they can so I emailed them my predicament to figure out what all needs to happen on my end. So I guess I'll just have to wait and see what they suggest. thanks for the comments guys.

 

[Zeke/PA]

I bought a Square Deal about 10 years ago from a fellow worker.
Dies are .45 Auto and .38 Special.
It does fill ALL of my reloading needs, believe me.
I shoot about 200 rounds of. 38's a week so I sure ain't taxing THAT press.

 

[rfwobbly]

There have been changes to the Square Deal over the years. Dillon will be happy to upgrade your machine to the latest model. All you need to do is call them. They are extremely helpful.

 

[Hondo 60]

I wouldn't order directly from Dillon, you can save a couple of bucks on shipping by ordering from ...
http://www.brianenos.com/store/dillon.html

I've got 10 different calibers, & have priced everyone of them at dillon's site & enos's site.
It's always come up cheaper at enos's site.

 

[jaysouth]

Send it to Dillon, they will replace everything that needs it and return it to you on their dime.

 

[paul105]

You can also download a manual here:
http://www.dillonprecision.com/#/manuals.html

 

[jfrey]

I would suggest if you order the caliber conversion for it you also get a toolhead plate to go with it. It isn't necessary but makes changing calibers a lot easier. You screw the dies into the plate and when you change over, you just remove the power measure and 4 screws and the whole head will come off together. Once you set the dies you don't have to redo it when you change calibers. The SDB is a great press and you will certainly enjoy it. Good luck finding components.

 

[Harrod]

I contacted Dillon via email and they responded very quickly. He told me that the new dies will work just fine with my old SD, but I would need a caliber conversion kit since the 45acp dies won't work with the 44mag set up. So now just saving up some cash for the kit, and attempt to accumulate reloading components.....which seems to be the hardest part currently.

Of course I now have to dig out the old girl and check all the parts to see if any are broken from years of rough storage.

 

[NeuseRvrRat]

you can send it to dillon and they'll refurbish it for cheap

 

[Mobuck]

You need a shell plate, die set w/expander, and depending on the loads used in the 44mag setup, you may need a smaller powder bar and filler for the powder measure. While the thick bar MAY adjust down to a reasonable 45 load, it will be less consistent than using the thin bar and filler.
You'll also need to sort your 45 ACP cases into large/small primer sizes. Your 44 mag loader is set up with the large primer feed and if you don't have the small primer feed, you'll need that if you have 45 ACP cases using small primers.
While I've heard comments about someone sending a yard sale junk loader back to Dillon and getting a fully rebuilt, like new unit back, I just don't feel that's morally acceptable. I bought a used SD on ebay and ended up spending nearly as much on parts as the loader cost initially. I would have been $$ ahead to buy a new press but they were not available at the time I needed one in the caliber I needed.

 

[splithoof]

After you get it all set up and ready to load, sprinkle some talc on the handle; after 50 or 60K rounds your hands will be much stronger for all that loading!