Jenrick
Member
So I just acquired a Dillon SDB yesterday in .45 ACP, and I figured I'd write up a quick review of it and update it as time goes on. Quick back ground on my reloading background, I've been doing it for about 3 years and started due to shooting High Power Service Rifle. I've been using a Lee Breech Lock Challenger single stage press, Lee perfect powder measure, Lee scale, etc. The only things not Lee on my bench until yesterday was an RCBS powder trickler, and some off brand loading block and powder funnel. Moving up to a Dillon was a big step in price, and I wouldn't have done it if not in trade for some other stuff I sold. I personally would have preferred the 550B for the ability to do rifle cases, but that wasn't in the cards. So on to the review.
The Dillon Square Deal B is Dillon's cheapest and least capable (in terms of the caliber you can load) press. It retails off of Dillons website for approximately $350, with one set of dies. The press arrives from the factory setup to load one caliber and includes all the dies, the powder measure, etc. Also included is a pretty decent setup manual that includes several very useful exploded diagrams of the press and it's components.
For those concerned that the SDB is not sturdy and made of plastic, don't be. The press body is metal (not sure what) and is quiet heavy, the tool head and shell plate are steel. Only parts that don't need the strength of steel are plastic, and and bearing or rotational surfaces have either derlin inserts are or made of it to ensure smooth function. The press handle is made of high impact plastic and can take all 220lbs of me pressing down on it without the slightest bend.
Setup is a little more involved then setting up a single stage press, but now that I know where everything goes I could accomplish it in 15-30 minutes. Initially it took me about 90 minutes of double checking everything against the manual to ensure I had everything correct. There are no major surprises, just make sure to open all the parts bags, as the various hex keys and screws are in several different bags. I thought for sure I was short 2 screws when in fact they were just in a different bag then the hex key for them.
The dies come pre-installed and adjusted. They also include one round that was produced (minus powder, and with an inert primer) on your press. If you're okay with the OAL of the round (and the bullet shape), all you need to do is set the powder measure and you're good to go. Otherwise adjusting the bullet seating depth is just a matter of tightening or loosening the die. You should have multiple bullet seating dies, each designed for a different type of bullet (HP/SWC, RN, WC). All of the dies are propriety to the SDB, to my knowledge no one else makes dies that fit the SDB besides Dillon.
The only tricky part of the whole setup process is getting the expander die/powder drop die adjusted correctly. The powder measure is activated by the expander and needs to be set to activate correctly. You may end up with slightly more or less case mouth expansion then you want to get the powder measure to activate just right. I've found that there's a decent bit of leeway in the adjustment thought, before you start throwing powder all of the place. Checking you're powder adjustment is a bit of a pain as the powder measure is designed to cycle when there is a casing in the die. This requires using a casing to get the powder, rather then being able to dispense directly onto a scale. Not a big deal, but it can be annoying.
Loading on the press is simple and easy. The SDB includes a low primer warning sensor, and you can purchase an optional lower powder sensor as well. The primer sensor works very well, and activates when there are 3-5 primers left in the magazine. The powder sensor according to Dillon activates when you have about 1000grs of powder left. With 4.9grs of W231, that means it start buzzing at me with 200 rounds left to load. Not particularly useful. The low powder sensor would be much more useful for the other presses when loading large capacity rifle cases.
The press runs well, so long as you pay attention. It's possible to not get the casing in the shell plate deep enough, and to catch it on the edge of the resizing die. If you bring the ram back down, the shell plate starts to index forward without anything having occurred. Being careful, and paying attention to feel will let you realize what's occurring and nudge the offending casing into place. Keep a pair of needle nose pliers around as they make it much easier to remove the locator button if you need to access a case for whatever reason (check the powder weight being thrown, make sure a primer seated fully, etc.)
Today I loaded 448 rounds (didn't want to crack open a fresh box of primers), in approximately 3.5 hrs. Not break neck speed at all, but MUCH faster then a single stage press. Compared to loading on a turret there's not a huge speed gain at my pace. However the ~125 rds/hr on the SDB was completely unhurried checking every case for powder, making sure every bullet was pretty well aligned before I seated it, etc. It also included the time to refill the primer magazine 5 times, which probably totaled 30 minutes or so.
Pro's:
Auto Indexing Progressive - learn how to work one of these flawlessly and you can load on most anything once you learn it's quirks.
Easy to load on - if you pay attention to what you're doing so that you don't cause any user induced errors (forgetting to put a bullet in the case, etc.) it is a simple machine to use.
Comes with dies, powder measure, etc. - if you've already got components you can start loading right out of the box almost. Just get it setup and you're off. I'd recommend getting a scale, calipers, and a few other necessities too though.
It's a Dillon - Dillon is legendary about their costumer service. If it's blue and says Dillon on it, they'll take care of you. Original owner or bought it at a yard sale your good to go.
Cons:
Only does straight walled pistol cartridges - the SDB does NOT load any rifle or bottle neck pistol cartridges. If you only load in volume for straight wall pistol cases, this is a none issue however.
Auto Indexing Progressive - This not the machine to learn on. There's a lot going on with each pull of the handle and if you do screw something up (like forgetting to put a bullet in the case) you need to know how the reloading sequence works and what is accomplished at each station to be able to fix it without making a bigger mess (primers and powder hither wither and yon). Also without a case feeder or a bullet feeder auto indexing isn't a huge time saver.
SDB only dies - you're locked into Dillon for the dies, and you can't use other dies you may already have.
It's a Dillon - the only thing cheap about Dillon's presses are it's catalogs. Everything else they make is pricey compared to a lot of other brands. It's quality, just expensive.
Recommend accessories:
Extra primer pickup tubes for the primer size you're loading. Load up all the primers your going to use in that session ahead of time before you get started loading. This will keep you in the rhythm of loading. To go along with this Dillons primer flipper tray, or another companies to get them all the correct side up (anvil down in this case). If you have a low bench (or are using a normal heigth table), the strong mount isn't a bad idea, same thing with the bullet tray. If you however have a normal of high bench then both are unessecary in my opinion.
Overall: I'm very happy with the SDB. If I was going to put down the money I'd have bought a 550B for the extra $60 to be able to load all types of cartridges and use normal dies. However as I primarily shoot .45 ACP in pistol (and a lot of it), it certainly worked out. It makes loading a large volume of ammunition much easier, and much less work. Rather then rush to load 500 rds in a few days before a class, I can spend an afternoon and do the same without feeling hurried. If I really pushed my production speed i could probably get the 300 rds an hour Dillon listed.
I don't have any other caliber kits yet so no comments on how fast or easy those are.
-Jenrick
The Dillon Square Deal B is Dillon's cheapest and least capable (in terms of the caliber you can load) press. It retails off of Dillons website for approximately $350, with one set of dies. The press arrives from the factory setup to load one caliber and includes all the dies, the powder measure, etc. Also included is a pretty decent setup manual that includes several very useful exploded diagrams of the press and it's components.
For those concerned that the SDB is not sturdy and made of plastic, don't be. The press body is metal (not sure what) and is quiet heavy, the tool head and shell plate are steel. Only parts that don't need the strength of steel are plastic, and and bearing or rotational surfaces have either derlin inserts are or made of it to ensure smooth function. The press handle is made of high impact plastic and can take all 220lbs of me pressing down on it without the slightest bend.
Setup is a little more involved then setting up a single stage press, but now that I know where everything goes I could accomplish it in 15-30 minutes. Initially it took me about 90 minutes of double checking everything against the manual to ensure I had everything correct. There are no major surprises, just make sure to open all the parts bags, as the various hex keys and screws are in several different bags. I thought for sure I was short 2 screws when in fact they were just in a different bag then the hex key for them.
The dies come pre-installed and adjusted. They also include one round that was produced (minus powder, and with an inert primer) on your press. If you're okay with the OAL of the round (and the bullet shape), all you need to do is set the powder measure and you're good to go. Otherwise adjusting the bullet seating depth is just a matter of tightening or loosening the die. You should have multiple bullet seating dies, each designed for a different type of bullet (HP/SWC, RN, WC). All of the dies are propriety to the SDB, to my knowledge no one else makes dies that fit the SDB besides Dillon.
The only tricky part of the whole setup process is getting the expander die/powder drop die adjusted correctly. The powder measure is activated by the expander and needs to be set to activate correctly. You may end up with slightly more or less case mouth expansion then you want to get the powder measure to activate just right. I've found that there's a decent bit of leeway in the adjustment thought, before you start throwing powder all of the place. Checking you're powder adjustment is a bit of a pain as the powder measure is designed to cycle when there is a casing in the die. This requires using a casing to get the powder, rather then being able to dispense directly onto a scale. Not a big deal, but it can be annoying.
Loading on the press is simple and easy. The SDB includes a low primer warning sensor, and you can purchase an optional lower powder sensor as well. The primer sensor works very well, and activates when there are 3-5 primers left in the magazine. The powder sensor according to Dillon activates when you have about 1000grs of powder left. With 4.9grs of W231, that means it start buzzing at me with 200 rounds left to load. Not particularly useful. The low powder sensor would be much more useful for the other presses when loading large capacity rifle cases.
The press runs well, so long as you pay attention. It's possible to not get the casing in the shell plate deep enough, and to catch it on the edge of the resizing die. If you bring the ram back down, the shell plate starts to index forward without anything having occurred. Being careful, and paying attention to feel will let you realize what's occurring and nudge the offending casing into place. Keep a pair of needle nose pliers around as they make it much easier to remove the locator button if you need to access a case for whatever reason (check the powder weight being thrown, make sure a primer seated fully, etc.)
Today I loaded 448 rounds (didn't want to crack open a fresh box of primers), in approximately 3.5 hrs. Not break neck speed at all, but MUCH faster then a single stage press. Compared to loading on a turret there's not a huge speed gain at my pace. However the ~125 rds/hr on the SDB was completely unhurried checking every case for powder, making sure every bullet was pretty well aligned before I seated it, etc. It also included the time to refill the primer magazine 5 times, which probably totaled 30 minutes or so.
Pro's:
Auto Indexing Progressive - learn how to work one of these flawlessly and you can load on most anything once you learn it's quirks.
Easy to load on - if you pay attention to what you're doing so that you don't cause any user induced errors (forgetting to put a bullet in the case, etc.) it is a simple machine to use.
Comes with dies, powder measure, etc. - if you've already got components you can start loading right out of the box almost. Just get it setup and you're off. I'd recommend getting a scale, calipers, and a few other necessities too though.
It's a Dillon - Dillon is legendary about their costumer service. If it's blue and says Dillon on it, they'll take care of you. Original owner or bought it at a yard sale your good to go.
Cons:
Only does straight walled pistol cartridges - the SDB does NOT load any rifle or bottle neck pistol cartridges. If you only load in volume for straight wall pistol cases, this is a none issue however.
Auto Indexing Progressive - This not the machine to learn on. There's a lot going on with each pull of the handle and if you do screw something up (like forgetting to put a bullet in the case) you need to know how the reloading sequence works and what is accomplished at each station to be able to fix it without making a bigger mess (primers and powder hither wither and yon). Also without a case feeder or a bullet feeder auto indexing isn't a huge time saver.
SDB only dies - you're locked into Dillon for the dies, and you can't use other dies you may already have.
It's a Dillon - the only thing cheap about Dillon's presses are it's catalogs. Everything else they make is pricey compared to a lot of other brands. It's quality, just expensive.
Recommend accessories:
Extra primer pickup tubes for the primer size you're loading. Load up all the primers your going to use in that session ahead of time before you get started loading. This will keep you in the rhythm of loading. To go along with this Dillons primer flipper tray, or another companies to get them all the correct side up (anvil down in this case). If you have a low bench (or are using a normal heigth table), the strong mount isn't a bad idea, same thing with the bullet tray. If you however have a normal of high bench then both are unessecary in my opinion.
Overall: I'm very happy with the SDB. If I was going to put down the money I'd have bought a 550B for the extra $60 to be able to load all types of cartridges and use normal dies. However as I primarily shoot .45 ACP in pistol (and a lot of it), it certainly worked out. It makes loading a large volume of ammunition much easier, and much less work. Rather then rush to load 500 rds in a few days before a class, I can spend an afternoon and do the same without feeling hurried. If I really pushed my production speed i could probably get the 300 rds an hour Dillon listed.
I don't have any other caliber kits yet so no comments on how fast or easy those are.
-Jenrick
) so the proprietary dies would not be a problem for him like it would be for me.
