new to reloading

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kmtirish

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Just got my used dillon square deal b in 45acp set up in the garage and brass, bullets , primers and powder coming from powder valley on monday the 9th. want to jump right in and get started but dont want to make a bunch of beginner mistakes (or blow myself up) any helpful tips would be great.:confused:
 
best advice someone ever gave me was:

1. Never force anything

2. Don't rush

follow the manual and you will be fine...its scary when you shoot your first reloaded round that you manufactured. Have fun and be safe...and ware eye protection!

and if you have not picked up a case tumbler you should...they really clean up your brass and improve die life.
 
I've loaded thousands of rounds on Square Deals. If you take things slowly at first you won't have any major problems. +1 on not forcing if things bind up, there's a reason it happened, take the time to locate and correct the problem.
 
be SURE to run just 1 round thru at a time for many dozens of rounds until the dies are adjusted correctly AND you understand what each die does at each station.
If youi THINK you messed up ,pull the rounds out,check the powder charge,and start over !
Above all ,don''t try to make the machine a 'bullet factory' ..speed will come with experience.
Wear safety glasses.
 
Visually inspect cases after charging (loading with powder). With .45acp, you can double-charge... that's a bad thing.

All cases should look to be about 1/2 to 2/3 full, depending on what powder you use.
 
First off, read reloading manuels (I recommend Lyman #48) over and over. read till you can qoute it.
By the way, what powder, primers, and projos did you order? We all could give you some better advise if we know the components.

Cheers
 
Watch Out For Squibb Loads

Watch out for squibb loads. If the hammer drops and all you hear is a click---STOP EVERYTHING. You just fired a round that was missing powder and your primer load was just enough to power the lead (and get it stuck) halfway down the barrel. If you take another shot at this point you can cause catastrophic injury to yourself or damage to the firearm. I learned this at the range my first two or three times out after starting to reload. I don't load squibbs anymore because I check by sight every cartridge after the group has been loaded with powder just before bullet seating, using a special light. You can get snow blind very easily in this process.

One other thing. Make sure you taper or roll crimp your loads. Which one you use depends upon the design of the bullet and if it has a cannelure. I've had bullets fall apart in my weapon while I was firing it because I did not successfully crimp them at the reloading bench. When you drive 40 miles to the range with boxes of reloads and then this happens it can be very discouraging.
 
new reloader

The SDB is a great loader. I set mine up and was loading in short order. Like others have said DON'T be in a hurry. It took me several days to iron out some the kinks that showed up, one at a time, but nothing was too hard to figure out. Just be observant and patient. Primers and powder are the big things and check them twice when you start. Call Dillon customer service about any issues. They are great at diagnosing and curing any little thing that might happen. Use good components and loading will be a lot easier. I've loaded over 4000 rounds in 3 months and things run very smoothly. Good luck, you got a great machine.
 
That is all good advice that you're getting. Especially the "read the book" part.

All I can add is this advice. Keep in mind that you are custom building your ammo for a reason. You're looking for perfection, not quantity. And perfection takes a bit longer to achieve then crap does.
 
"The ABCs of Reloading" is a very good and entertaining beginners manual. I read it before loading my first round. I highly recommend it.

Congrats on the new press.
 
It's just like going to a movie that has been adapted from a great novel, when you have already read the book.

The book wins in all aspects!

The consensus is leaning hard toward the book, get as many as you can afford and read read read.

HORNADY HANDBOOK OF CARTRIDGE RELOADING VOLEMES I and II is excellent!
 
You got a great press, I have a SD too and it's never let me down.

First thing I'd do is get some shotshell swabs and Fritz polish and clean up those dies. I do that for all my dies. A little polishing for a few seconds in a hand drill never hurts. Clean them up and lightly oil and your set.

Then, I'd get some Imperial sizing wax to start. If bulk reloading, Dillons spray lube is the way to go.

Go slow and be careful. Use your micrometer liberally. Set each stage one at a time with one round/case. Once you think it's set, do five or so one at a time to verify.

At first, I'd measure each round for powder and primer seating when going full progressive. Do 10 or so rounds, then check every third, then every fifth. Even these days, I still check every 10th round.

After 1000 rounds or so, clean your dies up, grease the main press shaft and working parts with gun oil. This is an ongoing thing to keep things working smoothly.

If your crimping (roll or taper) it may be a good thing to trim your cases after sizing so they're uniform in length. That helps a little with consistency, but not absolutly necessary.
 
Watch out for squibb loads. If the hammer drops and all you hear is a click---STOP EVERYTHING. You just fired a round that was missing powder and your primer load was just enough to power the lead (and get it stuck) halfway down the barrel. If you take another shot at this point you can cause catastrophic injury to yourself or damage to the firearm. I learned this at the range my first two or three times out after starting to reload. I don't load squibbs anymore because I check by sight every cartridge after the group has been loaded with powder just before bullet seating, using a special light. You can get snow blind very easily in this process.

One other thing. Make sure you taper or roll crimp your loads. Which one you use depends upon the design of the bullet and if it has a cannelure. I've had bullets fall apart in my weapon while I was firing it because I did not successfully crimp them at the reloading bench. When you drive 40 miles to the range with boxes of reloads and then this happens it can be very discouraging.
Click to expand...
.

I've got good news for you:
1. There is a low probability you'll have a squib on a SDB as long as you have the powder return set (fail safe bar) set correctly.
2. You don't have to worry about the crimp. The instructions for the dillon will tell you how to set the crimp. Dillon dies will do a taper crimp - they work fine for autos and have worked fine in my .45 revolver.
 
Tips (from another SDB user)

> The priming is done with on the upstroke. Make sure to go all the way up.

> For that matter, make sure you go all the way down.

> I've use Clays and Titegroup. Both meter very well in my SDB. Once I get the powder set it stays. I do check it from time to time and always check when I start reloading for the day.

> When (not if) you have a jam, do the following
a. remove the bullet tray (so the last bullet on the maching does not fall in with the good ones)
b. remove all the little brass buttons then removed the bullets from the machine - line them up. I put them on the left side of the machine. Closest to the machine I put the bullet in the last stage (it has not been crimped), to its left, the one from the 3rd stage (it has powder but the bullet is not fully seated), then the one from the second stage - it should have a primer but probably does not have powder. If it has powder, pour it back in the hopper (or weigh it to make sure it's a full charge). Remove the case from the first stage.
c. Inspect everything you just took out to see if you can tell what jammed. Generally it will be some problem with the brass in the first stage.
d.
Put the brass button back in the last stage (the crimp station).
e. Put the first bullet you lined up (the one that was not crimped) in the third station. (I realize you could put it in the 4th station but I find that station harder to get to.) Pull the handle twice (first will seat it a second time, the second pull will crimp the round).
f. Put the next cartrige on the 3rd station. It needs a bullet. Put the brass button back in station 2. Put the next cartridge (which has a primer but no powder) in the 2nd station. Finish these two bullets.
g. If you didn't find a problem with the case in stage 1 then try it again. Take that one through all 4 stations before you put a new case in.

The only squib I've loaded was when I had a jam and was not careful on getting the rounds finished that were in the machine when it jammed.

Other tips:
make sure the fail safe rod is properly adjusted.

have plenty of powder, brass, bullets and powder - the sdb is a great machine and you'll be pumping out tons of great ammo pretty quickly.

use a case gauge on all finished rounds
 
My suggestion as I just started if your unsure of what you just did as in maybe a double charge ect. Dump powder and repeat step. With my first 50 I did it a few times as I was just getting into a rythm and process. My next 50 went better it's better to redo a few steps then blow up a gun 80)
 
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