Progressive press worth it?

[Deleted]

I've been content loading my stuff slowly but I do mostly load the same thing over and over. I use a Lyman tmag turret that I bought years ago at pawn shop. It even came with a spare turret. I keep a seating die set up for my favorite bullets. It's crazy but I size and flare with a lee hand held loader that came from the same pawn shop. The process has worked for me but sometimes it's not as fun as other times.
Friend of mine has a dillon square deal b he uses for 45acp. It's pretty quick and I feel like he stays in control of his loads. Some of the machines are far more complicated. Like everybody else I've read countless reviews and watched the YouTube warriors show and tell. I'm thinking the square deal b might be good for loading the 45 colt load that I load over and over. I like the idea that each pull of the lever gets every part of the process moving forward quickly.
I like how small the square deal press is. A guy I know has the hornady progressive and its nice but huge in scale.
Any insights as to quality of loading with the little dillon dies?

[45MAN]

MY RECOMMENDATION WOULD BE TO SKIP THE SQUARE DEAL B AND GO TO THE DILLON 500 SERIES

[boolitdesigner]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Very good recommendation.

[bigbore5]

Just to try progressive loading, I got a Lee Pro 1000. A real pita to get and keep tuned. It's only got three stations, so I still crimp with my Lee handloader or on the rockcrusher with Lee factory crimp dies. Never liked how the Lee primed after I did get it to feed them.

When I asked about a Hornady or RCBS progressive on here all I kept hearing was Dillon, Dillon, and more Dillon even after very specifically stating I did not want a Dillon in the op. Seems like a lot of blue kool-aid has been guzzled here.

I have friends with Dillons. I've tried them. They're nice. They're worth about half what they sell for used.

I thought about a 1050. Then tried a Frankford Arsenal 10 station that ran just as smooth for less than half the money. Bought a Mark 7 Apex used for less than half the cost of the 1050 and truly believe I got much more than a Dillon.

[Deleted]

I'm probably going to stick with what I'm doing but I'm always thinking about options. I appreciate the responses.

[bigbrowndog]

I believe the SDB requires special dies, not the normal dies we are used to using. The 550 or 650 or 750 and up all utilize normal dies. So you are not required to duplicate dies because of different threads

Trapr

[bigbore5]

Jun 16, 2023 21:14:35 GMT -5 @professor said:

I'm probably going to stick with what I'm doing but I'm always thinking about options. I appreciate the responses.

The progressive is faster for large volume loading. If I am only going to load a hundred or so of something then change to loading something else, it's faster and simpler to just use the rockcrusher press.

The Apex will only be set and used for the mouse fart level 38 Super loads for steel challenge shooting and practice. I burn up about 4-500 a week of those.

I may eventually get another one if I find a good deal for other loads I shoot alot of, but I enjoy relaxing at my bench in the after work wind down time.

[AxeHandle]

The Dillon SDB is a slick little loader. I own use and prefer 550s and 1050s but for a single cartridge and load I like the SDB

[contender]

I have helped several people set up their different reloading set-ups over the years. I've tried the RCBS, Hornady & Lee progressives.
I own (5) Dillon progressives,, and (2) Rock Chuckers.
I found out after much consideration that the Dillon, due to their excellent customer service AND warranty was the way to go.

My Dillons.
I have owned 4 SDB's,, (2) 550's, and (2) 650's. I've used a 1050. Decided it was too much for my needs.

The Dillon SDB does use only the Dillon die set. And it's limited in calibers. Not as versatile as the 550 or 650/750. I still have (2) SDB's in my reloading room. A good friend has (3) SDB's,, and another friend wants one of my SDB's. Once set-up for a specific caliber & load,, they can turn out excellent ammo with very little effort. My main one right now is set up for the .32 Cal stuff I load. Very efficient.
My 550 is primarily set up for rifle calibers. In my loading,, the fact it doesn't auto index,, makes me load more carefully. I have known a few folks who failed to index the tool head and double charged a case or three. After one guy I know loaded 3000 rounds on his 550,, he went to test some,, and had a Glock blow up in his hand, causing an injury,, but not severe enough to keep him from shooting a USPSA match with bandages on his hand. He decided to sell his 550 & bought a 650.

The casual handloaders luxury machine is the 650/750. With the case feed, and it's 5 stations,, it keeps me in ammo in a timeframe to allow less labor. I shoot USPSA,, and that eats up a lot of ammo quickly. Once I get a toolhead set up, and the dies set,, it's smooth sailing. I use (2) 650's, one with small primers,, and one set with large primers. That makes the conversions easy-peezy.

I tell folks who want to reduce their time at the bench, yet get a fair quantity of ammo if they only load one or two pistol calibers,, that the SDB is a good progressive machine.

ALL progressive machines can have issues. It's the customer service & warranty along with the fewest problems that made me choose my first Dillon long ago.

[potatojudge]

I've picked up a couple of used SDBs at good prices over the years. The role they fill for me is for rounds I want to be ready to load any given day. I keep one set up for 44 and the other for standard pressure 45 Colt. The 44 I'll switch between Special and Magnum because it's a relatively minor procedure.

My rifle stuff still gets done single stage. I have a lee turret set up for 45 ACP.

The SDBs are nice because if I have 10 spare minutes I can knock out a handful of rounds. At the end of a week it adds up.

I wouldn't get a SDB if I wanted to make it my one and only do-all pistol loader, or if I had to pay as much for it as a more versatile press like the bigger Dillons.

The SDB only works on straight walled pistol cartridges.

I still appreciate the Lee turret. Pretty quick to swap out turrets and the shell holder, tweak the powder drop and I'm good to load.

[gnappi]

With three 550's and a 450 (and a few other bench space wasters) nobody could give me another brand. Their no nonsense warranty and support alone makes a $ uplift over all of the others out there well worth it.

BTW, Like me, EVERY one of my friends (all RIP) struggled with Lee, Hornady, and RCBS and others only to find that LONG TERM support is gone when the product is discontinued. My Dillon's date back to the 80's and recently I got two new powder measures as replacements for old 1990's models. Nope it's blue for me.

[bearskinner]

Same as with others, I’ve had a Dillon 450, converted to 550 for 35-40 years. I know so many people who have tried various other progressive presses. Never satisfied. The only problem I’ve ever had is wearing out the little plastic tips for feeding primers. That’s a use issue, that’s created to be replaced, and easily replaced for repair. I have 25+ loaded tool heads, so caliber change is a couple minutes, and easy to do. Blue just works.

[wildcatter]

For me the square deal was a pain 35 years ago! Today with my arthritis it would be even worse.

500 Dillon is the way to, and easy to grow, a couple shell plates and a few die blocks, and much better easier, quicker, and probably better ammo than your current platform.

[edk]

Dillon 550 here since about '94. One thing is I can't seem to want to do 100% on the press. Whether it is decapping to tumble, priming or dropping powder with something more precise than a Dillon measure, I just don't use the thing A-Z as it was intended.

[rjm52]

Up until a few years ago I had a dozen presses from several different companies...sold or gave them all away except for the Dillon 550 for high volume and bought a Redding T7 for all the rifle and low volume pistol reloading...made life much simpler...