Dillon RL 550B

[rootacres]

Hello Everyone, I am in the process of deciding what reloading press I want to go with and need a little bit of help. With the SDB press you use their own dies and the dies come with the press, everything you need is included pretty much. With the RL 550B you pick what caliber conversion kit you want the press to come with (I selected 9mm for $45.95), my question is what does the caliber conversion kit come with and am I correct in saying that I need to buy the 9mm dies as well as the 9mm conversion kit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. It sounds like these Dillons are very impressive.

[joshxdm9]

With the square deal b you will get both. With the 550 you will need to buy a set of dies and choose what caliper conversation kit you want with it that will include the shell plate, pins, and powder funnel. Just my 2c I like the 550 because you can buy any dies with it(lee, Hornaday, rcbs, dillon, etc.) Also if you later decide to load any rifle you could with the 550. Both are great presses just more options with the 550.

[daboone]

I can only comment about the 550B. I had an assorted collection of dies and powder measures prior to getting the 550B. All of the die sets and several of the PMs work very well on this extraordinary press.

[Youngeyes]

Try Brian's store. You've got a wealth of information there. There are also tons of threads here. Just use the search function. This particular page may answer some of your questions. http://www.brianenos.com/pages/dillonfaqs.html#SqD550

[ChemistShooter]

Personally I went with the 550B. More versatility down the line. You don't know how your tastes are going to change.

[GrumpyOne]

Two things: The Square Deal cannot load rifle, and it uses proprietary dies.

If you ever decide to load rifle, you will have to buy another press.

The 550B is the work horse of the Dillon line...while there are faster presses (the 650 and the 1050), the 550B can do just about everything a reloader needs.

[doctordan70s]

Yes you will also need dies for the 9mm.You can use any manufactures dies on the 550 b I have .45 dies from Dillion but lee dies for my .223 I was loading on a single stage press before buying a 550 so I had a lot of different rifle dies .222,30.06,.243 22.250 rcbs dies ,lee dies,Lyman dies they all work on the 550.If your only going to load pistol and 1 or 2 calibers the square deal is a great press also but you can only use Dillion dies on it.

[Flatland Shooter]

Two things: The Square Deal cannot load rifle, and it uses proprietary dies.

If you ever decide to load rifle, you will have to buy another press.

The 550B is the work horse of the Dillon line...while there are faster presses (the 650 and the 1050), the 550B can do just about everything a reloader needs.

GrumpyOne nailed it. I've used my 550 for just over 30 years now.

[BrianKr]

Versatility is why I went with a 550B. I load too many different cartridges, and not all are SAAMI cartridges, to have a press that can't accommodate them.

If you want to get your order correct, just call Dillon. They're friendly, helpful, and they're shooters. Just explain to them, clearly, what you want to do and they'll set you up without wasting your $.

[Andy0689]

..... With the RL 550B you pick what caliber conversion kit you want the press to come with (I selected 9mm for $45.95), my question is what does the caliber conversion kit come with and am I correct in saying that I need to buy the 9mm dies as well as the 9mm conversion kit?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. It sounds like these Dillons are very impressive.

I just went through the "which press" process and decided the the 550 was the one. Very happy with it. The Caliber Conversion kit thing confused me when I was researching. It's what's needed to set the press up for a different caliber minus the dies.

Some calibers have conversion kit parts in common, i.e., 9mm and 40 S&W share the same shell plate. If you start to do other calibers,here's a good link that has been posted around here to help out...

http://thegunwiki.com/apps/calconversion/index.asp?machine_3=on&go=Choose+Machines

[rustybayonet]

My vote, would be to go with the 550. I love mine. I think you can load all but shotgun and .50 bmg. Swapping calibers is 5 min, 10 if you need to change primer size. With the manual rotate, I also use it as a single stage (actually 4 single stages).

[BrianKr]

It can also be purchased piecemeal if one wants to go that route. It can start out as a sort of single stage press and after one learns the craft can buy the parts required to turn it into a progressive. Or they had that option at one time. I didn't check to see if Dillon still offered that before posting.

[RudyVey]

I have two SDB (9 and 45) and just added a 550 to the collection last December, mainly to reload 38 spl and 9.

If I would start again, I think I would go with the 550 or even go 650.

Edited March 30, 2016 by RudyVey

[Oh45]

I recently went through the same process of which press. If I was only loading one pistol cartridge the the SDB would be the way to go. Since I load 3 pistol cartridges now and want to go from my green RC to a progressive for 2 rifle cartridges, the 550b was the best choice. I got it 3 weeks ago and have cranked out 500 each of .45, 40s&w and 9mm. No problems at all and the caliber change takes about 5 minutes. I know, newbee on it. You have to buy the dies but you can use other than Dillon dies if you already have them.

I'll probably get a SDB for a solo round if one comes around cheaply but the 550b truly is the Dillon workhorse.